“And it was very kind of you to share. Honey is a very rare treat of all of us, My Love. And it is quite dangerous because I know people who have died from getting stung.”
“Me too. People often go into anaphylactic shock and die from a sting. My bounty is proof of concept. Now that I can defend myself with magic, it will give me a moment more to retaliate.” He looked down and clenched his fist. “If only I knew how to do this, none of us would be missing.”
Brooke laid a hand over his fist. In a loving and compassionate voice she said “Hindsight never does any good. We cannot change the past for we live in the present. We cannot fight against what has been done. What we can do is plan to fix a mistake and overcome our own weaknesses. If the mistake is made twice we have not learned a valuable lesson. It would show a weak mind, something we all know you do not suffer.” He sighed and then chuckled through his nose. “What is so humorous?”
He shook his head. “I keep trying to compare you and the Utala to the Native Americans back where I’m from, before my ancestors wiped out their much better way of life…” He looked right into her eyes. “The only real similarities I’ve noticed is how you make teepees, wear leather and fashion simple yet effective tools and live with nature, destroying little. You use nearly everything of the animals you kill and respect them for their life lost so you can continue. You believe in spirits… well I do too in a different way. But that is where the similarities end.
“Your people know how to farm to supplement the need for meat. Instead of following buffalo migrations you take care of them like cattle and let them roam. Instead of relying on bone or rocks for weapons you somehow use metal. And women are truly equal in strength and are as deadly as any man and knows how to kill. And more than that, you speak much more differently than they used to. Instead of speaking in vague ways, you and your people are direct.”
“Is this a bad thing?”
“Certainly not. It just further reminds me I’m on another world and not back in time. Raliea is amazing. I so love you and your people. You aren’t exactly intellectuals, but aren’t nearly close to be considered ignorant. Your entire people view the body as beautiful and don’t care if clothes are on or off since in all reality it doesn’t truly matter. It isn’t shameful to show what you look like, like so many others believe. The body is a beautiful thing. Even wrinkles, fat or what most might consider unattractive is natural. It shouldn’t be hidden unless there is a reason. Beauty is in the eye of the beholder and if you are secure in yourself it shouldn’t matter what others think. I love how the whole community works together to get things done. There isn’t a struggle for power like I’m used to. Yes there is a struggle for everyone, but overall, I’ve seen much worse. Hell, I even have bisexual lovers. Nearly every woman here is bisexual or lesbian and it isn’t a problem. It is how things are meant to be. Love who you love and everyone is fine. I loathe closed or small minded people. If they knew what I felt before I met you and Meeka they would understand it is a beautiful thing, true love that is.”
She smiled pleasantly “You’ve been holding this in for too long. I’ve never heard you talk quite like this. It is strange at times for me as well, falling in love with a man from another world. Rena even said it is odd to have a father quite like you as well.”
“Mother!” Rena admonished and her coppery cheeks reddened slightly. “Dad, you did not hear her say that did you?”
“I haven’t a clue what your mother said.” He said and winked. Rena looked down in embarrassment.
Brooke wrapped her motherly arms around her child. “It is nothing to be ashamed of. It is a fact he is not from Raliea. Would you also not want to believe he is a magic-man?” Rena shook her head and Cage touched the three beads laying just out of peripheral range on his left temple. The bottom green signifies he is chief, the red middle is a musician and the uppermost white declares him to be a man of magic. A mage.
“No, Mother. I just like to think Dad is from here is all…”
Cage looked to the twenty three year old woman he loves and his new seven year old stepdaughter. “If it will make you feel better, I never really considered my world, home.” Rena looked up into his gentle expression. “I never had a real home before your mother and Meeka bulled their way into my heart. Nor did I have a real family besides the old man. Even you, Kiddo, have came into my life unexpectedly. Having a family is new to me as you seeing me from another world is to you.”
“Really?” She gave him a small smile.
“So Brooke, what else do you find odd in your mate?”
“Quite a lot actually. You are a never ending puzzle. The only thing I know for a fact is how you make me orgasm just by inserting that massive lance inside me.”
He raised an eyebrow. “You speak like this in front of children?”
She nodded as if she never considered it to be anything taboo. “It is good for children to know all about sex, especially the pleasures. Girls Rena’s age and above make love to each other quite often. It is more healthy to know what life has to offer besides never ending hardships. Under supervision of an adult, we occasionally allow the boys and girls to give each other kisses and cuddles. There is no mating rights for girls till after they have finished and recovered from their first moonflow or are over thirteen. Getting pregnant too young it dangerous for mother and child. It is rare in our tribe to bleed before fourteen years. We make sure our children know exactly what love and making love is all about so there is fewer mistakes and hostility. We do not allow children to see lovemaking of adults till they are bleeding so they see what to expect. When Rena comes of age she will see how you make love to me and Meeka. When she stops bleeding, a boy of age or a young man may challenge her, and she accepts or is the challenger, if he wins she will become mated that night. She will not dishonor herself and lose on purpose. The male must prove he is capable to love her with his own life. If she wins another may challenge until she finds a worthy man to father her babies.” Brooke noticed how he shifted his seating arrangement. “What makes you so uneasy?”
