Ortak glances around me to Gannen who has been listening quietly. “At first, I did it for him. It was the same for Kala. HealerSage saved Sorin’s life. After that, there was an unbreakable connection between the kit and the human female. Kala had no choice, really, which means, neither did I. We are gogos who will do anything for our kits.”
Something inside me cracks. This is what a true parent is supposed to be like.
“Elodie,” Gannen speaks up, sounding properly horrified. “Are you crying?”
I swipe at the tears that are stupidly running down my face. God, this is so humiliating. I am so not a pretty crier. My cheeks get splotchy and my eyes get streaked with red lines like a tomato. Worse than that, my nose gets all snotty. It’s disgusting really.
“Don’t mind me.” I keep wiping away the wetness with my palms and sniffling. “I’m fine. Just getting up in my feels.”
A clawed, greenish-black hand appears in front of me holding a piece of cloth. I glance over at Ortak who pushes it closer toward me. Mortified, but grateful, I take it and blow my nose. When I’m done, I pocket it.
“Thank you.”
“You are welcome.”
“What do you say we never speak of this again?” I sort of laugh.
“If that is what you wish, then that is what we will do.” Ortak leans slightly forward to glance over at Gannen.
He nods in agreement.
“I appreciate it.”
A brief and highly uncomfortable silence settles, until Ortak rises. “Come, Gannen. Let us get Elodie something to eat. We will return with food.”
I smile my thanks and watch as they head over to the fire to join the short line that has started. I keep studying father and son while I try to figure out what it is about them I can’t stop thinking about.
Chapter 9
Ortak
Our meal is spent quietly. Gannen is even subdued. I would like to ask Elodie what it was that caused her tears to fall, but I respect her wishes to not discuss it. Perhaps one turn she will trust me enough to share her reasons. I curse myself, because already I have pictured a time in the future when we will still be a part of each other’s lives. Like my kit, I seem to be developing a doomed affection for this human female.
Gannen finishes his meal first. He takes his bowl to the fire and adds it to the short pile another person started. Sorin catches him before he can return and the two kits converse for a brief time. Gannen nods and runs over to Elodie and me.
“Sorin has invited me to join him, Bazel, and Carter down in the training arena since Talek and Cecily are out hunting. May I?”
After a short pause, I give in and gesture for him to go. Letting him join the other kits is a challenge, but I have vowed to loosen the protective grip I hold him in.
“Why didn’t you want him to leave with Sorin?” Elodie asks when he is no longer within hearing range.
I sigh and face her. “Gannen was a sickly kit. We never had enough to eat. No one in our tribe did. This was especially difficult on the kits. It is why only Sorin and Gannen are left. None of the others survived. Did you know the two kits are of the same age?”
Elodie gapes. “They are?”
“Aye. Sorin was born at the beginning of the cold season and Gannen at the end of it. That is all that separates them. From the moment Gannen was born, he had trouble thriving. His momo died the second cold season after he was born. His gogo was dead long before he came into this world. Once he was alone, no Krijese would take him into their tent. They all believed he would be the next to die. Why attempt to take care of a dying kit when we were already starving and they all knew what was going to happen?”
“My god, that’s awful.” Elodie covers her mouth with her hand.
“It is the way of the Krijese.”
“Obviously he survived.”
“A lonely Krijese decided he would take the kit, so, for a short time at least, neither would be entirely alone.”
“You,” she states softly.
I nod. “Turn after turn, he continued to live. With each passing season I grew more protective, but also more worried that I would wake one morning and Gannen would be gone. So I kept him secured within a net of my own making. My fear held himback from doing all the things Sorin was doing. I did not teach him to fight. To hunt. To be Krijese.”
