“You’re a curious girl, Andrea, aren’t you?” he leaned back in his chair with a smirk, examining me.
“Thanks, Captain Obvious.” I bit back.
“I admire your curiosity. Most people do not address me so openly. Let me explain as best I can. The hyenas who attacked you were from a rival tribe. We are in the middle of a territory war with them. Our warriors figured you were part of their tribe since we found you with them, but Shooter could tell by your scent that you weren’t with the Newgatu Tribe.” Jacob nodded. “That is why we brought you back. As I explained, we don’t get many outsiders here. But if the story about you being Gabriel’s daughter is true—”
“If it’s true?” I countered. “Why would I make up a fake story about being on a quest to find the land my father was last seen? It’s preposterous.”
Shooter cocked his head at me. “It is indeed preposterous. And you have to admit, it would be the perfect cover for infiltrating our tribe because it is so.”
I was still putting the pieces together in my head. “How can I prove it to you that I’m part of the tribe? I swear I’m telling the truth!”
As he spoke I noticed something else. King Napletoni—Jacob, I mean—had a slash on his brawny arm.
“Jacob!” I called. “You’re bleeding!” I jumped out of my chair and ran over to him to get a better look.
“Oh this? It’s nothing. Please, Andrea, sit back down.”
The cut on his right forearm was deep.
“You’re not going to stitch it up or anything?”
“I’ll be fine, Andrea. Thanks for your concern though.”
Jacob rubbed his cut slightly. I could see it actually closing up. It wasn’t instantaneous, but I could see it. It looked like it would be closed within another few minutes.
“Where did you get that cut? And how do you heal so fast?” Amy asked.
“Don’t you worry your little head where I got this cut. The king heals very fast.”
“Even faster in the presence of beautiful women,” Shooter interjected. “It might seem funny, but it’s true.”
I blushed a little.
“That’s just a little joke, Amy.” Jacob interjected. “Shooter is quite the comedian. I’m thinking about promoting him to court jester.”
Neither Amy nor I laughed.
“There is . . . so much I don’t know about this world,” I said. “And apparently it’s going to be a while before I understand your sense of humor.”
“Your father didn’t tell you anything?” Shooter asked.
“Like I said, I haven’t spoken with my daddy in some time.”
We sat in thoughtful silence while the servants came and cleared our table of the soup bowls and refilled our wine. Another round of servants came forward again and dropped off our entrees.
“The main course is served, Your Highness. The main course.”
“Thank you. Please serve the ladies first.”
The servant dropped our plates in front of us. “Roasted ham with mashed sweet potatoes. Sautéed mushrooms on the side as you requested.”
“I hope you’ll excuse the simple dinner we are having tonight, ladies. We were not expecting visitors today.”
“Nonsense, this looks delicioso!” Amy said. As soon as all of the plates were out, she cut into her ham. I had to agree it was amazing as I took my first bite of the juicy meat. Everything tastes better when you are hungry as all get out.
“Andrea, I did meet your father,” Jacob spoke, breaking the noise of our forks hitting the plates.
“Yes. Years ago he came through here.” Jacob went on. “Ask me anything you want about him. I will tell you all I know.”
“Why did he leave the village?” I asked.
Shooter and Jacob both tensed up a little bit, as if that was the one question they were not prepared to answer.
“One day, we needed someone to go to the town beyond the forest,” Jacob began. “We needed an antidote that is only known to the mainland. Actually, it was for my stepfather, who was the king then. He was deathly ill.”
Jacob continued, “Your father volunteered for the mission. Gabriel came back three days later with the antidote. But he also said that he remembered that he had a purpose beyond this land. We all tried to reason with him and have him stay in Jarona, but his mind was made up. He left that day and he never returned. No one ever saw him again.”
“This story is great, but it’s a lot to take in,” Amy added, breaking the tension. “Can I get some more wine over here? Helps with the digestion.” The servant obediently filled her glass with some more red wine.
“Andrea,” Jacob continued, “If you are who you say you are, you are bound to this village by more than just coincidence. Have you felt strange here in any way?”
“Well, yes, kind of,” I admitted. The fact was ever since I had seen Jacob, I had been trying to place where I had seen him before.
“I’m happy to take you and your guest in and provide for you two while you explore Jarona. I believe the expression is ‘mi casa es su casa’.”
“Something like that. Jacob, you’ve been too nice. I don’t know what to say.”
“Don’t say anything. Just enjoy yourself.”
I smiled and took a long sip of my wine. This trip was turning out to be just the vacation I needed.
“There is just one thing that must happen tonight.” Jacob said. I froze.
“Oh no. What?”
“You must pass the test so we know you are truly part of the tribe.”
“The test? Like a DNA test?” I joked.
Shooter and Jacob looked at each other and laughed.
“It’s called the mating ritual. It works like this: if you are fated to be here as part of the tribe, you’ll have a semi-psychic connection with your future mate that will be delivered to you in a dream.”
I choked a little on my wine, and put out a finger in front of me.
“What’s the matter?” Jacob asked.
“I thought you just said ‘semi-psychic connection’ and something about mates in dreams.”
