by Ivy Cross
No more outcast. That is a good sign.
“What do you mean Regar is not here,” I ask. “Where has he gone?”
Ib looks to his brother as though for confirmation he should discuss the matter. Aena only shrugs.
“He took four warriors late last night and left for an audience with the Calji,” Ib says.
I hear Talia suck in a sharp breath. She understands too—this cannot be a coincidence.
“Why would Regar go to the Calji?” Talia asks suddenly.
Ib stiffens as though he were slapped. He glares at Talia for a moment, then addresses his words to me. “A Calji messenger arrived before sunset last eve. That is all I know for certain…”
That may be all he knows for certain, but I can see it written on his face there is a great deal more to the story. I remain silent, forcing the issue.
“There are some rumors…” Ib continues. “The way I heard it, the Calji leaders have a proposition for Regar—they have something of great value to give him, and they want to broker a deal of some kind. They may even want to join the tribes together…”
“Idle gossip,” I say. “You have nothing of real substance?”
Ib bristles, then relaxes. “Maybe most of it is only gossip, but there is one thing floating around that is too fantastic to be made up. You know that object of great value I mentioned? I bet you would never guess what it is.”
Shit.
“A Naia,” I say with a sigh.
Ib’s eyes bulge, then he stares over to Talia and Alex. “Wait, these are not…”
“No, they are not. Nor is the creature the Calji plan to offer in trade to Regar.”
I turn my attention back to Talia. “It would seem matters have progressed without us. We should still seek to reach the Calji, but I fear the situation has become even more complicated.”
“This could be a good thing…” Talia muses. “I mean, if the Calji hand Bailey over to Regar, wouldn’t that mean they would bring her back here?”
“It does,” I agree. “But if negotiations break down, we will still need to be there to rescue your friend.”
“You plan to—” Ib begins, but his words are cut off by a high, warbly voice from beyond the gate.
“You speak on grave matters that are far beyond your stations, children.”
There is a pause that is long enough for me to entertain the hope the old man on the other side has dropped dead where he stood. But, alas, it is not so.
“Open the damn gate, striplings!”
The two young men behind Ib and Aena spin around and rush to the gate. They pull the large wooden doors aside to reveal the gray, hunched figure on the other side.
Gellis. The elder of our village and Regar’s lackey in all things.
“Quite enough, quite enough.” Gellis totters out of the gates, blustering through the group of guards and stationing himself right in front of me. “I should think you lot would know better than to be discussing village matters with this… this nonperson.”
“He—he killed Haelar,” Ib sputters. “And he needs an audience with Regar. We did not think…”
“You did not think.” Gellis agrees. “But this business with Haelar… very grievous. Very grievous indeed. And to come back here and boast of your crimes…” The old man shakes his head of wispy white hairs. “I would have thought you to have more brains in that thick skull of yours, Dekkar.”
“It was he that initiated the battle,” I say. “With poisoned weapons, no less.”
“So you say,” Gellis says. “And am I to guess these… creatures are going to support your version of this tale?”
I remain silent, knowing nothing I can say will sway the opinion of this man—he has none of his own. Our village elder may as well be a mouthpiece for Regar.
The old man lifts his gnarled hand into the air and snaps his fingers. Four more warriors file out through the gates, their weapons held at the ready. Gellis may not have an original idea in his head, but he is not a stupid man.
“Ah, I see,” Gellis croaks. “Whatever the truth may be, I believe it best you and your playthings remain here until Regar’s return. He should hear the details of his brother’s death from the killer’s own mouth… especially when that killer is spreading around such vile things about Haelar’s character.”
Talia grips my arm and I turn to her. Her eyes are wide with understanding and fear of this situation, but I can do nothing to make things better at this time. I pat her hand gently and turn my gaze back on Gellis.
The old man has the gall to actually smile. “Seize them!”
Chapter 17 – Talia
The old man stinks like moldy radishes.
As we pass through the gates and onto the hardpacked dirt path of the village’s main street, Gellis has me and Alex positioned at arm’s length from him at the front, with Dekkar surrounded by all eight guards in the rear.
I guess human females don’t register as dangerous among the Vanthae.
There is some bustle at either side of the path as Gellis parades us on. Several figures are stooped over cookfires outside their homes, and there are even a few wispy thin and strikingly tall children fighting with sticks between two of the dwellings.
All of them stop to gawk at us as we pass by.
“Why aren’t there any women,” Alex hisses across to me.
“I don’t—” It takes me a minute, but it slowly dawns on me. There are quite a few Vanthae women among the people staring at us… they just don’t look all that different from the men. “Look again,” I say.
“Oh,” is all Alex says.
The Vanthae women do look a little different—they don’t appear quite as hairy as the men, for one—but to the unaccustomed eye, it is hard to tell the difference.
“Different clothing,” Alex says after a few more moments of staring at the tribespeople we pass.
She’s right. The majority of the men seem to wear only simple leathers that go from the waist to several inches above the knee, but the women’s garb includes a thin, belt-like chest piece that is worn diagonally across their flat, muscular chests.
