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"I'm not the first," Damaris replied defiantly.
"Did he… did he force you?" Chrissy asked with eyes opened wide, making me blink, and I almost stepped in to apologize for Chrissy's forwardness.
Damaris looked questioningly at me, in awhat's wrong with herkind of way, making me hastily explain, "Chrissy is not from Thyre. She and others came from Earth.
"Earth?" Now it was Damaris who exclaimed, astonished. "Did more humans come from Earth to join us?"
We entered the room, and I rushed to the adjoining bathroom, finding a filled bathtub as I had hoped for. "They didn't exactly come to join us," I hedged.
"We came to free you from the Thyre oppression," Chrissy said, and I felt a familiar wave of resentment for her move through me.
"Thyre oppression?" Damaris repeated, stunned. "We are not oppressed."
"Why don't you take a hot bath first, to warm up? We can discuss all this after." I suggested.
"I'm fine." Damaris waved me off. "This seems more pressing. What's going on?"
"At least drink something." I fixed a grog for her. Hot water, mixed with strong spirits and honey, one of the preferred drinks during the cold season.
In her arms, Murtagh stirred slightly, and she kissed his forehead. "Poor baby. He's already been battle baptized. He's such a good baby."
"Battle? Who were you battling?" Chrissy demanded and by the excitement on her face, I could tell she expected Damaris to say they had been battling the humans Chrissy arrived with.
"Khazar Gryck released laws to give human towns more autonomy and two warlords rebelled against him because of it. We just spent months fighting them."
"The khazar fought his warlords for the humans?" Chrissy asked, surprised.
Damaris nodded. "Yes, it cost him, but he wants all his denizens to be happy and equal, humans and Thyres alike." Before she added defiantly, "Really, we're all Thyres. None of us have ever been to Earth. My parents and grandparents were born here."
That seemed to pull some of Chrissy's wind out of her sails and my hope grew that maybe we could convert her, make her see that the Thyres weren't what the humans from Earth had portrayed them to be and that she had been tricked. I wasn't sure of how much help she could be to us, but she was a high-ranking officer in the human army. That should count for something.
Damaris still looked frozen, her clothes were dirty and in tatters and didn't look one bit like the ones she should be wearing as a woman of her rank. "If you would like to take a bath now, I will order to have some clothes brought to you."
"Yes, that would be very nice," Damaris concurred, brushing her lips against her sleeping son's forehead.
"I can hold him if you would like some privacy," I offered.
"He needs a bath as much as I do but thank you," Damaris declined politely and stepped into the bathroom.
"So the Thyres truly aren't holding you as slaves?" Chrissy asked as I summoned a maid to have a few of my dresses for Damaris and infant clothing brought up.
I barely stopped myself from rolling my eyes at Chrissy. How much more evidence did she need? I had never met a more stubborn woman than her.
"You should realize that by now," I said instead, a bit more snidely than usual, but I was getting tired of having to explain and defend myself and my people to her.
"I'm sorry. It's just really hard for me to wrap my head around. When we were prepped for this mission, we were told the Thyres were holding the humans here under the most dire conditions. We came to save you."
She said the last part almost accusingly, and I spat, "The only people we need saving from are yours."
"I'm sure our command will be just as surprised as I am and—"
I interrupted her, "And who will make them see that? Are you even sure they don't already know?" Brogan's words came back to me. "I'm sure they're already aware of how humans are truly treated here."
"Then why would we come here?"
"To take our land, find a larger gene pool, take our resources, take your pick," I snarled with so much anger it even surprised me.
Chrissy stared at me. So far, I had managed to keep my temper around her under control, but enough was enough. How blind could she be? According to her, she was a colonel, she should know better.
