Red Is for Traitor

The preacher spoke in his monotone voice that seemed to fade in the icy wind. The villagers somehow managed to dig up the hardend ground next to our father and Grandfather. There were a few people standing off to the side to bid our Grandmother a final goodbye, but most stayed inside watching. I barely felt the cold as I watched my Grandmother be lowered into the ground, never to be seen again. When it came time, I pulled off my right glove, bent over, grabbed a fist full of ice cold dirt, and stepped to the edge of the hole. "Lumen cordis mei et pars mea. Requiescant in pace, avia." I whispered as I slowly let the clumps of dirt fall to their final resting place. I stepped back and let Arawn say his final words.
The preacher continued while the men began covering the coffin. I felt selfish as I tuned out the holy man and thought about what this meant for me and my twin. We never told our mother of grandmother's death. She wouldn't have come and we would have been forced to leave before the funeral. I looked over at Arawn to see his face wet; silent tears gliding down from his eyes. I wanted to comfort him, but found I couldn't. As grandmother had said all those days ago, I couldn't touch people. I feared it. I wanted to laugh, but knew if I did tears would replace the absurdity of my situation. I would begin to pity myself for the woes life had thrown at me and that wasn't me.
After everyone had left, it was only Arawn and me. We didn't speak for a while, merely watched my grandmother's grave. Only when the sun started to dip lower into the sky did my brother decide it was time to leave. "Macha." He whispered and touched my shoulder. As usual I flinched a little, but did not tear my eyes away from the cruel stone that held the two people that I cared for more than almost anyone; excluding Arawn. "Macha." He was more stern this time. "Grandmother would not want us to freeze. Mrs. Hawthorn is hosting the mercy meal and we are late." His voice was more gentle this time as if I was a child.
"I am coming." I whispered back. He nodded and started towards the middle of the village. Right before ripping my eyes from the grave I felt someone watching me. I turned towards the woods a mile off and scanned the tree line. When I saw no one I turned away to follow Arawn. As I entered the warm house of Mr. and Mrs. Hawthorn I swore I heard howls in the distant, but I could not say for sure.
Arawn and I put off writing home as long as possible knowing that we, or at least Arawn, would be called back to the city. But like most events in my life, tragedy was my friend. On the first day that it was warm, Arawn wrote to our mother informing her that grandmother had passed away and due to the intense winter, we were not able to send a letter sooner. We had buried her and aside from mourning her loss, we were fine. Two weeks later and we still heard nothing from mother. We thought we were in the clear until they arrived bringing a storm that would cause chaos and war.
I was the village's medical woman since grandmother had passed on the title to me when she died, and Arawn was back to being a woodcutter. Over the two weeks, Sindri and Arawn become friendly with each other. Not like they were before Sin found out who we were, but no longer glaring and growling. I still saw Zane a few times a week and if our visits coincided when delivering lunch, I talked with him (much to Sindri's annoyance). For some reason he still was unhappy with me even though I tried to talk to him. Our wound was apparently to large to mend in only a few weeks. Nonetheless, now he ignored me instead of outright anger. I counted that as a win. While on one of these visits, I was walking down the path from the forest when I heard shouting. Dread filled me as ice water replaced my warm blood. I started running towards the sound when I broke through some trees to find the woodcutters scrambling. I stayed out of the way as my eyes scanned the men. Where was Arawn? My pulse started racing the longer I couldn't find my twin. ARAWN! I circled around to see why the men were frantic; a medium size tree had fallen. I wasn't too bothered by that until I saw what looked to be a body under it. My hearted started beating faster once more as I scanned the familiar faces of the men shouting and trying to move the tree. As I went to dash towards the fallen man, to check to see if it was my brother, someone caught me around my waist. I flailed in the man's grasp.
"Calm down lassie! Ye don't want ta be goin' over thar." The man tightnened his grip on me.
"Arawn!" I called.
"Lassie..." The man's voice trailed off with sympathy in his eyes. I stared at him with wide eyes before turning back to the tree and calling to me brother whom never called back. It took the men over a half an hour to fully move the tree off the fallen woodcutter. The moment the man was free, I used all my force to escape from my captor and to the wounded. The man called to me but I paid no heed and I slid into a kneeling position.
"Arawn?" I asked in a broken whisper, gently placing my ear to his back. I closed my eyes and listened for a heartbeat. As I waited I felt a presence next to me.
"He's still alive." I didn't open my eyes until I heard the weak thump.
I nodded and whispered back, "Anything I should know about?" I held my tears back as I started testing his ribs.
