O'Rrin The Protector, page 10
part #1 of Thoherian Barbarians Series
Hetta broke the kiss by pulling back, no longer looking at me and with her eyes downcast. “I’m so sorry,” she mumbled.
I narrowed my eyes at her, wanting to shake her but not certain it would do anything. “Do not apologize,” I said, harsher than I intended. “I did not mind.”
She did look at me this time, a flicker of humor in her tired eyes. The smile she gave me was shy, although it was genuine. “Never thought my first kiss would be with an alien.”
I tilted my head to the side, as if studying her at a different angle would change things. “That was your first mouth-press?”
Her cheeks flushed again. “It’s not that I didn’t try,” she said, her words getting louder in her defensiveness. “But when you’re that smart girl from a rich family, no one really wants you for you, you know? Plus, I was so far ahead in school that most of the time my classmates were older than me, and guys don’t go for the young girls. Plus, I was awkward, and the one time someone did try to kiss me, it turned out it was for a dare, which was humiliating, so…” She trailed off like she had finally run out of words to say, so I thought over what she spoke.
I didn’t understand all of her words, even with the translator. It seemed she was an advanced scholar, someone who studied important things, but she was good enough that it meant she was with people above her age. Our scholars were the elders who focused on our history, on learning who we had been and where we had come from. From her focus on plants, I had a feeling that was her scholarly area. “What is a dare?” From the translator, I understood that ‘hoo-mil-ating’ was embarrassment, but a dare did not have an equivalent in my language.
Her cheeks flushed even darker red, to the point I was concerned there was too much blood in her face. I wanted to reach out and touch her, but I didn’t, unsure as to how she would react. “Um, a dare is like, if someone challenges you to do something you don’t want to do, but you do it anyway to prove how strong you are?”
My brow ridges darkened, anger making my claws sharp and overriding my arousal. “Human males treated you as such? Like you were a challenge?”
Her face crumpled miserably, to the point I wanted to take her into my arms again. But I didn’t. Not yet. “A few times. No one wanted to kiss me, so they challenged their friends to, to see if they could get me—” She cut herself off with a deep breath, and the smile she gave me was shaky. “It doesn’t matter.”
“It does to me.” I didn’t know why, but it did. A female was a precious gift, something to be cherished and treasured. Not something to make a joke of. Fury thrummed through me, but I tried to stem it, not wanting to spook Hetta. “A female is an honor.”
My stomach clenched at the thought, at the reminder of what we were doing and why. We were headed to Kohta to give tribute, to turn L’Anna over to the Caterri so she could serve as their slave in exchange for our freedom. Then I was to go to the arena, where they fought for glory or their lives, to try and encounter others who disliked the Caterri. Hetta would be the furthest thing from safe there, which was yet another complication.
I could not stop my thoughts from going to my father, and I felt like I understood him better for the first time. He had sacrificed everything to try to save my mother and had been utterly lost when she had died anyway. I wasn’t quite there with Hetta, but something in my heart told me I could get there with time.
It should have terrified me, but it didn’t.
Hetta clearing her throat dragged me back to reality. I blinked at her, wanting to apologize for my distraction but sidetracked by her smile. It didn’t reach her eyes. “Sorry, I’ll just go…somewhere else.” She ducked out of my grasp, not looking at me as she darted off, heading back towards the other females. So much for identifying more plants. I glanced down at what I had gathered and resolved to make Hetta a sore-scales paste anyway. Maybe she had not meant to kiss me. Maybe a kiss did not mean anything. Maybe it meant something more.
They were thoughts I did not need, a complication I did not want to deal with, but one that now sat firmly in my path. If that had been a sign that she wanted me as a mate, I would need to talk to her more once we got back to the village, to see if she was interested in more. With how few females there were in the tribe, I’d never thought I would have gotten one because as an orphan, I was lowest in the hierarchy, my status as N’Ashtar’s closest friend aside. I had never minded, because I wanted what was best for my tribe.
