Revenant Slaves Chapter 52: Chapter 51: Zain

Read chapter 52 of Revenant Slaves by Zee on NovelPedia.

Chapter 51: Zain Zain woke up to a commotion in the train car. There was the sound of a woman crying. He barely recognized her voice at first. A rough man was shouting as well. That one he recognized more easily. It was Hardy. The woman crying had to be Miru’s mother. He opened his eyes a little wider and tried to turn. He had been lying on his side, facing away from Miru and the rest of the train car. As he struggled to turn himself toward the voices, his mind cleared just enough to follow the argument. “Please, I won’t leave my little girl alone,” Miru’s mother was saying. “Not again. Not ever. Not until she’s alright.” Then Hardy’s voice cut in, rough and angry. “This really is unfair. Do you think we’ll stand for this? We are helping you with this rebellion. More of our people have died since this started than yours, and this is how you treat us?” One of the rebels replied, his voice teetering on the edge of restraint. “You two need to calm down. There is no need for this hostility. Zain is a very important member of our army, and he has been with your daughter for about five days now. He has abandoned his duties for you, for the sake of your daughter. You have to understand, the level of reverence you give to Rain — that is how high his standing is among us. We must confer with him. And since he refuses to leave your daughter’s side, she must remain here as well. Or would you prefer that she suffers an attack while Zain isn’t there to heal her?” Miru’s mother answered immediately. “We are supposed to be allies, aren’t we? We won’t tell anyone what you discuss with Zain. But we will stay here. We won’t ever do anything to hurt Zain, so we wouldn’t reveal his secrets either.” Zain wanted to get up and stop the argument before it grew worse. What the rebels were saying was not entirely false. But he had hoped his lack of control over his own abilities and the fact that he could barely stand would prevent the rebels from seeing him in this new light. There were many people among them, far more capable than he was. That was why Maya had wanted to hide Zain’s awakening. But Zain had ruined that by seemingly healing a girl who had no chance of surviving in front of a lot of people. Although Zain felt that he shouldn’t really be blamed for that, telling the others that an invisible force had moved his body would just feed into their delusions. The elders, the Imams among their people, were adamant about the importance of these powers. Simply being Awakened elevated Zain to the level of an Imam, a leader of men, in the eyes of many. Zain hated the practice. It reminded him too much of the Temple and the reverence they accorded to those who wielded the powers of the Living Flame. “Stop,” Zain said weakly. No one listened. He forced more strength into his voice. “Stop!” That got their attention. The people in the room turned toward him. “I am incapable of leading anyone,” Zain said, now that they were all looking at him. He continued without relenting, “And I nominate Maya as my replacement for this tour, at the very least. I mean it. I can barely stand. Much less be of use to anyone.” At that moment, someone else stepped into the train car. It was Maya. She took one look at the room and immediately seemed to understand what had been happening. She walked over to Hardy and Miru’s mother. She towered over both of them, but she deliberately loosened her posture and made herself seem smaller than she actually was. Even then, that only brought her down to about an inch or two taller than Hardy. “Hey, guys,” Maya said gently. “I know I can’t understand what you’re going through. Not me, not anyone here, can really relate to it. I’ll stay by Miru’s side the whole time while they finish up here. You two just stand outside the train car, and you’ll be the first ones back in. I’ll make sure my companions finish up as quickly as they can — Rain’s just outside as well — If anything happens, I’ll come get you myself. If Miru even stirs, you’ll