Tribe: The Red Hand (Tribe Series Book 1) by Kaelyn Ross

Author:Kaelyn Ross [Ross, Kaelyn]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Young Adult Dystopian Science Fiction
Published: 2015-01-01T06:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER THIRTEEN

“You’re awake.”

Kestrel started. Until her mother spoke, she had not been consciously aware that she had been awake for some time, watching in a dreamy daze as a spider stalked a fly across the rough slat boards of her bedroom ceiling. She did not feel ill—a little weak, but otherwise well—and it was obvious she had not been devoured by the walking horrors that had found her. It was all a fever-dream, she thought, relieved.

She rolled her head on the pillow and looked at her mother. “How long have I been here?”

Tessa stopped a stride from the bed. She held a steaming stoneware cup in one hand. Using the other hand, she pushed her dark hair over her shoulder. The sunlight coming through the window flecked the loose strands with copper. A worry-line formed between her eyebrows. “Four days.”

“Four!” Kestrel flung back her blankets and sat up. A bandage under her nightgown shifted on her hip, but other than a slight tightness in the muscles, there was little pain. The same held for her shoulder, belly, and calf.

“The flesh-rot wasn’t too bad, was it?” she asked in a worried voice. “You didn’t have to … cut anything away, did you?”

A hesitant smile crossed Tessa’s lips. “There was no flesh-rot. Your wounds needed cleaning and fresh poultices, but no more than any others I’ve tended. If anything, I’ve never seen such wounds heal so quickly and cleanly. Of course, you’ll have scars. There’s no helping that.”

No flesh-rot? “But what about the fever? I didn’t imagine that.” Kestrel shuddered as hazy memories paraded across her mind. She saw Aiden slaughtering the Stone Dogs, the old city where he had found the firelance pistol, and the river at dusk.

“Your fever had nothing to do with flesh-rot,” Tessa said, taking another hesitant step closer. The worry-line on her brow deepened. “Perhaps you drank some bad water, or ate a poison berry.”

For the first time, Kestrel truly noticed how her mother was behaving, not just concerned, but hesitant. Kestrel could guess why. Aiden must have gone back on his word, and told everyone he helped her.

It took a moment for Kestrel to find the words to express her regret, which sounded inadequate in her mind, and somehow offhanded, despite their sincerity. It took a longer moment to get them out in the open.

“I’m sorry for bringing shame upon our family.”

Tessa blinked. “What are you talking about?”

Kestrel appreciated her mother’s kindness, but sometimes the woman refused to accept the truth before her eyes.

“If I’ve been here four days,” Kestrel began, “then everyone knows Aiden brought me home, and that I—” she closed her eyes against a sudden, burning sting “—that I failed.”

“You didn’t fail. Far from it.” Her mother edged closer, lifted a comforting hand, but stopped short of laying it on Kestrel’s brow. The hint of trepidation Kestrel had noticed had become more evident.

“Aiden should’ve left me to die,” Kestrel said, “but he didn’t. I’m surprised I’ve not been banished already.”

Despite her obvious reluctance to do so, Tessa came closer and placed her wrist against Kestrel’s forehead.

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