Adia did not welcome the days that were to come.
Chapter 3
Though Adia believed she and Arina had made it to her quarters without being noticed, she was wrong. Hakani, the Leader’s mate, had seen them both come in. It was evident to Hakani that Adia was trying to move quietly, unseen, keeping to the shadows. She was carrying a full satchel—and had one of the Brothers’ females with her, which would have been unusual under any circumstances.
Hakani had been hoping her prayers were answered and Adia had met some untimely accident when she did not return earlier. She had been disheartened to see Adia was still in one piece. Despite her disappointment, her curiosity was piqued by what Adia was up to.
Anyone in their right mind would never do what Hakani did next. But whether Hakani was in her right mind, or had been for some time, was up for debate. Her dislike of Adia was so strong it distorted her thinking.
The Healer’s Quarters were sacrosanct. No one would think to enter them without permission and certainly not in the still of the night while the two females slept, defenseless. The Healer’s Quarters were to be entered only by the Healer, the Healer’s Helper, or at the invitation of either.
Driven by the need to know what Adia had smuggled into her quarters, Hakani entered their living area.
The Healer’s Quarters were expansive, with the sleeping area sequestered off to the back, separated from the eating and work areas. She had never been in these quarters before, and she stood in the dark, looking around to get her bearings.
Hakani spied two females resting on sleeping mats with a third on another makeshift arrangement over to the side. She scanned the rest of the area for the satchel Adia had been carrying. She found it next to the work area and realized it was empty when she lifted it.
Fearing she had stayed too long, she turned to leave, but as she did, Hakani saw movement on the sleeping mat next to Adia. She slowly crept back over to the area and bent over the sleeping Healer to see if something there truly had moved or if it was a trick of the dark brought on by her nervousness at what she was doing.
At first, she could not figure out what it was. It was tiny. It was so still that it almost did not look real. What has she found now? An orphaned opossum? Or some other wretched creature injured in the woods?
She gingerly leaned closer, being sure not to lose her balance. Finally, she was close enough to make out what it was.
Her eyes grew wide in disbelief. Her mouth hung open, and she almost gasped out loud but caught herself in time. “Waschini!” The word formed in her mind immediately and almost escaped her lips.
Adia, Healer of the People of the High Rocks, Second Rank over the largest tribe of the People known anywhere, had broken one of the Second Laws. Not just broken it, but shattered it completely. She had brought an Outsider into the community. But not only an Outsider, such as a member of an unfamiliar tribe of the Brothers—no, the worst possible kind.
Hakani smiled, and her heart beat faster as she pictured her mate’s wrath when he learned what Adia had done. He was the Alpha, a male infused with a formidable will, and nothing made him angrier than an affront to his authority. Adia had broken a Second Law, and Hakani understood her mate well enough to know he would take this personally, which would inflame his anger even higher. He was imminently sensitive to the slightest hint of disloyalty, and for someone in Adia’s position to break any of the laws would reflect terribly on him as the Leader.
She backed away from the Waschini offspring, praying it did not make a noise and wake either of the two females. Luckily for me, they are both exhausted from whatever they were up to. Hakani was not sure which she was going to enjoy more—Adia’s punishment at the hands of Khon’Tor, or Khon’Tor’s anger and rage at what Adia had done. Yes, the repercussions are going to be something to relish for a long time.
Hakani was almost hopping with excitement. She could not wait to tell Khon’Tor, and for Adia’s sake, she would make sure to pick the worst moment possible to do so.
Khon’Tor was away, and she just hoped she would not have to wait long.
The Ancients founded the People’s laws. The First Laws established the rules for conduct across all the communities of the People. The Second Laws directed the structure of the communities. They detailed the hierarchy of authority, rules of conduct in conflict, and reverence for females and offspring.
The People were slow to change. For generations, they had lived much as they did now, reminded of who they were by the First and Second Laws. It was mostly unheard of that any of the People would violate the laws, because the laws reflected the values of the People as they naturally lived, instead of controlling them with the threat of consequences. The laws were mostly there to remind the People who they were, and to allow them to connect with the best of themselves. They merely drew a line between what was already part of the People’s intrinsic nature, and what was an aberration. The laws had been formed after a period in their history of much struggle, internal and external.
As she made her way back through the tunnel to the Leader’s Quarters, though never one to give Adia any quarter, Hakani could not help but marvel a bit at the nerve of someone who would risk such a thing. More than anyone, Adia did this knowing full well she was breaking Sacred Law. Hakani hoped Adia’s position as Healer would not mitigate the consequences too much.
She considered how best to let her mate know of the transgression. There were many ways to do it—but one thing Hakani knew for certain; she had to be the one to tell him. I cannot wait too long. I am sure Adia will come forward and tell Khon’Tor herself as soon as she can. Adia is not one to hide from the consequences of her actions.
Had Hakani not despised Adia so deeply for other reasons, she might even have admired the Healer for that quality.
Adia stirred in her sleep. Someone was standing over her. Someone who meant her harm. Her heart beat wildly in her chest. She tried to scream, but nothing came out. She could not move; she could not defend herself. There was no one to help her.
