“You must have been good, to stay with it as long as you did,” he remarked.
“I suppose I was good,” she replied. “I loved it, and I went to all the trainings. I never got tired of learning new things and challenging myself.”
“Was the rest of your family involved?” he asked.
She made a face. “No, none of them was ever interested in that sort of thing. My family was always very sedentary. They never did anything physical, and they never understood why I loved search and rescue so much. They used to make nasty jokes about it.” She turned away.
Faruk followed her gaze down the hill. “I’m sorry to bring it up.”
“Don’t be,” she replied. “I’m glad to put that part of my life behind me.”
“You can spend all the time you want in the mountains here,” he told her. “The Ursidreans belong to the mountains. That’s what makes us different from the other factions.”
Emily cocked her head. “Do you want to know something interesting? My dad used to say the same sort of things about search and rescue that you just said about the Lycaon. He couldn’t understand why anybody would want to sweat and puff to hike all the way up some mountain, just so they could camp in a flimsy tent with no power and no hot water and no cable TV. He thought anybody who did that must have some kind of mental disease.”
Faruk sighed. “I can see why you’re happy to get away. Was your husband the same way?”
“No, no,” she replied. “I met him on search and rescue. We did it together for three years before we got married.”
“And after that?” he asked.
“After that, I was too busy helping him raise the kids to have time for search and rescue. Then, after he died, the whole thing lost its appeal for me. I hadn’t been into the mountains since he died - until now.”
He hugged her around the shoulders.
“What about you?” she asked. “How did you get onto the border patrol?”
“I got called up when I was five, just like every other Ursidrean cub,” he replied.
Emily’s eyes popped open. “Does that mean the Ursidreans have some kind of military draft? I didn’t know that.”
He nodded. “It’s not really a military draft. It’s a civil labor pool. When a cub reaches maturity, you report to the labor pool for assignment. If you’ve had any special training before that, you get assigned to your specialty. If you don’t, they can assign you wherever they need people. That could be the military, it could be the border patrol, or it could be any civil station in the city. You never know where you’re going to end up.”
“And then do you stay there for life?” she asked. “Does that become your permanent vocation?”
“Only if you want it to be,” he replied. “If you don’t like it and want to do something else, the labor pool assigns you somewhere else to go.”
“So that’s what happened to you?” she asked. “They assigned you to the border patrol?”
“No,” he replied. “I had special medical training and disaster management training from my academy days. They assigned me to the infirmary.”
Emily gasped. “The infirmary!”
“You didn’t know, did you?” he asked. “I was going to be a doctor.”
“What happened?” she asked. “I thought you didn’t like the infirmary.”
He laughed. “And now you know how I ended up here. I told the labor pool I didn’t want to stay underground in the city for the rest of my life. They asked me if I still wanted to do medical work and disaster management, and I said yes. So they sent me to the border patrol to be a medic. End of story.”
“And you’ve been here ever since,” she concluded.
He nodded. “I’ve been happy here.”
She eyed him. “And you never had any desire to go back to the city?”
“None at all.” He cocked his head. “Why do you ask?”
“What if you find a mate?” she asked. “What if you had cubs of your own? You couldn’t raise them out here.”
“Why not?” he asked.
She looked around. “Where would they stay? Where would they be born? How would they learn what it means to be Ursidrean?”
“I would teach them what it means to be Ursidrean.” He smiled. “I am Ursidrean.”
“But they wouldn’t know what the city is like,” she pointed out.
“There’s more to being Ursidrean than living in the city,” he replied.
“You know what I mean,” she told him. “They wouldn’t have access to the Academy and all the other resources the city has to offer.”
“I thought you loved the mountains,” he countered.
She turned bright red. “Who said anything about me? We’re talking about you.”
He gazed back down the valley. “Right.”
“Don’t tell me you’ve never thought about those things,” she told him. “Don’t tell me you’ve never once considered your future.”
“I have thought about them,” he replied. “But since I don’t have a mate, and I’m not likely to have cubs anytime soon, what’s the point of planning the whole thing out? If I had a mate who wanted to live in the city, I suppose I would have to deal with that when the time came.”
Emily kept silent. He stroked her arm and pressed her hand, but she didn’t respond.
“Why do you take this subject so seriously?” he asked.
“You know why,” she murmured.
“Tell me anyway,” he told her. “I want to hear you say it.”
“Here we are, holding hands and hugging each other,” she replied. “You said you didn’t want me to leave, that you were looking forward to spending time with me and getting to know me better, and now we’re deep in Lycaon territory together. Are we on the way to being mates? Or is this just a joy ride through the countryside, having a good time while it lasts?”
“We’re not on a joy ride through the countryside,” he told her. “We wouldn’t be deep in Lycaon territory together if we were. I would have chosen a much more hospitable place to take you for a joy ride.”
Emily shook her head. “Then we have to think about where this is going. Are we on the way to being mates?”
He cocked his head to one side. “I don’t know. Are we?”
“Is that what you want?” she asked.
“Is that what you want?” he asked.
She smacked her lips. “Stop repeating the last thing I said and answer me.”
