After an hour
she startles to see
the Slain seated beside her.
Perhaps she dozed.
"Why did you stay?"
he says.
Odymn swallows.
"You aren't yet healed.
I'll stay until you are."
The Slain shakes his head.
As though he asked
a different question.
"And then?"
he says.
Odymn combs her hair
with her fingers.
Separates the mass into thirds.
Begins the braid.
"Don't know.
Haven't thought
that far ahead."
The Slain catches her wrist,
eases her fingers
from the braid.
"Tonight,"
he says,
"you sleep with me."
Odymn catches her breath.
Shakes her head.
"You slept with me
for a month before Sintha,"
says the Slain.
"That was before,"
says Odymn.
The words hang in the darkness.
Before he dressed her,
sold her to the Dock-winder
in De'men. Accepted
his six hundred tickets.
Watched the Dock-winder
strip her, inspect her teeth.
"I am sorry,"
says the Slain.
"I will regret
selling you to Dressor
for the rest of my days."
Odymn turns in a fury.
Fixes on those amethyst eyes.
Makes a fist of her fingers.
"Did you even know their plans for me?"
she says, teeth ground together.
"Have you ever been poked and prodded
and given to Gel-heads for their games?
Have you ever spent
a month
in a cage?"
The Slain is silent.
Focuses on fire.
"I am sorry,"
he repeats.
"Traded in Humans
for twenty one-suns.
Every transaction the same.
My reputation as a trader
always most important."
A long speech
for the silent Slain.
"It wasn't even me they wanted,"
says Odymn.
"Got your redheads mixed.
That won't be so good
for your reputation."
The Slain considers this.
"Best mistake of my life,"
he says.
She looks at his hands.
Kind hands.
Hands that tried to mend
her broken fingers.
She remembers the six hundred tickets,
confetti-flutter.
She remembers the slammer wound,
burbling blood.
"Sleep with me,"
he says.
Leads her to
his bed.
Lifts her in his arms,
no attention
to the wound in his side.
Lays her on the ground sheet.
Wraps her in the blanket.
Lies down
and tucks her to his side,
his arm her pillow.
"No watch tonight,"
he says.
"The fire will keep
the wild life at bay."
YOU ARE READING
Meniscus: One Point Five - Forty Missing Days
Science FictionAfter the Slain is shot, Odymn and an Argenop elder work together to try and return him to good health. As they journey towards the Themble, survival is a challenge. Odymn must add to her foraging skills and survive an attack by the vicious kotildi...
