19
RAMYA
“I am so, so sorry, my Melokai, she took her last breath moments before you arrived.”
Naomya wrung her hands and fretted. She had not yet eased herself into Ramya’s council as the new Mother of Mothers. Ramya did not doubt her abilities but she was awkward and unsure of herself. A pretty, little woman marred by her greasy skin and painful-looking acne, that had left deep craters in her cheeks.
“Take me to see her.”
Naomya led Ramya through the hallway of the pen and into a small bedroom. There was only one cot in this room, many playthings and a chair for the mother left in sole charge of the baby. Luxury for a Peqkian child. All others slept in dormitories, shared their toys and their mothers.
In the chair sat an anxious mother, her nervous energy was palpable and ecli
