The Clinic

 

Looking closely into his eyes, Alithea could see that the bluing of his eyes was an illusion of brighter light, a blue sparkle that danced on the natural tawny color of his eyes. What had they given him at that school? Suddenly Erthen coughed in her face and she drew back a few inches, noticing again the dust motes in the sunlight that pierced the dark of the cabin tent. The dust was irritating his lungs.

She tore a piece of cloth from her skirt and tied it around Erthen’s mouth. He protested at first but she insisted. Tearing another piece, she tied it around her own mouth, then touched her finger to her lips then touched his lips. Erthen copied her. She made ma, ma, ma sounds and waited for him. After a few tries, he understood the game and made ma, ma sounds, laughing at the vibrations as the sound passed through the cloth.

They came to a stop and Alithea leaned toward the opening to see a makeshift rock, dirt and wood building set into the giant earthen bowl. One of the Fae warriors appeared in the opening and made an odd expression when she saw Alithea and Erthen with cloth face masks. Was that a look of surprise? Fae warriors were so inscrutable, their eyes big but their faces ever still, an impassiveness that made them particularly chilling in battle.

The Fae warrior stepped aside and gestured for them to get out. She led them through a constructed rock opening into a medium sized room with two wooden bench seats, a straw mat on a wooden table in the center of the room and another table against the far wall. Alithea could see some steps leading down to a lower level and the sounds of pain below.

The other Fae and a Person carried in a small chest that had been in the tent cabin with them. Alithea had thought it was another seat, but they set it down, then opened the lid to reveal several surgical instruments, gauze cloth and various small containers. A Fae warrior held a bowl in her hand, put it under a container on the wall and pulled a chain fixed to the container. Water flowed into the bowl.

The Fae warrior reached for Erthen but Alithea swiveled her body away and held the boy closer to her. The Fae warrior tried again but Alithea was insistent and set the boy down on one of the bench seats. The Fae warrior turned to her companion, made some language sound, and turned toward the steps. She motioned with her arm to someone at the bottom of the steps and waited.   

Alithea was shocked at the huddled figure who appeared at the top of the stairs.

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Alithea recognized the wiry body as one of the Melangi, a tribe of the people that had migrated to the eastern mountains after the Civil War. These were hardy people and were formidable in battle but kept to themselves, working in small artisan shops they built along the rivers, tending to their flocks in the high meadows.

She recognized him as a boy younger than Drindl but aged beyond his time by physical duress. There were some similarities between Melan, their language and Jadel, the tongue spoken by Alithea. His shoulders were stooped but no broken bones. She did a quick but thorough exam on the lad. The muscles on one side of his spine were thick and ropey, a sign of overexertion. This was not her expertise, but she knew a few simple techniques and had the boy lie on the exam table.

She glanced to the spot where she had left Erthen. He sat with one of the Fae warriors, touching her neck, curious about the two tendrils that a Fae warrior extends to control other creatures. Alithea stepped toward Erthen, anxious that the Fae warrior would extend those tendrils into her son’s brain. The Fae lifted her long hand, made a calming gesture to Alithea and a signal that she should continue with her patient. Still wary, Alithea turned back to the patient.

Lying on his chest she saw how unbalanced his body was, a sign of repeated overwork at one task. After a few simple manipulations, his spine relaxed and his muscles were not so tense. She had him sit up. He opened his mouth and closed his eyes. What was this? Was there something wrong with his teeth? Although the sunlight was nearing this side of the pit wall where the clinic stood, the light in the clinic was poor.

She glanced at the Fae warrior with Erthen, then to the other warrior who held out a small tray with small white squares on it. The Fae warrior lifted one finger and motioned to the tray. Alithea pointed to the patient and the Fae nodded. She lifted a square from the tray and looked at it. It reminded her of energy that the Jade warriors took before battle, but this square had no fine threads. She turned to the Melangi patient and put the square on his tongue, glancing back at the Fae warrior for assurance. She helped the patient stand up and the Fae warrior took him by the arm and led him down the stone steps.

