Page 114 of Mates for the Raskarrans #1-6

“So,” Grace says, Sally translating her words for me, “how are you feeling generally?”

“Um, okay?” Lorna replies. She gestures to her arm. “Frustrated that I cannot do more.”

“Go easy on yourself,” Grace says. “The broken bones I dealt with back home took many, many sunsets to heal. It has only been a few for you.”

“The djenti berries will speed your healing,” I tell her, holding out my hand.

She presents her arm to me, and I remove the support, probing along the lines of her wrist down to her elbow with my fingers.

The swelling has reduced a lot, and she does not wince when I apply a little pressure.

I suspect the bone is most of the way healed, but as she is recovering from her fever as well, I would not count on the berries to heal her completely.

They do much to speed healing, but there is only so much they can do before the body needs rest, good food, and time to complete the healing processes.

I tighten the support around her arm again.

“It feels good. A few more sunsets, I think, and you will be able to take this off. Start working on rebuilding your strength.”

“It is not just my arm. It is everything. I feel very lacking in fitness. Weak. I get tired so easily. I do not wish to be a burden to the tribe.”

“ Idonthinkanywunthinksthat .” Grace is quick with reassurances while Sally finishes translating.

“A tribe is like a net,” I say. “It is there to catch you when you are weakened through injury or sickness and cannot take care of yourself. One sunset, perhaps even many seasons from now, another will require your aid, and you will help them as you were helped, and this way the whole tribe is kept strong. It is the natural way of things, not a burden.”

“This is a difficult thing for my sisters to understand,” Sally says. “It was not that way where we come from.”

“Tiredness is likely mostly down to your lack of good eating,” I tell her.

“You were very sick, Lorna. It will take you longer than your sisters to recover. But if you feel you can manage it, gentle exercise will help you to improve your endurance. It might make you even more tired to start with, but you will see improvement over time. A walk around our territory would be a good place to start. I would be happy to go with you any time.”

I think it is probably wise that no female strays far from the village without an escort.

We do not know whether the Cliff Top tribe will return for their missing brothers.

A female alone would be defenceless. It has not been an issue so far, as apart from Ellie, who goes hunting with Anghar, and Khadija, who likes to help the warriors on their patrols, none of the females have shown any interest in leaving the safety of the village.

I know if Lorna accepts my offer, it is because she is sensible and does not wish to put herself at risk, and yet my heartspace beats hard in my chest, as if it could mean more than that.

“I would be very grateful,” she says, and I have to fight to keep a grin from breaking out across my face.

Grace asks Lorna about her eating and sleeping, whether she feels she is putting on weight, whether she is anxious in her new home. I am pleased when Lorna says that, aside from her worries about not doing enough to help, she feels comfortable in the village. That she likes it here.

“Is there anything you wish to speak with us about?” Grace asks, but before Lorna can answer, there is a squawk, a crash, and a sudden outburst of tears from Ahnjas.

He has crawled away from the pelts Lorna set out for him, and tried to pull himself up on a cloth on Lorna’s sideboard.

Only, he has pulled it down, a basket with it, and the basket has bumped against his head.

It is a reed basket, only very light, and though it will have hurt him, I think his tears are more shocked than pained.

Sally goes to push herself out of her chair, but Lorna gets up.

“ Ahvegothim. ”

She goes to Ahnjas, picking him up a little awkwardly as she tries to take more of his weight with her good arm.

“ Ohdear ,” she says, brushing his hair aside to reveal a small bump on his head. “ Wotasillythingtodo. ”

She sits him down on the sideboard, next to her water bowl, and grabs the cloth that Ahnjas pulled down, wetting it before holding it gently against his head.

Ahnjas wails noisily, fat tears rolling down his cheeks.

I can sense Grace’s distress, her body tense where she stands next to me, but Lorna is calm, as if unaffected by his cries.

“ Wotalotoffuss, ” she says, her voice song-like as she strokes away the tears on his cheeks. “ Thatbasketwuzempty. Ahnoitdiddenhurtthatmuch. Yuhnohoweyeno?”

She reaches across to a pot on her sideboard, lifting off the lid and pulling a piece of dried fruit out from inside it. She holds it up in front of Ahnjas, and abruptly as they started, his tears stop, his eyes brightening as he reaches for the sweet treat.

“ Ahmnotsayinureafaker, ” Lorna says, teasing Ahnjas by holding the piece of fruit just out of reach, “ butahthinkyuhmitehaveoverreacted.”

Ahnjas opens and closes his fingers, stretching for the treat.

Lorna lets him have it, using his distraction to brush back his hair to look at the bump once more.

I can see from where I am that it is already fading, the skin no longer as angry as it was even a few moments ago.

A minor injury that the djenti berry tonic he had earlier will take care of for him.

She uses the cloth to dry his cheeks and wipe his nose before throwing it over to her laundry basket.

“ Momo? ” Ahnjas says, holding up an empty hand.

“ Wun.” Lorna holds up one finger to him before fetching him another piece of dried fruit.

She smiles as she passes it to him. I thought her beautiful when she was feverish, gaunt with lack of food, her skin grey and sickly, her hair matted, her whole body filthy.

Even on that first night when Grace feared she would die, I could see through it to the female underneath, my heartspace singing its joyous song to be near her.

Here, now, smiling at Ahnjas, her whole being alight with her own joy in him, she is more than just beautiful.

She is radiant.

Lina has not joined our dreamspaces yet, and with every day that passes, it seems more and more unlikely that it will happen.

If I am honest with myself, she is already well enough that her dreamspace could form.

But in this one thing, I try not to be honest with myself.

I try to believe there is still a chance that the dreamspace could form for us this night.

I do not think I could bear it if she mated to another.

But I swallow down my feelings, stuff them into the back of my headspace for now, then glance at Sally, grinning.

“I think we have found a candidate for watching over Ahnjas for you.”