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The nation Chapter 35
“I planned it for one time and one time only but that’s not what happened. It felt nice to have those feelings again, to feel the lust between two people and the release after we were finished. You were always an amazing man, most people knew it, but they never looked you in the eyes to tell you. I don’t know what happened at the Ah-yeez, but it was not a terrible thing Erek, you have to see that now.”Erek did not respond at first, he just sat on the stool absorbing all that he was told. Then without preamble he asked a question.“You are pregnant, aren’t you? And it’s mine.” The last sentence was not a question.Silence, stunning silence, louder than anything Indra could remember. Her body went cold, her breathing became shallow and her heartbeat uncomfortably in her ears. “I, uh.” She decided that she must tell him now. “I think so, yes, I’m pregnant.” The words felt strange leaving her mouth, this was the first time that she had admitted it aloud.Erek moved to her with efficienc
The nation Chapter 36
“Well then, what were you talking about?”“Hunting, we were talking about hunting, Kaya.” Said an exasperated Marx before Callum could answer.“So how has the hunting been?” Kaya nudged Callum with her elbow.“They have been good,” Callum nudged her back, “we are one of the better groups right now, we bring back food more often than not.”“I was telling him how proud I was of him.” Marx noticed how Callum had covertly gotten closer to Kaya.“You were?”“Yes, I was, now you just shush.”“Hey, did you see that?” Kaya noticed a flash in the sky.“What was that?” Marx said with a hint of wonder in her voice.“That was a shooting star, my Ba’ba told me that sometimes you can see them in the fall. He said the land is pointed in some direction or other in the autumn and stars shoot across the sky.”“Are you sure that’s what he said,” Kaya slid her hand into Callum’s, “you sound a little vague on the details.”“Yeah, some direction or other, what kind of navigation is that?” Marx laughed.“I
The nation Chapter 37
“I’m telling you Rog; your son is fucking Indrasena Utpahl.”“Lilly,” Rognvald sounded exasperated, “you have got to be kidding me, Erek?”“Well, it certainly isn’t Oren, the little devil would probably do it to, if he were old enough.”“What are you saying? What did Oren do?”“Are you not listening to me?” Lilly put her hands on her hips, “I said, Lady Utpahl is pregnant, everyone knows it because she’s been puking everywhere. What the people don’t know is that it is not Harden’s.”“How do you know that?” Interrupted Rog.“The women talk.”“And what do the women say?”“They say that Davyn was trying to fix Harden’s cock, it won’t stand up anymore. Poor Indra.” Lilly’s eyes sparkled with delight, “and that’s why he had so much yohimbine bark in his apothecary.”“That is the gossip that you ladies get to talking about? A little trite if you ask me.”“Well, good thing no one asked you. They say that Indra has found a young stud to ride, and that stud is Erek.”The two were now lying in
The nation Chapter 38
“Sorry Callum,” Kaya said, after reestablishing her connection to the ground.“It’s really alright, I always get welcomed like this after a hunt.”“Really?” Kaya was looking sideways at Callum.“Really!”Kaya kicked Callum in the shin. “Don’t be a shit.”“Ouch, Jeez Kaya.” Callum dropped the gear he was carrying to rub his damaged shin.“When a girl runs up to you and kisses you because she misses you, don’t even joke about kissing other girls in front of her.” Kaya sounded pissed.Callum rarely saw Kaya angry, mainly because she wasn’t angry often. When she did get angry it was often seismic.“I am sorry. Ok, ok,” he held up his hands defensively when Kaya flinched towards him. “Stop.” He said with force.“Stop what?” She replied.“Stop acting like a child. I am not a child anymore; I am a hunter and a damn good one at that. I am sorry, I was joking and hurt your feelings. I’ll just see you tomorrow, I’m tired.” He said, while rubbing the back of his head.“Don’t, I...” but Callum al
The nation Chapter 39
“You know she is married right?” Rognvald sneered. “She is The Lady of this village, wife of the chief. Of course, she won’t have the same feelings that you have.”“I thought...”“You thought what? That you would become chief before me?” The anger began to show in Rog’s voice.“No, I don’t.”“You don’t what? You don’t wanna be chief? That’s a load of manure. Did you even know that she is pregnant too, probably with your child.” Rog’s voice was getting too loud, he calmed himself a bit.Erek shuddered, how did his father know all of this? Who had been talking to him? Erek felt cornered and helpless, like a small child might feel. He trembled with anxiety; his hands clench reflexively and his lip quivered. Then Erek said something to his father that changed things.“Only one person saw us.” His voice was quiet, just above a whisper.“What?” Rog said sharply.“Mr. Flistedt saw us two days ago.”“Are you sure?”“Not positive, but we were outside hugging and both of us heard his cart rolli
The nation Chapter 40
“Fine.” A rough sounding voice responded.Baylie went in through the flap, it closed gently behind her. The room was lit by two candles, one on each side of the bed, but the room had a quality about it. A quality of sadness, of desperation, of darkness. Baylie saw a lump on the bed and sat down close to it. She put her hand on the lump and it moved.“Honey! Are you ok?”“I’m fine.” A muffled voice answered from under the blankets.“Explain to me how you are fine?” Baylie, still sounding concerned, added a tone to her voice. A tone that said, “stop lying to me.”Indra appeared from underneath the covers, her head was pointing away from Baylie, she didn’t want to look at her friend.“I’m pregnant.” Like that was some kind of answer that spoke for all her problems.“Women get pregnant all of the time in Ondu, why is yours different? What is going on with you? Is it just morning sickness? Maybe the baby will have a lot of hair when it’s born.” Baylie let a little excitement creep into her
The nation Chapter 41
“You have been cheating on me for years Harden, the village is more important. The People are more important, the crops, the stores, everything but me. Why am I last on your list husband, why?” Like running into another tree, Harden was stunned by his wife’s admission.Briaunna was also stunned. She believed that her parents were perfect, that they would always do the right thing and protect her and The People. Now, she was hearing things that made little sense to her. Her mother was having an affair with another man, her father was too distracted to be a good husband. What was happening? “You have never been last on my list, why would you say that?”“Harden,” Indra wiped at her nose, “whether you meant to put me last or not, that is exactly how I feel. Last.”“Rognvald told me, that fucker. I had to find out from that snake in the grass.” Harden let the anger fill his words.Indra was not sure how to respond, first off, she was surprised by the fact that Rognvald knew. That meant t
The nation Chapter 42
“Hold on!” A voice called, one that she thought was familiar.Then with almost no effort at all, she was lifted out of the snow by a man, a big man. “It’s ok, I have you.” He said. “Why are you walking around by yourself?”“I’m going to the council meeting.”“You are? Me too.” The man had joy in his voice.When Brie lifted her head up to see who had picked her up, she was surprised that it was Erek. Simple Erek did not sound that simple anymore. Brie decided to play it smart and not give away too much.“I’ll carry you to the door then I’ll put you down.”“Why would you do that?”“So, you can pretend like you made it on your own, it’ll be our secret.”Brie had never heard Erek speak like this, he usually had one- or two-word answers and blank stares. Who was this Erek? “Oh, I didn’t think of that,” she said honestly. “Well let’s get moving, I’m freezing.”Erek walked them towards the meeting house. When the two got close to the council room Erek set Briaunna down.“Now you can walk i