by Tam Linsey
Gid joined her as she finished the final clasp. “You should have waited.”
She met his blue eyes. “I didn’t want to lose my nerve.”
Jubal leaned close to her and asked, “Why is he angry with you?”
She’d forgotten he couldn’t understand Gid’s language. “He worries.”
“I can see that.”
Gid scowled but didn’t respond. The others forded the creek without incident. The reversions had removed every stitch of clothing, and Pulo dropped his pack once he reached their side and dove back into the water. He surfaced and shook water from his hair like a dog. “We’re free!” he crowed. Wint joined him and they embraced and locked lips in a joyful kiss.
Gid stared at the naked men and hissed, “Avert your eyes!”
Rann, who had remained clothed, emerged from the water cradling his crotch. “By the Knife! That stings!” He peeled out of his leggings as soon as he was clear of the water.
Gid let out a strangled, choking sound and grabbed Eily’s arm to twist her away from the sight. Eily sighed. “Gid, nakedness is natural. It’s the way God created us.”
“The Prophet directed, ‘Cover your flesh that you do not inspire lustful thoughts among your brethren.”
She wanted to ask if he had lustful thoughts but decided against it. When the group resumed walking. Gid kept close to her side, muttering about godless cannibals.
Chapter Eleven
Jubal stepped from beneath the foliage canopy into the afternoon glare. A ribbon of cracked pavement intersected the trail through the amarantox. In either direction, the sun beat down on the hulks of ancient vehicles, anything of value looted long ago. He checked back as the three Flame Runna men emerged on his heels. Eily and Gid followed not far behind. Lagging farther back, Rann limped along in a bow-legged gait, his face pale.
Jubal frowned and sighed. It isn’t Rann’s fault he’s hurt. But they had moved more slowly than usual so his brother could keep up. Retreating to the shade of the amarantox, Jubal jabbed the butt of his staff into the earth, kicking some rocks up around the base so it remained upright. “We’ll stop here tonight.”
Lisius remained on the pavement. “Still have plenty of light. We could make good time on this path.”
“We will tomorrow.”
A few steps away, Eily spoke to her group. Gid gazed at his feet and nodded. The male Flame Runnas argued among themselves, gesturing into the surrounding amarantox. The tallest one said, “We can gather enough for him.”
Jubal approached the party. “Is there a problem?”
Eily answered, “All of our food is gone.”
The fat Flame Runna chimed in. “Pulo says we can find beetles in the tamarisk.”
“There’s enough light left to hunt a bit,” added the one called Lisius.
Jubal shook his head. He couldn’t chance losing a single Flame Runna to the dangers of the Tox, even if it meant he went hungry on the journey. “You don’t know the area well enough to go out on your own. And there could be hunters. I have enough food to share.”
Jubal untied the bundle from his pack. The people at the Holdout had been generous in their parting gifts—not only in food but in other goods. In return for three salt packets, one woman had traded him a precious swath of pure white fabric like the kind Eily wore on her head. The color would fetch an outrageous price. Too bad he’d never be able to trade with the Holdout again.
He opened the bundle. “I have some ‘bis-kits.’”
“They should trade us for food,” Rann interjected. He raised his eyebrows at Eily. “How ’bout some spirit healing for my pain?”
Eily took a step back, and Gid cocked his head in question.
Jubal interceded before Rann caused any trouble. “Let me have your staff, Rann.” He drilled a look of warning into his brother. “Go use the salve the healer gave you.”
He held the biscuits out to Eily. He’d have to find a secluded moment to talk to his brother. If they weren’t careful, Eily and the others could get suspicious and turn back to Flame Runna territory.
She took the food without smiling, and the image of her sleek green limbs flashed through his mind for the tenth time. He’d seen plenty of naked women, and her skin color should put him off, but somehow her modesty made her more alluring. He brushed away the thought. She was a Flame Runna. Not a travel companion.
Eily said, “Spirit healing. Is that what my sister is doing?”
Jubal met her eyes, considering his words before speaking. What did Eily want to hear? “She’s very powerful.”
