Abducted (Blue Barbarian Series Book 1)

by Rena Marks

  Rayhaan holds himself in check, but I know he realizes what has happened for Lucie to need such intensive healing in her feminine area. My mother’s strong healing voice rings out, hitting a wide range of pitches needed to correct damages in the body. The females startle, and my men rub a foot or a shoulder to comfort them. These healing notes are natural to us, but the women do not seem familiar with it. I wonder how they heal on their planet.

  It takes a long time for my mother to heal this area, and then she gestures for her salve of herbs. She takes off the temporary footwear from Lucie’s feet and applies the salve. The bottoms of her feet are blistered and red.

  “It is to stay on for the rest of this day’s time. Then you and the other females will relax in the bathing pool and it will come off then.”

  She reaches over to hug Lucie, which is the transference of love and well-being. Then Rayhaan lifts Lucie in his arms and brings her to sit with me and Niki.

  My mother gestures for Valencia next, and Atareek is at her side. This is good, she can explain to the other females when it becomes their turn.

  Except for her feet, there is no other healing needed, so my mother applies the same salve, and hugs Valencia.

  I gesture for a male to bring a taller chair for Atareek to sit in and hold Valencia, so she may be nearby to translate for the others.

  One by one, my mother handles each woman. One female needs slight work on her belly, and my mother suggests that she is not used to eating meat. Valencia repeats it to the female, who nods. My mother explains that it is harder to get nutrition during the colder months without it and focusing her energy on the female’s stomach and digestive tract, then her feet.

  I feel guilty. All of the females have blistered feet because I pushed them so hard yesterday. But it was necessary for Niki.

  My mother finally to the last female and applies salve to her feet, then turns to our corner, where the four of us sit. “Why is it the womb was damaged on Loosh-see?”

  Lucie bites her lip and her cheeks flush red.

  I answer. “The abductors forced her to mate. The other females were safely asleep until Niki, Lucie and I killed them. It is then that we roused the rest. The hunting team arrived at first sunlight.”

  My mother gasps. “Force? They do not revere their females?”

  I shake my head and her gaze falls to Niki.

  “She was spared their touch,” I say.

  The smell of roasted meat is strong and I realize more time has passed than we expected. A bell rings outside, and a drumbeat begins. The festivities begin.

  “Let us relax and enjoy the feast,” my mother says. “After they eat, the females may gather in the bathing pool and we will prepare additional rooms. Before she sleeps, I will work on Niki in my hut.”

  Hunters begin to scoop human females into their arms and we head back outside to enjoy the last few hours of daylight, where many villagers are excited to visit with the new beings. Other males move my mother’s tools and bed back to her hut.

  * * * * *

  Niki:

  I feel terrible that Lucie’s secret is exposed, but I get the feeling there aren’t a lot of secrets kept quiet among the barbarians. I reach out and clasp her hand in mine, and notice the reverent mother watches us.

  I don’t know a lot about her other than she is Drakar’s mother and the healer, and she explained to me that reverent mother is a title and I am to call her by her given name, Lachlana, since I am family. I imagine the title reverent mother here is like doctor back home.

  Soon we head outside for what the Blaedonians have declared a holiday.

  The outer ring of the village is covered in soft grass, just like back home. It makes me somewhat homesick, and I can tell the other girls appreciate it also.

  “It’s beautiful here,” Gigi says. “There are so many colors. The pink of the sky. The brilliant red of the sun. The lush green grass.”

  “Okay, someone explain what happened back there. Now I know how Valencia felt,” Jillian says.

  “It’s a holiday. A feast or something. We’ll hit the bathing pool tonight before bed to soak off our salve.”

  “Is this where we’ll live?”

  I nod. “This is it.”

  “They all look so friendly, once you get used to the face paint. Who was the healer?”

  “They call her reverent mother. She’s the medicine woman. She’s also Drakar’s mother.”

