She gazed up at him, as if waiting for him to continue. Finally she added. “He killed someone.” When he said nothing, she continued. “He killed him to save his daughter.”
Neirin gazed down at her for a moment. “I did not know that, but what we need to know now is when he will be in the area of Twin Fingers Rocks.”
She shook her head. “I do not know. I know why he is here, though.”
“Why is that?” Neirin asked.
“He will exchange vows with me…when I am nineteen.”
She didn’t appear to be upset by the thought. Donte was old enough to be her father. More than likely he would be far away and/or united with someone else by the time she was old enough to exchange vows with anyone. Neirin stroked her hair. “That gives us some time, yes? Right now I believe he has a more immediate purpose. But first we must find him.”
“You must go to the rocks and wait for him,” she said with confidence.
“Now?”
“Yes, he will come to you, but she will not. He will protect her with his life - as he will me.”
Neirin glanced at Clud and then back at Celyn. “Are you saying he will attack us?”
She shook her head. “No. He has no weapon, and he is wounded. He will not tell you where the woman is. He will walk out to meet you so that she can escape. He does not know you expect him.”
“I see,” he said. He stepped to the door and called the guard again. “I will need six mounted men to leave at first light. Prepare a camelus for Clud and me, as well as an extra camelus.”
“Can I go too, Father?” Celyn asked.
“No. You stay here.”
“But I will know him when I see him, and…”
Neirin held up a hand. “I do not think we will need anyone to identify either of them, and there is only one place like you described. You stay here where it is safe.”
CHAPTER 6
Akira watched the Nyumbani escort retreat down the mountain. They had left the half-naked young man who had interrupted her execution. At the time she had not known who he was, but knowing now still gave her no clue as to why he had saved her life. The executioner had lifted her to her feet and they watched as the man was led away. Dark hair had covered his entire scalp at that point.
She had seen them carry the body of Farasi away and concluded that the young man had killed him. Not being able to converse with the Nyumbani, at the time she didn’t know whether her execution was being postponed or canceled. She only knew that her treatment after that had been completely different. Instead of being tied up in a dark room, she was taken to a room with windows, permitted to bathe and given food. She had slept on a soft clean bed that night and was fed again this morning. When they came to get her today she was certain it was to execute her, but she was led to a room where six people sat behind a table. She was placed beside the young man and waited as they were given what appeared to be instructions. They had shaved the young man’s head except for a swath from forehead to the base of his neck. His body was bare except for a hide that covered his lower torso. The instant she looked into his eyes, there was no doubt in her mind who he was. It was unlikely that he knew who she was, though. They had never met and there were no legends surrounding her name. She looked like any other woman from Lochfowk.
At one point the young man had approached the table to examine what looked like a map. They continued to address him for a while and finally took both of them outside, where they were surrounded by a group of armed men and taken to the mountains. She had no idea why, but it appeared they were being banished together. What did the Nyumbani think they had in common? It made no sense that they would release her…unless they feared retribution. The Lochfowk colony had done nothing when the Nyumbani raiders had conducted raids on other colonies. It never occurred to them that the Nyumbani would be bold enough to raid Lochfowk. She had been visiting the village of Bree on the southeastern side of Lochfowk territory when the Nyumbani raiders had attacked. She had fought beside the Lochfowk men, but they had been killed. She fought the Nyumbani raiders, but there were too many. They tied her hands behind her back and forced her to go with them.
They had traveled for days, crossing the salt flats of Anialwch and the mountains before they arrived at the Nyumbani colony. They had not molested her during the trip, but the night they arrived, she had been repeatedly raped. Yesterday morning she had actually considered the execution a way to escape. She had never known their raids to result in captives, but the presence of the young man suggested otherwise.
Keeping track of colony leadership was something Lochfowk had been doing for over one hundred years. Quade, the President of Libertad was one they had known for over a half-century. Libertad had elected him over seventy-five years ago. In Libertad colony, there was no term. As long as the colonists felt he was doing a satisfactory job, he stayed in office. The people of Libertad were so complacent. He hadn’t even fallen out of favor when he exchanged vows with the Princess of Bergen. In fact, their son was even more popular than he was. And here he was, the Prince of Bergen, living with the Nyumbani. Apparently they had no compulsion about mixing with other colonies. Where did they get the nerve to talk about the Lochfowk women? They did, though - as did all the other male dominated colonies. Maybe they were afraid their women would start getting ideas about equal treatment. Libertad and Bergen were the two most progressive. Unless she was mistaken, the man at her side was Donte, otherwise known as the Prince of Bergen. He wasn’t a prince. No one on Purlieu was really a prince, or a king. They had been appointed the position by a group of scientists playing god. Those scientists were gone now, but these men were still playing the roles.
The young man turned and began walking up the mountain. He expected her to follow him. He might as well know now that she wasn’t going to be his servant. If it had been one-on-one, she would have been able to fight off her captors. She was on equal ground with this young man, though. She was as capable of leading him over the mountain as he was of leading her.
