Chapter 14

Chapter 14

Txälina 

"I have something to confess to you two," Täneli said, taking crackers from the platter. Ever since Kaluen's departure, the house had been shrouded in silence. All the warriors had left to celebrate Mätxin's ascension to the Alpha position. There was no one in the house to issue orders. No concern about being lashed daily.

Nuxiwän settled beside us, sipping orange juice from her cup.

"You must affirm that you'll not yield to anger when I reveal this," Täneli continued.

The smile slipped from my lips.

"Why do I have a menacing feeling about this?" Nuxiwän asked.

"Right?" I turned to Nuxiwän, my brows twitching.

"Just don't be infuriated."

"I will try," I conceded, biting into my cracker.

"Me too," Nuxiwän replied.

"Every midnight, when Kaluen is asleep, I slip out of the house to pluck some näewe leaves."

I halted, chewing my cracker. Nuxiwän stared at her with dread.

"I have been boiling them and drinking the broth after he finishes with me. The other day when Nuxiwän met me in the kitchen and asked to share my tea, I refused because it wasn't ordinary tea, it was näewe broth. I have a hidden garden of näewe deep in the forest."

For a moment, I forgot I was breathing.

"By the goddess, Täneli has plunged into madness," Nuxiwän said.

I must have misconstrued her. There was no plausible way Täneli would risk her life for that. Näewe was no ordinary plant. It was an herb once used by a myriad of females to expel pregnancy. When Säli males first forced females into breeding, näewe had become their furtive respite. When they found out, they burned every näewe plant to the ground. Now, Säli law states that mere possession of näewe warrants a death sentence.

"Kaluen will kill you if he finds out. He'll kill you, Tän," I said.

"He'll only hurt me if he finds out," she said with a hard glint in her eyes. "And I will not allow it."

"He has spies monitoring our every movement, Tän," Nuxiwän said nervously.

"I know."

"And even if Kaluen never discovers," Nuxiwän pressed, "näewe is a stern plant. It erodes the womb. Do you not desire a child someday?"

"Child?" Täneli scoffed, her voice shrouded in pain. "What mother would bring a child only to watch it wrecked by this world? If I birthed a son, they would seize him from me even before I heard his first cry. You know what happens from there. And if I birthed a daughter, she would grow only to acquaint with degradation. For that, I will continue to take näewe until my womb is barren. I'll feel no regret."

Nuxiwän's eyes burned with tears. "He forced us to swear an oath with the goddess that we shall never lie to him. By doing this, you'll not only defy him, you defy Säli too."

"Does Säli even exist?" Täneli asked, rage burning water in her eyes.

"Don't say that," Nuxiwän pleaded.

"What goddess would sit inertly and watch her creation suffer year after year? She never spared us a single glance. I ceased praying to her long ago, ceased believing in her when my sister capitulated to death. I begged Säli for her life, but she remained silent. Right now, I only believe in myself."

I couldn't hold back the tears that poured out of my eyes.

.....

When I woke up, my head pulsated with pain as though someone was smashing it with a brick. My back throbbed with dull agony. I groaned, groping for a splinter of comfort, but the rhythmic rattle of hooves and the occasional jolt of my body hauled me from sleep.

I forced my bleary eyes open and attempted to sit up, only for anguish to careen through my spine. Blinking back the grogginess, I saw two of my braids tumble across my vision.

Memories hit me in a deluge, and with them, more pain. I stiffened, turning around to find a male sitting next to me in the carriage. This was Alpha Mätrang of Wingälkäli pack, the Crowned Prince of the Ngäerawa realm.

I took in his olive skin and sharp jawline. He was almost overwhelming in his handsomeness. Broad shoulders and powerful in his blue and black garments (the colour code for Wingälkäli pack). His features was sharp, long black hair braided back. In Ngäerawan, it was customary for every male and female to braid their hair, weaving it with silver or gold threads as a mark of our tradition.

My brows furrowed as recognition seared through me. He had halted me from killing those vile Säli males, and now he was whisking me away to some unknown place.

"You've been unconscious for two days," he observed. "Your wounds are healing, albeit slowly."

I clenched my jaw as the recollection of claws sinking through my flesh tore through my mind.

"And you were impudent," he continued. "You attempted to kill me!"

"Impudent for defending my people?!" I questioned. I hadn't anticipated that the Crowned Prince would spit such nonsense. I had hoped he possessed some measure of wits.

"My Beta has enlightened me on what befell Säli females. I extend my apologies for what happened. But if you so much as dare to use that voice on me again, the consequences will be severe."

I cast my eyes away from him, turning to the window and staring at the endless blur of trees.

"Where are you taking me?"

"To Nüxalkäli (the royal pack). What happened in Säli pack is a situation of solemn import. The King needs to hear of it directly."

My clothes were sullied with dried blood. I felt Täneli's blood. Tears stung my eyes. It was my fault. I failed to protect her. When I closed my eyes, I saw Kaluen's blade plunging through her skin. I saw her crumbling to the ground. I felt the warmth of her crimson blood as I cradled her.

My throat burned from the searing scream that tore through me. She didn't deserve such a devastating death. She didn't deserve Kaluen or me. She had been my solace, the one who kept me alive when my hope was fraying. And now she is gone.

Kill them. Kill them all.

I closed my eyes. Her voice, albeit a whisper, echoed in my head. She had wanted vengeance. And though I'd killed more than a hundred Säli males, it wasn't enough. Not nearly enough to repay the centuries of brutality. Not enough to erase the scars etched on our flesh.

"You killed one hundred and twenty Säli males," he remarked, his voice infused with surprise.

I opened my eyes to meet his icy blue gaze. "It will never be enough," I said hoarsely. "Never enough to expiate centuries of enslavement. Never enough for what they did to my friend. You need to take me back, let me finish what I started."

"That will not be possible," he replied coldly. "We are far from Säli territory. And even if we were still there, I would never permit you to kill another Säli male. No matter how much you have suffered."

Anger careened through my vision. I felt pure rage rising in my chest and flowing through my veins.

"You have no right to decide for me."

"I am the Crowned Prince. I have every right," he replied. "Once we arrive at Nüxalkäli pack, the King will determine what fate awaits Säli pack, not you."

"And what will the King do?" I asked. "When my brother died, I was meant to take the Alpha position. That was the sole path to liberate my people from slavery."

"I inaugurated a temporary Alpha to organize a mass burial for the dead and to oversee Säli pack until the King renders his judgment."

Silence fell for a moment between the two of us. I gritted my teeth as I clenched my hands in anger. My vision turned black from fury.

"You delegated another male as Alpha, knowing precisely what horrors and atrocities they immortalized?"

He looked at me in silence.

My fingers curled around the carriage door handle as I inched away from him. "I thought I had finally salvaged freedom for my people. Why would you do this? Why not choose a female, someone who has lived through this nightmare to lead?"

"He will not rule for long. Only until the King resolves this matter."

"The King... The King... The King..." I mimicked his voice. "Does your existence revolve around him?"

His jaw clenched, a warning glare flashing across his eyes. "You would do well to mind your tongue."

"Does he even comprehend what it feels like to be compelled into breeding? To receive death threats daily? To be sold like an animal? To be shackled, whipped, and defiled?"

His eyes followed my hand's movement to the latch on the door.

"Don't," he warned.

"Fuck you."

Taking one deep breath, I leapt from the moving carriage.