Eily’s dark eyes were so intense he worried she might see his soul. Was this a part of the spirit healing he didn’t know about? His skin prickled, but he didn’t look away.
She asked, “Have you used her?”
“No! No.” He was glad he could say this so quickly and genuinely. “The king, her man, is very proud of her.”
Tears sheened her eyes, and she broke eye contact. “She always wanted to be powerful.”
Gid limped into the space between them, stepping on the blanket and blocking Jubal’s view in order to speak to Eily. He’d been doing this kind of posturing all day. “Kann ich helfen?”
Jubal rose, his chin only at the level of Gid’s shoulder. He could smell the sweat of travel and the slightly sweet scent of Gid’s straw hat. His pulse raced as he shifted his weight to the balls of his feet. A fight with Gid would be interesting.
Gid didn’t turn to face him.
Eily straightened and spoke in slow, deliberate Cannibal, frowning at Gid. “Please, eat.”
Gid bent and swept up a biscuit. He took a bite and stared into the amarantox as he chewed, jaw muscles bulging.
Why did the man keep offering a confrontation, then pointedly ignoring Jubal’s return challenge? Was Eily his woman or not? Do you really want a fight?
Taking a biscuit for himself, Jubal contemplated the situation. Gid was worth nothing in trade, yet Jubal wished the man no harm. If only I could turn Gid around and keep the rest. He’d hoped nature would resolve the issue when the man had slipped in the river. Eily’s determination to save Gid had impressed him, but he couldn’t risk losing her; Ana’s twin would be their most prized bargaining chip.
If Rann was well, they might be able to outpace Gid. The river had proven what a liability he was. But even if they could sway Eily to abandon him, Jubal doubted Gid would let his woman go without a fight; Jubal wouldn’t, if he had a woman like Eily. Jubal shook his head. She was a Flame Runna. Best to bury thoughts like that.
He picked up another biscuit and stared at it to avoid looking at Gid. Now wasn’t the time for violence. He had to focus on getting these Flame Runnas to the Taguan. He’d never dealt in human cargo. Pops had always avoided slaving. He said slavers ended up slaves themselves in the end.
He settled to the ground across from Gid, studying the man’s scars. The art was even but not finely executed. A jagged pucker at the bottom of the longest scar looked like the tattooer had slipped and hit the muscle. “Gid, tell me about your marks.”
Gid met Jubal’s gaze. “Marks?”
Jubal ran his fingers across his face, mirroring Gid’s lines. “The pattern is unfamiliar.”
“I was in...” Gid began, then stopped. He frowned at Eily. “Wie sage ich Unfall?”
She ignored Gid, instead nodding her head rapidly at Jubal. “Yes. Of course Gid is a Knowing. He keeps the secrets of the flying machines. He’s one of the few who can make them fly.”
Gid scowled at her. “Das ist nicht wahr.”
“Ich lüge, um Sie sicher.” Her words, directed at Gid, were frustrated. When she turned back to Jubal, she smiled again, the kind of smile a trader used when he was about to lose a deal. “He’s a very important man among our people.”
Jubal rubbed his chin. “Not so useful on the Tox.”
She lifted her chin, shoulders back. “He is Knowing.”
With a noncommittal grunt, Jubal snagged some jerky and rose to
join Rann at the other side of the clearing. The most sacred law on the Tox made the Knowing untouchable even by hunters; to kill one meant shunning and death for the entire tribe. Only Flame Runnas killed without discretion. But Gid’s knowledge was a Flame Runna skill. Did he qualify? Jubal didn’t want to break any more laws.
A whiff of smoke caught his attention, and he spotted the three green men squatted around a pile of kindling. Wint was fanning a small lick of flame.
Lisius sat with his arms crossed, his face twisted with derision. “Wint, you pussy. You brought a lighter?”
Pulo grinned. “It is easier to start a fire with one.”
“Stop standing up for him.” Lisius punched Pulo in the shoulder. “He’s gotta go back to the old ways if he wants to stay alive.”
Jubal strode over and kicked aside the pile of sticks. “No fire.”
