by Laura Taylor
“That’s rather an overstatement,” Dusk said mildly. “I think I mentioned it once.” But Faith kept right on going.
“Too many of our women have been brutalised in the recent past. They need time and space away from men to heal. I’m all for maintaining courteous relations between our two tribes – indeed, I think it’s vital if either of us are to survive. What’s left of humanity is heading down some dark paths. But we will maintain our independence.”
“Fair enough,” Aidan agreed, hoping he sounded considerate, rather than amused at her flat denial. Though the thought of merging the two tribes had occurred to him, he hadn’t for a moment considered actually mentioning it to Faith. Even before she’d confirmed her position, he’d been sure the answer would be no. “But there is another idea that I think could do us both some good. You’ve said yourself you’ve been on the road for a while and you’re looking for somewhere to settle. We have a lot of supplies that would help you get set up; seeds, hens, sheep, a variety of tools we might be persuaded to part with.”
“And what would you want in return?” Faith asked sharply. He hadn’t even named a price and she was already looking unhappy about it.
Aidan cast an eye over the camp. The horses were once again lined up neatly on one side of the clearing, having been taken away to the other side of the river overnight. Aidan had warned the women that if they left them where they were, the slavers would have tried to stampede them into the camp, causing both confusion and injuries. “You have two things we’d be interested in,” he said carefully. The horses were by far the more valuable option, but he got the feeling that if he backed Faith into a corner, she’d just refuse. Better to let her think she had some options. “Horses and bows would be equally useful for us. We have some men who are good at archery, but they don’t know how to make bows. Correct me if I’m wrong, but some of yours look handmade.”
“They are,” Faith confirmed, looking slightly less unhappy now. “And depending on what you had to offer, we could trade either the bows themselves, or the knowledge of how to make them. The latter being worth a significantly higher price, of course. You’d have to keep in mind, though, everything we currently need, we make for ourselves,” she added, not willing to admit they might actually need the assistance of a tribe of men.
They didn’t get to say much more as Hawk loudly announced that the first batch of eggs were ready, and then everyone was rushing to get to the fire first to get their share, and conversation became too difficult for a while.
CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR
Once breakfast was over, the women made fast work of packing up their camp, and before Aidan was quite ready for it, the two tribes were facing each other across the clearing, preparing to bid each other farewell. He’d achieved far less than he’d hoped to here, but at least he could say the women’s tribe were allies, if not what he could really call ‘friends’.
“Before we part ways,” Faith said, “there is one other offer I’d like to make. To your women.” Dusk, Willow and Mei-Lien were all standing beside their husbands, with Rochelle lingering near Mei-Lien, all of them having thoroughly enjoyed the morning. Dusk had mentioned to Aidan how much it meant to them that they’d had the chance to meet these women. “You say they live with you freely, of their own choice?”
“They do,” Aidan replied, wondering where she was going with this. But despite knowing by now that Faith was both independent and confrontational, nothing could have prepared him for what she said next.
“Then if any of them wish to join our tribe and live apart from men, we would gladly accept them.”
Aidan’s jaw dropped, and he thought for a moment that his heart had actually stopped in his chest. Beside him, Whisper let out a low hiss, and all around them, low mutterings of complaint rumbled through the tribe.
“You would take our women from us?” Torrent asked, his tone halfway between indignation and despair as he gave voice to the thoughts of many of the men.
“Your women, are they? Ha! I thought they belonged to themselves. And as such, I would give them the freedom to choose their own path,” Faith said, without the slightest hint of an apology. “If they are truly free, you can afford them no less of a courtesy.” The challenge in the words was obvious – not just an ultimatum regarding the lives of their wives, but also for any future dealings with this tribe. Aidan didn’t like being stabbed in the back. And yet, he was a man of his word…
“You are indeed free,” he said to the women, and he was not at all encouraged to see all of their faces carefully neutral – all except Rochelle, of course, who was looking perfectly thrilled by the idea. “Make your choice.”