"His breathing is of someone in a... coma. He has broken bones, but I do not know where. It happened to fast."
I nodded once more before closing off my hysterical emotions and became professional. "I need you to run to my old house and prepare it for possible surgery. Prepare it for Arawn." Sindri stared at me a moment before leaving. I raised my voice as I started instructing people on what to do. "I need a make shift gurny. You," I pointed to the man that had held me back. "I need you to slowly turn him when I say." Not waiting for an answer, I started checking Arawn's neck. Nothing was broken. On touch alone, he had a broken leg, dislocated shoulder, broken arm, and possibly broken ribs. When I finished with his back, I had the man flip my unconscious brother. Within seconds of being on his back, Arawn started gasping. "Sir, I need you to hold him up a little, just enough so gravity is not fully on his chest." The man looked at me like I had spoken in another language. "Rest him against you so he is not gasping." The man nodded as I continued to work. "You three find sticks to use as splints." I pushed up Arawn's shirt, recieving some gasps from the people around me, to find purple and red around his ribs. After setting his leg and arm the best I could, the men carefully shifted Arawn onto the gurny and brought him to the house I instruced them to.
The men placed Arawn on a table that would be my makeshift operating table. "Sindri, would you mind helping me? I need to set some bones and sauture wounds." It took him a moment, but he nodded and waited for further instructions. I shooed the other men out as I started instructing my old friend on what to do. "I need hot water and a lit candle." As he went to his job, I rummaged through my satchel to find a needle, course thread, my sharpened knife, and cloth for wrapping. As I washed and dried my hands I asked, "Is there any internal bleeding I need to take care of?"
Sindri stepped closer and listened. "Only where you're aware of."
"Thank you." I began the grueling process of repairing my brother. I began with the broken leg since it was an open break. Due to already setting the bones in the field, I cleaned the gaping hole and then sautured it closed. I applied a salve to prevent infection, wrapped it, and moved on. I don't know how long later, but eventually I finished all the I could and stepped back. "Have I missed anything?"
"I don't think so." He listened in to see how Arawn was doing. "Did you attened to the cut on the back of his head?"
"Yes." I nodded. "That bled a lot. I hope he has not lost too much blood." I walked over to my twin and picked up his good hand. "He is very pale."
"You would be too if you'd been hit by a tree."
"Crushed... I fear it is a curse on the males in my family." Sindri looked at my like in confusion. "A tree fell on my father. He died almost instantly, or so I am told. Would you mind helping me change him and putting him in bed?"
"I can dress your brother, a woman should not see a man naked." Sindri took Arawn's clothes from me and began unbuttoning my twin's shirt.
"Says the man who lives with women who see naked men all the time." I rolled my eyes as I swatted Sindri's hand away to stablize Arawn. "Besids, I have seen Arawn naked more times than not. We do live together and are twins."
"Don't let that get out, you'll never find a husband."
"I believe I am already spinster status. No man would want me anyway."
"I don't believe that." Sindri gave me a look as we settled Arawn into bed.
"I am considered a witch here and unmarriageable in the city. I am perfectly happy with not marrying for I do not wish to change. I like the freedom I have and do not wish to give it up again." I turned to Sindri and although I wished for us not to for (we were finally getting along), but he needed to return to his family. "Thank you for helping me, but you should go. Your pa-family will be worried about you. Send your mother and Zane my regards."
Sindri stood in front of me a moment as though he had something on his mind. Instead of saying it however, he sighed. "I'll be back tomorrow before work to check on Arawn. Be safe, Macha." He walked out the door and into the darkness. I spent the rest of the night watching over my brother in hopes that his health would not turn for the worst.
A week later and Arawn showed no signs of getting better, but luckily was not getting worse. He slept the days and nights away, oblivious to the world. I could feel myself getting restless as I spent my days in the house I grew up in watching over my silent brother. It was the morning of the eigth day when I heard a commotion outside our door. I looked over to Arawn to make sure he was okay, before walking out. I stopped dead in my tracks as a familiar cart pulled up the road to the house. I knew my heart raced as my mouth dropped. "Mother?"
Like the lady she thought she was, mother stepped out of the cart wearing the latest city fashion. Next came Ferguson with a look of disgust on his face. When his eyes landed on me his face twisted as is he had just drank an entire glass of curdled milk. "Where is my son?"
I wanted to screw my face up at my step-father for calling Arawn his son, but reframed. "Arawn, is inside."
"Good, prepare him for travel. We are leaving."
