Daughter of the Witch Wood Pt. 06

Min shook her head. "The bear that attacked us injured me. There was an infection, but Sergen brought me here and Ilay healed me."

"And he didn't hurt you?"

"He hasn't hurt me." She turned, waving him over. "Don't be angry with him, Mother, please."

"I'll decide what I will or won't be, thank you, darling." Erden was a bit taller than her daughter, so she had less distance to look up at Sergen's face once he approached. His claws were retracted again, thankfully. "I don't recognize you," she said.

He shook his head. "Nor I you."

"Tell me your name."

"Sergen."

"And you swear in Kelash's name that you're not in league with that traitorous cur Ozan?"

He nodded. "I swear it."

"Who is Ozan?" Min said. "And why didn't you ever tell me you once lived with the wolves?"

"My sweet, sweet love, there are many things I haven't yet told you," Erden answered with a small, sad smile. "Perhaps that was in error, but it was my choice. As I said, I'll tell you the truth of it soon enough."

"Erden!" The old chief called from where his wife stood next to him, looking not altogether happy. "It's time."

The witch gave the chieftain a nod of acknowledge before turning back. "Well! With any luck, this won't take long. Hopefully I intimidated enough of them by throwing a giant rock onto one of their tents." Erden forced a smile, took a breath, then clasped Min's cheeks in both hands and pressed a long, fierce kiss to her mouth. "Wish me luck." Then, the witch woman turned and strode towards where the chieftain was waiting.

Min's mouth burned from the memory of her mother's caress, and she touched her lips for a moment before looking up at Sergen. "What are the Laws of the Wood?

"The First Law says that the strong may claim the weak, when necessary. The Second says that the weak may entreat the strong—your mother requested the Rite of Joining in order to become part of the tribe again."

"And how does the Rite work?"

He shrugged, as though it was a simple thing. "The men fight one another in whatever way the Chief chooses. The victor then faces off against the female to decide whether she submits or not."

"It's not a fight to the death, is it?"

"The Chief will decide, but..." He shook his head. "Knowing Erkin, I think it unlikely."

It was a small bit of good news, but seeing as she didn't know Erkin all that well yet, Min had to hope that Sergen's guess would prove accurate.