The Flame Runnas hushed, twisting to glare up at him.
Disconcerted by the green faces, Jubal drew himself taller. “You want to attract hunters?”
Lisius glanced down at the scattered sticks then scanned the amarantox suspiciously.
“No fire.” Pulo nodded.
Wint groaned and flopped back to sprawl against the ground.
“Hush,” Jubal said. “You’ve chattered all day. No one could hear my trader staff over you even if they tried. We’re leaving Flame Runna territory, so you’d better learn to be quiet, or I can’t promise you’ll reach the Taguan.”
Behind him, Eily said, “The Taguan? I remember trading there as a child! Is that where we’re going?”
He nodded without turning to look at her, his chest tight. She’d been a child among the tribes. She knew the Taguan. They’re not like us, he reminded himself. They’re Flame Runnas. Yet betraying her felt so wrong. She’d never done anything to harm him. Plus he was betraying the trade laws that had kept him alive for much of his life. Even the Flame Runna Ijon, who’d pushed hard at the boundaries of the Peace by questioning him, had honored the law and let them leave. Jubal’s stomach churned.
“Will my sister still be there when we arrive?” Eily asked.
“Yes. The One Tree has remained there many seasons.” He spread his blanket on the ground next to Rann. “Now everyone get some rest. We move at dawn.”
Easing onto the blanket, he lay on his back and stared at the dusky sky. If he found a way to spare Eily from the trade, would Gid fight to protect the other Flame Runnas? Jubal didn’t think so. But Eily would. She was a protector. She wanted to save her sister. She’d stood up for Jubal and Rann at the lightning wall. Betraying her violated the very spirit of the Peace.
You only promised to take them there, not that they’d be safe and accepted upon arrival. He could send Eily back, now, before she realized what he’d done. The three Flame Runna men would be enough to buy Pops’s freedom. But Eily would never give up without her sister. And once Sefe saw her, he’d want the twin to his beloved Ana.
Rann sighed loudly. “Some bitters would go down easy right now since the Flame Runna won’t give me spirit healing.”
At the mention of spirit healing, Eily’s naked body came to mind, and Jubal’s groin stirred. Would she and her man make love tonight? He shook off the thought and said in a low voice, “You need to watch your mouth or they might turn around and go back to the lightning wall.”
“Would a kiss kill her?”
“Their people don’t share their women. And there are more of them than us, so you need to behave.”
Rann sighed again. “Right.”
Jubal lay back against his blanket, listening to the camp settle as darkness filled the sky. The Flame Runnas whispered among themselves as they settled in to sleep, then the camp fell quiet. He told himself he was listening for hunters, but he kept turning his face toward Eily and Gid’s blankets. All he could think about was her lying next to Gid. Beneath Gid. He waited and listened for the inevitable sounds of sexing from their blankets. If Jubal had such a woman, he’d make love to her every night. But the sounds never came. Wint’s snores were as obnoxious as his chattering. Jubal squinted into the darkness, his eyes struggling to see in the meager light from the stars.
Eventually, he gave up and rose. If he couldn’t sleep, he’d patrol the perimeter.
Chapter Twelve
Eily stared at the night sky and inhaled the lush scent of the crushed amarantox. She didn’t even try to close her eyes. It wasn’t fear that haunted her but something else. Anticipation, yes, and more. Perhaps this feeling was what drove reversions to flee the Protectorate. The Holdout is your home. Your safety. But the air out here energized her.
The camp rumbled with Wint’s snores. How had the boy survived the Tox before being taken by the Protectorate? All that noise would alert every hunter within range. She hoped the trader staves would be enough to protect the group as they moved deeper into cannibal territory. From the opposite edge of the camp came rustling, then soft footsteps passed her and Gid’s sleeping spot toward the open expanse of the old road.
She turned her head to look at Gid, flat on his back. During the long hospital stay after his accident, he’d learned to sleep through anything. At least he didn’t snore. Slowly, she lifted her blanket aside and crept toward the road, eyes wide in search of the other wakeful party member. Maybe she’d get a chance to talk to Lisius or Pulo and begin convincing them to return to the Holdout with her.
