Ander - Part 3: Subchapter 21
21
It didn't last. Nothing ever does. All the pains came flowing back one by one, but his shoulder and nose were the worst by far, throbbing in the dark like embers.
But why? He knew he must be hurt, but he couldn't remember how it happened...
Did Banno do this to him? Was he lying in Grovenglen right now? Were Kiana and Bethany and Rufio and Layla waiting for him to wake up? That was a nice thought, but it didn't make sense. Banno was dead. All that already happened. It was over...
But where was he now?
His eyes wouldn't open, and he couldn't smell anything except for his own blood. There were noises, here and there, fading in and out. They didn't sound all that muffled, but Ander still couldn't understand them. They were like voices, but talking so fast his muddled brain couldn't keep up. The only sense he had left was touch, so that's what he used for now.
He was lying on something hard and grainy, so a nice warm bed surrounded by a loving foster family of Foxes was definitely out of the question. He moved his body just a little bit, feeling the rough texture of it scratch at his stomach and face. It felt like... dirt? That seemed most likely.
He tried to open his eyes again, but something was wrong. He could feel his eyelids trying to part, but it was as if something was keeping them shut.
And there was something else, too... something that only confused him further. His right side was cold, but his left was warm. Very warm. Uncomfortably warm. Like he was lying next to a giant fire...
That brought it all rushing back: the trial, his sentence, the savage beating he took at the hands of Garten and the others. The rock.
He suddenly realized why his eyes wouldn't open.
They were glued shut by his own dried blood.
Ander tried again, and this time his eyes practically flew open with a rather unpleasant tearing sensation, with bits of coagulated blood clumping and crinkling together as his eyelids peeled back.
He could see the fire, still blazing merrily. Either he wasn't out for very long, or somebody had added more wood while he was out.
Ander blinked a few times, trying to get the blurriness out of his vision. There was a detail that just didn't make any sense, but it wouldn't disappear, no matter how hard he tried. He couldn't be seeing what he thought he was seeing. It wasn't allowed. And yet there it was.
Somebody had laid a spear on the ground, pointed towards the fire. Its head was buried in a small pile of burning coals.
"You think he really is dead?"
The voices were becoming clear again, but Ander wasn't so sure that was necessarily a good thing.
"Nah, he's still breathing. Took one hell of a hit, though."
"Yeah, Garten almost ruined it for everybody."
"Hey! I think he's coming to."
The light told him it was still night time. The voices told him it was still night time. Even the blood clinging to his fur - sticky, but not completely dry yet - told him it was still night time.
No, it's not, he told himself. You are going to roll over, and when you do, you are going to look straight up at the sun. It'll sting your eyes, but that's okay, because it will mean the night is over. You'll go back to Grovenglen, and the look on Kiana's face when she sees you coming over that hill will make it all worthwhile. All the pain... all the suffering... it's over. All you have to do is turn over and see the sun. If you can do that, you'll finally be happy. You'll finally have a real home. You'll finally be able to love and be loved.
All you have to do is turn over...
And see the sun.
Ander slowly pushed himself off the ground, his shoulder screaming in agony, and flipped himself over onto his back. Panting for breath, he looked straight up -
... at the glowing quarter moon, still high in the sky, barely a few inches from where it was the last time he checked, looking down at him with disdain.
This truly was turning into a never-ending night.
Garten's face suddenly appeared and blocked his sight of that wicked moon. It didn't do anything to improve the view, though. "Hey there, sleepyhead! Enjoy your nap?"
"Immensely." Ander's voice came out in a husky croak, but Garten caught the gist of it just fine.
"Good! For a minute there I thought I might have hit you too hard. Would've been such a shame. See, I was content just to punish you for murdering Banno, but you just had to go and make it personal, didn't you? Since you like mind games so much, I thought I'd prepare one of my own. Now, get up."
Ander didn't like the sound of that.
"I said, get up!"
Ander managed to get back up on his knees, not because Garten ordered him to, but because he wouldn't be able to defend himself lying down.
He didn't get a chance to go any further, though.