Alithea glanced toward Erthen, then grew startled when she saw the boy lying still in the arms of the Fae warrior. His leg jerked in sleep and she relaxed. Should she tell Fallon that their son had curled up with a Fae mercenary? The sunlight reached the opening in the clinic wall, giving Alithea hope that she could make it through this strange day of new experiences.

The other Fae warrior returned with another patient with a similar crippled stature. The queen did not need Alithea to hand out white squares to these overworked prisoners. Why was she here? An alert dread coiled in the pit of her stomach.  

First Call

 

Alithea picked up Erthen and turned to get Fallon. She would present Bebe as her assistant somehow. She still hadn’t figured out how to work Drindl and Alpen into her scheme. The queen stopped her, shaking her head. After some back and forth with gestures, she made it clear she needed Alithea to be a doctor for the rest of that day.

The two Fae warriors came into the clinic room. Alithea looked to the queen who motioned for her to go with the Fae. Carrying Erthen, she was led up a stairs, then to a portico on the second floor of the building. As Alithea approached the edge, she realized that it was tent room perched on the back of an elephant. The Fae warrior gestured for her to get in.

In the dark, stuffy interior, she felt for a bench and sat. Erthen wriggled in her arms, uncomfortable in the sticky heat. She opened a small door and let in the ocean breeze. In the light she saw the small chest. The room lurched back as the animal underneath took a step forward and she fell back on the bench with Erthen in her lap. She sang him the lullaby, hoping to quiet her own nerves as much as his fear.

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Periodically glancing out the window, Alithea tracked their journey south, then they turned away from the ocean. The sun streamed in the window and Erthen playfully reached into the fine particles that danced in the cascade of light. Reaching for his hand, Alithea inspected the fine points of light that clung to the tips of his fur. Dust? Mist from the ocean? Why hadn’t she noticed it before?

When she heard a muffled din of noise grow in volume, she looked out the opening and Erthen snuck in between her arms and held onto her hands. They were cresting a slight rise in the road that led down into a pit so wide and deep that Alithea’s mouth fell open in astonishment. One half of the great bowl lay in sunlight where she noticed the movement of small figures. In a small depression away from the road lay an elephant on its side. Sleeping? She had only seen the beasts walking. As they passed by, her attention was riveted on the soft trunk that emerged from the great head, but she could see no movement.

“Oh, Erthen, look at that,” she said in response to his babble. He pointed at the elephant and said that one phrase he had learned in the queen’s strange language, “I see you.” Did they have elephants at the school where he had gone the day before? He bounced on her lap with excitement as they disappeared into the shadows of the great pit.

People of the different tribes stepped aside on the shoulder of the road as the great elephant ambled along. They were Drindl’s age or younger; the gold dust on their fur accented their stooped stature and look of tiredness. She could not distinguish what tribe they belonged to but a cold resolute anger nestled deep inside her as she looked at the disheveled workers. She looked down at Erthen. “I promise you,” she said. He touched her lip, connecting the pattern of sounds to the movement of her lips and jaw.  “You are a smart boy, my love.” He would be safer right now with his father or at that mysterious school.

A Secret Is Revealed

 

Alithea tucked her legs and closed the two bamboo doors so that she was protected from the barbs of the Sprint’s legs as the chair swung below the beast’s belly. Hoping she remembered the trigger nerve spot, she flicked her finger at one of Erthen’s upper teeth, then paused. It was the location of his egg tooth when he cracked the inner chamber of his shell. He took a breath, his head lurched forward as though to crack open his egg and his eyes opened. Her gamble had worked. She put his head against her neck as she sang the ancient lullaby of her grandmothers. She felt the boy relax in her arms.

Hearing the raking of the Sprint’s deadly barbs the chair enclosure, she looked out the webbing at the beach. Minutes later she caught her breath as the beast turned uphill toward the queen’s compound. When the beast crested the sloping cliff, the chair swung forward and she held onto the doors, afraid that they would open and expose her and Erthen to the slashing barbs.

She let out a breath when the beast stilled. She heard a noise outside, then the doors opened, and the Fae warrior gestured for her to get out. She followed the warrior, focusing on the deadly waving barbs that came so close to her.