Suddenly, she woke. Her eyes flew open, and she sat up, scanning the room. No one was standing there. She tried to recall who had been leaning over her. She had not been able to make out the face, but the presence had felt like the Leader’s mate, Hakani.
She lay back on her sleeping mat to wait for dawn, unable to shake off the dream. Her thoughts turned to Hakani.
If Khon’Tor was difficult to deal with as the People’s Leader, his mate ran a close second. Hakani was nowhere near as complex as her mate Khon’Tor; she was a female driven purely by ambition. As Leader’s mate, she occupied the Third Rank and obviously enjoyed her position, though it seemed to eat at her that the Healer’s rank fell above her own.
There was more to the tension between them than that, but what, not even Adia’s seventh sense had revealed to her. She registered it as jealousy on Hakani’s part, though she could not understand the source of it. Adia had no interest in the Leader as a mate if that was what Hakani thought. And even if Adia were not forbidden to take a mate, Khon’Tor would never be her choice.
It was not that he was not attractive. Given the chance, there was probably not a female alive who would not stare at him shamelessly. He was huge of stature, broad-chested, with well-developed muscular lines, and the striking silver streak running across his crown made him stand out even more. Considering physical attributes alone, he was extraordinary. But his heart was cold, and he led from an iron will—and there was nothing Adia valued more than heart. And there was nothing of which she was warier than a powerful will disconnected from the guidance of the heart.
Had she even had the right to mate, her choice would never be the Alpha male Khon’Tor, no matter how commanding his presence.
Chapter 4
As soon as there was light to see by, while Arina nursed him, Adia immediately got to work setting up a nesting area for the Outsider. Thank goodness we are at the far end of Kthama. He is going to have to be kept here for now.
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br /> While Adia was making a place for him to sleep by moving some items out of one of the storage alcoves, Nadiwani awoke and started her usual litany of questions in any new situation.
“Do you think it goes through the same cycles as ours? Infancy, Youth, Prime-of-Life, Middle-Age, Senior, Twilight, and then finally, Return to the Great Spirit?”
Taking a break from rearranging the quarters, Adia looked up to answer Nadiwani.
“I do think so, because of the two adults who were murdered where I found him. In the way they were formed, they looked similar to our offspring-bearing age. All the other creatures go through the stages; I do not know why they would be exempt.”
Adia noticed again how quiet the offspring was. Considering what it’s been through, I would think it should be more agitated. Oh no, what if it is sick? What if that is why it was so quiet on the journey here? What if I have not only committed a serious transgression against my people by bringing in an Outsider—what if I brought some contagion in with it?
Adia joined Nadiwani over by the offspring. She lifted it up and inspected it, letting it dangle in front of her. It was incredibly light, and she turned it around, examining its little feet, its toes, its arms, and its fingers.
If this is what the Waschini are like, how could they be such a threat to the People? This is the frailest, most fragile thing I have ever seen.
“Look at it, Nadiwani. It is incredibly pale and has very little hair covering. Its only redeeming quality is that it is so utterly helpless and pathetic—that, and those bright sky-blue eyes.”
She noticed it felt a little cool to the touch, but was not surprised because it had very little natural protection from the elements. All the while she was handling the offspring, it wore the same stupid grin on its face, smiling up at her with those impossibly bright eyes.
Oh, and it stank. This seemed to be a standard quality with the Waschini, from what everyone said of them. And it made their presence easy enough to detect. They were very loud in their speech. They did not know how to move quietly through the forest and made all types of clamor. They left destruction behind them everywhere they went, whacking away at the trees and undergrowth instead of moving branches and bending saplings out of their way. They left behind cast-offs and waste. Worst of all, they relieved themselves everywhere. With the highly tuned senses of the People, it was not hard to know when a Waschini had passed through an area, even if only briefly. Luckily, their presence was a rare occurrence.
For a moment, Adia wondered if it was not sick but was somehow addle-minded. How could something this calm and agreeable grow into a monster? Surely this cooing, ridiculously happy, stinky thing would be the exception to the rule.
Adia sat the offspring down on a bed of reeds. Turning to Nadiwani, she said, “We need to name this offspring. And we need to arrange for a wet nurse here. And for heaven’s sake, we need to clean it up.”
Nadiwani chuckled and said, “I already thought of that. It certainly needs a bath. And it will need to nurse frequently,” she said, signing the word for ‘be at breast’.
Adia scrunched her face up at the thought that she could not expect Arina to stay here indefinitely. The longer this continued, the more she realized she had not worked it through.
There are new mothers with more than enough milk to spare for him. But how in the world am I going to convince any one of them to let this repulsive creature latch on? After all, none of them had heard any redeeming stories about the Waschini. Adia feared it would take all her powers of persuasion to pull this off. It was different for Arina; there was not that much difference physically between the Brothers and the Waschini.