Gellis slows and turns back to Dekkar. “You can stay in your old home. Guarded at all times, of course.”
“I am surprised you and Regar did not raze it to the ground and distribute my belongings amongst yourselves.” Dekkar’s voice drips malice, and I say a silent prayer that he doesn’t lose control and get us all killed here and now. Gellis had Dekkar’s spear taken off him, but even that might not stop him if he gets angry enough.
Gellis waves a dismissive hand. “It is doubtful you have anything we would want.” He gestures to some of the guards. “Take him there now. And I want six of you posted as guards at all times.”
“A prisoner in my own home—my own village. I thought better of you Gellis.” Something in Dekkar’s tone says he didn’t think better of the man at all.
“No, not a prisoner. I just don’t want you conveniently disappearing before Regar returns, especially if you were planning on interfering with his visit to the Calji.” With that, Gellis prods me an Alex forward and gestures for two of the guards to join us.
“You are not taking the females.” The anger is gone from Dekkar’s voice. Now there’s only a tone of command.
Gellis comes to a wobbly halt. “I would like to question them,” he says with a feigned yawn. “After that, I will find a suitable place to stow them until something is—”
“I have made my claim!” Dekkar roars and takes a step forward. All eight warriors beside him raise their spears toward Dekkar’s throat, but if he notices, he doesn’t show it.
The old man signals for the guards to lower their spears. “You made a claim? On both?”
Dekkar’s fierce gaze lowers minutely.
“It has been but a very short time you have been cast out from this village, but it would seem you have already forgotten our ways… so, I will ask you again—”
“No, not on both.” Dekkar’s voice is a
low, smoldering whisper.
“Ah, so which is it then?”
Dekkar’s gaze moves to mine then flits away just as quickly. Even in just that brief moment, I can read shame shining there as clearly as I see the village around us. I try to catch his eyes again—to try to understand the emotion I saw there, or to let him know there’s nothing to feel shame for—but he doesn’t look up again.
Is he ashamed to say he claimed me, or is something else going on? His intentions became pretty clear when he thought I was a Naia, so this doesn’t make any sense to me.
“Talia,” Dekkar whispers, still not looking up.
“Fine,” Gellis answers with a tone of irritation. “Which of you is Tellio?”
I step forward, ignoring the butchering of my name.
“And you acknowledge the outcast’s—Dekkar’s—claim on you?”
“I, uh, I do,” I reply, feeling more than a little like I’m participating in an impromptu wedding. I’m not exactly sure what I’m agreeing to, but it hardly seems like the time to be contradicting Dekkar. And besides, if him staking a claim to me is about the same as him declaring for me like a ye olde Earth suitor, I’m not entirely against that either. Dekkar’s been helpful, protective, and genuine with me since we met. Plus, he’s smoking hot to boot. In better times, I think I would be downright thrilled to have him claim me.
“Very well,” Gellis continues in that perpetually bored and irritated voice of his. “Join your man. You may stay with him in his home for the time being.”
I catch Alex’s eyes as I start toward Dekkar. She looks about as lost as I feel. In the stark light of the day, her threadbare t-shirt, filthy skin, and wide eyes combine to make her look like an impossibly tall child.
“She should stay with us too,” I say to Gellis. “She is my friend.”
“You are bound to him,” Gellis replies. “She is not.” He smirks at Dekkar. “Unless you want to amend your claim? This other one is taller—looks to be of better stock…”
Dekkar grumbles something that sounds like a curse but doesn’t otherwise dignify Gellis’s words with a response.
“It is settled then,” Gellis says. “The unclaimed female outsider will come with me. I expect Regar to return on the morrow or the next day, at the latest, and then this whole mess can be sorted.”
I watch helplessly as Gellis prods Alex into movement and starts down the path away from us. The guards force me to Dekkar’s side, then march us off the path toward one of the huts.
“I am sorry,” Dekkar whispers as we near his home. “I did not know what else to do.”
“You couldn’t have done anything differently,” I say. “Do—do you think he’ll hurt her?”
“Gellis will not likely treat your friend kindly, but I doubt he would hurt her…”
“But?”
“But she is unclaimed and an outsider. Gellis and Regar cling to the old ways, as do some of the other members of the tribe.”
The guards crowd us toward the front door of a small hut. It looks to be identical to all of the others around it—a sloped thatch roof and walls of long, arm-thick logs.
“What exactly does that mean for her?” I ask, walking through the tall doorway behind Dekkar and leaving the guards to do their thing outside.
The interior of the hut is extremely spartan. Something like woven reeds covers the dirt floor, and they creak softly as we make our way into the room. The only furnishing in this main room is a low bench in front of a stone fire pit.
“It means she has no rights,” Dekkar answers, dropping heavily onto the bench. “No connection to the people of this village. If Gellis finds it useful to do so, he can cast her out in the middle of the night without saying a word… or he could trade her to one of the neighboring tribes. The point is, he may try to use her in some way to make our position here weaker.”
