Dawn's Fire, book 2 of the Dawn Fire trilogy

Chapter 7; Obey Your Leaders and Submit To Their Authority

Chapter 7

Obey Your Leaders and Submit To Their Authority

   Although their captors let them sleep a few more hours than the nights before, the prisoners were shaken awake much too early according to their still weary bodies. With groans and yawns they all sat up and rubbed away the sleep that still clung stubbornly to their eyes. The smell of cooking meat already filled the air and set all their stomachs to rumbling. 

   Finally Laughing Bear walked over to them with a wooden platter piled high with strips of flame cooked venison in one hand and a hand full of sharpened sticks in the other. He approached Jens first who was at the start of their row, and skewered a few strips of meat onto one of the sticks before handed it to the scowling young man. With a disdainful sneer Jens looked off into the distance, purposefully ignoring the offered food and its giver. Narrowing his eyes, Laughing Bear then proceeded to Ivar, who sat beside Jens and offered him the meat. But after a withering glance from Jens the young boy also rejected the presented breakfast, even though his stomach sent up an audible demand for it.

    Julianna watched as one after another of her friends refuse the offering of meat and felt their aversion take root in her as well. And when Laughing Bear finally approached her, she watched his hand stretch the meat out to her. Then as the others had done, she too looked away. From the veil of her lashes she saw Laughing Bear’s hand slowly fall to his side and the speared meat hang dejected from his now limp hand. As she sensed his shock at her also refusing his offering, guilt began to gnaw at her heart. Abruptly she felt the Spirit’s conviction come upon her with such force that she was left without a doubt that she had done wrong. 

   Just as Laughing Bear turned to walk away, Julianna stretched out her hand and laid it lightly upon his arm nearest her as she looked up at the silently seething man. As Laughing Bear turned hardened eyes down towards her she saw the resentment and hurt plainly written  there. Regret swept through her like an icy surge in her blood. Julianna swallowed a few times before she finally found her voice. “Hooxooninoo Wox, how do you say, ‘I am sorry’?”

   Abruptly the resentment left Laughing Bear’s eyes and with intense relief he closed them tight. He sighed out the remains of his building frustration. How the thought had stabbed him like the sharpest of arrows that this woman whom he had come to respect had suddenly turned her back to him. Finally, as he opened his eyes again and met Julianna’s gaze once more, Laughing Bear answered softly, “Teeteeso´oot.”

   “Teeteeso´oot, Hooxooninoo Wox.” Julianna let her eyes as well communicate her regret and repentance.

   Laughing Bear had to swallow several times against the lump forming in his throat. He couldn’t seem to regain his voice again so instead he simply nodded his acceptance of her apology and let his eyes speak his gratitude, as hers had spoken to him.

   Wishing to help her friend out even more, Julianna held out her hands and said, “Now give me the plate of meat and those sticks.” Laughing Bear had to suppress a smile as he obligingly did as he was asked. By the commanding tone in her voice he knew that she was about to help him deal yet again with the rebellion in the other captives, and he was not too proud to accept her very effective help. He watched as Julianna walked purposefully over to Jens and held the now cold meat out to him which he had been the first of them all to reject. “We are all going to eat this food which the Lord has provided for us.”

   Jens looked up at her with first unbelief and then defensiveness. And as he opened his mouth to argue, Julianna cut off his words even before they left his open mouth. “Now, Jens, you will hurt no one but yourself by refusing to eat! And don’t expect God to provide food for you from any other source than these men. If you are too hardened by pride to accept His provision from them, then He certainly isn’t going to make bread fall from heaven for you to eat.”