Cacoethes' Works

 Chapter Six: The Madam Speaks IT TOOK OVER a week and a half to get back to Ya Brothel, and as soon as he approached the steps, his aunties crowded around him and tended to him. As soon as he was taken inside and stuck into a bath, he started to cry. He didn’t stop until the second water change. He hiccuped as he tried to stabilise his frantic, broken breathing.  “How’s mother?” he asked Aunty Ogi. “I couldn’t get her a doctor--” he choked on his breath and the tears started to fall again. He leaned forward and leaned his forehead against Aunty Ogi’s shoulder as he cried. “Father doesn’t want us. I can’t do it on my own. How will I save mother?”  “Oh,” Aunty Ogi said, before she too started to cry. That sobered Nilhin up a bit as he shifted in the water so he could properly pat Aunty Ogi’s back to try and comfort her while she cried. On the other side of him, Aunty Dasan was also sobbing. “It’s just too horrible! You poor, poor boy!” Aunty Ogi was in no state to speak af...

 Chapter Five: Power And Imbalance NILHIN'S ARMS WERE covered in dirt and mud. He had tried to wash them off in the water, as well as he had tried to prepare the animals he had caught for the children to eat, too, but dirt stuck in the crevices of his elbows and his forearms, and under all his long nails. He would have to cut his nails when he found an instrument to do so, because no matter how much he wanted to just drag them down the side of a tree, he couldn’t imagine how terribly those nails might catch on his clothes or his friends alike. They were really sharp, just like his mother’s, except she always knew how to be careful with them. Nilhin wasn’t used to them, and had cut his pants in two different places since they randomly grew out. It must have been more magic that he used accidentally.  “Maer?” Nilhin asked, guiding the buffalo back to the cart. He found Maer spread out on the bench, asleep, and the children were all asleep too. Nilhin was shocked for a moment, bu...