Balance of Light and Shadow (By Chandrea) novel Chapter 244

Lewana POV

The kitchen is silent for several minutes until Willow speaks.

“So, what are your options?”.

I don’t reply and keep staring deep in thought. Conrad is  the one to reply to her.

“Basically, we need to decide if we euthanise him”.

All the men nod in agreement, but their heads snap to Kimberly’s sharp, disbelieving tone.

“You’re going to kill him because he’s vulnerable and confused”.

Connor tries to calm Kimberly. “If he were tried for his crimes, he would be tried for treason, among other things, and the sentence for that is death”.

Kimberly looked horrified. “Wouldn’t he be found not guilty due to manipulation or insanity or something?”.

I speak up as I can tell none of them understands. “That’s not the problem, Kimberly. I’m not sure any of you understand the main problem here”

Everyone stops and turns to me with a look of confusion.

I try to explain. “Does anyone know where the word

Lunatic comes from?”

Willow, of course, knows the answer. “Yeah. They noticed certain people with mental health disorders became moreagitated when there was a full moon. Lunatic or Lunacy means Moon Sickness in Latin”.

Of course, Willow knew. Doubt she would know the

importance, though.

” have tried to study this from medical records from the 1500s describing this term. There are subtle signs in the notes, but I think they were wolves. Their souls become so disconnected that neither side of the soul recognizes the other half. They hear the wolf’s side talking in their head and think they are hearing voices. When the wolf comes to the surface, they get diagnosed as possessed. On the night of the full moon, the confused wolf goes looking for its pack, not realizing it’s not in one. They get attacked and labeled as monsters. They retaliate when attacked, and humans die. It’s not him that we need to think about, Kimberly”

Conrad rubs my back as he can probably sense through the bond how upsetting this is and how conflicted lam.

Kimberly, being the forever optimist she is, tries to find any silver lining. “But you’re a medical expert. Maybe you could find a way to treat him”.

I just look at her, saddened. “So you don’t want to euthanise him to end his suffering, but medical experimentation on a person who can’t consent is fine”.

This seems to completely stump her for a moment. Just a moment. “But what if other wolves suffer from this? They could be locked in human facilities, not getting proper care. This could happen again to someone else”.

I drop my head into my hands. I know she is right, but inall those situations, I think I would do the same thing.

I let out a deep sigh. “So the options are to euthanise him and have no treatment option for others, or experiment on him without consent, or keep him in prison, which could make him worse and put him at risk from the other inmates”.

“There is another option”. I turn in surprise to see Mary filling up coffee mugs again. “You have time. Nothing needs to be decided now. If this waits until tomorrow or the day after, it will be OK. Just decide on some measure today to protect him, but decide everything else when you have had time to think. Monitor him and see how he goes.

Then decide”

Liam’s demeanor instantly changes as he recognises his chance to cause mischief.

“Conrad. We need to start giving the mighty hunteress more gifts so she doesn’t hunt us. Chocolate, bags, whatever it takes”.

Conrad started smiling too. “Absolutely. We can’t upsetthe mighty huntress. Anything she wants. And if memory serves, this would make her the youngest indücted hunter in centuries, correct?”

Connor smiles. “In history, actually. One of the elders has been checking the record for any other children inducted.

The youngest we have found is 10”.

Stella speaks up excitedly. “And he was a boy. The youngest girl was 14”

I start laughing. “Well, seeing as you are going to be a mighty huntress when you are older, how about you start doing some training with me?”.

Her face lights up. “For real. You’ll train me. Can you train some of the other girls as well, as most of them haven’t had a ceremony or been on a hunt either?”

I look at Connor. “Why aren’t females having hunter ceremonies?”

He sighs. “For the same reason, she-wolves have been dismissed. They stay home with the children normally.

Some husbands train them in defence, but they don’t train like we do. Something we are actually changing after Conrad appointed our councilwomen. The hunters are actually trying to find our own Valerie”.