Albeit that some of their differences were great, there were basic structural similarities between the People and the Waschini. Though it was frail now, she was sure it would survive under their care. She almost added the words ‘and grow strong’, but abandoned the thought immediately. Whatever this offspring will be, strength and vigor will not be any of its attributes, she thought—at least not by the People’s standards.
Both the males and females of the tribe respected and looked up to Adia. They knew the character of her father, the previous Leader of the neighboring People of the Deep Valley. They recognized her exceptional skills as a Healer and her deep connection to the Great Mother through the strength of the seventh sense that circulated through her core. She knew she had their favor and their support. But how far can that favor be stretched? Surely there is a breaking point of any loyalty.
Even beyond the overwhelming general goodwill toward her among both genders, the females of the community had an even stronger connection to her. Adia’s position as Second Rank gave voice to females' issues, different from those of the males. Though females of the People were cherished as givers of life and were always to be treated with respect, it comforted them to have someone in a leadership position to speak from their female platform.
Many of the females felt sorry for the restrictions which forbade the Healer to mate and have offspring of her own. The females of the People were natural mothers. They cared deeply for their offspring and took delight in raising and teaching them. Despite whatever glories and honor there were to being a Healer, they knew Adia was missing out on one of a female’s greatest pleasures.
Because of their critical role, Healers were forbidden by the Second Laws to be paired or produce offspring. The threat of the loss of a Healer through complications while carrying and delivering an offspring presented too great a risk. Without a mate or offspring, Healers were committed solely to the welfare of the People. And because they did not have a direct family of their own, their judgment was considered to be more impartial than that of the Leader, who was required to mate and reproduce.
Adia ran through a mental list of the females closest to her in the community. She was seeking those who would be an advocate for her in convincing one of the nursing mothers to help. She knew she would be asking them to join her in this treasonous act. Perhaps even share in punishment down the road. Well, perhaps not treasonous but certainly a crime, as it violated the Second Laws: No Contact With Outsiders.
Though the First Laws had never been modified, as time passed, one additional law had been added: Never Without Consent.
In the history of the People, there had been few violations of either the First or Second Laws. The fact that the Ancients had to add a law banning the nonconsensual mating of a female was a dark stain on the history of the People. Females were revered as givers of life, and to mate with one against her will was anathema. Adia hoped this creature’s mother had passed before the men who killed both his parents had violated her.
She pursed her lips as she went through the candidates from whom she could ask for help.
While Adia was lost in these thoughts, Nadiwani started trying to clean up the offspring.
“It needs a name,” she said when she finally caught Adia’s eye.
“Well, yes, it does. I guess we cannot continue to call it the Outsider, or the Waschini,” agreed Adia. Neither of these terms was complementary and certainly did not set a tone for acceptance of the tiny creature.
She immediately thought of Oh’Mah, which meant Master of the Forest. But, as much as she liked the name, she knew it would only fuel Khon’Tor’s ire.
Adia became silent, suddenly remembering something her father told her long, long ago; something she had forgotten about until now.
“He will be called Oh'Dar,” she said.
“I have not heard that name before. Did you make it up?” asked Nadiwani.
“No. It is from a story my father told me once,” she said quietly.
Since the easiest problem to fix was to clean Oh'Dar up, they took to solving that one first. What they needed was a body of water sufficient to wash the stench off the offspring, and they had nothing of that volume at hand. They dared not use the females’ bathing area for fear of discovery.
Almost simultaneously both said, “Gnoaii!”
&n
bsp; The Mother Stream, which snaked through the lowest level of Kthama, was their most valued resource. Not only did it bring fresh water and oxygen directly into their underground living space, but they had also been able to repurpose parts of it. In places, the Mother Stream split off into other smaller streams, some of which were modified long ago by the People for their specific purposes. Parts of the Mother Stream had been diverted into smaller grottos or enclosed caves, creating several small indoor ponds. Channels similar to the one which brought light into Adia’s quarters enabled moss and other ground covers to grow. At the end of Fall, the People stocked the one called the Gnoaii with fish from the outside rivers and streams.
The Gnoaii was used to winter-over, to keep a food supply of fish available for potential lean stretches. Not yet stocked, the clear waters still trickled slowly through the shallow pool—it was perfect for the task at hand, and the water would be refreshed by the time it was needed.
‘This is good timing, Nadiwani. Most of the community is already going about their business and will be outside. We should be able to sneak little Oh’Dar down to the Gnoaii without being spotted.”
“Well, let’s hope his good nature stands up to this.”
Being careful not to be seen—though few visited during the warmer months—they sneaked Oh’Dar to the Gnoaii. Nadiwani dipped the offspring into the shallowest, warmest part of the quiet waters, and though his blue eyes widened, he only squirmed a little, pulling his toes up at first. The People were not averse to water, but they did not take to it the way this one did, that was certain.
After they had him cleaned up and wrapped in a warm covering, they returned to their quarters. Nadiwani added more wrappings to make sure he did not catch a chill. Being underground, the living areas of the caves were temperate—cooler than the outside temperatures in summer, and warmer in winter months.
Khon'Tor's Wrath Page 3