Garten dropped down behind him and reached his arm around Ander's neck in a one-armed choke-hold, effectively pinning him in this kneeling position. Ander instinctively grabbed at Garten's arm, but it soon became evident that Garten wasn't trying to choke him. He was merely keeping him in place for some reason.
It was difficult to talk with the crook of Garten's elbow pressing against his throat and his arm pushing up against his chin, but Ander managed it somehow. "Is this the mind game you were talking about?" he asked, forcing the words out between his clenched teeth. "'Cause if it is, I'm rather disappointed." He could still breathe without any trouble, but Garten could put a stop to that at any moment just by increasing the pressure.
"Oh, you wish!" Ander couldn't see Garten's face anymore, but he knew the Wolf was smiling, probably licking his teeth, too. "Hey, Dorin! Bring him out!"
"Coming, Sai."
"Who do you...?" Ander started, but his voice simply drifted away as the crowd parted and Dorin stepped forward. He held Ander's broken bow in one hand, and the other was resting lightly on Hezzi's shoulder.
"You bas-"
Garten tightened his hold around Ander's neck, cutting off his air.
"Hmm? Were you saying something?" he asked as Ander clawed at his bulging bicep. He held the hold for a few more seconds, then eased up.
"You bastard!" Ander finished what he had started out to say, speaking quickly before Garten could squeeze his windpipe shut again. "Hezzi has nothing to do with this! You let him go right now, or I swear I will -"
"Calm yourself, Ander," Garten chuckled. "You act as if we've taken him hostage. Maybe your eyes are still a bit sleepy. Go on, take a closer look."
Ander did just that.
Hezzi was indeed looking nervous, fearful even, but there were no ropes or chains. He wasn't bound in any way. Even Dorin's grip seemed light, only there to guide him, and not restrain in any way.
"See? We're not forcing him to do anything. We're simply... giving him what he's owed. A chance to avenge his big brother. Surely he, if no one else, is deserving of such an honour."
Hezzi's eyes darted from Dorin to Garten to the snickering, anonymous faces in the crowd, from the sky to the fire to the ground and back again. Everywhere except at his older brother, kneeling on the cold, hard ground.
What are they planning? Ander thought feverishly. What are they going to make him do?
"I have a question for you, Hezzi," Garten said. "Tell me, which eye was it?"
Hezzi looked confused, and fidgeted uncomfortably beneath Dorin's grip. Over his shoulder, Renna had worked her way to the edge of the crowd. She had both hands covering her mouth, and her eyes were bloodshot, as if she'd been crying all night long. Ander knew exactly what she was feeling in this moment, because it was the exact same thing he was feeling. They both wanted to go to him, even if just for a little while. Just to tell him that it was okay.
That it wasn't his fault.
"Answer me, pup!" Garten shouted, making Hezzi cringe.
"I - I don't..."
"Which eye!? Which eye did this bastard take from Banno!?" Garten tightened his grip until Ander could do no more than suck in small, wheezing breaths.
"The right one, I think," Hezzi replied immediately.
"Good. Dorin, give it to him."
"Yes, Sai." Dorin held Ander's broken bow out to Hezzi, holding it by the string so that the two halves clacked gently against each other in the breeze. Hezzi only stared at it is if he had never seen such a thing in his life. "You'd better go on and take it, son," Dorin said. "Before Garten loses his patience again."
Hezzi took one half of the broken bow with trembling fingers while the other half dropped down to his knees and swung there like a pendulum, spinning around and around. "What am I supposed to do with this?"
Garten motioned for Hezzi to come closer. The young Wolf took two hesitant steps forward, but Garten continued, curling his finger up repeatedly until Hezzi was standing right in front of them.
Ander hasn't seen his little brother up close like this since he first came in through the gates. Garten had held him from behind that time, too, but that was where the similarities ended.
Hezzi didn't look angry, just hurt and confused. His hair was a mess, and he was looking down at the piece of wood in his hands as if it was a slumbering snake that could come alive at any second.
"You are going to take that bow..." Garten said, speaking softly, so that only Ander and Hezzi could hear, "...and you are going to gouge out your brother's right eye."
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