“Okay,” he replied. “I wouldn’t mind if we were on the way to being mates. As a matter of fact, I would be delighted. There. I said it. Are you satisfied?”
She relaxed and squeezed his hand. “Good. That’s how I feel, too. But I wouldn’t want you to give up your life in the mountains for me if you didn’t want to.”
“And I wouldn’t want you to live like Chris and Turk if you didn’t want to,” he replied. “Just because living in the mountains along the border has worked for me all these years doesn’t mean it will work for you—or for us, if it comes to that.”
Emily frowned. “I’m glad we agree on that, but it doesn’t get us any closer to solving the problem.”
“There is no problem,” he replied. “We aren’t mates.”
“When will we be?” she asked. “When will we even know if we’re going to be?”
He shrugged. “Do we have to answer all the questions of life right now?”
Emily closed her eyes and lifted her face to the glowing sunset skies. “No, we don’t.”
Chapter 7
They headed downhill the next morning, and before an hour passed, they came in sight of a bunch of stick huts not much different from those constructed by the Ursidrean border guards. People just like Turk, with hair of different hues running back from their faces and down their necks, with pointed ears and wiry, angular bodies, clustered among the houses. Women held children between their knees, and men of all ages worked around the village.
The instant the party came in sight of the village,
a tall man jumped up from tossing stones on the ground in the midst of a group of youngsters. He strode across the clearing and threw his arms around Turk. They held each other close, and the tall man bellowed to the skies.
When he held Turk him at arm’s length, a glorious smile lit up Turk’s face. Emily wouldn’t have known he was the same man who confronted Faruk across the border. He turned to Emily. “This is my brother, Caleb.”
Caleb’s eyes flickered over Faruk, but he gave no sign of alarm. He held out his hand to Emily. “Welcome. Come with me to my house.”
Then he threw his arms around Chris. “Where have you been? We’ve been waiting ages for you two to get back. No, don’t tell me where you’ve been. I don’t want to know. You’re back now, and you’re together. That tells me all I need to know.”
He and Turk laughed and clapped each other on the back. Chris brushed a tear from the corner of her eye. “It’s good to see you again, Caleb. How’s Marissa?”
“She’s just fine,” Caleb replied. “But she’s not here just now. She went to another village to visit a woman who’s sick after giving birth. She’ll be sorry she wasn’t here to welcome you home.”
“We’ll see her when she gets back,” Chris replied.
Caleb led the way to an unassuming hut at the edge of the village. He squatted on the dirt floor and motioned the party to do the same. “This is Emily Allen,” Chris told him. “She fell out of the same Romarie ship that we crashed in, and she landed in Ursidrean territory.”
Caleb glanced at Faruk again. “I’m sorry to hear that.”
“Thank you,” Emily replied. “Two of my sisters and my cousin were on the same ship, and I came to find out if they’re here. I couldn’t rest until I saw them again.”
Caleb nodded. “I understand. We’ll do what we can to find them.”
“Are all the women from the crash here in the village?” Chris asked. “A year has passed since they landed. They could be anywhere by now.”
“What are their names?” Caleb asked.
“My cousin is Aimee Sandoval,” Emily told him. “My sisters are Frieda and Anna Evans.”
He shook his head. “The person to ask is Marissa. She knows all the crash survivors by name and keeps track of where they are. Some didn’t survive the injuries they received in the crash, and some have left the Lycaon for other factions. I don’t know them as well as she does, so you should wait until she gets back.”
Emily stiffened. “If one of my sisters is dead, I want to know as soon as possible. Isn’t there any way you could find out before she gets back?”
Caleb sat back on his heels. “I’ll ask my mother. She’ll know.”
He started to stand up, but Turk stopped him. “I’ll go.”
Caleb’s eyes flew open. Then he laughed and squatted down again while Turk went out. “He always was a mama’s boy.” He touched Chris’s arm. “I mean that in the nicest possible way.”
Chris laughed, but her eyes sparkled with tears. “I know it. He’s had her on his mind a lot lately and he wanted to come back here to see her again—and you, Caleb.”
Caleb waved her comments away. “He didn’t want to see ugly old me, not when he had you to keep him company. He knew I would only put him to work with the warriors again, the way I did before he left. I don’t blame him for spending a year in the mountains instead of coming home.”
Chris squeezed his hand. “He’s glad to be back. He missed all of you.”
Turk came back. “Your cousin is here. She’ll be able to tell you where your sisters are.”
“Are they alive?” Emily whispered.
“My mother says they both survived the crash,” Turk replied, “but only Aimee knows where they are now. Wait a minute. My nephew went to get her.” He squatted down next to his brother.
Caleb worked over the fire to brew tea while he and Turk chatted about faction politics. “Do you remember Ronin, the big grey who tried to beat you in the footrace last summer festival? He’s been covering for you on the border.”
Turk frowned. “I didn’t see him out there. I didn’t see any of our warriors out there. I hope you aren’t neglecting our border.”
Caleb shot a glance at Faruk. “He’s on the Avitras border, and no, I’m not neglecting our border. The warriors are all stationed on the heights to keep watch on the eastern line. They can see more from up there than they can in the valleys.”