But Hetta? Hetta was different. Hetta, I would fight for.
The sound of something rustling to my side made me tense, adrenaline pumping through me. “Who is there?”
“Relax, brother,” R’Asha said, his expression cheeky. “N’Ashtar is calling a meeting, and your presence is required.”
“Will the humans be there?” I straightened up.
“Fairly sure it’s about them, so I would assume yes.” R’Asha’s expression leveled out for a moment, serious for a moment. “I think he’s made a decision.”
“Then we will go.” It was as simple as that.
Hetta and the humans were gathered in a small group, Erica and V’Annor not far away. He was oddly protective of that human, but I could not fault him. If it was Hetta in that position, I would do the same. For now, however, I would keep my distance. I did not want it to be obvious that I was interested in her, because while I trusted N’Ashtar, Yrrix was a different story. I had already caught him eyeing Hetta, and I wished to keep her safe.
“I have decided what we are to do with the humans,” N’Ashtar said, the exhaustion in his voice clear. I winced for my friend. His job as the war chief was an exhausting one, because if they could not access his father, they came to him. It was a job I was grateful I didn’t have. “Under no circumstances will we give up the human women to the Caterri in exchange for L’Anna.”
Silence reigned for a long moment, the humans looking surprised and Yrrix furious. R’Asha and V’Annor looked neutral, and L’Anna just had the dusky color of sadness blushing her scales.
“I would remind the warriors that it was my choice to go, and I am proud to sacrifice my freedom to keep my people safe.” L’Anna’s words were strong, and she lifted her chin. Even without the head ridges, she could look officious. “I do not wish others to take my position, especially unwilling ones.”
“Maybe the humans would be willing—”
Dana cut off Yrrix’s argument with a furious snort, which was beneficial because it meant I would not have to punch him. “If you think any of us are going to sacrifice our lives, our futures, then you have another thing coming.”
“Not even if it kept a whole tribe safe?” Yrrix’s voice was sweet like the sap of the hirrk trees, sticky and binding in uncomfortable ways.
Dana glared at him. “I know to you we’re just walking vaginas, but we’re people of our own, and we all have lives and families we want to get back to.”
I glanced at Hetta just in time to see her sharp inhale of breath, to see the tremulous expression cross over her face. From what she had said of her family, she was not in a hurry to get back to them. I could not blame her. I did not approve of the way they had treated her. They did not deserve such a gem.
“However.” N’Ashtar’s single word hung in the air, and dread gathered in my middle. While I was grateful Hetta would remain mine, exceptions rarely came without a price. “I do not approve of this tithing system, of having to give up one of our few eligible females every few sun cycles.” His lips curved into a snarl, his eyes red and a hiss in his tone. “Someday, a time will come in our lives when we shall tithe no more. We shall keep the eligible females for ourselves and rebuild our tribe.”
My eyes widened, even as the human Dana rolled her eyes and muttered something about ‘walking vaginas’. Whatever that was. I understood walking, but vah-gee-nas? Maybe it was a cultural reference that didn’t translate correctly. Not that it was important. What was important was what N’Ashtar had just declared, albeit to a small group. He wasn’t going to follow in his father’s footsteps, instead prioritizing the tribe’s future.
“That’s ridiculous,” Yrrix said flatly. “You risk the whole tribe with such a maneuver.”
“Regardless of what you think, brother,” N’Ashtar said curtly, emphasizing their familial relationship, “you are to obey it. I am the heir, am I not?”
Yrrix bared his fangs and hissed at N’Ashtar, his anger as clear as his red eyes. Then he stood and stalked off, leaving us behind. I knew he would be back.
He always was.
“If there’s nothing else,” Dana said, her voice that same imperious tone as N’Ashtar’s, “the vaginas would like to get some sleep.”
N’Ashtar looked at me and I shrugged, so he turned back to Dana. “What is this word, vah-gee-nah?”
