Jerakeh’s face fell at her words, but the brute did—albeit reluctantly—shoving me for good measure. I glowered at him, rubbing at the bruising spot on my arm before looking at my—mother in law?Her eyes darted to the side, like hearing something I couldn’t before she set her softening gaze on me, waving me over. “Come,sakhati. Quick.”
I had no idea what that meant, but I did, glaring at the frozen Jerakeh when I reached them. Frozen and terrified, because the long black braid falling down her back was tightly wrapped in Ghauro’s mother's fist, and her grasp didn’t seem to loosen.
She slid an arm around my shoulder, bringing me closer.Okay, I thought that woman hated me.“All good,searse. She is safe.”
Before I could ask myself who she was talking to, the brute was sent flying back to the forest as a blur of green dashed straight into him. Muffled groans and noises of fists hitting bones and flesh echoed as other pairs of hands landed on my shoulders.
I jumped in surprise. “Mel! Are you okay?” Zhari's soft voice asked, cupping my face and turning it from side to side to inspect it. “You!” she growled, letting go of me to grab Jerakeh by the throat. “You would be lucky to beexiled. If it were up to me, I would gut you right here and there!”
Ghauro’s mother’s hand tightened and the blue bitch whimpered.Not so funny when you’re the one being manhandled, now is it?
“Ghauro is the one who will decide her fate,” she said, her voice cold but calm.
“In the meantime, I will deal with her,” Thanato grunted, grabbing her by the horn and jerking her roughly to him. She cried, a sound feeling more like a plea than pain. The second both Thanato and her were out of sight, Zhari and her mother pulled me with them toward a rock behind the market.
“Matoriti,” Eletie called, following behind us.
“I am no beast,sakhati,” Ghauro’s mother answered, looking over her shoulder. Wait, I thoughtIwassakhati…“Go and make sure my son finds us when his anger is spent.”
Eletie didn’t answer anything and turned around, going back to the forest.
I couldn’t hear them anymore and my heart was frantic in my chest. What if Ghauro was hurt?Worse,what if he was—
“Sit.”
And I did, because my legs basically gave out. My eyes wouldn’t tear away from the damn forest. From the place my attacker had disappeared at the same time my husband flew past.
“Do not worry,” Ghauro’s mother—matoriti?—said. “Ghauro is strong. Strongest of the clans’ leaders. He will be back in no time.”
Her hand grabbed my arm, turning it softly. She unhooked the armlet and studied the skin underneath with a frown. “Your skin is changing color there, I doubt this is a good sign.”
It was. The whole area under the armlet had become purple and swollen, and blood seeped out from where the metal had cut into my skin.
“I read some of the book before I gave it to Ghauro,matorise. Let me look at it.”
A book? What book? Andmatorise?I thought her name was— “Ouch!” I winced as Zhari’s thumb brushed over the bruise.
“Sorry! I—I do not think the arm is broken, but she is bleeding and there is a pretty mean bruise,” she said to her mother.
The latter looked at the red sliding down my arm. “This?” she asked. “The blood is red?”
“Yes. I read it in the book.”
“What book?” I finally asked, my voice a little more high-pitched than I intended.
She grinned, handing an empty bowl to her mother. “I call it the human codex. I stole it with a translating lens in the examination room.”
“Youstoleit?”
Zhari shrugged. “We need to know about human anatomy if we are to properly care for you.”
That…actually made sense. Her mother came back after a minute, her bowl filled with clear water.
“If it is blood, we need to cleanse the wound. Ghauro will apply the healing salve when he is done with this nonsense.”
“Matorise!” Zhari hissed. “It is no nonsense. It is a grave offenseto—”
“Iknowthat,sakhase,” her mother answered with a roll of her eyes. “It is nonsense that this pathetic male thought he would get away with it.Sakhati,” she called softly, lifting my head with a finger under my chin. “You were brave. Fighting for yourself and your mate—for my son. Ghauro may not havechosenyou but the devotion you have for each other speaks for itself.”
