Chapter 11 Not Allowed To Work

• Sweat beaded on my brow, and my arms burned as I brought the ax down hard onto the round log. The pile in front of me was higher than I could see over, while the men beside me continued complaining that I was putting them to shame. I'd done this every day since my father had banished Saint. Splitting wood seemed to relieve pain, stress, and anger all in one satisfying loud bang as the ax bit into the log, sending it over the edge of the stump I used as a chopping block.
• We'd been at it for hours while the children and betas emptied the piles. They stacked the wood in large sheds used to keep it from exposure to the elements. All around us, people worked. Hunting parties brought in deer to gut and clean, hanging it to be butchered into small enough pieces to fit into the walk-in freezer where perishables were stored.
• I watched as Lucas laughed with Garrett, both men covered in blood as they carried a deer into the courtyard on poles that rested on their shoulders. Women picked the last of the vegetables to store in the underground cellars, and the chil- dren assisted the omegas. preparing material to be cut and used for blankets and clothing.