Dana’s mouth dropped open, Hetta’s cheeks turned scarlet, and Jackie snorted. “I…” For once, it seemed that Dana could not figure out what to say. “Don’t worry about it. We’re going to bed.”
“I will join you in a moment,” N’Ashtar said to Dana, his eyes intent on her.
Dana scowled at him. “Looking forward to it, buddy.”
N’Ashtar turned to me, mouthing the strange word ‘buh-dy’. What good were the translators if they were not completely accurate? Then again, there had been a time we were not able to communicate with the humans at all, and regardless of translation errors, this was better.
Dana and Jackie sauntered off without a backwards glance, but Hetta stopped not far away, looking at me out of the corner of her eyes.
“I will be there soon,” I promised her. I would go with her, but I needed a moment to talk to N’Ashtar and tell him I was proud of him for what he’d said. It was a hard decision to make, one that would no doubt make him unpopular among our elders, but it was clear he was thinking of a better future for our people.
She gave me a shy smile and then quickly walked past, leaving just me and N’Ashtar standing together. R’Asha had followed Jackie, clearly not interested in our conversation since neither of us were interested in the one he seemed fascinated by.
“R’Asha found you with the female?” N’Ashtar murmured, his voice low.
“Yes.” I didn’t admit what we were doing, because it wasn’t his business. Although if he did wish to court Dana, maybe it would be worth teaching him about those ‘kisses’. “We were pressing our mouths together.”
N’Ashtar looked repulsed, then curious. “You were what?”
“It seems to be a human custom.” My tongue tasted the air. “You press your mouths together as a sign of affection.”
N’Ashtar frowned, his brow ridges pointed. “Humans are strange.”
On that, I would agree. But I didn’t say so out of faith to my Hetta. Not that she was mine. Not yet. I’d just started to think of her as such, which was a dangerous road to go down.
“What are your intentions with your human?” N’Ashtar asked suddenly. He had obviously already guessed there was something, because the explanation about human mating customs hadn’t come from nowhere.
“I should not want her.” My words were low but bitter, a truth I hated speaking. “But I understand why my father fell apart when my mother died.”
N’Ashtar reached out and gripped my shoulder, his claws biting gently into my skin as a sign of sympathy. “Females can make you do crazy things, can they not?”
I thought of Hetta, of the way we had pressed our mouths together. How close I had been to taking her down on the tundra and having her right there. “They do,” I agreed. I turned to look at my human, who had switched to her bedclothes and was crawling into the sleep sack even as she shivered. “Yet, I think they will be worth it.”
N’Ashtar’s attention was clearly on Dana, who was talking to Jackie and gesturing avidly in the air. His voice was warm and speculative. “I think they will be, too.”
11
Hetta
For a dude who didn’t know kisses had existed two days ago, he sure as hell was good at them. I couldn’t stop thinking about the press of his lips against mine, the way his arms had gone around me. How I felt in his arms every night. Yet when we got up the next morning, it was like nothing had changed between us, like the kiss had never happened.
It was strange, being simultaneously relieved and disappointed.
“Hetta!” Dana’s worried voice caught me off guard. I straightened up from where I had been brushing my teeth with one of the few toothbrushes looted from toiletries.
“Is something wrong?” I spat my toothpaste out and then moved towards her, storing the collapsible brush in my pocket.
“Erica is waking up, and Jackie thinks it’ll help to have us there as familiar faces.” Dana’s eyes were worried but sharp, which summed her up in a nutshell. For all she was a cracking diplomat, she also had a soft side she rarely showed. Especially when she was busy driving the aliens crazy.
I scrambled to finish dressing in the layers needed to survive the crazy climate and then headed after her. Erica was still in V’Annor’s sleep sack, although he was not. Instead, he was sitting next to her, a tip of his finger gently tracing the contours of her face. Clearly the man was smitten.
