Ander - Part 3: Subchapter 27
27
"How is he, Shekka?" Kadai asked. The insufferable Wolf has been hovering over her shoulder ever since he woke up.
"No different from the last time you asked me."
You betrayer you devil you piece of filth how could you keep something like that from me!?
"But will he be all right?"
"I don't know!" Shekka screamed, making Kadai flinch. "Just stay away and let me work!"
Kadai opened his mouth, perhaps to say something, but then thought better of it. He nodded his puffed up head and took a step back, finally giving her the space she needed.
They should have punched you much harder than that. After throwing away the last shred of honour this family had left, you got off easy, much too easy...
But now to focus on the task at hand: her idiotic drisa, writhing and moaning on her worktable, bleeding all over the place. There were little grooves cut into the wood to drain the blood away (Ander's idea, of course), but Hezzi was bleeding so badly they were already overflowing, the neat, straight lines turning into messy red splashes.
"Why are you standing over there like an idiot, Kadai!?"
"You said -"
"Forget what I said and hold him down!"
Kadai quickly grabbed hold of Hezzi's squirming arms and pinned him down against the table. While he was doing that, Shekka took the third bowl from the second shelf of her rack of supplies (also built by Ander).
"Now, Hezzi, this might feel a bit strange, but - For the love of the Cora stop moving!"
Hezzi tried his very best to lie still, the poor boy, but she couldn't expect him to do anything about the shaking or the rapid breathing. Still, if he hadn't been such a fool, then none of this would have happened. Honestly, she couldn't even blame Garten. At least he was a proper Wolf, like Banno... used to be.
She traced the cut with her fingers and slowly poured a thin line of aloe vera oil into the wound, which would keep any impure spirits out. It would do nothing to stop the bleeding though. For that she needed something more hefty.
She reached for a bowl of animal grease, but...
Why was everything suddenly so quiet?
She swivelled her ears around, listening intently. They were shouting and screaming so loudly just a while ago, but now everything had gone dead quiet. Did that mean...?
Was it over? Was Ander dead? Was that filthy piece of false blood that had murdered her true son finally dead?
"Shekka? What are you -"
"Ssh!" Shekka raised a finger to her lips. There was a bitter mixture of aloe and blood clinging to it, but she didn't mind the taste. It was the taste of good, honest work, work that would save the only real son she had left, work that would somehow fix this catastrophe of a family. With Ander gone, all that remained was Kadai. She would have to do something about him. She just didn't know what. But it would come to her, she was sure of that. The Cora would guide her.
She could hear footsteps rapidly approaching her tent, and seconds later someone threw the flap open and stuck his head inside. She could tell it was a male just by the way he was breathing.
"Chieftain! Shekka Kai! It's Ander! He ..."
"Is he dead?" Shekka asked, keeping her head down. She didn't trust herself not to suddenly break out into a smile.
"No! He... He just killed Garten!"
"What!?" Shekka and Kadai said together.
"It's... I don't... He's totally lost it! He's gone completely crazy! It's like he's being possessed or something! He said he'll kill us all!"
"N-No..." Hezzi said, straining against his Kadai's grip.
"I told you to stay still, pup!" Shekka barked. "Your wound is still open!"
"He'd never say that..." Hezzi said through gritted teeth. "Ander would never..."
"_Ander_wouldn't," the messenger agreed. Shekka didn't know his name. "But I'm not sure that's still Ander in there."
"What do you mean?" Kadai asked.
"You didn't see what was going on out there, neither of you. Some are saying it was just bad luck, the way Garten fell into the bonfire, but I know it wasn't! He planned it that way! The whole thing! Ander burned Garten half to death and then finished him off with a knife!"
Ander did that? No, Shekka couldn't believe that. The same boy who once fought with Banno over the life of a lizard? The same boy who nearly broke his neck trying to put a baby bird back in its nest? That same boy, that very same boy, threw a Wolf into a fire and then stabbed him to death? But maybe she shouldn't be so surprised. He killed Banno, after all. But still, that Ander was capable of such things...
