by West, Shay
“My family was captured when I was a child.” Valery's voice had no emotion as she told her story. “My parents were put to death but my life was spared. The Horde is always in need of slaves. I learned early on to cooperate.” Her voice took on a sarcastic turn at that last word. “Amber arrived a few months ago. She was alone when they brought her and she won't speak of where she came from before.” Valery glanced at the other girl as she said this.
“How did you manage to secret away the furs? Seems quite a feat.”
“The hunters had had a run of luck and killed a number of animals with their snowy winter pelts. I convinced my captor and holder to acquire some for me, that I might make him some fine clothes.” Her lips curled in a wicked grin. “He acquired most of the pelts, either through luck at cards or by sheer force. He is strong, my captor. I had more than enough to make him a shirt and a warm coat, with plenty left over. Once he tried on his new clothes, he never thought to ask what happened to the rest. Each time I had to visit the latrines in the night, I would take some and hide them under my own clothing.” She shrugged. “It wasn't that difficult to dig a hole and bury them.”
They had arrived at the tent. One of the Protectors had brought in several large rocks that had been heated near the small, smoke-less fire and placed them at one end of the furs and blankets. The hot rocks, along with their own body heat, would be sufficient to keep the women warm.
Valery glanced at the tent with disdain. “There is no fire?”
“There is no hole for the smoke and you will not be in long enough to require a fire. We leave in a few hours.” The General turned to go.
“Thank you, sir. We are grateful for your kindness.” Amber's eyes met his for a moment before darting back to the ground.
Ted bowed his head slightly to the young woman and walked toward his own tent. He signaled to one of the Protectors standing nearby to keep an eye on the girls. As he passed the tent Sloan was sharing with a fellow Protector, General Smith sighed and signaled another Protector to watch that tent as well. He hated having to guard one of his own but he still did not trust the two girls and therefore, he could not fully trust Sloan. There was more to the story, and until such time as the answer to the riddle made itself known, he would have to be cautious.
He made his way to his tent after saying good night to No Name. He scratched her ears and smiled fondly as her liquid brown eyes closed in ecstasy. His thoughts turned to the day when he must leave this planet and return home. The idea of leaving his beloved friend behind was more than he could bear.
Forka had wondered what would happen were he to try to take No Name through the portal. To his knowledge, no one had attempted to take a beast through. Would they even be able to pass into it? Or would it remain a solid surface? If she could pass through, would the mare emerge on Gentra in a form similar to the native Gentrans or would she resemble the scrago, the similar beast on his planet?
Passing through the portal was painful and terrifying. Emerging from the portal was disorienting, at least until one got used to their new body. How could someone explain to an animal what was happening to it? He imagined emerging from a portal onto an alien world would most likely drive a beast like No Name insane.
No Name whickered softly and nuzzled his face, almost as if she could sense his dark thoughts. He gave her one last scratch and went to catch what sleep he could before they made their way back home.
* * *
The General had everyone up and moving a few hours past dawn. They stumbled out of the tents, yawning and rubbing sleep from their eyes. The Protectors went straight for the horses and began saddling and bridling them. The animals pranced about in the snow, eager to be off.
The General stood outside his tent, thoroughly unhappy at having to be out in the frigid cold. How I hate this awful season. Though he knew winter would soon be over, it didn't stop him from cursing its existence anyway. The climate changes that had wracked the planet changed the time of the seasons and winter's hold lasted for longer than it used to.
The General stood and watched the men for a time. They had no idea what the world had been like centuries before. The landscape of the past would have been frightening to the men and women of today.
Ted settled his gaze on Sloan. He felt a wave of emotion as he looked at the man he had once trusted beyond question. Nothing was outwardly, vastly different. He tended to his own mount and talked to no one, not even the animal. Sloan surreptitiously glanced about the camp.
He is looking for the two women. Ted knew he should be overjoyed that he had managed to retrieve his Chosen without loss of life, and yet he felt anxious, a faint stirring in his belly, as if he was being watched by a predator.
Valery and Amber made their way back into the trees to empty their bladders in private. He heard Amber squeal as her bare bottom touched the cold snow. The other girl laughed. It had a rich timbre to it. They finished and walked over to the General.
“Why is there no fire?” Valery demanded.
“We are leaving soon. No reason to waste time building a fire.” He continued to check his cinches.
“What about breakfast?” Valery had her hands on her hips and glared at the General.
“We will eat hard biscuits and dried beef as we ride,” Ted said curtly.
This girl certainly doesn't act like a terrified slave.
He climbed in the saddle and gave the signal to move out. Tess handed the girls their breakfast. She rode away, ignoring the scowl on Valery's face as she looked at the meager fare.
Valery sat on her gelding, tall and proud. Her face had a permanent sneer that looked out of place on the face of a supposed slave. Ted could not imagine her being treated very well at the Horde camp if she acted as she had thus far.
Amber rode her gelding like someone who had never sat on a horse before. She had a death grip on the saddle horn and a grimace of pain on her face. She refused to meet anyone's eyes.
