Chapter 8 Hanne
HANNE
Now that I’d begun the garden and harvested another round of vegetables to add to the stew, the general animosity from the group seemed to have faded.
But still, no one spoke to me. Once our relationship had been born in silence, it seemed impossible to change.
I was still an outsider, but at least I wasn’t an unwanted outsider anymore.
I went to breakfast after I woke up and carried my bowl of stew to the table where Morco had been working.
The wood had been carved to a slender length where the wings of the bow were located, and there was a noticeable handle in the center to grip.
He must have worked on this after I’d gone to sleep, continued to carve it until it was perfect, the edge slightly curved to hold the string.
Now, we just needed to make it bend.
I sat down and ate as I admired it, trying to curb my enthusiasm because an integral part was still missing—the string.
Not just any type of string could be used, not unless it had that taut tension and stretch that bounced right back.
I’d have to search through all the vegetation this land had to offer in search of a fiber that would work.
Morco arrived at the Gathering moments later, dressed in a dark long-sleeved shirt and trousers, his hair as dark as the distant night, his eyes harsh and unforgiving. Instead of heading to the cook to get his stew, he searched the tables until he found me.
A flush moved up my neck every time I saw him.
With every passing day, it got worse, an unmistakable gnawing in my stomach that burned white-hot.
I’d seen boys who gave my heart flutters, but this was…
a lot more intense. Its strength was nearly painful, and sometimes it burned so hot, I just wanted it to stop.
He crossed the sea of tables and drew close, but once I could see the details of his face, I knew something was off. The color of his skin was paler than usual, his eyes more irritable, like he was already in a bad mood even though he must have just woken up.
He took a seat at the table, and that was when I noticed the sheen of sweat on his forehead. It was subtle, something no one else would have noticed, but I studied his features so much I would notice if a single hair were out of place.
He looked like he’d been struck with a harsh cold, except his nose wasn’t red and runny, and he didn’t have a cough. But he looked sick, so sick it seemed to take all his effort just to come here.
“You’re ill.” My hand instinctively went to his on the table, not caring if I caught whatever had stricken such a strong man.
His eyes dropped to my touch. His fingers were lifeless at first, but then they moved deeper into my palm until they wrapped around my thumb and wrist. His breaths were shallower than they normally were, visibly strained, like he carried mountains on his heavy shoulders.
He stayed that way for a while, just looking at our joined hands. Then he pulled away, withdrew his warm fingers from mine, and reached for his sleeve before he pushed it up to his elbow.
I gasped.
The wound had festered, turning a deep yellow with fibered webbing over the surface, dried pus in place where it had oozed then solidified. The infection was advanced, covering the bite completely.
“Oh fuck.”
He pulled the sleeve down again, his skin tinted red from the sickness that had now traveled to the rest of his body. It must have weakened him considerably if he wasn’t too proud enough to hide it. That meant he felt a million times worse than he looked—and he looked bad.
“Why didn’t you say anything?”
“What difference would it have made?”
“Do you have medicine?” I already knew the answer to that, because he would have used it if he did. He wouldn’t have waited until he was on death’s doorstep before addressing it.
“We used to…but not anymore.”
“Morco, if we don’t stop this now, it’ll kill you.”
He wouldn’t look at me. Didn’t react to the harsh thing I’d just said. “It’s done.”
I reflected on the last few days, searching for the signs that I’d missed of his illness and finding nothing. Except the fact that he hadn’t wanted to accompany us back to the forest, but he’d gone because I’d asked. “I’m sorry I asked you to come with us.”
His eyes remained elsewhere. “I don’t believe in nonsense, but I believe you came here for a reason.” It took time for his eyes to find mine, and when they did, they had a surge of strength. “I believe you’re what we’ve been waiting for all this time.”
“Morco, I just know a bit about gardening—”
“You’re far more capable than you realize. Remember that.”
“Please don’t talk like this.”
“Caius will lead in my stead, and I need you to help him.”
“No.” I shook my head, on the verge of tears. “Please, stop.”
“Finish the bow. Find the poison. Avenge my people.”
“I will find medicine for you.”
“We both know I don’t have time for that.”
“Then why didn’t you say something before?” My voice echoed around the Gathering and others turned to look at me, but I focused on Morco.