In the feeble light of a crescent moon, at the edge of the clearing, Jubal’s trade beads caught the moonlight. Maybe she could learn more about Ana from him. She tiptoed over. “You can’t sleep either?”
Jubal jerked, his voice a little too loud. “Eily!”
“I didn’t mean to startle you.” She settled next to him amid last year’s fallen amarantox leaves and wrapped her arms around her knees.
Starlight picked up the white of his eyes. The rest of him remained part of the darkness. He said, “Don’t know how anyone can sleep through that snoring. I couldn’t even hear you approach.”
She looked out across the dark road—shadows on top of shadows, the remains of a world long gone. “I don’t remember anyone snoring when I was a child.”
The night wind sighed through the leaves at their backs. After a few heartbeats, Jubal said, “Which tribe were you from?”
“Under Stone. Ana and I tried to help Mama run when the Flame Runnas came. She was heavy into pregnancy.” The memory was so old, it felt like someone else’s. “But they killed her.”
“I heard tales of them taking children. But no one ever thought it was to... make them into Flame Runnas. How do they do it?”
She shuddered. “The best way to describe it is like tattoos. They poke needles into you, and then you have green skin. It hurts. But now I never dread the hunger. Do you see how only Gid needs to eat? I can survive on nothing but sunlight and water, like the amarantox.”
“That is truly a gift worth having. Why doesn’t your man have green skin?”
“His people say that God’s work should not be altered. They would rather face the hunger.”
“That’s just plain stupid. If the Flame Runnas weren’t so hated on the Tox, I’d take green skin.”
“There’s more, though. The sun makes me feel... ‘drunk’ is the best word. What you call spirit healing.”
“I heard sexing with a Flame Runna makes men feel drunk for a while. Didn’t realize Flame Runnas felt it all the time.”
Eily tightened her grip around her knees, sickness washing over her. Did Ana’s man force her to share herself? The tribes cared less about monogamy than they did about status and survival; men often encouraged their women to lie with the other men of the tribe. If there was a chance a woman bore the leader’s child, she and all her children might be spared the Knife during future hunger times.
Jubal cleared his throat and leaned slightly toward her. “Your man is smart not to indulge while on a journey.”
A strange sensation fluttered low in her stomach, and she was suddenly all too aware
of the man beside her. Not afraid, as she’d been with Rann’s request for spirit healing earlier. Just... startled. What would kissing Jubal be like? She trembled. She’d kissed Gid once, and only once. He’d flinched, then admonished her never to do it again. But the worst part was when he’d confessed to the Elders. For an entire winter, she’d had to endure weekly lectures about propriety and modesty from the village matrons. “We’re not married. It would be improper for us to... indulge.”
“But he is your man?” Jubal’s voice seemed deeper and more hushed. His eyes caught the moonlight again, causing her heart to rise to her throat.
The air seemed too thick to breathe. She wanted her betrothed to look at her the way Jubal did now. Like he had at the creek crossing. With desire. Gid’s always been there for you. She whispered, “He’s my man.” Focus on Ana. She swallowed and took a deep breath. “Tell me about my sister. Has she been with her man long?”
The dry amarantox leaves crackled as Jubal reclined to face the sky. “I was only at the Taguan a couple of days. The tribe seemed well. The manna beetles grow thick in the area, and Sefe said they’ve not called a Hunger in four years. It would be a pleasant place to live.”
“I remember there being hundreds of people at the Autumn trade. By the time it ended, there was nothing left to eat nearby.”
“The One Tree posts watchers to hunt the pecker-birds and voles that eat the beetle larvae. And they’ve constructed supports to keep the amarantox from collapsing in the wind as the beetles grow in the stalks, so the beetles are easy to harvest. They collect so much, they store the dried meal and eat from it all winter. They even have enough to spare for trade.”
She let go of her knees and turned to face him, resting her palms against the dirt. “They’re farming?”
“What’s ‘farming’?”
“Like they do in the Holdout. Intentionally growing food in a given area. Enough food to sustain them without needing to migrate. Do you know what this means?”