They were led through the same door she had left the day before. The voice of the queen greeted her. Pointing to Erthen, she made a face then pointed to her arm. Alithea guessed that she was asking whether Erthen was wounded. Alithea shook her head, then went into a sudden slump with her shoulders. The queen motioned the two of them to the examination table.

Alithea conducted an examination of her son, checking his eyes, nose, ears, and reflexes. She signaled to the queen that the boy was OK, and the queen said something. Erthen piped up “I see you” to the queen, who put her hands together with glee and answered Erthen with the same phrase.

Alithea hoped she would not regret what she did next. Motioning to her mouth and speaking, she pointed to Erthen’s mouth and stood tall and made her shoulders look big to mimic Fallon. She made a chopping motion, hoping that the queen remembered yesterday when the guard came down on Fallon’s arm. After a few attempts, the queen seemed to understand and waved down toward the beach, then motioned to Alithea to bring Fallon here. Their secret would be out, she thought.

A Tragedy

 

“The long war,” Alpen said as the first light of dawn streamed into the prisoner’s hall. Standing up in the shadow, he stretched up toward the ceiling and stuck his hand into a sunbeam. Nudging Drindl with his foot, he said, “I slept better. Thanks for the mats.” Looking around in the dim light, he asked, “How do we stop someone from taking them while we are gone today?”

Drindl rolled over and looked up at the towering figure of Alpen. “We don’t. One night.”

Alpen knelt next to Drindl’s body so he could lower his voice. “How do we get some of that energy?”

“Guard duty on night shipments. That’s how I got some.”

“Night shipments? Of what? Why did they ask you? You’re a prisoner.” Alpen reached out to Bebe as she stirred.

“A Jade from the south.”

“Our tribe? Another camp? Maybe we could transfer there somehow.”

“I don’t know how he picked me out. There was no moon that night. We can see in dim light.”

Alpen had many more questions but the guards were coming into the barracks. “What were you guarding?” Drindl didn’t know. “What were you guarding against?”

“Wolfbear. They attack and eat the elephants.”

Alpen showed his astonishment. “That animal where the queen. It’s huge. How many?”

“We didn’t get attacked. I don’t know.”

“The eyes are the mind’s hunter,” Alpen said. Drindl nodded at the reminder, then turned in compliance toward the exit.

Alithea gathered Erthen in her arms, afraid for him in this strange place. She lingered at the back of the group, wanting to spend every second with her son before they took him away again to this strange school.

In the hallway to the outer entrance, she saw the Sprint and a carrier basket hung below its bulbous black belly. They were here for her. Pausing to glance out the other portico opening, she saw the Fae schoolteacher and the group.

With little planning, she took in a large breath and placed her mouth over her boy’s mouth and nose. Was he too old for the sleeping snake technique that Altiss had taught her long ago? She vibrated her throat in the lullaby he had heard in the first months of his life. Unable to breathe, his eyes went wide in alarm and she saw the flecks of green in his eyes, his true eye color. They would not take the soul of her son. The lack of air caused an instinctive reaction in the boy and his body went limp, as she had hoped. He still had the infant’s reaction to a loss of air. She could feel his heartbeat slow and when she was sure he would remain comatose, she put her best theatrical performance. Pushing past the guard, she cried out, “My son, my son! He’s dying!”

Fallon and the others looked to her with alarm, but she swept past them, held out the boy’s limp form to the Fay schoolteacher, then turned toward the Sprint. She paused, fighting down the stomach-churning revulsion she felt being near the giant bugs. Stepping around the deadly waving hairs of the Sprint’s legs, the Fae warrior helped her into the carrier chair.

Breaking out of his stunned paralysis, Fallon rushed toward the Sprint but Alithea waved him off. Thinking quickly, she gave him their special sign for “play game.” While it wasn’t appropriate to their desperate situation, he knew not to take appearances at face value and backed up a step. As the Sprint stepped back, Fallon dodged the barbed hairs that could have sliced open his skin.