  One by one, the hunters who have taken care of us for the last three days approach, bringing villagers to meet and greet us. They know our names, and teach the villagers. They try to teach the humans, but it’s hard to remember all the pronunciations.

  One woman has a baby on her hip, wrapped into a sling. The pudgy child reaches for the multi-colored hair of Jezebel. The barbarians seem fascinated with her hair.

  “You should probably tell them it’s not real,” she laughs.

  I explain to them that we use hair color on our planet. The woman’s eyes grow wide, and she says, “Tell her we have many dyes from roots and plants. We never thought to use the colors on hair. Since she is experienced at it, perhaps we can work together to develop these things further?”

  I translate to Jezebel.

  “What? You mean I don’t have to give up my job? Who knew I’d travel through a black hole to gain new clients,” she says with a laugh.

  We snicker, and then the food is dished out. The hunters bring us plates, since none of us can walk with the greasy brown salve on our blisters. Of course, I can walk but I’m on strict orders from Drakar to stay put. Truth be told, I’m okay with it. I’m still exhausted, even after a day and a half of sleep.

  “I hope it’s the Kentucky chicken,” Jillian says.

  Maca, one of the warriors, smiles. The hunters know our human phrase for the bird-fish creature. They’ve tried to explain the real name, but have since given up.

  Drakar brings me a plate.

  “Thank you. You didn’t need to do this. I know you must have a ton of people who want to talk to you.”

  “My place is to take care of my mate.”

  “We really need to discuss the mate thing.”

  “There is nothing to discuss. You are mine.”

  Probably not the time to discuss it, but I narrow my eyes at him. I have no idea what a mate entails. Do I stitch his winter leggings? Or just warm his bed furs? He leans down, and kisses me senseless. It takes my breath away, and my fingers clutch at his broad shoulders. His large hand comes up to cup my cheek.

  “Why don’t you really want to discuss it?” I whisper.

  “I don’t want you to try to reject it.”

  “I’m the luckiest girl in the world. Why would I do that?”

  He inhales sharply. “Do you mean that?”

  “Of course.”

  “There are duties that come along with being my mate. Like the reverent mother was queen to my father, so shall you be.”

  “Excuse me?”

  His words are baffling. “You are queen to our people. Lucie is your second, therefore, the second queen.”

  I say the only thing that comes to mind, even though it’s kind of stupid. “I don’t think she knows that.”

  He whispers in my ear. “I don’t think she realizes she’s mated either.”

  We both turn slightly and watch Rayhaan slide in next to Lucie with a bouquet of flowers. She smiles and accepts them.

  “I hope he remembers to take it slow with her.” I have the feeling we’re talking about two different things, and the hunters continue to believe Lucie belongs to Rayhaan, even though I explained our women have a choice.

  Drakar smiles, and then begins to feed me. I chew slowly.

  “You take a bite, too.” I bring a bit of the food up to his lips. He takes the food, but sucks on my finger. It makes me giggle and I pull it out, only to lean in for a kiss. Because I can’t resist, I offer him another bite and he sucks my finger again. His long, drawn out sucks pull on nerve endings that seem c
onnected to the pit of my belly.

  I whisper into his ear. “Will you still share my bed tonight?” I’m not quite sure where we’ll sleep, and I hope I get to stay with Drakar.

  “You will need your sleep, little one. Let’s see how you feel later after your healing.”

  “But I need you.”

  He kisses me. “I need you, too. You will never sleep away from me, Niki. I will hold you like I did last night.” It makes me feel a ton better to know I will be with him in this strange new village.

  A tiny blue toddler waddles up to us. She’s dressed in a leather diaper and she’s adorable. A thatch of black hair sits on top of her head, and there’s an actual bone—a tiny bone—that her hair is tied around.

  “This is Maracca. She loves to suck her thumb and pull off her diaper. Anyone who finds her naked is welcome to put it back on, otherwise we find baby offerings throughout the yards.” The baby giggles, as if she knows what he’s talking about.

