Chapter 54: Carrots Or Meat?

The snow outside Aegis still carried the stains of war. Patches of red clung stubbornly to the frozen earth where blood had melted through the drifts before turning brittle in the night.

The battlefield had been cleared, the bodies burned or buried–only the scars remaining.

Inside the long hall, warmth pressed back against the cold as if it could deny the truth beyond the walls.

The building itself was no more than a collection of planks hammered together with urgency, the roof sagged under the weight of ice.

Smoke curled up towards the beams and braziers that were lined in the room gave off more smoke than flame.

Yet compared to the silence of the graveyard outside, the noise inside felt alive.

The tables were uneven, patched from wood gathered by the Tribesmen. Lamb roasted over spits, dripping fat into the firepits, bowls of vegetables were boiled until they gave off steam. Mead sloshed from barrels into cups, the thick liquid sticky on the floor where it spilled.

The air smelled of charred meat, herbs and smoke so heavy it clung to every breath. The tribes had chosen to feast after finishing the burials. Warriors sat shoulder to shoulder, their laughter rising to the rafters.

Children slipped between benches, clutching bones and scraps with their small hands. Old men and women drank in silence, watching the others with hollow eyes that softened.

At the center table, Xior sat with his wolf-fur cloak draped around him. He neither ate nor spoke.

His black eyes stared across the hall without focus, as though nothing here could hold his attention. Beside him, Becca busied herself with plates, her hands steady despite the noise and her eyes bright with something many had forgotten, hope.

Further down the bench, Rain and Maria whispered heatedly to each other, their argument was soft yet sharp enough to cut through the laughter.

Across from them, Alice hovered close, clutching a plate with vegetables arranged neatly upon it.

She glanced at Xior again and again, her lips parting to speak only to close when her courage failed.

Despite them becoming closer after the heartfelt vent, she couldn’t muster up courage. At least not when Becca was there, as well as Kayla.

She was older than both, so she understood the look in their eyes as they looked at him.

Kayla broke the silence. Vice Chief of the Wold Tribe, her hair was tangled and her grin feral. She leaned forward with a cut of lamb clutched in her hand. The grease ran down her arm, but she cared little.

Her laughter rose above the others as she tore a bite from the bone with her teeth. It was only a matter of time before the quiet between her and Alice snapped.

“Xior!” Kayla’s voice carried making people look back.

She slammed the roasted lamb onto a skewer, the fat spitting where it struck the fire. She pointed it towards Xior like a weapon. “You fought like a beast, now eat like one.”

Before he could reply, Alice stepped forward. Her plate shook in her small hands, but her voice was firm. She held out a roasted carrot with steam rising in the torchlight.

“NO! He needs something that strengthens the body without dulling it. He should eat this.”

The laughter around them died down as everyone looked at them. The hall stilled as the Wolf and Rabbit stood across from each other, their offerings thrust towards the same boy.

Kayla’s grin widened, her wolf ears twitching. “Strength is blood and bone. A warrior’s body craves meat. Carrots are for the prey.”

Alice’s eyes narrowed, she raised the carrot higher with sharp words said. “Without clarity, strength is nothing. Meat only feeds the body. Carrots feed the mind.”

Then tension was strange, absurd even. Warriors leaned in as the children stopped running. For a moment the hall was silent.

Then someone chuckled, a bear warrior barked with laughter. The noise spread like fire until the entire hall shook with it.

Kayla’s voice rang out, reckless and unthinking.

“Take my meat!”

Alice’s reply was instant and sharp enough to pierce the noise.

“NO! Take my carrots!”

The words echoed throughout the hall and were impossible to ignore. Laughter erupted, a man slammed his fist against the table until the plates rattled.

Someone wheezed so hard they toppled from their bench, even Tharnak lowered his head and covered his face with one massive hand.

Kayla blinked then barked out a laugh of her own. Alice flushed crimson but stood her ground as her arm trembled from holding out the carrot.