I crunch across the floor and join Dekkar on the bench. It’s hard and sits at an awkward level, but it’s better than sitting on the ground. After so long sleeping and sitting on floors and dirt, getting to use an actual piece of furniture is something of a luxury.
“It seems to me our position here couldn’t get a whole lot weaker…” I say gently. “You’re an outcast that killed the leader’s brother… and now we’re in home confinement.”
Dekkar grunts. “At least on that front, it is not as bad for us as it seems. I may not always agree with the laws of our tribe, especially those that Regar and his circle have deemed fit to push through, but they have their uses. And even Regar and Gellis cannot simply ignore them—your being here with me is proof of that.”
Dekkar places a warm, heavy arm around my shoulders, and I feel a sudden jolt of relief at not being stuck with Gellis through this ordeal. The feeling sours just as quickly when I remember Alex isn’t so lucky.
“And when Regar returns, he will have no choice but to call the council of warriors,” Dekkar continues. “I believe they will see my battle with Haelar as an adequate Proving, and my status in the tribe will be raised to that of a full warrior.”
“Even though that happened after you were ousted or whatever?”
“I believe so. The matter of Haelar’s dishonor—his use of poison—will reflect quite poorly on Regar. The council will see fit to dismiss my exile from the tribe. I do not doubt this.”
I nestle further into the crook of Dekkar’s arm, relishing the warmth. Despite the warmth of the day outside the hut, the interior is surprisingly chilly.
“So, once you’re recognized as a warrior, do you think you’ll have some say in what happens to Alex? Bailey too, if she returns with Regar?”
“No, my status as a Vanthae warrior will give me no such power. Such things would still be in the domain of Regar.”
“Oh,” I say, deflated. “Then we’ll still need to figure that out.”
Dekkar squeezes me against him and chuckles.
“What is it?” I turn to see Dekkar staring down at me, his face only inches from mine.
“I may not have sway over the fate of your friends as a warrior, but I will have the right of challenge. And when I kill Regar and assume the role of leader, your friends will be safe here for all time.”
Chapter 18 – Dekkar
“That’s the plan?” Talia asks, pulling her small frame back from me.
“You disapprove?”
“Yeah, I—well, no I guess I don’t. But you could have been a little more forthcoming with me—you’re kind of blindsiding me with this whole assassination plot.”
“It is not to be an assassination,” I say. “The right of challenge has been part of the Vanthae way for all of time. There are rules, and the battle will be closely watched by the warriors, but when I prevail, I will be First within the tribe.”
“Alright, I guess,” Talia says, her tone still tinged with some irritation. “I still think you should have filled me in on the details.”
“I will not keep things from you again.”
“But…” I hold her gaze long enough for her to understand my meaning.
“But… you were paying me back for the Naia stuff?” she asks slowly.
“No, I am simply pointing out the parallels. Until now, I had not given a great deal of thought to your needing to know about this. I had planned to challenge Regar long before you and I even met. All I am saying to you now is that perhaps you should not judge me so harshly… given the Naia stuff.”
Talia brushes a hand through her sweat-matted hair. I can see a weariness in her that looks to be more than just from our journey here.
“Yeah, I get it. The pot calling the kettle black and all that… you just caught me off guard is all. And it’s not fun being completely out of the loop like that.”
She sighs and stands from the bench. “And I’m cranky from everything that’s happened to me in the last—God, I don’t even know how long all this has been going on… Two weeks since I was ripped from my planet? Longer? I don’t even know anymore.”
“You have
not told me your story,” I say, standing as well. “Not the real one, at least.”
The air of my home has grown chill and stagnant in my absence. I decide a midday fire would go a long way toward dispelling the disused feeling of the place and set about gathering the material for a fire from one of my back rooms.
“I—I guess I probably should have led with that story when we first met,” Talia says when I return with an armful of wood and tinder. “That probably would have saved us some trouble.”
“That matter is buried in our past,” I say, sparking the tinder to life. Within moments, the room is aglow with the soft dancing light of the fire. Its subtle warmth makes the hut feel like my own again. “I would know more of your story, but do not concern yourself with the Naia matter again. It was my error more than yours.”
Talia leans over the ring of stones and holds her hands to the fire. “Well, I’m not sure how much of my real story will make sense to you…” She hesitates for a moment. “I guess you could say I was kidnapped from my home, a place called Earth—”
“Earth,” I repeat. “I do not know this place.”
“I’m not surprised. It’s a very long way away. So, anyway, these creatures kidnapped me and nine other women. Their intentions weren’t exactly clear, but I think they were going to sell us as slaves or something similar.”
The image of Talia being sold off to another fills my heart with burning anger. If I cross paths with these creatures she mentioned, I will be very happy to let them taste that anger.
“Something happened while they were transporting us. They started getting sick, and it had something to do with us. So, they decided to kick us off the ship, which, all in all, wasn’t such a bad turn of events when you consider their leader just wanted to kill us all.”
“So, that is what was happening when I saw you fall from the sky? The creatures kicked you off their skyship?”