He kept his voice calm, his eyes hard. “Because I would never want you to risk your life for mine. I’ve had a decade to avenge my people, and I’ve got nothing to show for it. You’ve been here for two weeks, and look what you’ve done.”
“That’s not true.”
His eyes glazed over for a second, as if his mind flickered for a moment. He looked dazed, slightly confused. He took a pained breath before he forced himself to his feet and slowly walked off. “Caius.”
Caius was on the other side of the tables, eating with a group of guys, but he must have recognized something was amiss because he immediately abandoned the table and hurried to Morco’s side.
I rushed from the table and moved under Morco’s arm, supporting him when he looked on the verge of collapse.
Caius understood in an instant and took my place supporting Morco. They engaged in quiet conversation as they walked away, Morco’s movements getting progressively slower as his weakness deepened.
The revelation left me in shock for a heavy moment, tears burning in my eyes. Morco was all I had in this strange place. Without him, whatever light I felt would be gone forever. Once my body could finally move again, I left the Gathering and went after them both.
I entered the cabin and found Morco seated in an armchair, already coated in visible sweat from just the short walk from the Gathering.
He was so out of it that he didn’t even notice I let myself inside, didn’t notice me standing there because he was focused on Caius.
“Protect Hanne. Kill Krull if you need to. He’s expendable.
” He stopped to take a strained breath. “She’s not. ”
Caius glanced at me, his face horrified because he’d had just as much time as I had to process all of this.
Morco continued, unaware I was there. “She’ll try to save me…don’t let her.” His eyes closed, and he rested against the chair, like he didn’t have the energy to say anything else. His body relaxed as if he fell unconscious, his breathing still moving his chest visibly.
Caius shifted his stare to me before he pulled up the right sleeve over Morco’s arm and saw the evidence.
“Fuck, Morco.” He got to his feet and put both hands on his head, clearly at a loss for direction without someone to issue orders.
“Did you know about this?” He turned to me, yelling loud enough to shake the cabin.
“No. You think I would have done nothing all this time?”
“Fuck.” He started to pace, dragging his hands down his face. “What the fuck do we do? Just sit here and wait for him to die?”
I knew what I had to do—and I suddenly wasn’t scared to do it.
“I know what he needs. I—I just need to get it.” The Pedalium flower was harvested for its healing properties to combat sicknesses like this.
It was potent, could be applied directly inside a cut or ingested orally.
In Morco’s case, he would need both—and he would need it quickly.
“It grows in full sunlight, so…I need to go to the apricum.” Back to where this adventure had started, with wolves on the hunt and beings that no one wanted to describe to me.
Caius’s face went as pale as Morco’s. “He just said you can’t leave.”
“Try and stop me.” I felt the tears behind my eyes, the emotion for a man whose surface I’d only explored.
Everything underneath was buried gold I hadn’t even had a chance to mine.
In some ways, he was still a stranger, but he was the only stranger who was worth my life.
“I know the risks, and I don’t care. But I need a guide because I don’t know the way.
” I couldn’t do this alone, and the only person I wanted to do it with was dying.
Caius released a heavy sigh. “He put me in charge. I can’t leave.”
“You’re the only person besides him that I trust. And we have to go now.”
“This is the exact opposite of what he said.”
“I can save him.” The tears escaped and poured down my cheeks. “Now, fucking help me do that.”
He stared me down as he breathed, the internal debate burning behind his eyes. Seconds passed before he released a heavy sigh. “You don’t know what they’re capable of. If we’re captured, they’ll torture us. And if we’re lucky…they’ll kill us.”
In any other circumstance, I would have been too scared to go. But the fear of losing Morco was somehow greater. “I know what I’m capable of.” A pair of tears streaked down my cheeks. “And I know I can do this.”
Caius informed the Elders of Morco’s condition and appointed Liam to lead in his absence. We grabbed our packs, stuffed them with dried meat, and filled our canteens with water before we set off. There wasn’t time to say goodbye to anyone, not that I had anyone to say goodbye to.
We rowed across the lake. Caius did most of the work, but I kept up better than I ever had before. Either because my endurance had strengthened—or because every minute was life or death.