The cheesy, romantic part of me wondered if O’Rrin looked at me like that. The sane part of me knew he didn’t. I wasn’t the kind of girl men went crazy over, and there was no point crying over it. It just was what it was.
Erica whimpered, her hands visibly twitching underneath the soft furs.
“How long will it take her to come out?” I asked Jackie, settling next to Erica’s other side. She was vital as hell to our efforts. As the engineer, even if she couldn’t repair our ship, she could create something that could broadcast for help. Without her, we were even more screwed.
“I’m not sure,” Jackie answered grimly. “The nanobot technology they injected into us is still in early experimental stages with humans, and few have suffered critical injuries that require this level of care.”
Dana and I both stared at her, seemingly staggered. “We were experiments?”
“Are experiments,” Jackie corrected absently. Her attention was on Erica, not sparing either of us a glance as she reached out and put her fingers around the thin wrist. While Erica had been provided with some nutrition while she was unconscious, it was nowhere as good as real food. The gels had been optimized for human needs, but the basic nutrients only got you so far. At least they’d been enough to keep Erica hydrated. She’d appreciate the food here, even if it was slightly odd and not suited to a human palate.
“Great,” I muttered, because I wasn’t at all thrilled by Jackie’s declaration. Then again, maybe it was a good thing—
“If we are experiments, doesn’t that mean they’ll come looking for us?” There was hope on Dana’s face, but it was obliterated when Jackie shook her head.
“I’m afraid we’re a handful of many, ladies.” Her face was grim. “They may come look for us, but it won’t be because of that.”
Out of instinct, I straightened up and looked around for O’Rrin. He was talking intently to N’Ashtar at the fire, their spears crossed over their backs and both snake-men clearly dressed for hunting. It was both sad and sexy, since it meant I wouldn’t get to watch him while we walked today since he would obviously be out of camp.
Then Erica made another pained noise and I dragged my attention back to the here and now. What could I do to help?
It took a second, but it clicked in my mind. The herbs that I’d gathered with O’Rrin the night before. Some he had indicated were good for healing, and maybe the others, V’Annor would know. After all, warriors were injured all the time, right?
“Be right back,” I managed to Dana and Jackie, darting for the sleep sack I shared with O’Rrin and the leather satchel next to it that was mine. While there hadn’t been much time or space for organization, I’d tried my best to organize everything before I’d fallen asleep. When I opened it, I was surprised to see it looking a lot cleaner than I remembered.
My heart skipped a beat, pleasure racing through me. Someone had finished organizing it, sticking to all the little pouches I’d made. It had to be O’Rrin, because no one else would have been close enough.
I looked up into the distance he was headed off in and tried not to smile, the warmth in my heart threatening to overwhelm me. It had been a long time—if ever—since someone had cared that much about me, had cared how I did things.
Maybe he came across as standoffish and hot-and-cold, but there was something in my heart that told me that deep under all of that was a soft center, if only someone was willing to put in the time to find it. My heart throbbed, the pain dull but present. Would that be me? Or would I go with the others back to our home world?
I quickly shoved the thoughts away, because I didn’t have time for them. Instead, I grabbed my satchel of herbs and raced back to Erica’s side. V’Annor was still next to her, his lone hand stroking up and down Erica’s arms, which rested at her sides even as her eyes were closed.
“Is she supposed to be unconscious this long?” Dana asked quietly.
Jackie shrugged helplessly.
I pulled out some of the herbs I’d gathered and stared at them, trying to get some inspiration. The ones for sore scales and muscles weren’t particularly helpful, not for this. No, Erica would need something that would help boost her strength. Even though the nanobots had put her in a coma to protect her, her body was still going to be weak. That meant nutrients were the name of the game.
“Do you know any of these?” I asked V’Annor, showing him my handfuls.
He barely glanced up. “Yes.” His attention returned to Erica, and he didn’t say anything else.
Dana sighed, apparently exasperated enough for all of us. “She wants to know what you can tell her, dumb-dumb.”