Alithea waved to him before the Fae rider turned the Sprint and they left for the queen’s compound.

A Milestone

 

Alithea knelt to hug her boy but he ran to Drindl and hugged his calves. “Hey, baby boy!” Drindl said as he bent over the boy and scratched the back of his neck. “Sorry, Alithea.”

She pivoted and reached out to touch Erthen’s arm, but the boy shrank from her touch.

“He’s just mad at us,” Fallon said. He stroked Alithea’s head. She stood and picked him up from his armpits. He held onto Drindl’s legs for a moment, but Drindl backed away and the boy was free.

Alithea brought the boy close to her, keeping him confined as he struggled in her arms. She held her teeth almost clenched and made the low shushing sound in his ear that he had heard when he was a baby. This calmed him down and he laid his head against her shoulder.

“That’s my boy,” Fallon said, giving his arm a gentle brush. The boy lifted his head to look at his father. “His eyes look different.”

Alithea leaned back and tilted her head to the side to see Erthen’s face. Puzzled, she reached up to turn his head and inspect his eyes. “They’re turning blue,” she said to Fallon. “Can you see me?” she asked Erthen as she swept a finger across his vision. When he tracked the finger, she felt more reassured. Did they feed him something at that school? What could make anyone eyes change color?

Erthen spoke a short gibberish to her. “Oh, Erthen! You’re learning to talk.” She drew him close to her and licked his forehead. He repeated the gibberish.

Fallon knelt next to the two of them. “He said, ‘I see you.’” Alithea looked to Fallon with a puzzled expression. “It’s the language that queen creature used earlier today.”

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Kneeling in front of Erthen, she held his face in her hands. The fine fur on his cheeks matched hers in color. “Erthen, what did they do to you at that school?”

He looked at her, then repeated the same phrase as before. Alithea turned to Fallon. “What’s the word for momma?” He told her. She motioned to herself, then said the word, gestured again to her chest and repeated the word in the language of the glade. Erthen’s nose and ears twitched. She repeated the exercise, until Erthen repeated momma in the Jade language. She smiled.

She repeated the “I see you” in the gibberish language, then the same phrase in Jade language. After several attempts, Erthen said the phrase in Jade and Alithea clapped her hands. His face lit up and he clapped.

She picked Erthen up and went in with the others. Drindl had found or traded for more comfortable sleeping mats and they were all grateful to him. Erthen nestled between her and Fallon. Out of the dark silence came Bebe’s voice. “Alithea, did you see any birds up on the cliffs?”

Not wanting to wake Erthen, Alithea carefully turned her head to the ceiling. Had she seen any birds? No, and that was odd. “I don’t think so, Bebe,” she whispered in the dark. 

The Marked One

 

As she left with the Fae warriors, she glanced toward the playground. It was empty. The darkening sky highlighted the fires behind her and down the coast. What were they doing? What was this place? The work crew had left the beach; the Fae warriors took her to a street in the prisoner compound that she barely recognized and pointed her to follow the road. One of them turned to her and smeared something on the back of her neck, then turned and left. She reached up to feel the greasy substance on the fine fur on her neck.

“Where’s Erthen?” she asked after she had been checked by the guards.

Fallon reached for her and hugged. “We thought we had lost you. They haven’t brought him back.” Alithea’s jaw set. “What happened?”

“She wanted me to fix up that injured woman on the beach. I sewed up her arm.”

“That injured woman was looking for you,” Fallon said. “She wanted more of whatever you gave her.”

Alithea turned to Fallon. “Was she in pain?”

Fallon shrugged. “She asked for more of what was on the rag you gave her.”

“I didn’t, well, never mind. We need to find Erthen.”

Bebe shook her head as she got down off the bench. “Look out the window. Fae warriors with wolfbear patrolling the street outside. We’re not going anywhere.”

Alithea reached up to her neck. “What is this they put on my neck? The Fae warriors put it there.”

Drindl touched a finger to her neck, then put it up to his nose. “They marked you. Sprint pheromone. We can’t smell it much, but the Sprints can smell you from miles away in a soft breeze.”