  Two other women approach and they have brand new little blue babies wrapped in their arms. The babies wear diapers and nothing else. They’re a much lighter blue than the rest of the villagers, and I realize their blue color deepens and brightens with sunlight. Perhaps all the villagers will be a lighter shade in the winter.

  Drakar takes each child in the palm of his huge hands and raises them toward the sun in a strange offering. Everyone stays quiet while they watch. It reminds me of a baptism.

  I hear Rayhaan whisper to Lucie. “The king always blesses the newborns.”

  By the time we finish eating, the drums start again. The sun is starting to retreat when a horn sounds. Several men head to the large gate. I’m angling my head, trying to see what’s going on when Drakar picks me up. I squeal, and then throw my arms around his neck, even though I know I won’t fall.

  He’s so strong, it never fails to amaze me.

  He walks me to the large front gate where men are lowering the wooden gate. Once it’s down, it takes about six warriors to roll a large, ten-foot tall boulder in front of the gate as extra insurance.

  “We’ve tried various methods,” Drakar tells me. “We used to dig a trench and the boulder rolled easier. But then there was a permanent hole there, and you had to walk through it.”

  I notice the side door is still left open, and there’s a man posted at the door.

  “We have some people who are traveling,” Drakar says. “Someone remains at the door, in case anyone is pushing dark. It doesn’t usually happen. Most people are smart enough to stay in a first level overnight instead of trying to make it in and risking an ankle injury or some other accident.”

  “How long will he leave it open?”

  “Predators don’t usually come out until it’s completely black. He’ll close it before that point. As long as you can see outside, it remains open.”

  “Have you ever had a predator who managed to get in?”

  “Never.”

  “Do you know what’s out there?”

  He nods. “Yes. My kind can battle most creatures. But the predators hunt in packs. And the night is a long time. As soon as you kill one, another takes its place. More than likely, you will lose if you keep up that pace for the ten hours of nightfall. As humans, you would not stand a chance.”

  “None of the predators can fly?” I’m looking at the sky now. While the gates are tall, at least fourteen feet high, a vicious bird can easily get in.

  “The dangerous ones do not fly in the summer. In the winter they do, and we stay inside the caves during the darkness. Until the snow falls, however, we can enjoy the dark from the confines of our walls.”

  “None of your children have ever wandered outside?”

  “No, they know better. It is not just the dark to fear, as you found out with the Aynknak tree. There are other dangers.”

  “The poisonous tree? Why don’t you cut them down?”

  Drakar looks shocked at my suggestion. “They populate our planet for a reason. We could not take care of our dead if they did not exist. And the trees keep the population down for the night crawlers. If the trees were not there, we’d be overrun with the strongest creatures. They would eat all of the weak and in hunger, would turn to figuring out how to breach our walls.”

  I get it. The circle of life and all that.

  Maca, one of Drakar’s hunters, approaches us. “Festivities will be winding down soon. The reverent mother wishes to see the queen. Rayhaan will have hunters carry the others to the pool as soon as it is dark.”

  Drakar nods.

  “I’m the queen?”

  “You are my queen,” he agrees, and his lips curl into a grin. It makes me nibble on them.

  “I love you, you know,” I whisper.

  “You pick now to tell me this? We are heading to see my mother, and now my cock rings swell.” One heavy black brow rises.

  I laugh.

  He rattles on a string of what looks like pine cones.

  “Enter,” his mother calls.

  “Niki,” he whispers in my ear. “I adore you. You are my heart, and the reason for my being.”

  He picks now to tell me this?

  He carries me inside and places me on the bed.

  His mother has her drummer inside the room. She places her hands on me and he begins to drum as she sings. While her voice is loud and the strange notes she hits are distracting, somehow they seem to lull me to sleep.

  When the singing and drumbeats stop, I wake. I’m surprised I slept through it. Drakar seems grim.

  His mother smiles at me. “You did well, Niki. Enjoy the bathing pool with your friends.”

  “Thank you.” I yawn.

