-"Peace of Mind" by The Jezabels was stuck in my head the whole time I wrote this, and I think it's a fitting song for this chapter & Alice/Uncas in general, so give it a listen while you read if you want! (It's on YouTube.)

Alice lay motionless on a pallet in the middle of the healer's wigwam. Her clothes had been removed so that the elderly woman could tend to her every wound. Uncas refused to leave for this process at first, but the healer insisted, claiming that the warrior's energy was interfering with her abilities.

"Go out of here," hissed Andiora. "You smell of death and blood. I will not have it in my tent. This is a place for healing."

Uncas had the urge to wring the woman's neck, but he knew that she was right. Giving Alice's hand one last squeeze, he went to the river to bathe, but not before leaving three warriors posted outside the tent for protection.

They were at a camp of the Oneida people. Chief Han Yerry had been friendly with Chingachgook since childhood, and when he learned of the trouble his family was in, Chief Yerry was more than willing to provide protection and safe haven.

After bathing, Uncas checked in on his brother, who was sequestered safely in Cora's tent. When she saw what had been done to him, including the bleeding hole on the side of his head where his ear used to be, Uncas presumed she might faint. Instead, she had briskly walked over to a nearby pitcher of water and began washing her hands.

"Set him down," she had said simply. "I will care for him."

However, despite her strength, both Uncas and Chingachgook had decided she ought not to see Alice just yet. The latter because he wished to protect Cora, and the former because he wanted to share her bedside with no one.

After seeing that Nathaniel was faring well and even eating, Uncas decided he could no longer keep himself from Alice's side. He was prepared to fight Andiora on the issue, but when she saw him come in, she rose and nodded her welcome, motioning for him to come closer to the little trembling figure on the floor.

Uncas crouched down beside her in one rapid movement, being careful to make no noise and startle her as she appeared to be in a deep sleep.

"I gave her kava root," said Andiora, "To help ease her suffering."

Uncas nodded, giving the briefest look of deep gratitude to the healing woman, then went back to surveying Alice. She was still nude, save a few delicately placed cloths that Andiora had placed over her full breasts and her womanhood. Despite the fact that she was still his beautiful Alice, the sight of her undressed gave Uncas no pleasure, because it gave him a clear view of the torment she had suffered since he had lost her.

Her arms were brusied and her belly laced with burns. Her legs were bruised and streaked with small, precise cuts, as though someone had been toying with her. However, her sweet face was less alarming now that it had been washed clean of blood and dirt, but she had a black eye and a swollen lip, as well as a deep cut in the arch of her left brow.

"That is not the worst, I am afraid," said the healer, as Uncas took stock of her wounds with a lost expression on his face.

His eyes flashed at her remark, and the pain there gave Andiora pause.

"Speak, woman," he snapped. "I know they raped her…but how badly? Will she recover…is she greatly damaged there?"

Andiora seemed confused. "No, dear…They didn't rape her. At least, not from what I could tell. And I should think I would be able to tell, I think that there would have been blood and tearing. Trauma of some manner. Yes, I feel certain they would have left their mark."

Uncas frowned in disbelief. "How can it be so? Why would he spare her that pain?"

"Some Indians won't touch a white woman," she shrugged. "My cousin says white women are witches and that if you have relations with them, your cock falls off."

At this Andiora laughed bawdily, revealing her lack of teeth.

Uncas ignored her and let out a ragged breath. "Can it be so?" he again wondered aloud, a small hope dawning in his chest that Alice had at least been saved from this agony. "But wait…what then did you mean, by 'That is not the worst of it'?"

The healer's face again grew grim and she pulled back the cloth covering Alice's breasts. In spite of himself, Uncas felt his loins tighten at the sight of her round smooth breasts…and then, he saw it. An angry red burn shining on the side of her right breast, right below her pink-hued nipple. It looked like a living thing encroaching upon her skin, like a wolf spider curled there and waiting to strike.

"Ah, Alice," he said, now, tears beginning to form in his dark eyes, "My little one."

The healer moved to speak further, but Uncas waved her away. "Go, please," he said. "I would be alone with her."

She obeyed, shuffling across the dirt floor on her bare feet.

"Wait," he called out.

She looked back.

"Thank you. Thank you. How can I thank you?" he asked her passionately, even as his eyes never left Alice's face, his hand now clasped wholly around hers.

"No need," said Andiora quietly, "It is my calling in this life."

And with that, she left, leaving Uncas alone with his love.