"You cannot move him! He is too hurt." I stepped forward to block the door. "You cannot move him!"
"Silence you ungrateful child!" Ferguson bellowed as the back of his hand collided with my cheek. My head snapped sideways and sent me sprawling to the ground. "We are taking my son to the city where real doctors will take care of him and he can once again live as my heir."
I spat blood on the ground as I looked up with a glare before trying to reason with my mother. "Mother, you cannot move him, he is too hurt. He has not woken up since the accident!" Like all other times, she looked away from me as if I had not spoken. Her eyes scanned the house and view she once called hers and turned her nose up at it. Growling internally to myself I locked my eyes back on my step-father. "I will not let you move him." I stood back up and once more bloacked the enterence. "You will only hurt him more, if not kill him."
"None sense! You do not know what you are talking about."
By now a few groups of people collected to watch. "I may not be a doctor, but I do know what I am talking about. I have learned medicine from my grandmother whom was a master healer."
"The crazy old witch?" Ferguson let out a laugh. "She knew nothing. She belonged in an asylum rather than trying to help these peasants. Now get out of the way you ungrateful child."
"I am not letting you hurt my brother." I glared.
"Move!" He yelled and went to slap me again, however this time I was ready and batted his hand away. "I should have left you to the streets like I originally wanted to!" He wrapped his bulbous fingers around my neck and started squeezing. "The moment they gave you that cloak, I should have dumped your ass on the streets and let the men have their way with you." I started gasping as spots speckled my vision. "You are a waste of space and money." I growled something in response as one of my hands clung to his hand and the other slipped to my waist. "What did you mutter you stupid bitch?"
"Fuck *gasp* You!" Then I whipped my hand out, slicing his cheek. He roared and dropped me.
"You fucking whore! You!" His eyes burned, his face changed to a red purple. "You and your bastard of a brother are no longer a part of this family. You are from here on disowned. Do not bother crawling back to us for you will be turned away with a bucket full of piss!"
For the last time my eyes slid to my mother who looked slightly horrified. "Mother?" My last plea to the woman who kept abandoning me.
Of course, my mother never looked at me as she tried to sooth her husband. "Ferguson, what of an heir?"
"Evangelista's husband can take over. He knows how to respect his elders. Let us leave this filthy place." He turned on his heels and started towards the cart.
"Mother!" I called and leaned forward as my mother stopped. "What of your son? What of your children?!"
My mother straightened her back and with a head held high replied, "I only have one child and she is happily married to a respectible young man." With that she walked over to her husband who helped her into the cart.
"You will regret this day, you little whore." With those final words, Ferguson stepped into the cart and headed out of the village.
With anger filled eyes as I watched the cart disappeare before standing up, wiping my split lip, and finally turned to attend to my brother. Once inside and alone with only the fire crackling and Arawn's breathing, I collapsed beside him. I started laughing, first a chuckle until it sounded crazed. Before long however, the laughing turned to tears and I laid my head on his good arm. I whimpered, "Please Arawn, please do not leave me too." I silently sobbed, unaware that four wolves witnessed the whole thing.
Trista held her youngest son back. "Don't." She warned. "She does not want anyone's help."
"Mother." Sindri objected. He wanted nothing more than to rip the fat man's head off.
"It makes more sense, doesn't it?" Sindri finally settled as he and his two siblings looked at her confused. "Macha is no longer the carefree girl we once knew and now we know why. The city was unkind to her and in turn she has become a young woman we don't recognize. I suggested you be kinder or at least more understanding to her." She aimed her words more at Sindri than her two other children. "For all the horrors we've seen and experienced at least we still have each other, I fear Macha does not. The only family she now has is her brother who may or may not wake up." There was a slight pause as the realization hit the small pack of wolves.
"I find it sad that she doesn't even flinch after being hit." Mia commented. "No one should be hit that many times..."
"A sad reality that many know."
"Why didn't her mom help her? I don't understand why she let the bast- mad man slap and almost choke Macha and then walked away like nothing happened."
"Perhaps because Macha and Arawn remind her too much of her late husband. Sometimes people try to break ties with those that remind them of the past and nothing remind you more of someone you loved, like a mate, than your children. Especially Macha who is so much like her father... It's a pity, Liliana was such a lovely woman before Gray died. To abandon your children-" Trista shook her head.
"She abandoned them long ago." Sindri muttered before walking back towards the other woodcutters. He didn't want to think any more on Macha or the shit that she had been through for the decade she was away. Too bad the mind chooses things you don't want to think about to focus on.