The Black Trials (The Trials Duology Book 1) by Tara Benham

Author:Tara Benham [Benham, Tara]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: YA, Tara Benham, young adult, The Black Trials
Published: 2017-09-06T05:00:00+00:00

Ten

I awoke to the smell of something cooking. My mouth was watering. I stretched to wake up my muscles. I looked around noticing both Radek and Yakue were nowhere in sight. I opened the door I’d been lying in front of and saw them outside, not really interacting so much as paralleling each other’s actions. Yakue was cooking, while Radek was gathering vegetables from the garden. He looked to be carefully selecting those close to being too ripe. I gathered my gear in one pile and left it close to the door. Outside I took a seat near the fire, as the morning was frosty. While I was warming up, Yakue brought me a warm drink in a makeshift cup of leaves.

“Drink.” She pushed it toward my lips.

I glanced to Radek, who gave a quick nod, and I sipped. I don’t know what was inside, but it was delicious, so warm and rich tasting. It was surprisingly filling, too. I finished it in no time, taking care to see how the cup was made. There was some sort of binding holding the leaves, and something had to be sealing the leaves as well because the liquid wasn’t leaking. I recalled how prehistoric people would seal their cups and bowls, and decided I was better off not knowing.

“How did you sleep?” I looked Radek.

“I slept well. First time in forever I can remember not having any dreams. You?”

“Same. I wonder if the church has something to do with that?”

“That, or we were both exhausted,” he smirked.

“Yakue, what are you cooking? It smells delicious.”

“Rabbit.”

She was making herself busy, watching us interact as she finished the meal. The baby was on her back but was becoming fussy. I watched as she seamlessly turned her wrap around so that the baby was on her chest, nuzzling up, and falling quickly back to sleep. I went to help Radek finish gathering the vegetables. We buried them on the edge and raked some of the embers over them to help cook them quicker. I noticed Yakue observe this action with curiosity, but she didn’t question our techniques.

“Ready,” she called us over, placing pieces of the rabbit for each of us on flat rocks shaped like plates.

We waited until we had finished the rabbit before digging the vegetables out to eat. Yakue was highly amused and looked very surprised at how well the technique had worked. She ate happily, smacking her lips together in appreciation. Occasionally, she would take some of the mush from chewing the veggies and place it on the lips of the baby, who seemed content to eat whatever her mother would give her.

“Radek, what should we do today?”

“Let’s explore a little. We’ll never face our fears hiding out here.”

“Yakue, do you want to go exploring with us?”

“No. I stay here. Safe with baby. You stay too.”

“We can’t. We have things we have to do, the reason we are here. I would like to stay here, but, I agree it is probably best that you stay, especially with the baby.

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