How I Met Hena Chakelithp

Chapter 28. Peace and Amends

I opened my eyes. I was lying on my back. I became aware that I was looking at a wooden ceiling. I turned my head. It hurt. Every part of me hurt. Every joint creaked and every muscle was stiff. A room with beds lined up in rows along the walls came into view. Somebody was in the bed that was next to mine. He looked familiar, but it took me a while...Arvern! He looked terrible. His eye was puffy and swollen, and there was a tourniquet on his arm. Then I found that a heavy bandage was on my torso. I remembered that I'd been slashed in the side.
Then it all came back to me: I'd been in a battle. Vechti had stabbed me. I had passed out from the pain.  I must be in a hospital, I thought. There was a plump woman with brown hair looking after all the injured people.
"Excuse me?" I said softly. My voice cracked. The woman turned and smiled. She had pink cheeks and a kind, good-natured face.
"You're awake," she said. "You're Srarori Coreter, right?"
"Yes," I said.
"Good. Your friends want to see you."
If there was one thing I wanted then, it was to see Hena.
"Great! Can they come in?"
"Certainly," the woman said. "Aranee! Hena! Srarori is awake!"
They came in fast. Aranee was wearing the same clothes as the matron: a white kerchief, pullover shirt, and pants. Hena, the old Hena, was back. She rushed to my bedside and knocked against it with a rattle. The noise woke up Arvern. A smile lit up his damaged face when he saw us.
"Where am I?" I said.
"In my great aunt's ward," said Aranee. "She needs my help more than ever, since there are so many hurt people."
"Ohhh," I said. That explained the matron clothes.
"It took a ton of hot water and a ton of linens to clean up your wounds," she said. "We gave you a few drops of conelily extract to help you sleep better."
Conelily was a very powerful painkiller, strictly regulated by the Parliament because sometimes people would get addicted to it.
"So Arvern dragged you here after you fainted--"
"What? All by himself?" I said, surprised.
"Yeah," said Arvern.
"Wow," I said. "Thank you. That was so...selfless of you."
Arvern smiled at me. There was something strong and true in what little of his eye I could see behind the redness and swelling. "I couldn't leave you to die like that," he said. "Whenever I got tired of dragging you, I just thought about what it would be like if you died and I'd never see you again."
Aranee continued: "So Arvern dragged you here after you fainted, and then my aunt said all the supplies had been stolen by Vechti's army."
"WHAT?" I said loudly.
"Shh!" said the matron.
Aranee continued. "Yeah. They came in here and stole all the grain alcohol and cotton and all the other medicine."
"And then Aranee went into their camp and stole it back," said Arvern. "She got a pretty bad scrape on her knee from running too fast and tripping on a rock, and she thinks someone might have seen her, but other than that, she's fine," Arvern said, casting Aranee a look of admiration.
"She did it by herself," said Hena. "She just ran off as soon as she heard the supplies had been stolen."
"Arvern," I said. "Where did you hear that Vechti had the dragons?"
"A man came up to me and told me."
"And where were you afterward? Why did you leave?"
"I left because I thought I saw Vechti walking back toward one of the ships, but it was just another tall man with a beard who was holding a basket, and the basket just had rope and sticks in it anyway. I shouldn't have left you. We were supposed to stay together. By the time I'd realized it wasn't Vechti and gotten back to find you, you were on the ground and Vechti had the dragons. I saw Hena and Aranee up on a cliff. Hena had a bow and arrow. I quickly joined them. I didn't dare to go and try to hold off Vechti myself because of what Vechti had already done to you. Then Hena shot him and...you know the rest."
"And how did he even get all the way into the Utiiq wastelands?"
"Apparently his army just forced their way in and went on a rampage. Many of them died in the burning dragon fire which the dragons breathed on them to fight back."
"What's the deal with him anyway? Did he survive? Is his army still fighting?" I asked.
"He fell off a cliff. Do you think he survived?" Hena said. "Most of his army was forced into fighting for him, so they all fled back to Pastrona on their ships. Your army also raided the ships and stole Fermell so that they couldn't find you again."
"But there aren't any people left out there?"
"If there are, they won't do any damage," said Hena. "All the ships have left. The lookouts searched the entire island. If a few people are still here, then they'll either die out there or be sent back to Pastrona forever."
"Hena.." I said. "I need to ask you a question. How could you shoot your uncle?"
Hena answered simply and straightforwardly. "It didn't matter that he was my uncle. He was a blood relative, but he was evil and insane. He wanted to steal the dragons that your people were the first to befriend and use them to take over your own country. That's horrible. Anyone who does that is no..." Hena paused. "..family of mine."
She suddenly looked sadder than I'd ever seen her look.
"What's wrong?" I asked. "Did something happen?"
"Nothing," Hena said. "It's just..." she trailed off, her eyes watery. Then, in barely more than a whisper...

"Lorica was killed."

"Oh, Hena!" I said, shocked. "Why didn't you tell me?"
"I don't know," said Hena, bursting into tears. "I guess I didn't want to make things worse."
"You can always tell me these things, Hena," I said, giving Hena a squeeze. "I'm always here for you."
"Who's Lorica?" said Aranee.
"Her sister," I said.
All of us hugged Hena while she cried. When she finally stopped, she took a deep breath and straightened her back.
"It's a little better to know that I have friends who care."
"Of course it is," I said. I thought about her statement. It was so true. I looked around at my three friends and felt a surge of love for all of them. Arvern, with his warm hazel eyes and kind words, Aranee, with her calmness, beauty, and grace, and Hena, with her dernia, whittling, and willingness to do the right thing.
Then I realized something crucial to our friendship: They had all gone out of their way to help me. Arvern had dragged me here, even though he was injured and tired. Aranee had gone into an enemy camp, risking her own life, to fetch the supplies that would preserve mine. And Hena...Hena had done the most gallant thing of all. She had shot her enemy, even though he was her uncle, to save me and my entire kingdom.