Barbarian King’s Mate by Ivy Sparks
Chapter Thirteen
Daphne
I wokeup more relaxed than I’d been since long before I left Earth. I twisted over on the bed and gazed through the window above me. Morning sunshine sparkled through the cavern ceiling. It looked even more beautiful and serene than I remembered. A fresh, fragrant breeze wafted into the hut.
I stretched under the bedding. This bed felt unbelievably blissful. I could lie here in a puddle of delicious rest for hours… as long as I didn’t get hungry first.
I glanced around the hut. I was alone. Garath was gone. I sank back into the mattress. I already missed him. We might not have been real mates, but I still felt quite a loss when he wasn’t around.
I tried to shake it off. This need. Maybe I was just hungry. I could make out some crumbs from last night’s binge in the bowls by the fire. I kicked off the bedspread and put my feet on the floor when someone walked right through the door without knocking.
“Nissaya!” I chided, grabbing the bed sheet to cover myself. “What do you think you’re doing? Isn’t this hut supposed to be private?”
She went straight to the fireplace and pitched the mostly empty bowls into a stack. “I just passed Garath outside. He asked me to come and look in on you.” She arched one eyebrow at me. “What do you think you’re doing?” she teased.
“I’m getting up. What does it look like I’m doing?” I crossed the hut to the clothes hanging on the hook. “I’m allowed to get up, aren’t I?” I sounded cross, but I think she knew I was teasing her back.
“Most people stay in the mating hut for at least a week.”
“Well, I’m not most people.” I took down the clothes and put them on. She had altered them so that they fit perfectly. There was just one thing missing.
I patted the pants. They didn’t have any pockets. “Did you see a little device I had in my other clothes? It’s all I have left from the Vorlax attack. I think I left it at your father’s place.”
Nissaya stood up and pulled my scanner from inside her clothes. “I thought you might want this back.”
I clutched it for dear life. “Thank you.”
“Now maybe you’ll get something to eat. Garath left to speak to Father about the Vorlax situation, so you can expect that to take a while. If you’re getting up, I’ll show you around the cavern so you can get settled in properly.”
“Great. I wouldn’t mind actually seeing the outside of the cavern again.”
Nissaya replaced the food bowls with others loaded with more food than I could eat in a week. She motioned that I eat first, and I gladly grabbed a few pastries. But unlike last night, they quickly satiated me. It must’ve been the ritual that had made me so hungry then. I flashed back to the sight of Garath watching me eat. He didn’t touch anything. Why hadn’t he?
He might have been disgusted by my gluttony, but his behavior didn’t suggest that. He encouraged it, didn’t he?
Once I was done, Nissaya escorted me to the hut door. “Aren’t you going to take the rest of the food with you?” I asked.
“Why should I? You’ll be coming back here tonight, and you and Garath will need something to eat. If you finish that and need more, you know where to find it.”
We walked outside. I didn’t want to tell her I didn’t plan on spending a week in the Kavian version of a honeymoon suite, but until someone offered me some alternative, I would play along with this charade. I’d do whatever it took to get out of here. I already did the ceremony, so this should be a cakewalk.
The sunlight looked even more glorious and heavenly outside. Voices rang through the village. They came from every side. Dwellings and buildings clung to the rock walls, and a network of catwalks, gangways, bridges, platforms, and ladders connected them to others suspended throughout the cavern.
This was the first time I’d seen it in all of its architectural perfection. It really was a marvel of engineering. Not only did it provide all the refugee Kavians with living space, but they managed to make it beautiful too. Each little cabin hung from the enormous lattice, like jeweled dewdrops clinging to a spider’s web. The sun glinted off the grooves and the polished wooden beams. The noise of voices, laughter, and shouts blended into a symphony that harmonized in a natural rhythm.
I got so engrossed in admiring it that I collided with Nissaya, who had stopped in front of a larger building. She motioned me through the open entrance. “As you can see, this is where we process and store meat from successful hunts.”
I peered inside and a blast of frigid air pricked my eyes. “It’s cold in there!” I didn’t need to say it. The enormous carcasses of butchered animals dangled from ropes attached to the ceiling. Ice crystals clung to each one. Of course it was cold.
“The tree whose logs make up this building exude a substance that reacts with oxygen,” Nissaya began. “It lowers the temperature inside the walls to preserve the meat.”
“That’s amazing.” Without thinking, I took out my scanner and pointed it toward the wall nearest to me. “I never heard of a plant that did that before. Do you know the chemical constituents that oxidize it like that? It’s completely unknown to our system.”