She looked at him aghast. “They marked me!” She turned to Alpen who had taken Bebe’s place at the small window opening high up on the wall. “What do you see?”

“I’m trying to time their patrols,” Alpen said and turned back to the window.

Alithea turned to Drindl. “Where did you get that energy you had yesterday? You bribed the guards with it.”

“It’s like a favor. You do something for someone, and you don’t know if you will ever see someone in this place again. We exchange those energy packets.”

“But that was in a fine powder. Do they do that here?”

Drindl shook his head. “I don’t know.”

Alithea turned to Fallon and took his hand. “You are going to have to show your hand. There is something wrong here. I don’t what it is. You need to find out.”

Alpen turned away from the window. “Keep your voice down. The patrol stopped just outside the door.”

They heard a sound from the outside chamber, then the gate opened. It was Erthen!

Awareness Knocks

 

Alithea could have easily reached for the scalpel and sliced the translucent skin of the queen’s neck. She was a prisoner, but she was also a doctor. She healed. No, this position could afford her access to what, she didn’t know. Perhaps a favor in return for her healing knowledge and skills. But what if she was asked to heal these hairless creatures? They would have some similarities, but it was the differences that might cause her to make a mistake. If she killed on of them, would they hold her responsible?

She and the queen turned to a sound from an adjoining chamber. A shout from a deep voiced creature and the queen answered. Into the room came a creature not as tall as Fallon but huskier. He had reddish hair growing on his face and long hair growing from the top of his head and down to his shoulders. The hair that grew in two semicircles over his eyes was bushier than hers. The rest of his body was covered with strange clothing, and each of his legs was wrapped in a cloth. Although he stomped into the room, he did not have monster feet. They were covered in animal skin, Alithea guessed.

When the thought struck her, her throat clenched in fear. She had not seen the creatures that Fallon and Drindl had killed days ago by the cliffs, but their description matched this creature.

The queen turned to the creature and tilted her head. They touched lips. Partners of some sort, Alithea guessed. Putting his arm around her back, he pulled the queen close to him. She did not resist. He looked at Alithea, then to the queen and said something. The queen answered, then gestured to Alithea. He wanted her to leave and called out in a loud voice. The same two Fae warriors came in from outside. Alithea turned and left with them, keeping her fear on a tight leash.

The Operation

 

Alithea reached into the drawer and picked up a gleaming metal scalpel. It was slimmer than she was used to, but the blade was sharp. There was a curved sewing hook and some thread to close wounds. She turned to the queen. How to sign for a cleaning solution? She made a scrubbing motion with her hand and the queen nodded. The queen pushed against a part of the wall and a door opened. She must remember to tell Fallon about this. He would admire the craftsmanship and the design.

There were several small cylindrical containers on a shelf inside the opening. The queen paused, then reached for one of them. Alithea’s suspicions were aroused. Did the queen know which was the cleaning solutions? What was in the other containers?

Taking the container, the queen showed her how to remove the lid. These hairless creatures were clever! Alithea lifted the container to her nose and sniffed. The astringent fumes made her withdraw quickly. The queen handed her a curved dish and motioned for her to pour some of the liquid into the dish. After Alithea did so, the queen put one of her fingers in the liquid, then turned Alithea’s palm upward and placed her finger in the center. It was cool to the touch and did not burn.

The queen turned Alithea’s palm so that it faced the floor and touched the fine fur on the back of her hand. She stroked Alithea’s thumb, bending the tip slightly, then held up her own hand to Alithea’s palm to palm. Alithea’s hand was bigger and longer, the skin thicker than the queen. The thin white cloth had fallen away from the queen’s wrist and Alithea could see the veins of her arm. How did these creatures stay warm? The clothes they wore would be vital in cooler weather. Out of habit, Alithea catalogued every detail.

