Page 68 of Of Serpents and Ruins
Kine cleared his throat and stepped out from the hall into the main room, announcing our return. I followed much slower, allowing him to take the lead and explain what had happened.
Auntie Runa’s anger morphed into concern as she hurried over toward me and began her examination, interjecting questions directed to both Kine and me. While I avoided telling her about how I had almost been incapable of walking away from Brandt or how I had behaved with him, I did tell her about the well and the double earthquakes and everything else. Kine offered his own observations, but he said nothing of my struggle. Not that I could or would hide it forever. I just couldn’t bring myself to speak about it now.
Elias remained silent, standing at the edge of one of the channels, hand against the back of his neck and his gaze distant.
I avoided looking directly at him, wanting to give him some measure of privacy. He had meant well, almost certainly, and now my own curiosity was even more piqued. What had Auntie Runa seen? What part of that vision had Elias seen? What possible knowledge could be so devastating that it was dangerous?
No sooner had I asked that than my mind obliged, supplying numerous terrifying options.
Brandt’s horrifying descent into madness and death.
The end of our people and land as a whole.
Destruction of everything we cared about.
Eternal hopelessness against the Gola Resh.
The return of the Babadon combined with hopelessness against the Gola Resh.
Some new force or enemy making everything even worse.
A new curse that would make everything worse.
I clamped my hand to my temples and shook my head, willing the horrors back.
No, stop. No.
"Don’t worry about changing your clothes. Just get in now," Auntie Runa said, indicating the channel with the manatees. She held a large wooden bowl filled with pink and red flower petals against her hip.
"Do you need to check to see if my arm is broken?" I asked, lifting it slightly.
The pronounced swelling and purple-black bruising with puddles of green mottling my forearm had expanded to cover most of it, wrapping around my wrist and extending all the way to my elbow. The blood from the scrapes and cuts had mostly dried. Based on the dull, constant ache that made me want to gnash my teeth the more I focused on it, I’d probably broken it in more than one place. My ribs were probably cracked. Candy having to hold me back like that certainly hadn't helped.
Auntie Runa scooped up a handful of the fragrant petals and tossed them into the gentle current. Bubbles and Bobbles as well as the other manatees swam about, dipping beneath the surface and sending out ripples and masses of bubbles. The petals spun and floated, releasing a soft floral scent like roses and magnolias before the manatees ate some of them, whiskers twitching as they munched.
"Doesn’t matter. The water will help you just the same. It’ll even push the broken bones back into place. Only time we have to be more careful is if it’s snapped off or the bone’s protruding or something like that." She gestured toward the channel with her chin. "Go on now. Get in."
My body aching and stiff, I sat on the edge of the stone channel and dipped my feet in. The water was as warm as a soothing bath, and the manatees swam alongside me, their whiskers tickling my sensitive skin.
"All the way. Try to relax. Let the waters do their work. You’re safe. There’s no one here you need to worry about protecting," Auntie Runa said, her tone gentle
The harshness from her confrontation with Elias had faded. Both Elias and Kine had left. For now, it was just me and Auntie Runa. As much as I cared about Elias and Kine, their absence meant a release of pressure. Auntie Runa probably already knew everything I was struggling with. She’d been absolutely right about my relationship with Brandt and how it affected me.
Yup. Embarrassing as it was, she had been right all along. It was just me being a horny idiot.
With a grunt, I pushed myself off the edge into the warm, fragrant waters. Like an eel diving into the depths, I disappeared beneath the surface. The sharp change in sensation and temperature overwhelmed my senses for a second before relief seeped in. My feet brushed the bottom of the stone channel as I forced my eyes open. Soft hazy beams of lamp light filtered downin golden shafts. The manatees’ calls took on a different, clearer cast below these waters. A smile tugged at my lips when the baby triceratops dog-paddled farther down the channel, its chubby little legs swiftly kicking.
The weight and pressure of the water soothed me. More memories pressed on my mind, mixing with all the times I had dove into pools and lakes and ponds and gone as far down as I could. A part of me had remembered all along how much I loved being far beneath the water with all of it against me in a massive warm hug.
Far too soon, my lungs burned, the need for air forcing me upward again. I kicked up off the floor and sliced my arms through the water. Already the stiffness and pain in my arm had reduced.
If only all my problems could be swept away this easily.
When I lifted my injured arm from the water, some of the pain returned. It vanished as soon as I submerged it again. That was familiar. The cuts and scrapes had even started to stitch back together.
Buttercup huffed as she lay down at the edge of the canal, close enough to keep an eye on me.
"Keep yourself under at least as far as your neck." Auntie Runa continued to cast more flower petals onto the surface. "It’ll take a few hours."