Rochelle stepped forward immediately. “I’ll join you,” she said, a surprise to absolutely no one. “I’ve made no secret of my feelings towards men.” She strode over to stand beside Faith, and out of the corner of his eye, Aidan saw Stormbreaker take a sudden step forward, then jerk to a stop. He glanced over and saw that the man’s face was ghostly pale. Poor bastard. From his first early crush on Rochelle, he seemed to have grown to genuinely admire her, and aside from her surly attitude, Aidan would have to admit she’d done well. She did more than her fair share of the work, she’d volunteered to be a scout for the tribe, spending long hours patrolling their territory in baking heat and pouring rain, and she’d started learning how to be a carpenter, making some basic but very serviceable chairs for the tribe. If you could get past her foul temper, there was plenty there to like.
From her new position, Rochelle was glaring at Aidan as if daring him to try and stop her leaving. He had no such intentions. The reality was, Rochelle was actually doing him a favour, as he’d no longer have to deal with the constant antagonism she created. The rest of the women, however…
“I’m staying with Whisper,” Willow declared without hesitation. “I have two young children, and he’s been an admirable father to them.”
Whisper didn’t bother hiding his relief. He put his arm around Willow’s shoulder and kissed her forehead, his whole body seeming to relax as he did so.
Faith’s attention turned to Mei-Lien next. “What about you?” she asked, when Mei-Lien didn’t answer immediately. “We could use a doctor of your skills.” Mei-Lien’s vocation had come up quickly after she’d first been introduced to the women that morning, and she’d spent half the time since then answering queries about various ailments the women were suffering from.
Mei-Lien looked at Rochelle, who gave her an encouraging smile and a nod. Then she glanced back at Torrent, who was avoiding her gaze, glaring steadfastly at the ground, his hands clenched at his sides. And the dark look of anger that came over Mei-Lien’s face made Aidan’s heart sink. “I will stay with the Tribe of the Clear River Valley,” Mei-Lien said firmly. “I gave my word that I would.”
Torrent’s head snapped up, a look of startled delight on his face, but Mei-Lien’s glare didn’t go anywhere. Apparently, there was still a way to go before Torrent learned to trust her wholeheartedly, and unsurprisingly, she was far from happy about it. “Perhaps once you’re settled,” she offered next, at Faith’s crestfallen look, “I could visit you on occasion to give you medical advice?”
“That would be better than nothing, I suppose,” Faith said, a genuine smile on her face – despite her words, she didn’t seem to be holding a grudge over the refusal.
All attention then turned to Dusk, and she was glad she was the last to have to make a decision. Even with the precious few minutes the other women’s answers had bought her, she had yet to come up with a suitable reply. Rochelle leaving was no great surprise, but even though Willow and Mei-Lien were both staying, judging by the look on Aidan’s face, this sudden shift in tribal dynamics was not going to go well. Faith’s offer, though well intended, could easily lead to bad blood between the two tribes, and as a large band of fierce warriors, they needed these allies almost as much as they’d needed rain at the end of the last drought.
But how the hell was she supposed to
heal the sudden rift that Faith had created? There was the possibility of future trade with the tribe, but that wouldn’t do anything for them in the short term…
But as Dusk let her gaze linger on the crowd of women, one or two stray glances caught her eye. One woman in particular was watching Hawk, and a brief flicker of her eyes traced a path down to his groin, then back up to his torso…
Bingo.
“Thank you for your offer,” Dusk said, and with this new and brazen idea in her mind, she was able to put genuine gratitude into the words. Under slightly different circumstances, it could well be that she would have taken them up on it. “It’s not always easy living in a tribe of mainly men.” Beside her, she felt Aidan tense – apparently he was expecting the worst. She subtly reached down and took his hand, giving it a reassuring squeeze. “And I’m sure that at times, it can be no easier living in a tribe of only women. Without children, neither tribe can look forward to much of a stable future. So we’d like to return the offer. Any of your women who desire husbands, or children, would be welcome to join us.”