Valery reached out to steady the girl and Amber flinched from her touch. Valery slapped her hard across the face. She then reached out, grasped Amber's arm, and pinched, softly at first, then harder as the girl whimpered. Amber stifled a cry and her eyes darted left and right, almost as if she were trying to catch someone's eye. Valery laughed. Amber hunched her shoulders against the pain and tried to pull her arm back from Valery's grip.
“What is the meaning of this?” Ted jerked No Name to a stop in front of the two geldings.
Valery's lush red lips curved into a slow smile. “Oh, there is no need for concern, General. Amber and I were just playing.” She gave the girl a hard glance. “Weren't we Amber, dear?”
Amber stammered an inaudible reply.
“Playing? Doesn't seem like she is enjoying it much,” the General said.
Valery reached for the girl again, but Amber was able to back the gelding away from Valery. Tears ran freely down her cheeks as she tried unsuccessfully to stifle her sobs.
The General growled orders to two of the closest Protectors to tie Valery's hands to the saddle horn and her feet to the stirrups. The woman screamed and put up a fight, bloodying the nose of one and biting the hand of another. Ted hissed.
She will bring the Horde down on our heads!
Brent and Mark grabbed her arms while Martha and Tess fought to keep the frightened horse from bolting into the woods. Ted grabbed a piece of cloth and fashioned a gag. He unceremoniously shoved it into the girl's open mouth, securing it with another piece of cloth tied around her head. Valery's brown eyes blazed as she met Ted's piercing blue ones.
Amber cried out as Valery was being tied up. She clumsily tried to guide her mount next to Valery's dancing gelding but her terror and inexperience were being transferred to the horse, who pranced and moved everywhere but where Amber wished him to go.
“Please stop! You're hurting her!” Amber reached for the tall dark-haired beauty
The General reached for the reins of the frightened, confused animal. Amber scrambled off the hors
e as soon as it came to a halt. She ran to Valery and grabbed her foot, pressing her face against the woman's calf. She sobbed and babbled incoherently.
Ted was dumbfounded. He had expected the girl to be grateful. He did not understand her reaction in the least. Several Protectors tried to console Amber and bring her away from Valery but she screamed and cried every time anyone came near her.
The General had to put a stop to this nonsense.
“ENOUGH!” His voice carried over the din and the noise level dropped considerably. Amber refused to look up as he approached.
“We must be moving. Do you need assistance in mounting your horse?”
The girl refused to answer. “You must get back on your horse. Now. The Horde will have a search party out looking for you three. We can't get caught out here because of your refusal to cooperate. Either get on your horse, or you will be tied across its back like a sack of oats.”
“I will do as you say, but please let Valery go. It was only playing, like she said.” She met Ted's eyes for a brief moment before darting to their accustomed habit of staring at the ground. “I'm to blame. I am frightened of all the men about and you took my reaction to be fear of Valery.”
The General stared hard at the girl. She was lying. He knew how to read people and to gauge the truth by a person's body language and other subtle hints they gave without even knowing, rather than relying on the words they spoke. This skill had come in handy many times during his stay here on Earth. Humans bare their souls for all of the world to see. Some of his Protectors had learned to read people the way he did, but only a few were as adept as he. Oddly enough, the one man he had never really been able to figure out was Sloan.
Amber's body language screamed that she was not being truthful. The girl was frightened, but he doubted that she was scared of the men. None had so much as looked at her since her arrival in the camp, except to offer food.
“Amber.” He tried to sound pleasant, but he was afraid that he only sounded angry and impatient. “You do not have to lie to protect Valery.” He held up his hand as she started to protest. “The Jhinn do not treat people as such. You have left the Horde behind for good. If you are frightened of Valery and do not wish her to harm you, I and these others will protect you.”
The girl met his eyes for a brief moment, then darted up to Valery, still tied up and gagged on the back of her gelding. “I do not need protecting. I told you, Valery was only playing. I over-reacted. Please let her go and we will cause you no more trouble.”
Ted Smith moved away and signaled Tess and Robert. “What do you make of all this?”
“Amber is definitely lying.” Tess answered quickly and surely. “But why would she protect Valery?” She said the name with obvious scorn. She had not trusted either girl from the start. She and the General were of a like mind; too many things about their story did not add up.
“Fear of retribution? She may be afraid that if she speaks the truth Valery will find a way to get revenge. We have our man back and these two may be more trouble than they're worth. We could always leave them behind,” Robert suggested.
“Of course we aren't going to just leave them here. I imagine any of us would be driven mad if we were forced to live with the Horde and take part in the unspeakable things they do,” Tess snapped. She hated having to stick up for the mean-spirited girl, but she couldn't imagine leaving the defenseless girls in the woods. They could die of starvation or exposure, be eaten by a bear, wolf, or mountain lion, or be captured again by the Horde. No option had a pleasant outcome.
“There's much that isn't right about this, sir. Valery barks out demands like she's a general…” He cleared his throat and blushed when Ted raised an eyebrow. “You have to admit that there is something off about those two girls. Amber's reactions seem overly dramatized, like she's been practicing.”
Ted nodded. “Agreed. If either of you have any suggestions as to what we should do with them…”
“We have to take them with us and keep an eye on them. And…” She bit her lip.