“I’m not sure I’d be comfortable having our daughter watching me make love… Furthermore, do mothers and daughters become lovers? And I’ll never do this, but what if a mother loses a challenge, gains a new man who also challenges the daughter, would that be legal in customs?”
“Absolutely not.” She further explained calmly, knowing he just wanted to know and would never do as he questioned to her child. “That would be wrong and incest. Mothers and daughters might become considered sisters when the girl gets her beads, but it is forbidden for a man who is not the father to challenge or be challenged to mate both women and make them also sister mates. For instance, it would never be allowed for you or Rena to challenge each other because I’m your mate. I could not make love to her as I do to Meeka.”
“Thank goodness.” He sighed. “What a relief I don’t need to worry about.”
“Furthermore,” Brooke continued, feeling better that he didn’t see her child as ever becoming a potential mate. “Rena will have to one day see the three of us together. It is part of the rite of passage and something she’ll need to fully understand. When our daughter receives her moonflow she will also gain her first Utala beads only an adult wears. It is what all girls dream of till the day they can become a sister.
“It is the same for boys to become brothers. Since boys don’t have moonflow they become men when they prove themselves and must hunt a large bull unaided. It speeds their need to mate females by sexually frustrating them. Until he can kill the male buffalo he will not be considered a man unless he kills another man who wandered onto our lands in honorable combat. The boy must prove he is worthy to feed the tribe or defend his brothers and sisters. If he dishonors himself, no woman will accept his challenge or will be banished.
“As chief, you must understand our laws as I must learn them all and pass it on to the next priestess.”
“How does one become a priestess exactly?”
> “Most times we are touched by magic.” She put her hand on her tattoo-like mark that took away all her scent. “But when I grow old, and one isn’t touched, a child is chosen and spends a great deal of time with me, learning all that I know and have experienced so that my knowledge is passed on. For the moment, Rena is my daughter and a priestess in training. If I perish before a true priestess is selected or touched by magic she will teach the chosen one or will likely be selected as my replacement. It is how we live.”
“Is that another reason you always separate the children when a stranger visited?”
“It is, My Love. If all the adults were killed, Rena would rise as the next priestess and lead the children, and even the young mothers who are sent to protect them, to a place of safety.”
Cage reached forward and rubbed Rena’s little head. “Now I understand why you are the smartest student. It’s no wonder you learned to walk without making a sound so easily. You’re as important as your mom.”
Rena simply grinned and asked “Why do you rub my head?”
“Get used to it, Kiddo. Or would you rather have this…” He struck faster than either could react as he grabbed Rena’s arm, pulled her out of Brooke’s embrace, put her in a headlock and rubbed his knuckles quickly back and forth atop her head. She squealed in surprise as he playfully said “Noogies!”
Brooke got mad for only a moment till she understood what he was doing and laughed as her daughter struggled to rid herself. Rena began punching his side as hard as she could, finding out quickly how ineffective it is. He might be six foot six and lean, but he was solid throughout his body. She felt like she kept punching a hard log. Eventually she yelled as he began doing the noogies faster “Dad! Enough! I give up! You can rub my head whenever!”
“I thought you might say that.” He chuckled and released his hold, Rena moved quickly to her mother’s side. Her quick shyness made others watching laugh.
Open air and a good laugh further released the tension everyone felt.
Cage lay back on the comfortable fur cushioned by the grass. Brooke and Rena also laid down. Before he went to sleep he asked one last question “Brooke, about the metal the tribe has and what makes up your tomahawks, where do you get it and how do you craft it? From what I’ve seen the Utala are almost all warriors, not blacksmiths.”
“The metal we have comes from a falling star. It happened long ago and mages called it a meteorite. Several miles to the west of our lost home was where we gathered all we needed of the iron. It is as you say, our people are warriors. There was a peaceful neighboring tribe that weren’t many in number, but they were blacksmiths and so long as they forged the metal we needed, we protected them from other warring villages. They wanted protection and peace and we needed the iron to make our weapons more deadly. For as long as the Utala have been, so have they. It is a shame we couldn’t help them this time.”
“Like you told me earlier about hindsight.” She nodded and he watched her wipe a tear away. He reached over the slumbering Rena and tenderly cupped Brooke’s soft cheek. “Get some sleep too. We all had a long day moving through the mountains. In the morning I’ll look for all the missing. I will be stronger then.”
“I love you, Cage.”
“And I love you. We’ll get her back, I promise.” She smiled and kissed his hand before he leaned back to fall deeply asleep.
A full night’s rest in comfort recharged Cage as he awoke to songbirds telling of a new day. He tried to be careful sitting up, but somehow Brooke became the one laying sandwiched between himself and Rena. His move roused one of his most loved people and she opened her eyes and smiled up at him. She also sat up, disturbing Rena too. “Mornin’, Ladies.”
“Good morning to you, Love.” Brooke gave him a kiss on the cheek as Rena said while rubbing her eyes “Morning, Dad.”
He rose and stepped into the forest to relieve himself. Afterwards he went to the stream to wash his body, rinsed his clothes and put them on wet. Returning to camp, he found most already awake and eating.