*****

Xior sat motionless, his black eyes shifted between them, empty and unreadable. No one could tell if he found this exchange amusing or unbearable.

Only Becca, who had sat beside him long enough to know the truth, noticed the faint twitch at the corner of his eye and a faint smile, a sign of his patience thinning out but he still found it ridiculous.

“You two…seriously.” She said as she pinched the bridge of her nose.

She sighed and rose from her seat. In one swift motion, she plucked the skewer from Kayla’s hand and the carrot from Alice’s.

Both women froze, their confidence stripped in an instant. Becca did not meet their eyes and walked to the firepit. She stripped the lamb from its bone, dropped the chunks into a pot and slid the carrots in after.

She reached into her cloak, pulling out herbs gathered while she was out and crumbled them into the broth.

The scent changed almost immediately. The rich fat of the lamb melded with the sweetness of the carrots. Smoke and spice curled together weaving through the hall until silence followed her hands.

Warriors leaned forwards with their flaring noses. When the stew thickened, Becca ladled a bowl and set it in front of Xior.

“Eat,” she said. Her voice was quiet but with no room for refusal.

Xior lifted the spoon and blew on it once and finally tasted it. The hall watched his every movement as if the outcome mattered more than the war itself.

He chewed, swallowed and then set the spoon down.

“This will do.” His words were barely louder than a whisper but enough for the hall to erupt.

Warriors slammed mugs against each other and pounded their boots on the floor.

Kayla and Alice exchanged a glance. Both leaned in to taste the stew as both frowned and sighed.

“…It’s good.” Alice muttered in defeat.

Kayla scowled, though her tail flicked like a banner of surrender.

“Fine, maybe together they do work.”

Becca smiled after hearing this. “Of course they do.”

The pot emptied quickly, as the warriors lined up with their bowls. Children also squeezed in between them, holding bowls far too large for their hands. One boy, climbed onto Xior’s lap.

“Eat with me, big brother Xior,” he said as his hands trembled while holding the spoon.

Xior steadied the bowl, guiding the child’s hand without a word. His face did not change, but Becca saw it. The faintest softening, the shadow of a smile that reached his lips rarely.

When the stew was gone and only the dregs clung to the pot, the hall quieted. The torches burned low with the smoke being thicker now.

Warriors leaned on each other, half asleep while the children curled up beneath the benches.

By the central fire, the small group lingered. Alice leaned against Becca, her ears drooping with fatigue.

Kayla sprawled half drunk, her tail flicking lazily. Rain dozed with his mug still in hand while Maria leaned against him, her eyes half shut.

Xior sat unmoving, the firelight dancing in his black eyes. Then he broke the silence.

“To laugh after so much blood, it’s always been strange to me.”

Becca placed her hand on his arm, her fingers were steady and her voice softer than the fire’s crackle.

“That’s why it matters, if we stop laughing the war would take more than it should.”

Kayla smirked through the haze of the drink. “Next time, meat will win.”

Alice’s lips curved faintly. “Not a chance.”

The fire snapped, sparks rising into smoke. Soft chuckles drifted around the table. For a moment, just a moment–the aftermath of the war outside the walls felt far away.

Becca looked at Xior with half open eyes, the mead had already started doing its work on her. She was still not drunk enough but despite that she suddenly felt more drunk.

Xior sipped on the mead from a mugs silently observing the little group in front of him. Rain and Maria were asleep snuggled against each other.

Alice and Kayla had leaned on each other as they also slept, the only ones awake were Xior and Becca.

Out of nowhere, Becca reached for Xior. Her soft hands grabbing onto his face and turning it towards her.

Then she moved close–too close. Her breath close enough that it gently touched Xior’s face. He didn’t protest and then her lips touched his lips.

They felt warm, soft and alien to him but he gave in the temptation and leaned forward and let Becca do what she wanted to do.

It was not a confession, that much Xior knew. But he couldn’t ignore the fact that Becca liked him, so for her he endured her drunken shenanigans.

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