The Truth of Things Unseen

Wounds

The Aden lay on its back, wrapped up in Taliette's cloak. It no longer shone so brightly now the sun was up. It looked almost like an ordinary girl, apart from the floaty white hair. Its face was sooty, and its heels were scraped and dirty where she had dragged it down the hill to her campsite.

"Clean her wounds," whispered her heart.

"It's asleep. Why would I do that?" but she did as her heart bade, rolling the thing over onto its side. As she did so, the cloak fell open a bit. There was an ugly weeping burn on its side and another across its front, down onto the top of its leg. That trapper guy had messed it up pretty nicely.

"Wash it," whispered her heart.

"But I've only got a little water."

"Wash it."

She wadded up a piece of linen from her pack, wet it from her waterskin, and dabbed at the burns, then started picking the charcoal out of the holes the trapper had left. There were splinters deep under the skin, and she dug them out with her knife.

"Better?" she said.

For a moment, her heart didn't reply. "She looks like her mother," it whispered after a second.

"What?"

"Bind her wounds. Help her, for goodness sake."

Taliette took more strips of clean linen from her bag and wrapped them around the burned places. She didn't really know how to do it, so she improvised with big knots.

The Aden was still bound, the ropes bit into the wrists, halfway up the arms. The arms looked pretty uncomfortable, all crushed together behind it like that.

"Free her," said her heart.

"Are you sure?"

"Cut the knots."

Taliette did as she was told. She sawed through the thick knots and the rope fell away in several pieces. Underneath, the skin was dented and swollen.

"Cover her. Cover her over quickly. Make her warm."

Taliette draped her cloak back over the Aden. Its skin was a bit wet from the washing but she supposed the Aden thing wouldn't mind. It looked pretty knocked about. Its eyelids fluttered and it started moaning a little in its own funny language, something about a tan, or maybe a lamb.

She thought of all the arrows she had left up on the hill. When they had belonged to someone else, she hadn't minded wasting them, but now they were her own, she was itching to get them back. She probably shouldn't leave the Aden alone, a bear might come and eat it's face off. Perhaps that would be for the best? She could come back down the hill and find it dead with its face chewed off. That would be funny, right?

"Stay by her side. Let her see you when she wakes. Be nice."

"You're just not leaving me alone today, are you?"

Her heart said nothing.

"I've got arrows all up on the hill. They're getting wet."

The Aden muttered again in its silly language, something about a pan, or was it a lamb again, she couldn't tell.

"Maybe I should just go and get my arrows?" she said.

"Stay."

"But I'm going to have to get all the crusty blood off the fletchings. It's going to take ages."

"Stay!"

"Who are you talking to?" The Aden had its eyes open and it was looking at her. It had a strange lilting accent, as though all the syllables were upside down and all the vowels had been tightened with a screw. The eyes were very pale blue, even the white bit was blue. It was shining a bit more now it was awake.

Taliette put on her best smile. "I'm so glad you're awake!" she gushed. "You've been laying there since last night."

"Good," whispered her heart. "Very nice indeed."