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 burned 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.”
Chris shifted in her seat. “I’ll come with you.”
Turk stood up. “If you’re going, I’m going, too.”
Chris smiled at him. “Thank you. I knew we could count on you.”
Faruk nodded. “If you’re going to Avitras territory, you’ll need someone to show you the way. I’m coming, too.”
Emily smiled at her friends. “Thank you. You don’t know what this means to me.”
Caleb stood up. “I’ll show you some huts where you can rest up for your trip.”