Dmitry nodded.
“Remember that in the future, Asinimov. Mothers should never give up their children,” she said, keeping her voice low.
Another nod though confusion marred the lines of his face. He would understand soon and it would hurt her to watch that break across his face.
“When I first came to Arequipa, I was placed in a dark room, maybe five feet by five feet. I was forced to use the bathroom in a hole in the floor and I was starved for many days. I resorted to drinking my own urine at one point which made Joseph laugh but applaud my creativity. ‘She’s a survivor, Minton!’ he crowed, though Minton only shrugged. I could hear other children weeping, some talking to themselves or the visions their minds sent them. I wasn’t scared. Through it all, I was not scared.”
She paused, inhaled, and continued to stare at him, though she only saw the past.
“I hated him and that grew in the place of my fear.”
Dmitry remained still and she was grateful. Death beat at the walls of her mind now.
“When he finally took me out I was seated a table filled with so many meats and fruits and sweets. I remember my belly cramping the bounty was so great. I started to reach for something and was cuffed on the side of the head, knocked from my chair. Minton was screaming at me and Joseph? He watched every move I made. My fists clenched and I remember the rage filled my belly, filled me up so that I wasn’t hungry any longer. I just wanted to kill him. Then Minton kicked me in the stomach and I curled into a ball on the floor.
“Joseph came to stand over me. ‘Get up child. You have much to learn but the fire of hate burns in your eyes and I can use that,’ he said in his black voice. He grabbed my hands which were still clenched and he stroked my knuckles, smiling. ‘Your name will be Bone because you want to kill and I will teach you all the ways to do that with your hands, feet and body. You will be my Bone Breaker and you will be as your father named you.’”
The words flowed from her and she could not find the strength to stop them.
“I got up, stood before him and I smiled, mimicking his, and he nodded. Then he led me to my chair, sat me in it and I looked around the table to see four other girls, small like me but different. They were beautiful, Dmitry. So beautiful. Tiny faces, smooth skin and hair so different from mine but their eyes—so filled with hate—were like mine as well. From the moment I saw them they were mine.”
She traced a line of condensation down the glass pane.
“We began to train. At first, it was paper targets, then it was other children. Bait, he called them. We either hit our targets or we were punished. Bullet and Arrow were the first to master their crafts. Blade came next, though she was punished mightily for not making her blades correctly at first.”
“And you, Bone?”
He spoke and the rage exploded in her mind. She blinked and found herself on top of him, his throat in her hand, squeezing, though he did not fight. She lowered her face to his, those blue-blue eyes reminding her…
“Ninka,” she whispered.
She released him and stood, taking several steps back before running a hand down her face. She was trembling. “I trained, but it took many months. Eventually I became so good he could no longer defeat me. It made him angry and so he punished us all.”
Bone glanced at Dmitry, who had sat up on the bed, hands on his thighs. His posture suggested submission but the lines of his body vibrated with his own rage.
“I will not apologize,” she told him.
Dmitry stared at her. In his gaze was acceptance and it was that which allowed her to continue.
“Some stories should never be told, Asinimov, but you have asked about Arequipa and so you will be invited into my hell. Remember, you asked for this.” She blanked her mind of everything except Arequipa. “Joseph liked watching the children fight. I do not know if he thought it would hone us, maybe humble us, whatever his reasons, after we had been there for maybe a year we were paraded with the other groups into a barren field in the mountains once a week. Two at a time entered the field.”
“You do not have to continue,” he said harshly