“It's alright. You can say it. Sloan needs watching as well.” Ted was pleased she had picked up on the man's subtle clues that he was also not being completely honest about his escape from the Horde camp. “Robert, I want you to keep an eye on Sloan. And you will watch the women.” He pointed at Tess. “Report any suspicious behavior to me at once. Understood?”
The three made their way back to Valery and Amber and the dozen Protectors in a wide circle around the girls, watching all directions, keeping an eye out for a Horde search party. Ted gave the order to mount up.
He whirled No Name, trotted to the head of a game trail he intended to follow, and signaled for a fast-paced forward march. Ted caught Sloan's eye as the Protector took his place riding point. The man's green-eyed gaze was flat and emotionless. Sloan turned away and rode ahead of the column.
Forka watched Sloan disappear among the pines and wondered again why one of his Chosen would lie about his escape from the Horde camp. The answer flitted just out of reach. The General knew the pieces to the puzzle were all there: Sloan, the two women, their story, the behavior of the girls, as well as Sloan's own. The more he thought about how all of these things fit together, the more the answer eluded him.
* * *
The rest of the journey to the Jhinn encampment was long and cold. The girls were not used to lengthy periods of travel on horseback and the men had to stop frequently to let them both rest. Game was scarce, and the Protectors riding a perimeter around the travelers came back empty handed. They ate dried meat and biscuits, rationing carefully, taking into account the three extra mouths to feed.
They arrived at the encampment just past midday on the fifth day of their journey. When the townfolk caught sight of the rescue party, they began to cheer. They sent the young ones off running to spread the world that Protector Sloan had been rescued. The Jhinn surrounded Sloan's horse and he soon found himself cut off from the rest of the group. He was very uncomfortable with all of the attention. He mumbled his thanks to the people as they told him how they had prayed for a successful rescue. When asked about the other two, he told the folks that they hadn't made it. They patted his leg and told him there was nothing he could have done, and to be thankful the good Lord saw fit to bring him back home.
The girls were a little surprised to be the center of attention as well. When the townfolk heard that it was Valery and Amber who had brought Sloan out of the Horde camp, they showered the girls with applause and cheers.
Sloan slipped away while the women distracted the crowd. He made his way to the bunkhouse, drawing his typical silent demeanor about him like a heavy cloak. He did not acknowledge any of the greetings shouted to him by his fellow Protectors. He dismounted by the stable and wordlessly handed the reins to a young boy from town who helped with the horses. Sloan walked slowly in through the back door of the bunkhouse. A slight, pretty girl was standing over the stove, the sleeves of her dress rolled past her elbows, sweat beaded on her forehead, strands of chestnut hair clinging to her face and neck. She asked if he would like some supper but he refused with a shake of his head. He walked to his pallet, stripped to his smallclothes, and lay on his back with one arm covering his eyes
As he lay waiting for sleep to claim him, a single tear slid down his chiseled cheek.
* * *
Sloan sat up and rubbed his eyes. He grabbed his coat, slid his feet into his boots, and crept past the sleeping Protectors and out the back door. The cold hit him like a dozen knives stabbing his body. His breath misted in the frigid night air. He made his way to the side of the bunkhouse and opened the front of his smallclothes. His urine stream melted the snow in front of his feet and steamed in the air.
“Pretty impressive package, my dear.”
Sloan jumped at the sultry voice speaking out of the shadows to his right. He finished his business and buttoned back up. He turned to the voice and the woman stepping closer to him, wrapped in bearskins from ankle to chin.
Her eyes shone in the dark.
“What are you doing here?” Sloan hissed. He expected Protector Roberts to appear any second. The man had been his shadow for the last few weeks, following him everywhere. “Do you want to get us both killed? And Amber too?”
“There is no one about but you and me, my love. I managed to slip a little something into my shadow's drink. She will sleep like the dead and have a large headache come morning.” She approached and put her arms around his neck. He grabbed her in a fierce embrace as they kissed, their foggy breath mingling in the night air.
Sloan pulled back. “We mustn't do this. Someone will see.”
“The General doesn't suspect a thing.”
Sloan pulled her in for another long, lingering kiss. His hands found her buttocks. She moaned breathlessly as much from the cold on her bare skin as to a reaction to his touch.
“Having fun without me? How rude!” Amber appeared from the right, covered in skins to keep out the chill.
“What are you doing here? We cannot be seen together,” Sloan growled.
“I got lonely.” Amber stood in front of Sloan and reached up to touch his face. “I missed you.”
Sloan groaned inwardly as he reached for Amber and held her close. Valery took up position under his other arm and the three stood there for a moment.
“I am tired of having to play the role of the poor frightened girl. Why can't we complete our mission and go back to the Horde camp? Back home,” Amber said.
“You play the role so well, Amber darling,” Valery mocked.
“At least one of us is playing their role!” Amber snapped.
“Excuse me for becoming physically ill at the thought of acting like a sniveling child!”
“Sniveling child? We are supposed to be acting like tortured souls, scared to death of everything. I'm surprised the general didn't leave us behind in the woods with the way you were acting.”