Aargh! Shekka didn't have the time to think about this right now! Hezzi was getting more and more restless, shaking his head, clawing at the wood. He was absolutely beside himself. "Let me go!" he said, straining to -
Was the fool actually trying to get back up?
Wonders will never cease. Shekka could see the thin blurry red line across his stomach turn into a thick blurry red line after every failed attempt. It was the cut gaping open like a second mouth every time he moved. At this rate the little snot really would end up killing himself.
"Hezzi, you're hurt!" Kadai said. "Stay still and let your mother treat you!"
"No! Ander needs me! He needs... he needs... me..."
Hezzi's head hit the table with a funny little dok! sound, his eyes glazed over. Well, it would have been funny, were he not on the verge of death. But at least now he was quiet.
Shekka scooped up a handful of grease and slathered it across her son's stomach, sealing the wound. "You there," she said over her shoulder, "let us know if anything else happens out there."
"I can't do that, Kai," the Wolf said, his voice trembling with fear.
"Why not!?"
"I'm very sorry, Kai, it's just... I'm not staying here any longer! I know a safe little place in the woods. I'll go there. Just for tonight, mind you. I'll come back once this... all of this, is finally over."
"You call yourself a Wolf!?" Shekka screamed, applying a second layer of grease to the cut. She knew she shouldn't be rubbing so hard, but damn this was turning into the most infuriating night of her life.
"Ander killed Banno, and now he killed Garten! Those were the two strongest Wolves this tribe had to offer and Ander killed them like it was nothing! What chance do I have against that demon? I'm just a -"
"Are you stupid as well as cowardly!? What makes you think you have to fight him alone? Are you not seven hundred strong at least!? Ander's been thrown to the Wolves in the Cora's name! That means all the Wolves! Not just Garten!"
"Shekka, that is your son out there!" Kadai said.
No he's not!! Shekka had to bite her tongue to keep from saying that out loud. For a moment she came dangerously close to saying it anyway. She screamed at him in her head, throwing her thoughts at him like spears, wishing in her heart that they could have been real, like the one that had cleaved open her poor little foolish Hezzi. Ander may be your son, but he's not mine! He belongs to some Fox bitch named Sarah! I almost died giving birth to a beautiful baby girl, my only enka! And you spirited her away and buried her in the mud before I even had a chance to see her! I couldn't even cry for her passing because I never knew she existed! All so you could keep your wretched affair a secret! I hate you, Kadai! I hate you!
What she ended up saying was: "I'm sorry, Kadai. Tonight has been very difficult for me. I just wish it to end."
Kadai sighed. "Me too."
"Um..." The Wolf's voice was further away now. Coward must have been inching away for quite a while. "Just thought I'd inform you of the situation. Chieftain, Kai. I'll be leaving now."
"Go hide in your hole," Shekka said, but the Wolf whose name she did not know was already gone. She could hear him running for the South gate, his footfalls growing softer and softer until they disappeared completely. "You should give that one a proper punishment when he comes back, Kadai," she said, applying yet another layer of grease. The blood kept seeping through, turning it into a gunky mess.
"Punishment? For what?"
"For running away from the execution! From his duty as a Wolf!"
"There's no law that says that every Wolf needs to participate when one is Thrown to the Wolves. Normally it's just the friends and family of the one who has been wronged that feel the need to -"
"But what about you!? Do you have any idea how much respect you've lost tonight? Look at you! You were struck down by your own people! That's something that never would have happened! You need to step up and remind them that you are Kadai! You are their Chieftain! And you better do it quick!"
"By punishing Vindi for deciding not to participate in the execution of our son? Are you even listening to yourself, Shekka?"
He is not my son...
"Shekka?"
"Of course, Kadai. You're right. Unfair punishment would only incite them further."
He is not my son... and you are not my mate!
Kadai nodded, but he still had a suspicious look in his eye. Shekka pretended not to see, and tended to Hezzi's wound.
I will get you back for what you did, Kadai. I swear it to the Cora...
I will make you pay...
Shekka's medical techniques aren't quite as modern or refined as Bethany's, but in ancient times people really did seal wounds with animal grease. Nasty, I know, but hooray for historical accuracy! xP
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