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The three women to which Eldon brought them were older, and haggard-looking, as if life had robbed them of their most precious treasures. Nevertheless Abigail, Edna and Ruth were courteous in their greetings, and once the requisite pleasantries had been exchanged, Abigail told the story of their encounter on Pandora. "We were recruited, same as you," she told Hope. "We didn't want to believe Dorian, but he painted such a glowing picture of the place that we couldn't help but wonder if he really was telling the truth."
Hope looked at Eldon. "My predecessor," he told her in a low voice. "Very charismatic, and able to charm the birds from the trees with just a word or two."
Abigail gave a bitter smile. "He was very charming," she agreed. "So when the ship arrived to take us to Pandora, we all found ourselves reassessing our view of him. Pandora itself was very welcoming, and the council made us feel right at home. They didn't make us official citizens, but told us we had all the rights and priviledges of citizens, so that we were able to move freely about the city.
"In time, we all fell pregnant, but that was when the 'disease' began making its way through our ranks. At the end, only myself, Edna and Ruth were alive, and we were locked away in our homes so no harm would come to us, so said our husbands. But we were also forbidden contact with anyone not of our households, and we couldn't even talk to one another, lest it bring 'undue distress'. In reality, we were isolated, and when our children were born, they were whisked away. We were told our babies had died, and we were not even permitted to grieve for them. Every time we began to feel sorrow over our lost children, we were rebuked and told to be silent, lest we be locked up forever. We didn't want that, so we buried our grief and tried to live life as best we could. Our husbands couldn't do enough for us, but we felt like we were being given the Pandoran equivalent of hush money so we wouldn't dig too deeply into the fate of our children."
"Chika came to us five years ago," Ruth said, taking up the story. "She told us that our children had not died, and that they were being kept somewhere secure so no one but the council could get to them. Chika couldn't tell us just why our children had been taken from us, but she said she could get us off Pandora, but it would be a difficult journey. We didn't want to believe her, because Pandorans had lied to us the whole time we were there, but she assured us she was on our side, and she showed us her true form as you see her now, to further prove she was firmly against the council and their twisted game. So we trusted her, and after one of the most nightmarish journeys I've ever gone through, we came here, and we've been residents of Felalnor ever since, given full freedom to roam the land at will, with no one to tell us what we can and can't do."
"But we're exiles here," Edna said. "We have the run of the place, but we're trapped here, not by our fault, but by the desire of the council. They know we've escaped, and they're desperate to get us back so we can't 'tell tales', even though it's been sixteen years since our children were taken from us. If they got their hands on us again, we'd be imprisoned in the darkest dungeons the city has to over, and likely left to rot until we crumble into dust. It's not a pleasant fate, you can be sure; but despite all that, we are content enough here, even though we do sometimes wish we could return to Earht and leave all this behind." She sighed. "And it got even worse when we found out their 'disease' is deliberately engineered to kill the weak, or the ones more likely to see through the Pandorans' facade of peace."
Hope shivered. "I had a feeling it was something like that," she said slowly. "But if that's the case, why didn't it kill me? Or leave me barren?"
"You were too precious to be risked," Edna said. "You see, your daughter, as well as the son of your friend Emily, are the 'perfect' children the Pandorans have been seeking. That's why countless women have been 'recruited', and why so many women and children have died, because they don't have the genes the Pandorans need. They began their 'disease' as a culling method to weed out less desirable folk, but it's gotten out of their control, which is why they genuinely do have few women of childbearing age left. But they could fine-tune it to some extent, which is why you and your two friends were spared. In any case, they have what they want now, and they can still bring the disease to a halt, which is still within their power. They have two children who, by the most unsual turn of luck, have antigens in their blood which will create so perfect they will supersede any breeding program the Pandorans have attempted before."82Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡUvU3Mti01m
"In other words, their endless attempts to breed Earth women to their males, or elven children to human children, have failed miserably," Tanila said, her voice deeply bitter. "Many moons ago, five of my people were stolen, as were a mermaid, a dragon, a centaur, a pegasus, and a unicorn. They were all bred accordingly to species on Pandora, and their descendants have been bred to one another, and to more Pandorans, to try and create their perfect raise. But now they have their seeds, and thus, those two innocent babies will be kept separate from everyone else, allowing them to be raised to believe they are Pandoran. They will be forbidden contact to ensure they will be completely compliant with the council's will, and when the time comes, it is the council's hope they will submit to their destiny without complaint."82Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ3KkKFvAlcW
"Which brings us to now," Eldon said. "The council have pinpointed their key figures are missing. They shouldn't really care too much about the older ladies - no offence, by the way - but they do care desperately to get myself, Chika, and Hope back under their control. Hope in particular will be highly sought after, because if her firstborn has this antigen, future children will likely have it as well. If they get their hands on her, she'll be kept as a brood mare until she's worn out."82Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡFtODdEjA6R
"Over my dead body," Hope snapped, shivering with revulsion at the idea. "But why didn't they try that with you?" she asked the older women. 82Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡZMf8Pjybb7
"We were told that their 'disease' had rendered us barren," Ruth said shortly. She sighed. "I'm sorry. It still stings after all this time. But that's what they told us; we were barren, and could no longer conceive. Well, joke's on them; we had tests done on us when we arrived here, and we've somewhat aged backwards to ensure we're still able to carry and bear children. Not that we're too keen on the idea, but it would be nice to have a few young ones running around to help take some of the old pain away."82Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ00BoH0yb7S
Hope nodded her understanding. "We've got to stop them somehow," she said. 82Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡvdwtddSuOm
"How?" Chika asked. 82Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡtI4Gq6F9nQ
"I don't know," Hope admitted. "But if we put our heads together, we might be able to come up with a way to get the babies back without spilling a drop of blood."82Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡdXLqyHBU1e
"They won't give the tykes up that easily," Eldon warned. "They'd prefer to kill them rather than see them with their rightful mothers."82Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡhy2LHCSu96
Hope sighed. "I'm not giving up without at least trying to find a solution that doesn't involve us banging our heads against a brick wall!" she said angrily. Before anyone could say anything, she got up and stormed off, swearing as the tears streamed down her cheeks for a very long time. 82Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡWwpktufjlM
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