Tentatively, I open the door to Entho’s clinic. A handful of people waiting on the hard wooden benches stare at me as if I were a circus freak. I ignore them, searching for Entho. He is peering down the throat of a little girl with long, shaggy black hair, matted to the side of her head. She is filthy, ragged, and is gagging as tears stream down her face. There is something about her…something so vulnerable and pathetic that I am drawn straight toward her.
I rush over to her. “It is okay,” I soothe taking her tiny hand in mine. It is dry and dark and filthy. Her eyes find mine, deep brown saucers that seem to be searching for something.
“You have a bad sore throat,” Entho tells her in his soothing healer’s voice. “I’ll be right back. Teak will wait with you while I get you some medicine.” He scurries over to his medicine cabinet and reaches for one of the myriad of jars filled with herbs, medicines, and other substances I am just starting to learn about. I hear him mixing something in his mortar, gentle grinding against the worn stone.
“What is your name?” I ask the girl.
“Winter,” she tells me, casting her eyes downward.
“Where is your mommy?” I question. “Or your daddy?”
She opens her eyes, soulful and sad – staring at me, tears barely outlining them like glistening ponds. Silence surrounds us except for Entho’s movements in the background and an occasional cough, throat clearing, or whisper from one of the other patients. Finally, she sniffles, “Gone.”
I hug her to me. I don’t know if “gone” means dead or if “gone” means abandoned. She must think I am odd, so pale and white, golden eyes, and a bandage wrapped around my head…the Mark of Power on my cheek.
Entho returns with a large, dark brown bottle. “Open up,” he tells her. He takes a dropper and spills the liquid into Winter’s mouth. She gags it down. “Good girl,” he says. He is all business, turning to me and handing me the bottle and dropper. “She is to take a dropper full every three hours until the bottle is gone. Will you take her to her Guardian?” I shoot him a questioning look, but by then he has turned from me, calling for his next patient. Guardian? I don’t even know what a Guardian is. Or how to administer medicine.
“Come on, Winter, let’s go find your Guardian.” She reaches for my hand again as we walk to the waiting room. Her hand is tiny and warm in mine. Trusting. For the first time in years I feel good about what I am doing, that I am helping people…not training to kill them. A short man with a fat belly stands up. He has an orange cloak with a white sash around his rotund stomach. Winter immediately leans into me, as if she is frightened. I place my arm protectively around her shoulders.
“Are you Winter’s Guardian?” I ask the man, instinctively glaring at him.
“Yes, and I’m in a hurry,” he snaps at me.
I scowl at him. I want to grab Winter, rush her up to my room, and take care of her. I am instantly mad at Entho. How can he sit by and do nothing for this poor little girl?
My words come out automatically, emulating Entho’s. I don’t know what else to do. “She is to take a dropper full of this every three hours until the bottle is gone,” I tell him. Then I crouch down, looking into Winter’s eyes. “If you ever need anything, you find me, okay?”
“Get on with it already,” the fat man barks. He tosses a coin at me. My Weapons training kicks in without thought and I catch it effortlessly. He yanks Winter away from me, roughly pulling at her arm.
I feel a red fog swim through my brain as I stand up, a rage like I have never known. I seem to be in a different place, my body separating from my mind. I am shaking and feel energy course through me, energy I can’t seem to control and have never experienced before. I spread my fingers, pointing them at the Guardian, at his fat stomach. He instantly doubles over, moaning in pain and grabbing his stomach. He drops Winter’s hand and falls to the floor.
I glance over at Winter and a wicked smile is pasted on her face, as if she is enjoying this. I also see her hands spread wide, both of them…pointing directly at the Guardian. Is she copying me? Startled, I immediately close my hand into a fist, calming myself. I know the penalty for displaying Power in public. But I am not sure if this is even Power. If it is Power, is it mine or Winters? Or both of ours…something that only happens when we are together?
The Guardian continues to writhe and moan. “Ohhhh,” he groans, rolling to his side, holding his grotesque stomach. I stoop, reach for Winter’s hands, fold them up into little fists and lock eyes with her. “No.” I mouth the word with no sound coming out, shaking my head slowly. I gently let go of her hands and kneel down beside her Guardian, breathing words into his ears like fire.
“If I ever find out you or anyone else touches her, lays one little finger on her or mistreats her in any way, there will be a lot more of that.” I want to kick him, hurt him until he never stops screaming. But silence overtakes me, and I am suddenly aware that everyone in the room is watching, including Entho. All movement has stopped. Every eye is on the Guardian, Winter, and me.
Entho speaks to me, a little too loudly. “Thank you for helping Winter’s Guardian. I think he just had a stomach cramp.” He quickly grabs a clear bottle with a pink liquid in it. “Give this to him. It will make his stomach better.”
I rise up, stalk over to Entho and snatch the bottle from him. I return to the Guardian, who is now sitting up on the floor, and shove it at him. Sweat trickles down his flabby face onto his enormous belly as he takes the bottle from me.
“Teak, I need you over here.” Entho’s words are firm, and I know I must leave Winter.
“I have to go now,” I tell her. “If you ever need anything, find me, okay?”
“Okay,” she answers in a timid voice. She pauses for a minute, cocking her head to the side. “Bye.” Her little red lips are pursed, her head tilted. Questions seem to steam out of her, billowing off her filthy skin and dark eyes like rain hitting the ground on a hot day.
“Good-bye, Winter,” I say, tears threatening to erupt for a reason I cannot comprehend. She is just a little girl with a sore throat…I can’t understand this odd attachment to her. I have been around other children before, and nothing like this has ever happened.
She turns around, and stands obediently next to her Guardian. He almost snarls as he grabs her hand, and I watch her tiny body exit the clinic with his. I can’t help thinking it should be my hand she holds…not his. Definitely not his.
I hesitantly pivot my body away from hers, knowing I may never see her again, and reluctantly trudge toward Entho.
Chapter 10