A stunned silence met the offer, and Dusk found it a little surprising that Faith hadn’t expected this counter-proposal.
And then one, lone, uncertain voice spoke up. “I… wouldn’t mind joining your tribe,” the woman said, glancing at Faith. It was the one who had been checking Hawk out.
“I’d certainly like to join it,” another woman said, tall and muscular, with flaming red hair. “Assuming,” she added, turning to Faith, “that you plan on settling not too far from here?”
Faith looked flustered. “Well, I… I hadn’t really… No, wait a moment, wait a moment!” she interrupted the sudden mutiny, and Dusk tensed. She wasn’t going to stop them, was she? She could hardly extol the virtues of free will and then turn around and forbid her own women from making the same choice. “You said before that the three of you,” Faith said, pointing at Dusk, Willow and Mei-Lien, “you said your husbands were chosen for you. Is that correct?”
“That’s correct,” Dusk confirmed.
Faith shook her head. “No. That will never do. They must be free to choose their own husbands. You can’t simply give them away like cattle.”
“Uh… That would cause a significant amount of instability in the tribe,” Aidan said cautiously. He didn’t want to refuse her outright, but having already witnessed the tension Rochelle’s presence had created, he didn’t want to walk straight into another mess of jealousy and tempers boiling over. “Surely you can imagine the problems that would be created by having forty-five men trying to court a handful of women?”
Faith shrugged. “You have a point. But nonetheless, you can’t simply choose for them. Don’t you agree?” she asked, turning to the two women who’d said they wanted to join them.
“Absolutely. No question about it,” they both agreed immediately.
“Faith has a valid point.” It was Whisper who spoke up, and this time, Dusk wasn’t surprised to find him acting as the voice of reason. She’d learned by now that he’d somehow find a way to turn night into day, if that was what his tribe needed. “So, how about we put a time limit on it? That way everyone knows exactly what to expect. How long is a reasonable amount of time for the women to make a decision? Keeping in mind,” he added, “that there’s no guarantee that the man she chooses will agree to be her husband.”
Faith considered that, casting a critical eye over the men as she did so. “One month,” she said finally. “The women will have one month to get to know the members of your tribe and to choose a mutually agreeable partner. And,” she added, her tone sharpening a touch, “any gifts each of them receive in the process will remain theirs to keep, regardless of the outcome. Even if they choose to return to our tribe at the end of the month.”
It was Aidan’s turn to consider the offer, and he did so slowly and carefully. “If any of them have children,” he said finally, “the children will stay with our tribe until they’re sixteen years old, except in the case of their father’s death. I won’t have women coming to us just to have a baby and then running off again.”
“You’re pushing your luck there,” Faith said, a note of caution in her voice, but Aidan wasn’t the slightest bit intimidated.
“I’m not going to wander blindly into a completely one-sided deal,” he told her. “If your women commit to marrying my men, I expect them to stick with it, unless there’s a very good reason not to.”
Faith was silent, and Aidan made no move to fill the silence. She could either accept the deal, or come up with a reasonable counter-offer. He wasn’t going to volunteer anything more.
“Your terms are reasonable,” she agreed finally. “We accept.”
The entire tribe seemed to breathe a sigh of relief. “So, who’s coming with us?” Aidan asked finally, now that the details had been hammered out.
“I am.” The redhead stepped forward. “I’m Flame.”
“I’ll come,” said the woman who’d been checking Hawk out. “I’m Sky.” She looked like she was in her early twenties, with short brown hair and a mischievous smile.
There was a moment’s silence, and then… “I’ll come with you,” said a third woman, of Indian heritage. At a guess, Dusk would have said she was in her late twenties. “My name is Mist.”
