Page 16 of Oret
“Now that I know he did, I believe a Majuri could as well.”
“What are we going to do now?”
“We're going to hope that he is injured enough that he will not give us any more trouble until the ship arrives.At that point, they will take care of him.”Oret observed.
She had to admit that she was unhappy with leaving things unresolved.They would have to worry about the monster until the ship arrived and solved their problem for them.Victoria sighed heavily.Oret was right, they had no choice.They headed to the cafeteria to eat, and she noticed there was no feeling of being watched, but that only made her feel a little better.Lunch was good as it usually was, but she was distracted by what she’d just seen.The monster had not only survived the fall, but he’d been able to get up and disappear.That was unbelievable, and yet it had happened.She’d been aware that monsters were tough, but she’d underestimated them.
Oret had won the fight, but would he win if the monster came for her again before he was taken away?She wasn’t afraid for herself, but she didn’t want to lose her mate.Victoria thought she could surprise the monster if he came after her and get away.If the monster came for Oret, it would be another fight to the death.
“Stop thinking so hard.Sometimes things are out of your control,” Oret suggested.
There was no answer to that, so she said nothing.It was time to head back up the mountain because their work was waiting for them.She felt bad for taking him away from his work, but he was needed at the mine because they had an opportunity to get caught up there.The work was hard, and maybe the stress contributed to it, but she felt awful by the time their day was done.Her neck and back hurt more than she could ever remember hurting them.
“What’s wrong?”Oret asked as they ate supper.
“My neck and back are killing me.I’m not sure what I’ve done.”
“Before we go to bed, I'll take care of that for you.”
“You're a doctor now?”Victoria asked.
“There are things that can be fixed by people who are not doctors.You'll see.”
They headed to her tent because that was where they had been staying, and Oret had moved all his stuff into her tent to open his for someone else, as it was close to the center of camp.She was curious about what he might do, but first they needed to clean up.Maybe she had hoped for shower sex, but she didn't get any.He might have felt like she was in too much pain to carry on.Victoria didn't believe that was true, but now they were lying naked in bed, dry.
“Lie on your stomach.”
She did as she was directed, and she felt something cold drizzling on her.Her mate began to rub the oil over her back and then started to knead her shoulders, and the muscles relaxed.There was no doubt that he knew what he was doing, and she began to go limp.At some point, she fell asleep and remained asleep until morning.Victoria stretched, and her neck and back felt much better.Oret wasn't in bed, so he had already gotten up, and she wasn't sure where he was.After she dressed, she looked around near the tent but didn't see him anywhere.One of her miners was walking by, so she headed to the cafeteria with him.It looked like he had intended to walk up there alone, which surprised her.Everyone seemed to be ignoring the mandate to go nowhere by themselves.
Victoria got her plate, sat at a table, and began to eat.She was in the middle of her meal when her mate appeared with his own plate and sat with her.
“You follow the rules about not going anywhere alone?”Oret asked.
“I did, but I'm the only one who seems to be following it.One of my miners was walking by, so I walked with him.”
“I'm glad you're following the rules, and I wish everyone else would too.There's still danger, although no one seems to see it.”
“They need to start listening better.Not just for now, but at any time there's a directive that they're supposed to follow.It could be a matter of life or death, and they don't seem to understand that.”Victoria observed.
“I agree, and I hope Fenwik figures that out.”Oret declared.
It was a concern, but it wasn't their concern, and she was learning to stay out of business that wasn't hers.She knew her children sometimes resented her getting involved in things that they were doing.Sara had even told her that if she needed help, she would ask.It wasn't like Victoria didn't have enough to do on her own, and so that was what she would stick to.Today was the day, and she was getting impatient.She knew it could be hours before the ship arrived, but she wanted them there now.There was so much that could happen while they were waiting, and that worried her.Victoria needed to stop worrying and get to work because she had to have a load ready from the mine, as the chief was waiting for it.The containers were almost full, and only three more needed to be topped off.That was what she needed to worry about.
When they got to the mine, they immediately got to work.They finished off the three tubs before lunch.It was a relief to have everything ready before the ship arrived.Being in charge was a lot of worry, but Victoria could handle it.The mine was back on track, and now she needed to help Oret catch up on something.There was no way, given everything that had recently happened, that he could keep up in all his areas.
“Let’s go grab lunch,” Oret suggested.
“Okay.”
They headed to the cafeteria, and she still felt no eyes on her.Maybe their monster had crawled away and died somewhere?They’d know before long because her mate had told her that the DNA would be picked up even on a corpse.She was glad because it meant that they would know for sure that he was gone.Oret and she decided to work with the builders for the rest of the day until the ship showed up.While she knew she owed her mate some hard work, she still wouldn't mind if the ship showed up anytime soon.It wasn't because she minded working; it was because she wanted this done and the monster gone so that they could all feel safe again.
It seemed that the ship was running behind, and they’d worked the rest of the day with the builders getting a lot done, but at quitting time, the ship still wasn't there.It seemed like that always happened when you were really waiting for something that you needed.That's when it never seemed to arrive on time.They went to eat supper, hoping to hear that the ship was there, but when they were done, it still hadn't come.Oret took her home, and they cleaned up, then went to bed.It was in the middle of the night that someone came and woke them, telling them that the ship had finally made it.The tubs from the mine were already loaded, so she didn't have to worry about that.Her mate called and asked if they had found the monster.It seems that they had found him, and he had crawled off, but he wasn't dead.He had been severely injured and needed medical attention before they could send him to Monster Moon.Finally, he was gone, and things would get back to normal until the chief decided to offer her mate the other moon.