  Drakar brings me to the pool, where the other girls already sit. We’re alone this time, without the warriors. He whispers that he’ll be back, and leaves me with the girls. I sit on the edge and dangle my feet in.

  “Wow, you look much better. Tired, but pink,” Miranda says.

  “I feel better.”

  “So,” Jezebel says. “These blue warriors are beginning to look good. I can’t understand a damn word they say, but those muscles are hot as hell. I admit to being curious about the cock rings. Lucie, are you blushing?”

  Of course, the sharpness of her tone makes us all glance quickly at Lucie. Sure as rain, she’s beet-red. “What? No. Of course I’m not blushing.”

  “Tell the truth,” Tessa says. “Have you done Rayhaan?”

  “No, I have not.” She’s very definite, and I guess technically she’s right. Fingering doesn’t count.

  “Why not?”

  “Excuse me?”

  “Why not? We have to live vicariously through someone, and you can understand what they’re saying. You and Niki, but we already know she’s doing Drakar.”

  “Well, I haven’t done him because…well…he’s pushy.”

  “They all are.”

  She sighs. “He tells me he’s my mate. Like that’s supposed to be an honor or something.”

  Jillian nods. “Yeah, I’d definitely want to play the field. There’s a ton of them.”

  I snicker. “That would give new meaning to the name Loose-y.”

  The girls are silent for a second, and then they burst out laughing. Even Lucie.

  One of the men comes around the corner and pokes his head in the pool room, sees us laughing, and then leaves.

  I wipe the corners of my eyes, where tears have gathered. “Anyone else? Valencia? Want to share anything regarding your sex life?”

  I’d like to take some focus off poor Lucie.

  Valencia laughs. “I have not done Atareek. But he did ask earlier if I would like to sleep in his cave tonight. I was tempted.”

  She’s being so open now that she knows the languages and finally feels like she fits in.

  “Just tempted?” I ask. “Are you going to do it?”

  “No.” This time, she sounds just as definite as Lucie.

  “Why not?” Lucie asks.

  She giggles. “I found out the hunt
ers share caves. There are three other guys. I’m not doing anything with them in there.”

  Another round of laughter causes the barbarian watch-person to poke his head in and wave.

  “Oh,” Miranda says, holding her sides under the water. “They are definitely more open here. Poor Atareek probably doesn’t have a clue as to why you turned him down.”

  “I just can’t imagine having sex in his cave where three other guys are listening in. Maybe even watching.”

  “I’m kind of glad they don’t speak English,” Lucie says. “It’s nice to have our girl-pool time.”

  I nod. “I think we only have the bathing pool to ourselves because it’s our first night. Probably we’d normally need to share.”

  “Anyone have any ideas as to what the hell we ate?” Jezebel asked. “Not that I’m complaining. It was delicious. But so unfamiliar, and I kept wondering what parts they were. Like when they made Niki that straw out of a tongue or a vein or something.”

  “What?!” I shriek. “I drank from a tongue?”

  “Oh. Oops.”

  I squeeze my eyes closed and try not to think of it. Drakar did say that bird-fish creature has a long tongue that spirals down its throat. What if they used a piece of that? Ick. I try not to gag. “The white potato-like things are from a plant called Mehkyakki. The leaves are what we ate in the cave, remember? They’re kind of spinachy. They boiled them with a fish or something.”

  “Oh, that’s right,” Jezebel said. “We have something similar on earth. You can eat the root part as a potato, and eat the leaves too. At home it was a cassava.”

  “My favorite is the Kentucky Fried Chicken,” Jillian moans.

  “Except I drank out of the damn tongue of the chicken,” I mutter, and there’s more laughter.

  “It’s hard being foreign,” Miranda says. “I look at everything and can’t tell if it’s a body part or a vegetable.”

  “How’s his momma?” Tessa asks.

  “She seems nice. It’s interesting how they call her reverent mother. She seems to have a lot of pull in the community.”

  “She did expel your king from between her legs.”

  “Wait a minute,” Miranda asks. “Do we know that? Maybe they hatch.”