Cage sat back beside Brooke and ate. He kept noticing several impatient glances and knew exactly what they meant. Water in his metal cup boiled and he made a pine needle tea and the warmth felt good, warming his core.
“Gather around.” Cage commanded and everyone came in at a near run. The children sat nearest and the adults moved around to gain a better vantage “As promised I’ll look for those missing. I feel much better and more confident to work that magic.” The area grew quiet just as the sun first peeked over a small mountain.
Structured like before, Cage sent the spell. A three foot oval appeared like a mirror and a image of Meeka instantly stood before him and all who looked. He didn’t ever expect to see what stood before them. His eyes tinted red as a grin appeared, one meant to show his anger. Her writs were bound in shackles and tied to a chain with others. He could see resentment and anger in her blue eyes. Others gasped and the murderous look on Brooke’s face could scarce explain the rage she exhibited. In Meeka’s ear was an earring she never had before and flecks of dry blood showed they didn’t allow anyone to clean themselves. Dirt hid little of her overwhelming beauty, but her long golden hair was disheveled. Covering her was an ugly and likely soiled cloth that looked more of a burlap material. Not one person was happy with what they saw.
Meeka was not alone in being bound and forced to march.
Cage needed to try something and manipulated the spell to zip around to stare at Meeka’s face. The spell shifted until Meeka’s face is all that could be seen. She looked discretely around and ahead. The lack of surprise informed Cage that she and others couldn’t see while he could see her. He pulled away to see more of the area and found three large wagons pulling the captives north. The more he saw the greater the anger and with it came a grin to kill every slaver. Over two hundred were bound and led, escorted by maybe fifty guards and a mage carrying a staff and a medium sized dog walked confidently by his side. Cage zoomed close to get a closer image of the middle age appearing mage. The spell didn’t seem to alert the mage either, even when the figure dominated the whole view.
“Chief, to the left. It is Moril!” Someone said.
He moved the image and sure enough he saw the female warrior in similar clothes and bound. In her freshly pierced ear was gold. “Moril Love, what happened?” A woman named Chala whispered heatedly the silence and sounded more like a shout.
“Lanna! Chief, three to the left.” He moved it and everyone saw the other warrior’s back had been whipped little more than a day ago. Her lip was swollen and scabbed from someone striking her hard. Her man growled “I’ll kill them.” And her sisters were also angered.
“Cage, please search for Zatal.” Brooke asked in barely controlled outrage after seeing her woman’s condition. She gripped her weapons so hard it hurt and it helped to calm her. Cage though stood motionless, keeping himself from letting his emotions cloud his judgment.
Everyone watched as the image changed to find the man wearing a loincloth only. He slowly walked with other men as a captive and in his ear was silver as well. Cage glanced to see the man’s five women shaking in anger while also gripping their weapons. Four of his five mates were starting to go livid while the last hugged all their nine children he fathered.
“Hammit?” another asked tensely. The image shifted completely and moving slowly through the woods was a man and woman. It was obvious that they escaped and were using trees as cover to continue evading. A man said “That’s my woman, Quitte! They are both alive and well.” He sighed and sat down with his mates after seeing her well.
“Chief, the only remaining is my man Allai.” A middle aged woman asked.
He remembered the person and the image shifted. The woman wailed “NO!!!” at the sight of a man with a thick piece of wood sticking out of his neck. Lifeless eyes stared back at everyone. One other woman cried out at seeing their love dead. The man was kind and recently became a grandfather. To stop the pain of seeing his corpse, t
hough none would forget the morbid image, Cage turned the spell back to Meeka. He panned back, looking at every detail he could about the train’s formation, the weapons the slavers carried, the speed at which they traveled and even how they reacted.
The three minutes of using the magic made him see spots again. He had no choice except to cancel the spell. The tribe was about to assault him with questions as to why the pictures vanished until they saw him shaking his head to clear it. They still wanted to know much more, but everyone has limits, even the chief. He went to his water container, leaving everyone behind, and filled it with water. He then began shaking it, blending what remained of the honey. He figured the sugar would help as it always does. He took a large gulp of the sweet drink and stared out over the valley, considering everything he witnessed. He could hear and feel the hostility of the whole tribe at what had been done to four of the lost seven. One died near where he fought the mage. Likely shrapnel from the explosion killed Allai. Two were definitely headed east, by the tree shadows he remembered.
Meeka, you won’t be bound for too long. I’m coming as soon as I can. He thought a moment before Brooke wrapped her arms around his chest from behind.
“My love,” Brooke said quietly, also angry and sad at what she saw of the captives and her love. “our people need to understand what they saw and find a path to follow. We won’t work well without a leader. Especially those of us who’s mates are bound to be enslaved. We need a plan.”
He took another long swallow of the sugary drink. “I will, but first tell Metak to come over here. I need to speak with him alone before addressing everyone. We’ll certainly leave within the hour. If they have questions tell them to work together and if someone is still lost I’ll explain what I can. Have the kids pack up as much as they can.”
Familiar's Ancient Throne (Book 2 of the Death Incarnate Saga) Page 5