“How should I know? One of our hunters tried to cut the tree for firewood and burned his hand on the frozen gel. That’s how we figured it out.” Nissaya started to walk away. “Come over here. If you like plants, you’ll like this.”
I barely got the scanner powered up before she was already out of sight. I had to leave the meat preserving building to catch up with her. “What’s the hurry? Can’t I do a few scans?”
“Save it for now. Look. This is important.”
She opened another building. Instead of dead animals, this one contained massive bales of a dried herb. The leaves had been tied in cubes larger than one of the Kavians’ biggest males. The bales packed the building from one wall to the other. They left not one inch of space between them.
“What is this?” My scanner came up again.
“This is dried ubos. It’s one of our most important food sources. Since Kavians aren’t native to this planet, there aren’t that many plants we can eat. This one contains a certain nutrient necessary to sustain Kavian life. It’s the only source on the planet, which is why we store this plant in such large quantities. We have crews foraging, harvesting, and drying it around the clock. They’re relieved of all other responsibilities so we always have enough.”
I gasped all over again and started into the warehouse with my scanner at the ready. “That’s fantastic. What about the amino acid content?”
Nissaya furrowed her brow at me. “What does ‘amino acid’ mean?”
I shut my mouth and put away my scanner, realizing I was getting ahead of myself. “Never mind. Let’s just finish the tour and I won’t ask you any more botanical questions.”
“Good idea. I don’t think anyone here can answer those questions. It will be good for us to have a scientist like you around.”
She headed up one ladder to another level. I hung back. I couldn’t exactly tell her I didn’t plan to stay here. I had to get back to the Quest. I wouldn’t be here long enough for my expertise to do the Kavians any good.
She didn’t notice my hesitation, instead striding over to another warehouse. A bunch of Kavian women worked in gangs to carry hundreds of gourds inside. They formed a sort of Kavian conveyor belt, handing the round husks from hand to hand while more teams stacked the gourds inside.
“This is the…” Nissaya began, but the minute we showed up, one woman dropped a gourd at my feet.
The crew laughed and ignored the fallen gourd. They went on with their work without a break. I took out my scanner and squatted down to scan the shattered vegetable, but before I had a chance, I spotted a familiar figure barging toward us from the left.
Zixor looked about as happy to see me as I was to see him. That bastard had forced his way into the home Nissaya and Garath had been hiding me in, and he was the reason I had been brought to the court in the first place. He forced his way again, only this time through the warehouse as several women yelled insults at him. He paid no attention and stormed over to me and Nissaya.
Nissaya bared her teeth and snarled in feral hate, but Zixor ignored her. He shoved into me hard enough to make me back up. “You! I demand you explain yourself!”
Nissaya tried to push between him and me. “Daphne has nothing to explain to you or anyone else. She was vindicated in the ritual last night, and now she’s one of us. You have no business attacking her in public like this.”
“Vindicated!” Zixor gave a cruel laugh. “Where did you meet Garath, I’d like to know?”
I cast a questioning glance at Nissaya, but she couldn’t help me. I stiffened and braced myself to face this intruder down. “That’s none of your business.”
“Everything concerning the safety of the village is my business,” Zixor snarled. “You might be interested to know that Narrock doesn’t believe you are truly mated to his son. He entrusted me with the sensitive job of uncovering your subterfuge. What human would willingly mate herself to a Kavian? That is the question everyone is asking.”
Zixor bumped his enormous chest into me and made me steady myself to keep my balance. He lowered his voice to a treacherous whisper. “I will watch you from now on, human, and when I uncover proof of your betrayal, I will be the one who drags you out to the jungle to face your execution.”
Nissaya started to say something, but I couldn’t move. Zixor’s ferocious eyes held me in a hypnotic grip. I couldn’t look away even as I saw my destruction written all over his face. But could I blame him? He was right that it was all a sham. He would eventually find the proof he needed that the mating ritual between me and Garath was nothing but a performance. And when that happened…
“Zixor!” A thunderous bellow echoed across the cavern. It sounded like a god yelling out from the heavens.
All three of us whirled sideways, and my heart stopped when I saw Garath standing there. He glared at Zixor as hatefully as Zixor glared at me. Garath gritted his teeth, and every muscle in his chest and arms strained. His fingers whitened around the dagger at his belt. “You threatened my mate, Zixor,” he growled.
Zixor jerked away from me as though he’d been stung, but he recovered in an instant. He confronted Garath and his hand flew to his own weapon. The two giant males were the same size, and there was obviously no love lost between them.
Zixor tried to bluster. “You heard what I said! You may have tricked the rest of the village, but you don’t fool me. I’ll prove it, and then you’ll both face the consequences.”