She scrubbed her hands with the cleaning fluid, then turned to the injured woman on the cot. Inspecting the arm, she realized that the tourniquet needed to be removed quickly. As she untied it, the woman cried out in pain and pulled her arm back. The queen came alongside the woman and held a cloth to her face. There was an odd smell then the woman fell asleep. Alithea leaned forward to hear the woman breathing, then felt for her pulse. She pointed to the cloth and gave the queen a questioning look. The queen shook her head and pointed to a small vial on the shelf. What strange powers these creatures had discovered!

Alithea cleaned the wound, cut back the fine hair along the edges and the wound, then sewed it up with the curved hook and thread. The woman stirred as she was finishing, then her head fell back again as the queen held the cloth to her face again. She opened another drawer and withdrew a bandage cloth. Alithea applied more cleaning fluid to the closed wound, then wrapped the wound with the bandage.

The queen turned and called out. One of the Fae warriors came into the room with some water and cloths, then began to clean up the floor below the cot. Alithea wiped the blade and curved hook with the cleaning fluid, then pointed to the instruments and made sewing motions and held out her hands in a palms up gesture, hoping the queen could understand. The queen put her delicate skinned hands together and laid them next to her cheek. Alithea pointed to the injured woman and the queen shook her head no. She reached up and closed her eyelids, then put one hand over her eyes. Dead. What had killed the doctor? Alithea held up one finger. The queen shook her head and held up two fingers. Two doctors, both dead? What had happened? Oh, Fallon, I need you to help me understand this strange place! The queen pointed to Alithea, then at the instruments. She wanted Alithea to be the doctor now.

Alithea's Journey

 

As the afternoon sun shone on them, the injured woman nodded off to sleep. Alithea felt for a pulse and was satisfied. There had been little loss of blood. If she could close the wound, the woman might again return to work after a few weeks of healing. Would they give her that much time? If they put her back to work immediately, it would undo all Alithea’s work.

Would they have a surgery kit? Surely, they must. Something powerful had broken the rocks into jagged pieces. Creatures capable of such power must have learned to sew up wounds.

The ground below the travois inclined and hardened. They left the smoothness of sand for a well-trod path. As they rose above the beach, Alithea scanned the prisoner group, hoping to spot the others. She thought she saw Drindl stretch and straighten up his shoulders, but she couldn’t be sure. She worried that Alpen and Fallon would take on the guards. They lost sight of the beach and the ocean as the path turned, but within a few minutes, it came into view once again. Alithea wished for another time, a gentler moment when she could enjoy the breathtaking view.

Worried, she turned toward the front to see where they were going. Off to her right, she saw sparse beach grass, undulating dunes and behind that several tall buildings. As the caravan drew closer, she saw tiny figures running around in circles. People! Little people! Was this the school where they had sent Erthen? She drew herself up to see better.

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The figures disappeared briefly as they neared the crest of the path and then bumped along a grassy flat area. Her heart sank when she saw the unfamiliar movements. It was not Erthen or any of the People. There were small versions of the queen moving in that odd gait as they kicked a round object along the ground. Who were these creatures and where did they come from?

They passed under a great arch and into an open courtyard, then stopped. Two Fae warriors came around the rear and helped the injured woman from the travois. Alithea looked for the queen but there was no cloth side draped from her cabin atop the elephant. Looking up, Alithea watched the queen disappear into an opening high up in the wall.

One of the Fae warriors urged Alithea forward and she followed them to a side entrance and up a set of stairs inside the building. She had never seen a set of stairs like this. There was no sign of rocks that formed the structure. She almost stumbled as she bent to inspect their construction.

At the top of the stairs, a hard path led into a room. The Fae warriors helped the injured woman onto a bed raised above the hard floor. They turned and left, and the queen entered the room from another entry. As she approached, Alithea mouthed the words that Fallon had given her for surgery kit. The queen gave her a puzzled look and Alithea make a back and forth sewing motion with her hand above the injured woman’s wound.

The queen nodded and turned to the wall, which opened somehow. The queen turned with a sharp scalpel and Alithea’s heart leapt. Yes! The queen motioned to the opening and urged Alithea toward it. When she looked at the array of instruments, she gasped. Was this queen a surgeon?