He stopped and glanced back. “Are you coming?” His deep voice gave the Lochfowk language a gentle sound.
For a moment she was too stunned to respond. She had heard him speak to the Nyumbani’s in their language and, of course, he would be able to speak the language of Bergen and Libertad. How many languages did he speak? She finally found her tongue.
“Where did you learn to speak our language?”
He watched her for a moment. “The information is available to anyone interested enough to learn.”
She walked past him, ignoring his implication. “This way,” she said. “If you go that way, there is a big drop-off.”
She expected an argument, but he simply followed her. After a while, she stopped to rest and discovered he was lagging behind. He picked rocks off the ground a few times and tossed them back, only to grab another. Finally he must have found what he was looking for, because he stopped searching and caught up with her. She gave him a sour look.
“If we’re going to get off this mountain in the next week, you’ll have to stop playing with pretty rocks.”
His eyes reflected humor and for a moment she thought he would smile, but he simply walked past her. She ran a few steps to catch up with him. As she fell into step beside him, she glanced at the stones in his hands.
“What are those for?”
He held up a piece of black rock and a gray one, explaining their use to make a fire. She could have told him she had fire starter in her pouch, but she was interested to see if he could actually start a fire with that method. She didn’t have to feign interest. He might not have enough clothing to make the trip, but he had enough going on upstairs to make up for it. He had some other stones that he intended to use to make a knife and a spear head. That sounded like a lot of work - and time they didn’t have, but if they needed it, they could always use the knife in her pouch. That was the problem with male dominated societies. They always figured the woman didn’t have the ability to do anythin
g.
As they traveled, he gathered other objects, always explaining their intended use. He gathered vines to use in attaching the spearhead to a straight stick he had picked up. Frankly, she hadn’t thought of a need for a spear, but it might come in handy. He explained how he would make a snare out of the vine as well. She shrugged. “I hope we won’t be stopped in one place long enough to use a snare.”
He didn’t say anything more about it. He stripped a thin bark from fallen trees, using the sharp edge of a stone. He was slowing them down with his frequent stops and adding weight to his load. He didn’t ask her to carry anything, though, so she couldn’t complain about that. If he couldn’t keep up, she would have to leave him behind.
They traveled in silence for a while until he finally surprised her by asking her for information.
“We need to find someplace to hole up for the night. Do you recall seeing a likely place?”
She nodded. “Yes, there was an overhang that looked like it might have a cave at the back.” She glanced around. “I don’t think it’s far from here.”
“Let’s gather some wood.” He gave her a self-conscious smile. “I’m freezing.”
If he was freezing now, what was it going to be like tomorrow when they hit the snow line?
They found the cave before dark and she set up stones for a fire pit while he gathered more wood. He had found some dry bark and a little grass that he used to start the fire. She watched as he struggled to get sparks into it, feeling more guilty all the time, but not sure how to bring up the subject of the items in her pouch - or if she should. Eventually he got a live spark and blew on it until he had a flame. He had obviously done that before.
“Keep feeding that flame,” he said. “I’ve got to make these snares.
At that point she was feeling too guilty to protest his request. It was a waste of time to make snares, but if it made him feel better… She watched him build the snares and finally take them outside. In a few minutes he returned.
His next project was the knife. He knelt on the ground and used a stone to chip a sharp edge on another stone. With that complete, he stepped outside the cave again. She could hear scraping and wondered what he was cutting, but it was getting warmer by the fire and she wasn’t that curious. After a while he returned, holding a long piece of rawhide.
“I noticed my only article of clothing was longer than necessary, so I folded it in half when I put it on.” He sat in front of the fire.
He used the knife to cut the rawhide in half and then to punch holes in the two pieces. Next, he threaded some of the vine through the holes. He finally lay the hides aside and knelt by the fire, adding more wood.
“There won’t be enough to last all night, but we can get some rest while it’s warm in here.”
She could stand the suspense no longer. “What are the two pieces of hide for?”
He tossed another piece of wood on the fire and glanced up at her. “Shoes. I’ll need them when we cross the snow tomorrow.”
Next, he took the bark and pulled it into narrow strips. He braided the strips at the top so that they hung in layers. He worked fast, his fingers obviously familiar with the project. The completed project appeared to be some kind of cloak.
Finally he brushed rocks away from a spot beside the fire and lay down, turning his back to the fire. “You’d better get some rest. Tomorrow will be a difficult day.”
She eyed his feet and decided he could have used the shoes today. His feet were cut and bruised, but he had never complained once. She brushed the rocks from an area across the fire from him and lay down to sleep.
Before dawn she woke to find the fire gone. There was no more wood and the air was cold. She glanced at Donte, who was now facing the fire. She stood and walked behind him. He glanced up at her as she knelt beside him. Without a word, she snuggled against his back. He was tense for a few minutes, but finally relaxed. After a while his breathing changed. He was asleep. He would need the rest and the warmth if he was going to survive the trip across the snow-covered pass.
When she woke in the morning, he was gone. She cursed under her breath and checked to make sure she still had her pouch. Why hadn’t she anticipated that he would leave her? It didn’t matter. She knew the way. As a matter of fact, she would probably pass him on the trail - if he didn’t get lost.
