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I thought of Vesa and her poor, stupid friends. The men knew some sort of punishment awaited such foolish slaves. They would never be told what it was, though. The General had assured them they would never know.
“Could we help them?” I asked softly.
“We are,” Damien informed me, “they are being saved the wrath of five Warriors that have been wronged. Whatever they suffer now will be less because we are not there.”
It was done and settled. Even I felt at ease with the decision, I would not be to blame for any suffering Vesa faced. Admittedly, she did deserve some form of punishment.
Vesa and her friends had attacked me outright. While they probably didn’t mean to leave lasting scars, none of them expected me to truly fight back. Those foolish girls probably thought they could just scare the secret out of me.
“Our littlest member is a true Warrior!” Kein said raising fist and pumping the air several times.
The other Brothers followed suit in what was a celebration of strength.
“Four against one and beneath the surface of the water,” Evan said proudly, “you used what we taught you well and adapted it to a new circumstance.”
That had been wonderful. It was decided next time we train we’d use sloping terrain or maybe two against one. There were things that would be fun to teach me, especially since I’d proved an adept student.
“You need to know how to defend your back against attack,” Christof said. “Foes do not always come at you from the front, as you learned.”
The rest of the evening was interesting in a strange way. After dinner we sat around the fire and discussed battle strategy. It would be a lie to say I understood all of it on my own, but drawing on their knowledge it did make more sense. We sat and talked until bed.
My rib still hurt when we laid down to sleep, but Kein had a pack of something cool he laid over it. That helped some. He even arranged it so it lay draped over that side as I rested. I slept easier and breathed better when it was present.
It was an uncomfortable night. It wasn’t until the moon set in the morning that I’d finally gotten fully asleep. I felt Evan wake up, but even that was not enough to truly cause me to stir. I just watched from a dream as the men woke and stretched.
The Healers were at our door before the sun started to break the sky. Evan had not woken me, yet. The Healer’s loud voices did, though.
“How did you know?” they kept asking Damien as they bustled into the bedroom.
Kein lit several of the lamps as I roused myself from slumber. I winced and tried to sit up, but Bane knelt on the bed and pushed me back down. He settled beside me and leaned on the post in the center
“They have news,” he said softly looking down, “be comfortable while they tell it.”
The Healers could be wordy, I suddenly knew. They loved to talk and rarely got to the point quickly. Usually they were faster around Damien’s family, probably out of fear, but today they looked like they wanted to revel in the telling.
Evan sat on the end of the bed near my feet. He stroked the foot lovingly, pulling the blanket back and fondling my toes. I had such tiny toes, he’d always thought they were cute. He was completely uninterested in the Healers.This material belongs to NôvelDrama.Org.
In fact none of the men were interested in the Healers. They put on stoic faces that would not offend our company. Internally their conversation was about what we needed to do today. Their disinterest made it hard for me to pay attention.
Bane was right, though. These strange men wanted to draw this out. The Healers asked about me and my prior healing. They wanted to know how I’d reacted to healing cream, the cream for pain, and calming cream. Damien answered all of that politely. Lastly, they asked about the prior pregnancy and how the baby came from my body, but Damien wouldn’t budge on that.
“I will only speak with Nu-reeh’s permission,” he told them stoically.
Damien’s refusal to elaborate stymied them for only a moment, before they were back to talking.
“The fix for the broken bone,” the lead Brother stated triumphantly, “will not hurt a growing child.”
One of the men held up a small device. It had been the one Damien refused to let them use on me the day before.
Damien tried to look as calm as he could, but he could barely stand the irritation these men caused him. Just use it and leave, was his opinion. The sensation was so strong I nearly said it myself.
“The healing cream is not dangerous and can be used as you wish. We believe you all are acquainted with this already,” the lead Healer announced.
Yes, that was a good thing. I’d not thought to question it when they used it during the last pregnancy. For a moment I felt very lucky Hannah had not been harmed.
“The heavy ointment that removes pain,” the Healer said slowly, “may cause the slave to lose the child.”
Now Damien was surprised and looked questioningly over at me. He’d been sorely tempted to put some on my chest as I moaned in my sleep last night. Christof warned him I knew more about pregnancy than they did, though. Best not to tempt ill luck, he’d said, and he’d been correct.
“So,” the lead Healer said, “how did you know?”
Human intelligence was not respected. Damien knew these Healers thought of me as little more than a messy toy, but he told them the truth.
“Ciara, the female, suspected these things could hurt the growing life,” he said simply.
The Healers scoffed and ruffled their brows. Certainly Christof, or perhaps Evan, had given me the idea.
“Humans,” Evan said in a conspiratorial tone, “are quite bright. They are protective of their own young even, amazing quality. It is as though this,” he said pointing to me, “is a sentient being.”
He was being an asshole and grinned at the Healers maliciously. The idiots had no idea the depth of intelligence a human could possess. Damien’s family would educate them, but they didn’t seem receptive. Now we just wanted them to get on with their job and leave.