The Arrival

 

A guttural trumpet broke the air around them and everyone turned to the water’s edge. Looking up, Alithea had to shield her eyes against the sun. Atop one of the beasts was a curtained enclosure, and in front of that was a Fae warrior perched on the head of the beast. A cloth unfurled down the side of the beast and two Fae warriors grabbed the end of the cloth. The curtain parted and a slim figure emerged and slid down the curtain. The Fae warriors steadied her as her feet hit the sand.

Alithea looked to her right. The guard stood stiffly his right hand clasped over the left side of his chest. Behind her, the other prisoners had set their rocks down. Even the injured woman’s attention was riveted on this stranger.

Its feet were small and clad in a white covering. The ocean breeze tugged at the light garment that covered the smallish body. The pale blue of the garment shone with the rays of the sun. With one arm it reached up to steady a bonnet on its head. When it lowered its arm, Alithea noticed the different proportion of its arms to its torso. Did this figure belong to the same race as the creatures that Fallon and Drindl had killed at the cliffs? It seemed so long ago.

A Fae warrior handed a staff to the figure and it walked forward toward Alithea and the injured woman. As the figure neared, Alithea realized it was sick. Its face and hands were the only parts of its body that were visible. They were pale and had lost their fur. Speaking to the guard in short phrases,it strained to pronounce the Cawthingi language. Alithea glanced at Fallon, whose attention was riveted on the figure. What do you hear, my dear partner? Alithea wanted to ask.

The figure scanned the group of prisoners, the Fay guards atop the elephants, then turned to Alithea and the injured woman. It spoke in the same strained and broken phrasing, then paused. Alithea gestured that she didn’t understand, and the figure said something in an entirely different language as though speaking to itself. Oh, Fallon, can you understand? She glanced at him, then paused as he made the gesture for Sis-ah, the Faerie name for Altiss. This was the queen!

Copying the gesture of the guard, Alithea placed her right hand on the left side of her chest and gave a slight bow of her head. The queen smiled. As strange as this woman was, she made a People smile. She was not an animal.

She bent forward to inspect the damaged arm, then pointed to the tourniquet and Alithea, who nodded. The queen turned to the guard and motioned to the injured woman. The two Fae warriors came forward to lift the injured woman from the sand. Alithea motioned for them to be careful with the arm. She watched as they took the woman to a travois pulled by the giant elephant.

When the queen turned back to Alithea, a cross breeze caught the brim of her bonnet and it lifted off her head. As she reached up to catch the hat, a cascade of long blonde hair fell off the top of her head and flared out on the side of her head. The sunlight danced in the fine strands of hair that swirled around the queen’s face. The queen was neither People nor animal! What was she? Alithea wondered.

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Bending forward, she let the hair fall forward, grabbed it with one hand, gave a twist and set the bonnet on her head to capture the hair. She pointed to Alithea and motioned her forward. When Alithea stood she towered over the queen by a head. Sensing some protocol, Alithea bent her knees to make herself less tall.

When the two Fae warriors came forward to collect Alithea, she shook her head to the queen and pointed to Fallon and the rest of the group. The queen held up her furless hand to signal that it was alright, then pointed to Alithea’s arm and the woman on the travois. “Fallon, do you understand? I’m scared I will never see you again.”

“They will bring you back here before the day is done,” he said.

Alithea looked at him, wishing that he could accompany her and translate. “Surgery kit,” she called to him. “How do you say, ‘surgery kit?’” He hesitated, then gave her a two-syllable word that she burned into her memory before letting herself be led to the travois. As she settled on it alongside the injured woman, she remembered the water and turned to get it.

She settled back when she saw that one of the Fae had collected the container. After some gestures, the Fae warrior tipped the container as Alithea rinsed the wound. She needed her surgery kit. The tourniquet was only good for a short time until it created circulation problems in the forearm and hand.

In a few moments, the travois jerked forward on the sand. Alithea waved to the others, noticing the stricken look on Bebe’s face. Fallon, tell Bebe I will be all right, she thought. She noticed Alpen climbing the rockpile and approaching the guard with the whip. Oh, Alpen, don’t do anything foolish! she thought.