Feeling the cold touch from my fingers on her forehead, her eyes flew open, kinda shaky, like she was half-dream and half-here.
She whispered sothing. You could miss it if you weren’t paying attention, just this tiny crackle in the silence.
She barely breathed out a word so soft you’d think you imagined it "Sister..."
Ravina gasped and leaned in fast, her hands shaking as she grabbed Helen’s limp ones. "Helen, listen to . You’re gonna be okay. I already got soone. Look!" She turned to , "Dexter, here is a healer. He’ll heal you. Just stay with , please, just stay."
I watched Helen. Sa age as Ravina. Her chest rose slowly, her eyes flicking to , weak but sharp with sothing I couldn’t na. Begging? Suspicion?
"Sister..." Helen’s lips curled into a ghost of a smile. "You don’t have to worry so much. I’ll be fine... Just need... a few days of rest."
Ravina’s voice cracked. "How can I not worry? Look at you! You can barely lift your head!" She whipped around to face again, her fingers digging into my arm. "Is she okay? Tell ."
I exhaled slowly, letting the silence stretch just long enough to make Ravina’s grip tighten. "Her condition is... difficult"
A lie. A simple tonic for fever, a pill for the ache in her bones—that’s all it would take. But if I healed her with a flick of my wrist, what would they fear? What would they need for?
I thought of the other won of the tribe—strong, untad, their loyalty bound by blood and survival. They could be more than just a tribe. They could be an army. My personal army if I played this right.
Ravina’s voice cut off sharply. "Difficult? What’s that supposed to an?" She dragged toward the hut’s doorway, way stronger than she looked. It was getting dark outside, and Firelight outside carved her face into sharp edges.
"What’s wrong with her? Aren’t you a healer? Then heal her!" Her voice broke.
I let her shove , let her fear bleed into the space between us. Then I caught her wrists, gentle but firm. "I never said I wouldn’t treat her."
"Then what does ’Difficult’ an?" Ravina’s breath ca in ragged bursts.
"Her body is holding onto heat like a drowning man clings to driftwood." I lowered my voice, as if sharing a secret. "To heal her, I need to pull the heat out of her body. Slowly. Carefully."
"How?" The word was a whip-crack.
I smiled. "Leave that to ."
Ravina was looking at with anxiousness... and I could feel Helen was trying to look at us from the bed and was even listening to our conversation.
I beca quiet and just behaved like I was thinking of sothing and was lost in thought.
A fantasy.
Not just of healing. Not just of power.
Of possession.
These won—Ravina, Helen, the others—could be mine. Not as followers. Not as soldiers. But maybe my believers and followers who are willing to lay their lives for if I show them my godly skills.
Ravina’s voice shattered the quiet, desperate. "Do you need any herbs? I could send Sabina to get them for you?"
"No herbs." My voice was smooth, almost amused. "But I do need sothing else."
She lunged forward, hope flaring in her dark eyes. "Na it."
"Animal skin." I watched her reaction carefully. "Do you have any?"
Ravina hesitated, confusion flickering across her face. "Yes—we use them in winter for warmth, but...."
"Soak one in the stream." I cut her off, my tone leaving no room for argunt. "Every inch. Then bring it to ." I turned away, already dismissing her. "I’ll check on Elder Helen. See if her body is ready for treatnt."
Ravina hesitated—just long enough for you to wonder if she might crack, but then nope, she just gave this tiny, determined nod and poof, she was gone. Swallowed up by the night before I could blink.
I walked inside the hut, and bam. Helen was staring straight at , like I’d walked in on her secret or sothing. She’s sprawled out on those furs, not looking all that great—breathing quick and tight, chest barely keeping up.
And, man, the light coming through from outside had her sweating bullets. Beads sliding down from her collarbone, glistening all the way along her skin, pooling at the hollow above her breasts and catching on the sharp, perfect line of her nipples. Hard to ignore, honestly, the way her skin was flushed and her breath ca so ragged.
But it was her eyes that held .
Not weak. Not pleading.
Furious.
"Spit it out," she croaked, her words rough as a busted car muffler. "What’s Ravina throwing away just to keep breathing?" She let out this laugh—god, it sounded terrible, all choked up and jagged.
"Haven’t I already ruined enough for her? Seriously, shove off, healer. I don’t need your help," she said. Her eyes narrowed, sharp as knives. "Just go back to wherever you ca from. I won’t be a burden. And I won’t let my people beco slaves to so healer because of ."
Slaves.
The word sent a jolt through . Slaves. Not servants. Not followers. Property.
I couldn’t help but stare—she was practically vibrating with rage, eyes daring to push just a little further. Not from fear, hell no, but like she was holding herself back by a thread.
"Slaves?" I echoed, tasting the word. "Is that what your healers take?"
Helen wrinkled her nose, disgust practically dripping off her lips. "They just... snatch it all, don’t they?" Her voice caught—hard to tell if she was choking back tears or just plain fury. "Take a life, trade a body... You wanna act like you’re so savior? Please. You’re not the first fool to dangle fake hope in front of ."
She doubled over with a rough cough. "Trust . I’d rather drop dead right here than ever owe you a damn thing."
I knelt right next to Helen—honestly, I could almost lick the tallic taste of her fever in the air, mixed up with that heavy, animal scent of sweat that just clings to everything. Her grip on the furs was really tight. Not because she was frail or anything, but like she was forcing herself not to grab by the neck.
The fire kept throwing these wild shadows all over her—lighting up her heated skin, the way her breath wouldn’t settle, the nipples of her tits were shiny with sweat.
Then—footsteps.
Ravina burst in, the wet animal skin draped over her arm, dripping onto the packed earth. Her eyes burned with sothing wild, sothing dangerous. She had heard Helen’s words. And she had made her decision.
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