Garath fumed in silence. The iron expression on his face was really starting to scare me. I’d never seen him like this. At last, he pried his gritted teeth apart and spat out his next words. “If my father doubted the validity of the ritual, I imagine he would have told me when I talked to him this morning. Instead, he entrusted me to continue investigating the Vorlax.”
Zixor’s expression went through a rapid adjustment from surprise to doubt to resentment. “You’re lying.”
Garath stalked forward, pulled his dagger from its place, and pointed the tip at Zixor’s face. “Repeat what you just said. Repeat what you said about dragging my mate into the jungle. Go on. Repeat it.”
Zixor’s features spasmed again. He didn’t repeat it, but he didn’t back down either. “Your father tells me things he would never tell you,” he grumbled.
“I’m sure he does,” Garath snapped, “and you tell him things you would never dare to say in anyone else’s presence. Isn’t that right, Zixor? Don’t you pour your filth into my father’s ear when you already know how he suffers from the loss of his Queen? You’re a disgrace. You have no honor. You’re a stain on the Kavian race.”
“How dare you!” Zixor charged him and the two males collided in a clash of shoving, pushing, and struggling. “I’ll see you dead for that!”
“Draw!” Garath bellowed. “Draw your weapon and prove yourself!”
Zixor’s hand closed around his weapon, but before the two men could fight to the death, Nissaya rushed between them. “No, Garath! Not here. Not like this. You’re newly mated and decorated in honor with our father’s trust and respect. Don’t sully today with this.”
Garath pretended not to hear her, but her words must have sunk home. He simply gave Zixor a mighty shove that sent the other Kavian blundering into the railing. Zixor caught himself in time to avoid falling to the cavern floor hundreds of feet below.
Garath didn’t budge. He narrowed his eyes to slits and hissed at Zixor. “I will rid the Kavian race of your filth, Zixor. You may begin counting the days until your miserable life comes to an end if you don’t change your ways. Now, if you don’t wish today to be that day, you will leave and never approach my mate again.”
A shiver ran through me at those words. My mate. Garath certainly said that like he really believed we were mates—as in real mates—mates for life. He stood up to Zixor as ferociously as if he believed it. I couldn’t believe that was all an act.
I couldn’t let myself consider that he might really think of me as his mate. He himself insisted I would leave this planet. He gave me his word he would help me escape. He wouldn’t do that if I were bound to him spiritually.
Zixor took Garath at his word. He wrestled his expression into an annoyed sneer and stormed off. He shot hateful looks at me, Garath, and Nissaya before he disappeared behind a dwelling.
Garath glared after him and I sagged against the warehouse. “That was close.”
“Not even close,” Garath snarled. “He’s a spineless coward. He does well hunting defenseless prey, but he could never hold his own in a real fight. He relies on his bullish attitude to intimidate his enemies so they don’t challenge him.”
“At least you have Father’s blessing to further investigate the Vorlax,” Nissaya pointed out. “Zixor wouldn’t dare challenge you now.”
Garath didn’t answer. The silence that followed lengthened into a tense wait for someone to say something.
Nissaya made a choking noise in her throat. “He… he didn’t give you his blessing?”
Garath glanced at her and me, then his shoulders slumped. “No. He still doesn’t believe the Ranxi could have tracked us down and altered the Vorlax. He doesn’t want to believe it. I think he’d rather live in blissful ignorance, but I won’t allow it. I will get proof this time. Then he’ll have to act on it.”
“You… you lied!” I blurted out. “You lied to Zixor about your father trusting you.”
“Father doesn’t trust anyone. Either way, we would need to bring back a specimen as proof, and for further study.”
I shook my head. “But if he’s not supporting you, then you’d have to return to the glade alone. And if you’re right, even more Vorlax will be in the glade than last time. You can’t face them alone.”
“He won’t be facing them alone,” Nissaya cut in. “I’ll go with him.”
“Forget it, Niss,” Garath snapped. “I need you to stay here with Daphne. With me gone, Zixor is liable to get up to all kinds of mischief. We both saw that. I need at least one person here to protect her.”
“You aren’t going alone,” I retorted. “I’m coming with you.”
Garath shook his head. “This is the best thing. I’ll be able to retrieve any equipment you need from the hilltop at the same time. You know this is the right course. You’ll be safe here.”
I couldn’t let him go alone. “You won’t know what to retrieve. You could bring back the wrong thing and the entire trip would be wasted.”
Garath pursed his lips and his countenance went black. “All right, but you’ll forgive me if I don’t consider you much of a contender against the Vorlax. I’m bringing at least one real fighter as backup.”