“That’s right. It’s probably a little confusing for a girl who has never been to Jarona. Just be ready tomorrow morning.” Jacob’s curious smirk made me more than a little nervous. “We have to be sure that you truly are Gabriel’s daughter. If you are indeed connected to the tribe, you’ll have a vision. If not—you’re an imposter.”
The smile faded from Jacob’s face. He finished his wine and slammed it down on the table.
“I have nothing to hide,” I said.
“As much as I want to believe you, a mistake would be fatal for us.” Jacob leaned in and seemed to choose his next words very carefully. “Andrea, the Jarona are experts in deception. It is in our nature. If you were sent from the neighboring tribe to infiltrate us and we find out . . . God help you. As much as I like you, Andrea, I’ve been duped before. And I won’t let it happen again.”
An awkward silence filled the air before Jacob continued.
“The ritual is taxing and somewhat erotic. I’m not sure of your comfort level with your body, but there is no way around that. We Jarona don’t have the shame or timidity that I have noticed some Western men and women have with their bodies.”
I swallowed hard.
“Did you just say erotic?”
“Yes. Erotic. Now if you’ll excuse me, we have an engagement to attend to. Good night, ladies.”
For a few moments I sat dumbfounded before I took another bite of the best ham I’d ever had. Shooter and Jacob left Amy and I at the table to contemplate what the heck was about to happen to me.
Amy and I locked eyes. I spoke first. “This is weird, right?”
She nodded vigorously. “Yes. But the wine is good!”
CHAPTER FOUR
After we finished with dinner, a servant led us to the guest hut, where Amy and I would be staying in adjacent rooms. The sweaty heat of the day faded into a warm night, although it wasn’t nearly as scorching as t
he daytime heat in this town. Before we went to sleep, I sat on her bed and we discussed the night’s adventures.
Finally I went back to my bed and tried to fall asleep. My head raced with thoughts—thoughts of my daddy and how he had ended up here, thoughts of King Napletoni and what his powerful body would feel like on top of mine . . . or in other places.
I lost track of time and eventually fell asleep, until there was a knock on my door. Groggily, I got up and opened it. It was Shooter.
“What are you doing?” he asked.
“Sleeping. You know, what people do at night?”
Shooter didn’t smile. “Yes, but it’s the early morning. It is now midnight and it’s time for your test with King Napletoni. We told you that.”
“When you said ‘morning,’ I thought you meant, you know, when the sun comes up.” I attempted to rub the sleep out of my eyes. “Morning.”
“There was a misunderstanding. But you must come now. Here, put this on.” He extended his hand toward me with a thin white robe. I took it. “Oh, and no undergarments, please, Andrea.”
“Excuse me?”
“King Napletoni will explain the test to you before he administers it. It is an ancient tribal ritual we’ve had in place for centuries. I’m just getting you properly ready.”
“Give me a moment.” I stepped inside my room for a moment and shut the door. I took off my shirt and the pajama bottoms that I had brought with me. I removed my bra and panties, looking at the white robe strewn on my bed. There was no doubt about it—I felt scared. Did I really want to do this? Jacob was a gorgeous king, but I felt uncomfortable with just one layer of cotton between us.
Or maybe I was just worried that Jacob would somehow see how turned on he made me. I tied the robe and opened the door. Shooter stood still with a concentrated and deep stare on his face.
“I’m ready.”
“Very good. Follow me to the ritual room.”
On the way out of my hut, Shooter grabbed a torch from the wall and led me outside into the warm night air. I sometimes forgot how dark the world would really be if it weren’t for our city street lights. I had to follow him closely as we navigated between the various huts. Some were more cabin-like than hut-like, and the houses were all quite small. This time I didn’t see any jaguars roaming. I assumed they must all be sleeping. Finally, we reached a cabin with wooden walls.
“Welcome to the ritual room.” Shooter pushed open the door and I stepped inside. The room inside consisted of just four walls, a bed, two chairs, and a table with candles on it as well as a several unmarked bottles. The most striking thing about the room, however, was what it didn’t have—a roof. I looked up and could see a blanket of bright stars lining the sky—a stark contrast to the light polluted city I was used to living in back home.
“So, how exactly does this work? How is this”—I gestured toward the bed, table and various bottles—“going to prove that I am actually part of the tribe?” I didn’t want to offend Shooter, but this seemed more like a mountain man’s bachelor pad than a sacred space. And the view of the sky was immaculate.
Shooter stepped toward the table and lit a long stick with his torch, which he then used to light the candles.
“I’m afraid I’ve told you all I can about the ritual. The king must be the one to administer the rest of it. If you are part of our tribe, I welcome you. Shooter put one hand on the doorknob. “And if you are an intruder who happens to have a fantastically contrived backstory… well, we just won’t think about those consequences.”
With those words of warning, Shooter shut the door. I laid down on the bed in my white robe and looked up at the starts, praying that I wouldn’t fail the test. But how could I, if my intentions were pure? And what was this test anyway?
Laying in between the covers of the bed, I lost myself in the beauty of the stars and fell asleep.
