Tobi had never told Vawndila that it was Tobi herself who was responsible for the death of the child’s mother. Each time she looked at the girl, she wondered how long it would be before she got old enough that her curiosity would no longer be satisfied by simple answers. Tobi knew very little about the Gwrthduwwn aside from the fact that they were highly spiritual creatures. This made her wonder if, at some point, Vawndila would sense the truth on her own. Her father had told her that this spiritual attunement was what had caused their kind to be subjected to such cruelty at the hands of the Given Over.

The Gwrthduwwn were incapable of operating within the dogmatic parameters required to submit. Once this had been discovered, they were immediately demonized with hate campaigns designed to cause fear and garner support for their ritual sacrifice. They were placed together on special patches of land called Hold Sectors. It was the children that were sacrificed, usually between their third and fifth birthday, but some were kept alive for breeding purposes. It was one of the many atrocities on Saturnine.

To be continued…