Noise at the entrance of the cave startled her, but to her relief, she discovered it was Donte. He hadn’t left her at all. In fact, he carried breakfast by the tail in one hand and an armload of wood on the other side. He dropped the wood by the fire pit and held the animal up for her to examine. “I think the time it takes to clean and cook it will be worth the energy we get from it.”
“How did you…?” She began, and then shrugged. “Don’t answer that.” She dug a knife out of her pouch and tossed it to him. “Here, you skin and clean it while I get the fire going.”
He opened his mouth as if to speak, but then closed it and shrugged. He grabbed the knife as she pulled the fire starter from the pouch.
She shrugged again. “We don’t have time to mess with your way of building a fire.”
For a second he looked like he wanted to say something, but he finally smiled and left with the knife.
When he returned, she had the fire going. He gave her a wry smile.
“I don’t suppose you have a skillet in that pouch.”
She grinned. “No, but I know how to make a spit.”
Together they built a spit from sticks. She cut a point on one end of a long stick and skewered the animal with it. With a warm fire going and meat over it, they sat back to watch the food cook.
He glanced at her across the fire. “I’m fairly sure I would have perished without you.”
She smiled. “I am fairly sure you would have figured it out. I am also fairly sure I would not be alive today if it were not for you.”
He was quiet a moment, watching the fire. Finally his gaze lifted to hers. “Thank you for last night.”
All this gratitude was making her feel uncomfortable. She wrinkled her nose at him. “I’m glad there wasn’t anyone around to hear that comment. They might get the wrong idea.”
For a moment he looked startled. He watched her for a moment before shifting his attention to the food. “That smells good. I haven’t had anything to eat since yesterday morning. I was a little concerned about climbing the mountain in this condition.”
Apparently his treatment had not been as good as hers. “What is this?”
“It’s a hydrochoerus. It’s a member of the rodent family - quite tasty, actually.”
She eyed the cooking meat. “Perhaps rats are too. I’ve never been desperate enough to eat one.”
“You’re fortunate.” He said.
She glanced up at his face. “You have been hungry a lot?”
He shook his head. “Not until I came here. The Nyumbani people are poor farmers.”
She made a face. “Maybe they are poor because they spend too much time raiding everyone else.”
He was silent for a long time, watching the flames. Finally his gaze lifted from the fire and found hers. “I’m sorry about what happened to you.”
She shrugged. “It’s over now.” She hesitated, not knowing if her next question would offend him. He was watching her, as if expecting a question. “How long have you been a captive?”
His gaze went back to the fire and he was quiet so long that she decided he wasn’t going to answer.
“Six years,” he finally said as he scooted back and leaned against the rock wall of the cave. His gaze became distant. “I came willingly, though. They picked me up on the beach at Libertad. They treated me well enough. The people are warm and friendly, always willing to share what little they have.”
“You couldn’t prove it by me,” she said.
His gaze focused on her face. “That was Farasi’s doing.”
“Farasi didn’t rape me. It was colonists - those warm friendly people always willing to share - as lon
g as what they are sharing doesn’t belong to them.”
“They weren’t colonists. They were Farasi’s raiders. He ordered them to do it.”
She laughed without humor. “They enjoyed it. You weren’t there. I was. Why would Farasi order it done?”
“To humiliate you. He hated the Lochfowk women.”
Akira frowned. “Why?”
He shrugged. “He was insane. Nothing he did made much sense to me.”
“And yet, you came here willingly - and you stayed. You were not a captive. You were a cohort.” She stood and spoke with a rancor that even surprised herself. “You must have made your father so proud.”
He looked up at her, his expression unreadable. His attention returned to the meat. “I suppose this is cooked enough to eat. We can eat it while we travel. If we leave now, perhaps we can get over the pass today.”
He tied the hides to his feet and put the makeshift cloak around his shoulders. Then he lifted the meat from the fire. Kicking dirt over the fire, he grabbed his spear and headed for the mouth of the cave. As the meat cooled, he handed her portions. He was right. It did taste good, though a little sweet.
She led the way up the mountain and he followed. He said nothing for hours. The air became thinner and colder, but his step never faltered. Once, when she stopped to rest, he urged her on.
“We can’t stop now. We’ll freeze.”
She glanced up at him, a nearly naked form in the icy landscape. “You can use my underskirt around your shoulders.”
He shook his head. “No. I’ll make it.”
She shrugged. It was difficult to understand why a man would rather freeze than face the humiliation of wearing something feminine, but there was nothing she could do about it.
The snow became deeper until it reached their knees. Finally they found the place where the equines had broken a trail through the snow. Traveling was much easier and faster after that. They reached the top of the pass and started back down the other side as the sun was sinking on the horizon.
Donte was the one who spotted the cave that time. It was small and hidden by some brush. He indicated the brush. “Can you cut some of that with your knife? My fingers are too numb.”
The Purlieu Experiment, Book 1 Page 5