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As they drew closer to the city, Hope saw that Isonor had copied the design - down to every last detail. But as with Lathon, the elven city far surpassed Isonor, as did the elves who went about the visitors on their daily business. And unlike the strict breeding Hope recalled from her one meeting with the five elven chiefs, the elves were all of different hair and eye colours, making them one race instead of five separate tribes. Hope didn't need to ask to know that it had been from stolen children from which the five tribes had been bred back on Pandora, and her heart ached as she realised for the first time that her loss was minimal compared to the losses these beautiful people had suffered so long ago. But she knew the elves were doing all they could to protect those first human women who'd suffered, regardless of the desire of the Pandorans to take them back.
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Queen Tanila met them in the beautiful throne room, a tall woman with blue-black hair and green eyes. Her age was hard to determine, but she had the eyes of one who had seen much, yet she still retained an air of being in the present, and Hope felt like she could trust this tall, regal woman with anything. "You are not the first to suffer at the whims of the Pandorans," the queen told her, as the three women sat on stools before the throne, cups of tea at their elbows and sweet cakes on a little tray in between the stools. "The first group of Earthen women suffered the same; if their babies were not taken early from their bodies, they were taken away at birth, and not one of the women could raise protest, lest they be imprisoned until they died of old age. Not that the Pandorans would let them go in any case; they knew too much."93Please respect copyright.PENANANr2faqiOzt
"I was an accomplice against my will," Chika confided, glaring at her tea as if imagining a Pandoran was in her grip. "Saanvi was given to me with strict orders that I raise her as my own and never tell her of her true origins. I asked them what had happened to her mother, but I was threatened with my people's extermination if I didn't keep my mouth shut. So I went along with it, but I dug very quietly and subtly, and soon I found out that Saanvi's mother had been told her daughter had died during birth. I didn't get very far; the police nabbed me and threatened me again if I didn't cease my enquiries. To make me even more compliant, they forced me to link my mind to the council, who've used that link ever since to make sure I did as I was told.
"But I wasn't going to be muzzled; I applied to the police force so I could be in a better position to help Saanvi's mother and the other Earth women who'd had their babies taken from them. Over time, I earned the council's trust, and they relaxed their vigil. But the link was never dissolved, and I had to watch my step at every turn. I worked my way up through the ranks, until I reached lieutenant, and from there, I used my powers to inquire very carefully into the fate of the first group of women. They were still in Isonor, but they were forbidden from leaving, treated like queens by their husbands so they were lulled into a false sense of belonging. But they were never given citizenship, and they were not permitted to return home to Earth, lest they tell tales. Not that anyone would've believed them, as you well know."
"That's why Emily and Mia aren't allowed to leave," Hope guessed. "They're being treated like queens, but in reality, they're prisoners."
Chika nodded. "It all came to a head the day you were made to leave your daughter behind," she said. "At that point, the council realised I'd been digging, and, furthermore, that I'd been in contact with Queen Tanila. She reached out to me when I stumbled into her realm by accident around five years ago, and she told me that it had been no accident; I'd been guided to her realm on purpose, and she told me she could save the first group of Earth women. So we worked together to get them shipped out to Felalnor, and they've been living here ever since. But the council didn't like that very much when the truth came out, and they came down on me like a ton of bricks. I had to disavow any knowledge I had of the truth, but they've been keeping me on a very tight leash ever since. That's why I had to be so harsh with you; Queen Tanila's power is not foolproof, and if the council ever broke through her protection spell, it'd all be over, and I'd be dead the moment they got their hands on me. And they wouldn't hesitate to come to Felalnor in a full-scale invasion either."
"I guard this realm with my life," Tanila said. "But I cannot force people to do my bidding. That is the way of the Pandorans, and I will not stoop to that level. Yet, if they ever did come here, they'd find an unpleasant welcome waiting for them. I cannot stop them, but nor will I make it easy for them."
"The ghost city," Hope guessed. "I managed to get through it relatively unscathed, but if the Pandorans came through, they'd have a much harder time."
"A truly difficult time awaits any who come here via that route with ill intent in their hearts," Tanila agreed. "Its sorrowful history contains a fearsome power that has been warped over the decades since the incident which caused it to fall into its current state of disrepair. Any going through with truly malicious intent will suffer a hundredfold the trials you endured, child."
"I'm so sorry about that," Chika added, looking genuinely remorseful. "But the council were getting very close to realsing I'd lied to them, and I had to send you to Felalnor the long way around to throw them off my scent. Unfortunately, I could feel the probes getting stronger the day I met you outside the hospital, and locking you away was only a stopgap measure that hasn't really done much for protecting us both. I had to appeal to Queen Tanila to bring me here directly, which was why I was waiting for you when you came through the portal. And I wasn't lying about the guardians in the water; they're not nice, and had you tried to escape, you would've died just as messily as I described."
"You're forgiven for that," Hope told her. "I'm still rattled by it all, so if I'm a bit cautious around you for a little while, I'm sorry."
"No offence taken," Chika said with a wry grin. "I'd have a hard time trusting me either."
Tanila smiled as she rose. "Now it is time for you to meet your predecessors," she told Hope. "You will see one individual who you feel has deceived you, but please, be a little gentler with him than you were with Chika - for which no one blames you, I might add. But he has been as blameless in this matter as Chika has, and I would not have your first meeting get off to a bad start."
Hope blinked, then nodded. If Eldon had been working behind the scenes as tirelessly as Chika, then he'd be just as innocent. Still, as the queen led them deep into the palace, she vowed to keep her guard up just a little bit. She had no real reason to doubt Chika now, and she certainly didn't doubt the queen. But things had gone to hell in a handbasket too much for Hope to feel entirely relaxed, and though she hated herself for it, she knew no one blamed her. It was, she reminded herself, an entirely normal reaction after the hell through which she'd been ever since being forced to leave her daughter behind. 93Please respect copyright.PENANApH3ARCEyYT