Chapter 188

I smiled down at my daughter. This whole world would be hers to explore one day. Evidently, that’s the way she was programmed.

“You can’t go out there, yet,” I told her gently. “Now we are going to eat.”

Hannah pouted and squirmed in my arms.

“I ate,” Hannah whined, “go out and see the sky. I want see the Scars. I want out, Mama.”

“You will go out soon enough,” I soothed. “The whole world will be yours, my girl.”

I looked into her bright grey eyes and knew that while she had my mother’s nose and my skin, she was her father’s daughter. This girl was Paterian through and through. I wasn’t sure if I should be elated or worried about that.

The men in the dining room were fascinated and frightened by my daughter all at once. The entire hall went silent the first time Hannah spoke. In a high clear voice she had told me she wanted to try the green stalks.

“No, Hannah, you don’t have teeth, yet,” I explained. “You need teeth to chew them.”

She