Every Glistening Night

Chapter Forty

Light breaks through the darkness. A glow emanates outside my eyelids, but I don't have the strength to raise them. A dull ache radiates through my body, from my toes all the way to my head. It gets worse when I try to think, so I just lie there like a non-cognizant rock. Heat circulates around me like a cocoon, though I still feel vaguely cold. I shift slightly, brushing against something soft, perhaps fur.

Footsteps crunch outside the cave with hushed voices that I can't make out. They fade from my consciousness as I slip away, slip back into a dreamless void...

My jaw is forced open. My eyes crack open to see Kletasuah standing over me. A slow, thin stream of liquid pours down my throat. I cough, and she pulls back for an instant.

"You're awake," she says. I grunt in response. She replaces the earthenware cup against my lips. "Drink this. It will help you heal."

A metallic taste fills my tongue. I suppress a cough as the rest of the liquid slides down my throat. Warmth blooms in my stomach and chest, spreading through my limbs. The ache in my body eases, and I feel myself melting into the soft blankets encasing me.

"Rest up, Celisae," Kletasuah says gently as the world fades away.

***

The faintest white luster shines on the cave's entrance when I wake. The moon is but a sliver in the sky, and twinkling starlight supplies any luminosity that rains down on the mountainside. I wriggle up in my covers so that my head is more propped up on my pillow. From there, my eyes aimlessly trace the textured, stone walls, landing on the sleeping figure of Ixek. He's slumped against the wall, leaning against Kletasuah's cot, where the healer's chest rises and falls in a steady rhythm.

I close my eyes. A wave of sickness courses through me, working its way from my stomach to my head. I just want to fall back into blissful nothing, to stop feeling so ill. But it's as if I've maxed out on sleep. I lie there on the brink of wake and sleep, like I'm on the edge of a chasm and can't quite roll into the abyss or onto solid land.

After many minutes, perhaps even an hour, has passed, covers rustle on the other side of the room. I crack my eyes open to see Kletasuah get out of bed. She makes her way to the firepit, where she strikes a match and puts a pot filled with water over the small flame.

"Kle—" I mumble. I can't quite say her full name. Kletasuah turns to me and a smile crosses her soft features.

"You're awake," she whispers in her gentle, falsetto voice. "I'll make you some tea now."

She pours some extra water into the pot then picks out two red-brown mugs from her shelf. She paces to her shelf filled with miscellaneous leaves and roots. Each one she selects meticulously, checking herbs over carefully before placing them inside one of the two mugs. She grinds up a few roots, too, sprinkling the dust over the greenery sticking over the sides. The water sings a boil, and Kletasuah fills the mugs before bringing them over.

"Here you are," she says. She places a mug beside me that's filled to the brim. "Let it steep and cool down for a few minutes before drinking."

"Wha—" I cough, clear my throat. "What happened?"

Kletasuah stares into her tea cup. "It, uh, appears that you are very sick. Were very sick."

"I'm getting better?"

"Fortunately, you seem to be responding well to the treatment." Kletasuah brings the cup to her mouth, but doesn't drink. Steam floats up around her nose and spreads across her cheeks as it dissipates.

"What was I sick with?"

A long pause stretches. Kletasuah swallows, lowering her mug. "I'm very glad you're awake now. That's an excellent sign. It means you're healing. Another five or six days of treatment, and you might be off bedrest." The horror I'm feeling must show on my face, for she adds, "really, that's a good thing. You're doing well."

"Bedrest?" I ask in disbelief. What is this illness?

"Yes. Now try to get some more rest." Kletasuah nods to Ixek. "We don't want to wake him."

"Why's he here?" I ask. "Not that I don't want him here... or that I do want him here. I'm just... curious. It's unexpected."

"He wanted to make sure you were alright." Kletasuah takes a tiny sip of her tea. I barely hear her add, "and safe."

My eyebrows raise. "Safe?"

"The Anderwres. Remember?" Kletasuah drinks again. Her cup clinks as she sets it on the ground. "The rest of the tribe has left the mountain. The Matriarchs decided it was safer and increased the distance between us and the Anderwres. Besides, it will force them to regroup and determine a different plan for attack." Shock paralyzes my face. Kletasuah's hand clasps mine under the blankets. It feels warm and secure, safe, just like she said. "Don't worry, Celisae. Half our warriors and hunters are still here, in the mountains. The other half are with the tribe along with the reinforcements sent by the other tribes. We're safe."

"Why didn't we leave?" I ask. Am I considered disposable, unworthy to be saved?

"I thought it was best, given your condition, that we stay put," Kletasuah says. "Moving you might've been too disruptive for your body to handle."

Ixek makes a grunting sound, shifting in his sleep.

"If it makes you feel any better," Kletasuah goes on, "Nal m'se, Ulane m'ke, and Jeayma m'ke stayed behind, too."

"Why?"

"I think Jeayma m'ke wanted to ensure you were alright." A sad smile crosses Kletasuah's lips. "As for Nal m'se, she's the Head Matriarch. I doubt she could bring herself to completely leave the tribe's territory to the Anderwres. She's always been a fighter, even though she wishes to protect everyone else."

"And Ulane m'ke?"

"She wouldn't leave her mother behind."

Mother. I stiffen, fear coursing through me. Is she safe? Have the Anderwres gotten to her?

Or has she succumbed to dehydration and hunger?

A pang of guilt stabs my heart. I was supposed to take care of her. Yet I left her. She probably thinks I abandoned her in favor of the tribe. I was only trying to protect her, to continue caring for her.

But the Earthwatcher... something isn't right about the cloaks I made. If the Earthwatcher gave those powerful clothes — no, weapons — to the Anderwres, then that means...

"I think your tea is cool enough to drink now." The warm cup in front of me brings me back to the present. The bitter herbs and spices roil my stomach, or perhaps it's just the knowledge of what I've done disquieting me.

"How long have I been asleep?" I ask. Maybe it hasn't been as long as I think it has. Mother could be perfectly fine.

"Two moons."

I blanch, nearly spitting tea back into the cup. "What on Earth happened to me?" I whisper hoarsely.

Kletasuah sighs. "I don't want to complicate your recovery with unnecessary stress."

"I'll be more stressed if I don't know."

Kletasuah inhales a weighted breath. "You appear to have all the signs of poisoning." My jaw falls slack. Kletasuah tentatively goes on. "And given that you're responding well to the treatment, my initial suspicions seem to be correct."

Poison? The word isn't clicking into place. I couldn't have been poisoned. Who would do such a thing? Who would want to do such a thing?

"I-I don't understand."

"Neither do I." Kletasuah's hand burrows under the blankets again to give my hand a reassuring squeeze. "But Nal m'se intends to find out who did this. It's just difficult to do anything about this right now given the situation."

"Nal m'se?" The Head Matriarch plans to do something, even avenge my poisoning? My head reels. It's too much to take in all at once.

"Yes. Now finish your tea and try to rest. If you're better tomorrow, we may try to move you down the mountain."