“Is this your first time on the land?” she asks. Dalia nods again.

“Why didn’t you go to Oxan? No one comes here looking for their lost people!” she continues. Dalia explains that because they don’t have the Saviour tattoo, they could never get through the Oxan gates. They had come to the Saviour Island so that her mother would officially convert to the Saviour Rules and to get their tattoos and then go to Oxan. Lealy accepts her explanation but keeps asking more questions.

“Where is your boatman? Don’t you have anything with you? Coins?” she asks. Dalia pauses. She hadn’t prepared an answer to this question. She better tell the truth; they might have already seen them swimming to the shore. She says they don’t have anything with them. The boatman had taken away all their money and belongings and threw them in to the water a few miles to the Island harbour. But this time, Lealy doesn’t seem to have accepted her words. Probably most people, who enter the island without authorisation, tell a similar story. Lealy starts working on the bruises on Asin’s arms and legs. She puts more of her poultice on the swollen areas and covers them with napkins. She stands beside Dalia.

“Tell me about the baby! And tell the truth!” Lealy orders her to speak. Dalia is scared and cuddles up her naked knees. She doesn’t know where to start and what to say. Anything she says may put her mother and herself in more trouble.

“When did the baby die? When was it born?” Lealy asks, breaking Dalia’s silence. But Dalia still refuses to speak. She needs to gather her thoughts and decide which parts she should reveal and which parts to hide. She has to be careful of the wording she uses, for the sake of her mother’s life. Lealy rolls her finger in the copper bowl and puts some poultice on Asin’s forehead wound and places the bowl by her head.

“There is still some poultice left… You can reapply on her bruises,” Lealy says and stands up to go out of the cabin. Dalia thanks her.

“What should I do here?” Dalia asks. Lealy shrugs.

“I will be back shortly… I’m just going to fetch you something to eat. How long has it been since you’ve last eaten?” Lealy asks. Dalia says it has been two days since their last meal.

“Don’t worry! There should be some grilled fish left from today’s lunch…” she says. But Dalia hesitates. She doesn’t know how to say this to Lealy but if she doesn’t say it, she will stay hungry.

“Actually…” she says, stopping Lealy on the doorway.

“We eat raw fish… If it’s no trouble?” Dalia continues. Lealy grins mockingly to Dalia’s surprise. She expected any reply but to be sneered at for asking for raw fish was not one of them.

“Fine! Easier for me… But you have to tell me the truth when I get back! That’s your final chance! The truth! Not more of these nonsense stories!” Lealy frowns. Dalia watches her leave. If she hadn’t seen her frown right now, she could say from her dance-like steps that Lealy was joyously walking towards her lover. She doesn’t understand her? Believe her mocking and frowning or her compassionate caring of Asin’s wounds?