Shadow Road: Book 1 of the Shadows Rising Trilogy

40. Proving Useful

11th of Nema, Continued

"Adei," I got out, lifting my hands, as if that would actually have kept her from mauling me.

Char stumbled to a halt mid-flight, her gaze zeroing in on my mouth. "What did you say?" Again, in Tettian. Low Tettian, with a rather thick poor-district accent.

"I said stop," I repeated, glancing beyond her at NaVarre, unsure what I should do. "You don't have to run." Then I switched back to Altyran. "What do you need to tell her?"

Char jerked as if I had struck her and whipped around to face the others, her chest heaving.

"We need to set her ankle," NaVarre said quietly. If he was surprised to see me, he didn't show it.

"They just want to fix your ankle," I translated, and Char rounded on me again, backing toward the wall so she could see all of us at once. "Is your ankle hurt?" I asked, gentling my tone and lowering my hands.

Char blinked. Her gaze shifted and she took a slow breath, letting it out through her nose as if she were steadying herself. "That's all the reighan want?" she rasped. "Fix me up, then they'll let me go?"

"She wants to know if you'll let her go after her ankle is fixed," I provided – leaving out the vulgar word Char had just used for them.

NaVarre nodded. "Tell her it isn't safe in the woods at night. And we have food."

"He says you're free to go wherever you want," I said in Tettian, hoping that was true, "but that it isn't safe in the woods after dark. And they have food."

"Tell her this is Dr. Longalli," NaVarre said, his eyes on Char as he gestured toward the small, plump woman by the door. "And this is Mr. Longalli, the Director," he added, indicating the other man, who was pinching the bridge of his bloodied nose with a handkerchief. Next was the young woman beside the doctor, "And this is Jinny," followed by, "and that's Rhaina. They're all very nice people. She's safe here."

I repeated what he had said as closely as I could.

Her movements sharp and quick, Char glanced warily from one person to the next. Her shoulders were beginning to shake. "I don't want to go back in that room," she whispered. "There is no air in there."

I translated and Dr. Longalli took a small step forward, holding up a medical box. "That's alright. I can see to your ankle right here, if you would like."

Char flinched away from the Doctor's voice, but then she gave a jerky little nod when I explained in Tettian.

That was the pattern we fell into. NaVarre offered to take off the restraint, Char glanced at me while I explained what he wanted, and then she let him. Dr. Longalli told her she had to sit down, Char went tense until I translated, then she sank to the floor. Dr. Longalli explained that she was going to realign Char's ankle, Char stiffened until I had finished translating, then she took a deep breath and ground her teeth while the doctor reset a dislocated bone and bound her foot with surgeon's linen.

Char didn't need any translation for food, however. When Jinny left and came back with a bowl of soup and a thick wedge of dark bread, Char snatched it from her and turned to face the wall, devouring all of it as quickly as possible, as if someone might take it away at any moment.

While the girl was eating, the doctor came to stand next to me. "Thank you. I'm not sure how she was able to get so far on that ankle – fear, I suppose. She's one of the more challenging cases we have at the moment." Then she looked up at me. "What language is she speaking? Jinny couldn't place it."

"Poor-district Tettian," I murmured. "They use a lot of street slang. What... um..." I didn't finish my question, not entirely sure I wanted to know the answer.

The Doctor supplied one anyway. "As far as we can tell, she was a slave on a tea plantation near Reixvald. I'm only guessing from those dark stains on her fingers. That's something we see with the girls who packed tea leaves. Judging from the state of her, I'd say she has been malnourished for quite some time, which probably means her driver used food as an incentive to get his chain to fill their quota. Hungry slaves cooperate better. They can't run as far, either."

My throat tightened. All those times I had opened a new tin of Altyran Provincial and eagerly inhaled that musky-sweet fragrance... I must have emptied and discarded thousands of those little waxed envelopes.

The Doctor wasn't done. "She dislocated her ankle trying to get out of the shackles in the cargo bin we pulled her from. Worst haul we've ever had." Dr. Longalli paused, her eyes sad as she watched Char gnawing down the bread. "Now here she is, starting at any sudden sounds, keeping her back to walls and corners, constantly making sure she knows where the doors are. She'll have to learn not to fight with the other girls over food, how to keep from stealing and hoarding things she thinks she might need."

Char finished gulping every last drop of soup and stared into the bottom of the bowl for a moment as if it would magically refill. Her eyes drooped and she began swaying, then listing sideways, her chin hitting her chest, and the Doctor moved quickly to kneel next to her, keeping Char from landing hard on the tile floor as the girl finally stopped fighting the sleep-easy in the broth and went under.

Dr. Longalli made sure Char's mouth was empty, and nodded to Jinny, who had slipped out and come back with a stretcher.

Char was shifted carefully onto it, and NaVarre and the Director carried her across the foyer to the lofty hallway that led into the depths of the school, with the Doctor, Jinny, and Rhaina trailing along behind them.

"There is something the Council needs to discuss," the Doctor was saying as they left.

Unsure whether I should go or stay, I didn't follow until I heard NaVarre's surprised, "Where is Miss Westerby?"

Then Rhaina came trotting back to fetch me.

........................................................