Turk nodded. “I’ve stayed away too long. I’ll be glad to get my hand back into it.”
Caleb kept his eyes down. “What else did you see on the Ursidrean border?”
Turk clapped Faruk on the shoulder. “One whopping great Ursidrean.” He bellowed with laughter, and even Faruk had to smile.
Turk swallowed his laughter. “Really, Caleb. In all the time I’ve been away, the Ursidreans have never left their border unguarded. Don’t you think you should take the same precautions?”
Caleb looked Faruk straight in the eye. “I suppose there’s no use keeping it a secret anymore. We can’t guard all our borders all the time. We don’t have enough men. The truth is the plague hit us harder than anyone wants to admit. We don’t have enough females, and because of that, we don’t have enough young men coming up to replace the older warriors who don’t go out on patrol anymore. In a few years, we won’t be able to guard our border at all.”
Faruk sighed and spoke for the first time. “I give you my word of honor I won’t take it back to our leaders to be used against you, and to show my good will for you offering me hospitality, I will tell you something equally valuable. We don’t have enough young men—or young women—to guard all of our borders, either.”
Caleb stared at him. Then he and Turk exchanged glances.
“Our Alpha, Donen, never wanted to wage war against the Felsite for exactly that reason,” Faruk went on. “He spent weeks arguing with our Supreme Council, but they wouldn’t see reason. We don’t have enough men to guard our territory, and more were lost in the war. Now he’s overruled them by sending word to Renier with an offer of peace between our factions. It’s the only way we’ll survive.”
Everyone listened to him in rapt silence. The Caleb nodded. “The other factions must be in the same situation. Ever since these women crashed in our territory, we’ve received messages from all over Angondra, asking them to join with the other factions. All over the planet, men don’t have enough women to keep their populations going. Some women have answered these messages in the hopes of starting new lives.”
Faruk nodded back. “These women are treasures. Whoever wins one for himself can truly call himself fortunate.”
Caleb lowered his eyes. “I know it. There’s only one thing strange about all this. We never got word from the Aqinas. They never gave any indication they were short of females.”
Turk frowned. “But they attended the gathering where the Romarie brought Marissa and her friends. They must need females as much as we do.”
Just then, a figure blocked the light coming through the door and a woman Emily didn’t recognize stepped into the hut. She wore her hair cropped close to her head, and deep lines scored her face from long exposure to sun and wind. She wore rough skins for clothes, and black dirt discolored her hands and fingernails. Her body jutted sharp and angular under her clothes, without a scrap of fat on her. Then Emily gasped, “Aimee!”
Aimee gazed down at her and smiled. “There you are, Emily. I wondered when you would turn up.”
Emily leapt to her feet and threw her arms around Aimee. She wept for joy, but Aimee only smiled and patted her on the back. Then they both sat down by the fire. “What’s happened to you? You look.....” She broke off.
Aimee cocked her head. “I look different, don’t I? My life has been different since I came here. I’ve joined the warriors. I just came back with them from a long march through the woods. We made a sweep along the Black Tops, and cleared a track over the saddle toward Felsite territory.”
Emily stared at her. A dark fire burn
ed in Aimee’s eyes. None of the softness Emily remembered remained in her. Her body had been tempered in a forge Emily couldn’t understand, and this was a different woman than the one she used to call her cousin.
“I came here to find you and my sisters,” she told her. “I’m so glad you’re alive and well. Do you know where Freida and Anna are?”
“They aren’t here,” Aimee replied. “They went to the Avitras.”
Emily cried out. “Oh, no! Now I’ll never find them.”
Aimee gazed at something far away, something beyond the reach of human sight. “They’re okay. You don’t need to worry about them.”
“Why did they go?” Emily asked.
Aimee shrugged. “Why do any of them go? After a year in this village, they wanted to take a chance on settling somewhere for good.”
Emily steadied her spinning head with her hand. “I have to find them. I have to find out what happened to them.”
“I’m sure they’re happy where they are,” Aimee murmured.
Emily studied her. “What about you, Aimee? Are you happy where you are?”
Aimee nodded, but an unearthly veil blocked Emily from looking directly into her heart. “I’m happy.”
“Have you found a mate among the warriors?” Emily asked. “Is that why you joined them?”
“I don’t have a mate,” Aimee replied. “I joined the warriors because they needed me. The Lycaon needed warriors, and I suppose I heard the call to join. It was the best decision I ever made.”
She rose and left the hut. Emily stared after her with her mind reeling. “I can’t believe how much she’s changed. I didn’t recognize her when she first came in.”
“Most of us changed a lot when we first came here,” Chris replied. “I know I did.”
Emily started to her hands. “I have to go. I have to find my sisters.”
Faruk laid a hand on her arm. “Wait a minute. We just got here. We can’t go trekking all the way to Avitras territory just like that.”
“Stay here a few days,” Caleb told her. “Make sure you have your strategy worked out before you go all that way.”
Rhani (Dragons of Kratak Book 3) Page 34