Broken Truce (Broken City, #2)

                                                              Chapter One

                                                                    Deeta

I truly believed that it had ended that day. I thought that in drawing together to fight a shared enemy we had overcome our fears, the segregation, and our loneliness.

I guess that makes me naive doesn’t it?

Maybe it was just that I wanted it all to be at an end, and so I convinced myself that our troubles were over. Now I see that I was stupid to think that people would be able to forget, that they could overcome the mistrust and hate that had governed their lives for so long, in such a short time.

The reality is not so cosy.

I pull the quilt closer around my shoulders, resting my head back against the armchair I’m curled up in. It’s late, after midnight, and the house is deathly quiet. The fire in the grate crackles merrily, chasing away the dark shadows that threaten to engulf the room, dark shadows that are mirrored in my thoughts.

“Deet?”

I jump, startled by Jan’s voice, and turn to see her on the threshold of the lounge, blond hair hanging loosely around her shoulders, and eyes drowsy.

“Are you okay?” she asks, moving further into the room, and curling up on the settee across from me. Her hand slides down to rest on the swell of her stomach, and firelight glints on the gold band on the third finger of her left hand.

“I was about to ask you the same question.”

My sister pats her stomach lightly.

“The baby was hungry, so I came down for a snack, but then I saw the light from the fire.”

The look she casts me is questioning.

“I couldn’t sleep.”

Jan nods, and I know I don’t have to explain.

My thoughts drift to Tom, out there somewhere in the City.

It happened again.

Fighting… I thought we were past bickering among ourselves, but apparently we’re not.. Tom knows most of the tribes, having traded with them for the Clark’s for years. So he’s always the one who has to go and try to sort things out. The tribes are more willing to listen to him than any of the other Andak council members.

I shake my head; I had thought that this part of our life was over, that Tom would never have to leave the safety of the Andak compound again, and risk his life out in the City. However, thanks to the continuing troubles, his journeys out have become more frequent.

This time the problem has been with two of the larger tribes in the east, the Dangras and the Johnsons. Tom says that they’ve been fighting since the breakdown, and that there’s a lot of bad blood between them, a lot of death and misery.

How will they get past their hate?

What if they can never make peace?

I push the thoughts aside, not wanting to think of such unhappiness. Jan’s stomach grumbles, and I look up at her with a smile, glad to be distracted.

“We’d better get that baby something to eat.”

Jan grins as well, but I know she has picked up on my mood. I see a frown creasing her brow, and feel bad that I’ve made her worry. She stands and rocks a little, unsteady with her newly acquired weight. I slip my arm around her waist, pulling her toward me in a quick hug. Jan laughs as her stomach comes between us, and squeezes me briefly.