“Okay,” Aidan said, after it seemed no one else was going to volunteer. “Welcome to the Tribe of the Clear River Valley.” He turned to Faith. “I assume it’ll take you a week or two to figure out a good place to settle. As I mentioned, we claim the land as far south as the first bitumen road west. There’s a river just south of there and plenty of land between there and the coast. It would be worth looking at to see if it would meet your needs.” It was carefully phrased as a suggestion, lest they think he was telling them what to do. “I propose that we each send a scout back to this spot two weeks from today to exchange news. And monthly from then on, in order to keep regular contact between the two tribes.”
“A very good idea,” Faith agreed. “Are there any particular customs we should stick to if we need to visit your village in between whiles?” She glanced at Mei-Lien. “The chance to access a doctor in an emergency would be appreciated.”
“Stick to the path, and stop when one of our scouts intercepts you. They’ll escort you into the village. You’re welcome to come armed, but I’d strongly recommend not threatening anyone.”
Faith smiled faintly. “Noted. I’ve seen what your men can do with a sword, after all. If that’s all the business settled then, we’ll be on our way.”
The necessary farewells went on for a while, as Aidan had guessed they would, and he took the opportunity to sidle over to Dusk. “Have I ever mentioned,” he said, leaning down to breathe the words into her ear, “that you are an absolute genius?”
“I don’t remember you ever saying it,” Dusk said, shooting him a sassy grin. “Maybe I’ll have to remind you about it now and then.”
CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE
The tribe’s forge was located on the eastern edge of the village, away from the main thoroughfares to prevent the noise from disturbing too many people. The sound of hammering had been coming from inside for three days, and it was only when Mist finally mentioned that she hadn’t ever met the village blacksmith that Whisper realised he was going to have to do something about it. Stormbreaker did most of his smithing in winter, as the heat in summer was unbearable when the forge was going, but even so, he’d barely stuck his head out of his workshop since the battle with the slavers.
Or rather, since the day Rochelle had left.
Stormbreaker was in the middle of working on a piece when Whisper came in, bending a rod of steel into a loop – presumably something one of the herdsmen had asked him to make. He took a seat on a stool and waited.
The minutes crept by, and at one point, Stormbreaker looked up at him, sweat dripping into his eyes from haphazard locks of blond hair, muscles straining from the effort. But he didn’t put down his tools, or even acknowledge t
hat Whisper was there.
A length, Whisper got up and went to stand in front of the forge, staring at Stormbreaker until he was all but forced to look up.
“Fuck…” It came out as a breathless whisper, and Stormbreaker threw down his tools, turning away and stalking off across the workshop.
“Did you end up giving her that necklace?” Whisper asked.
“No.”
He couldn’t really say he blamed him. With half the men in the village all trying to woo Rochelle at once, Stormbreaker’s attentions would have only made the situation worse.
“And you still won’t consider marrying one of the other women? Sky is really quite -”
“No.” He picked up his tools again and resumed beating the shit out of the twisted lump of metal.
Whisper resumed his seat on his stool and watched.
“I’m not saying I don’t like tomatoes,” Sky said, as she sat at a long wooden table enjoying lunch with a group of eight men. Mist was up the other end of the table talking to Mei-Lien, while the rest of the women hadn’t got back from the orchard yet. Whisper and Dusk had got together and set up a training schedule for them all, Dusk teaching them sword fighting, while Whisper focused on hand-to-hand combat. While all the women had some basic fighting skills, they’d also admitted there was plenty of room for improvement. “Tomatoes are sweet, and easy to grow,” Sky rambled on, pushing her food around the plate. “They’re full of vitamin C. They’re a perfectly functional fruit.”
“Vegetable,” one of the men muttered.
“Technically, they’re a fruit,” Sky insisted, picking the cherry tomatoes out of her salad.
“You know, most of our ‘vegetables’ are actually fruits,” Hawk told her, watching impassively as she deconstructed her salad. “Cucumbers, capsicums, squash, zucchini. They’re all technically fruits, but everyone always picks on the tomatoes.”