CHAPTER FIVE
“Andrea! Time to wake up.” I recognized Jacob’s voice, wiped my eyes, and sat up on top of the covers. Jacob stood with his back to me at the candle table. He wore nothing except a loin cloth that covered some of his lower half. I had noticed before that he was handsome, but I didn’t notice that he was built like a professional athlete. One of his legs was almost as thick as my entire waist. And he had one of those backs that made it seem like he had just finished cutting down ten trees and then made them into houses, all with nothing but his bare hands. I heard him pour something into the glasses on the table from one of the unmarked bottles.
“What time is it? How long was I out?”
Jacob turned to face me, smirking a little. “Let’s just say I was watching you for quite some time. But you’ve got nothing to worry about. We still have hours before the sun comes up.”
“Why does that matter?”
“The ritual needs to be performed in the absence of sun and moonlight. Lucky you, arriving on a day with exactly zero sliver of moon in the sky. If I didn’t personally know your father, I’d be suspicious of your timing.” Jacob stepped toward me and handed me one of the glasses with brownish liquid in it.
“What is this?”
“We call it caña. It is a traditional drink made out of local leaves.”
“I’ve never heard of it.” We clinked glasses and each took a sip. The taste was smooth and minty going down my throat.
“You should consider yourself lucky. Per our custom, we are only allowed to drink it is during a ritual like this one. The caña here is made by our shaman, and it is one of the most powerful aphrodisiacs in the known world.”
I had taken a big swallow, and at the word ‘aphrodisiac,’ I choked.
“Did it go down the wrong tube?” Jacob asked, putting a hand on my back to comfort me.
After a few more seconds of coughing I had recovered enough to speak. “And just why, Jacob, would you be giving me an aphrodisiac? What kind of ritual is this?”
“Oh, Andrea, you don’t think that . . .” Jacob looked at me and smiled wryly. “You don’t think that anything is going to happen, like with you and me, do you?” He let out a laugh.
“What? Why is that funny?” I felt offended. I was about ready to throw my drink in Jacob’s face and run right back home—except that I needed to find out more. I needed to find out what this ritual was about. Even if the test was a little crazy or ‘erotic,’ as they had told me, I needed to go through with it.
“I apologize. Perhaps I should back up a bit and explain to you exactly how this ritual works and how it is going to determine if you are truly a part of our tribe or not.”
“Please do. Enlighten me.”
“Okay. Let me indulge. May I?” Jacob sat down in one of the chairs and motioned for me to come by patting the other chair. I held the cloth of the robe against my body and walked over to sit down in the chair.
"This test has been passed down to the Jarona tribe by the ancients. No one knows its origin exactly, but it is one hundred percent accurate. Here is how it works: I am going to perform a series of actions on you. These must be performed by either the king, or a shaman well-versed in the arts of sensual domination."
"Um, sensual domination? I'm still a little worried. Maybe I should just go home. And I definitely shouldn't be drinking this." Sensual domination? I put my glass down on the ground and stood up. This was feeling a little too weird for me, like a dream. I took a step toward the door, and Jacob didn't stop me.
"You've got the same stubborn attitude that your father had, don't you?"
I whipped my head around at the mention of my father. "Stop it. How do I even know you knew him? I don’t believe you."
"I’ve already told you that he came through here years ago. And look, you're the one who traveled thousands of miles from—where do you live again?—and now you're just going to turn around right here at the point of no return? But that's just my opinion. I'm not forcing you to do anything here. I’m trying to help you, and also to protect my tribe, on the off chance that you are an intruder."
&nbs
p; I stared at the lean, muscled, confident man in front of me. If I were back in the city, I would be creeped out in this situation. I was wearing a practically see-through robe. And Jacob didn't seem all that worried if I just left right then and there.
"Fine. I'll stay." I walked back, sat down on the bed, and picked up my drink. I took a big swig. Jacob put a hand on my thighs. I hadn't noticed before how large his hands were. They were enormous.
"Besides, Andrea. I'm the King. Don't you think if I wanted to take you, I would have done that already? Physical force is not how our tribe operates. We only use it when absolutely necessary." Jacob ran a hand through my hair and sipped his drink before putting it back down. “Your daddy never told you about how we find our mates, did he? Hmm. He probably didn't know."
"How do Jaronas find their mates?"
"Relax and I'll tell you. For the ritual to work you have to be totally relaxed and open, mind and body alike. If you feel uncomfortable, tell me and we’ll stop. Do you understand?"
I nodded. “I can do it.”
"I’m asking you to trust me. Fully.”
“I already said yes.”
“Good. What I'm going to do now is leave the room for a minute. I want you to take off your robe and get under the covers, face down, so you are comfortable. I will come back in, and then the ritual will start. At that point, you have to do exactly as I say for everything to work.”
Jacob left and shut the door behind him. I heard the ‘click’ it made. Was I really ready for this mysterious ritual? Ready or not, I was at the brink of accomplishing my goal for the trip. And I wasn’t about to come all this way for nothing. I took my robe off, folded it, and put it on the chair close by. I lifted up the blanket and scooted my way under the covers so that just my chin was barely hanging off the side of the bed, my ear still touching the mattress.
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