by Sandra Lang
Voices. I can hear low voices. They disturb my sleep and I want to tell them to be quiet. I roll over to put my back to the noise. My foot scrapes the underside of my blanket and pain shoots up my leg. My eyes snap open and I sit up too quickly.
The blood rushes to my head and I am temporarily disoriented. I blink a few times to bring sight back to my eyes. The wood of my sleeping platform creaks and a tentative hand rests on my shoulder. I look in the direction the arm came from as Tala comes into focus. I frown as my mind unravels the haze.
“Are you okay?” she asks.
“What is going on?” I ask shrugging her hand off of me.
“You fainted,” comes my mother’s voice from across the tent. I rub the sleep from my eyes and try to remember… oh… that I was burned.
I remember Tarok had been holding me when I passed out. Burning my own toes was not enough, oh no! I had to go and faint as well. This day, I am sure, cannot get any more embarrassing or any worse.
“Tarok left not long ago, in case you were wondering,” Tala supplies.
“Oh.” This disheartens me more than it should.
“He said he would be back though.”
“Did you tell him it was not necessary? That I will be fine?”
My mother places her hands on her hips and frowns down at me. “Akari, that boy is in love with you. I doubt there is anything that could keep him away.”
I smirk. “You all seem to be doing a pretty good job of it.”
“Your father practically dragged him out of here.”
“Why would he do that?”
“Because Tarok would have stayed here all night if we let him.”
I smile sadly as I look down at my wrapped foot. “Will it heal?”
“Yes,” my mother says, “but you are going to have to take it easy.”
“That is going to be difficult. We are supposed to leave for the village the day after tomorrow.”
“I am sure we will find a way to get you to the village.” Mother hands me a cup of warm tea which I sip greedily.
“Where is Sarali?” I ask finally noticing that she has been gone.
“She and Liral went back to Deep Forest,” Tala answers.
“So why are you still here?” I ask a bit more harshly than I meant.
“The hunters returned while you were out. I will leave it to you to figure out where our sister has gone and why.”
I sit up and attempt to get out of my bed. “Should I be giving a blessing or something?”
“No, you are to stay in bed,” my mother commands.
“Besides,” Tala smiles, “it is not like the food needs to be blessed or anything. Eating food that was not caught last summer is blessing enough!”
“So Tarok and Father are helping the hunters.” I cringe at the thought of them preparing the meat. I should not – having grown up with it all my life – but it still makes me a little queasy. The animals were spirits after all. But my people need to eat and these bodies are providing us that chance to keep living.
“And will not be back until the morning. So you should sleep.” My mother takes the cup from my hands and pushes my shoulders downward.
“Fine.” I grumble and move gently back beneath the blankets and fall asleep.
Tarok visits around midmorning. He looks relieved to find that I am awake and doing well. He stands in the doorway, his body held stiffly. My mother and Tala excuse themselves from the tent, leaving us alone. I want them to go but at the same time I want them to stay. What am I supposed to say to him? I fainted on him the day before… oh, I knew everything was going to change for the worse when I realized I liked him as more than a friend.
“Does it hurt?” he asks.
I shrug. “Whatever my mother is doing to it lessens the pain.”
“That is good.” He smiles weakly.
A few awkward silences later, he kneels next to my sleeping platform. “I should have made sure you grabbed your boots, Akari. I am very sorry.”
My eyebrows furrow together and I look at him as if he has grown another head. “I am sorry; I do not think I heard you correctly. It sounded like you apologized to me.”
He nods his head and I can see the turmoil behind his dark brown eyes.
“Tarok, it was an accident. Someone probably was not careful when they were stoking the fire and some coals got into my boot. It is nothing to apologize for.”
“As the future Chief of this tribe, it is my responsibility to protect my people from harm.”
I frown at him. “You are impossible, you know that? You cannot protect everyone at all times, Tarok. It is a goal that we mere mortals cannot hope to attain.”
All too quickly his warrior’s reserve returns. He straightens himself and sets his shoulders back. “I am glad to see that you are well, Wise Woman. I do hope that you recover quickly.” He stands in the same fluid manner I had seen the day before. With a few strides he quickly crosses the length of the tent and vanishes behind the door flap.
