Barbarian King’s Mate by Ivy Sparks

Chapter Six

Garath

I ledDaphne along the ledge. She didn’t see where I was taking her, and it was just as well. She gaped at the scene inside Caverncall with such all-consuming attention that she almost tripped over the side.

I pulled her back. “In here.”

Daphne snapped to high alert when I steered her into another dark tunnel. Her eyes skimmed the blackness, and the color drained from her cheeks. “Why not out in the light?”

“You need to hide here. Just for now.”

“You said I’d be safe here.”

“You will be, but only if you stay here.” I tried to propel her deeper into the tunnel, but she resisted. If her reaction to the first tunnel was any sign, she must’ve had terrible vision in the dark. Regardless, I couldn’t let her be spotted. Not yet. “Just wait here while I…”

She looked around nervously. “Is it safe? I can’t see anything. What if there’s more deadly creatures crawling about?”

“You don’t have to go into the deep dark. You can stay in the shadows, but where you can see the light, provided no one sees you. Understand? If anyone sees you, you could wind up just as dead as if I had left you in the glade.”

That got her attention. She froze and now she turned that unseeing gaze on me. “They’ll kill me? But these are your people. What did you bring me here for, if you…?”

I took a deep breath. “I don’t like this situation any better than you do. I have to go in there and explain why I brought an outsider with no warning. It might not go down very well, if you get what I mean, so please, stay out of sight. If they find you, we could both be in danger.”

Her eyes shot open. “They would kill you—one of their own kind?”

I held up my hand. They wouldn’t kill me. But my father? I wasn’t so sure. “Just stay here, okay?”

She straightened up, and her expression changed. “Promise you’ll come back.”

“Of course,” I breathed. “I don’t plan on leaving you here. I just have to do this the right way, and that means warning them before I bring you into our tribe. We’ve had bad luck aligning with outsiders before, but I trust you, and hopefully my trust will mean something to everyone else. You understand why we must be careful, right?”

Her shoulders slumped, and she let out a shaky breath. “Yeah. I understand.”

“So… Will you stay out of sight, for me?”

She squared her shoulders and faced me. “Yes. I’ll do it. I won’t leave, and I’ll make sure no one sees me.”

I collapsed with a heavy sigh. “Thank you. I’ll come back as soon as I can. I promise.”

She was terrified. I could sense that much, but she thankfully trusted me. I just had to hope my judgment would be right for both the tribe and her. Normally I would be as distrustful as my father, but something about this odd female made me feel reassured. Almost like I had known her all my life.

It was very similar to the “fated bond” my father spoke of—that many members of my tribe spoke of, in fact. Still, I had trouble believing it was true.

Having left Daphne somewhere safe, I raced away. I had to put as much distance between myself and her hiding spot as possible. I charged down the ledge and sprang onto the nearest ramp. I hustled up the incline and down several catwalks in my haste to do what I had to do.

People called greetings to me from all directions. I nodded and waved to everyone, but I didn’t stop to talk or answer questions. I had to work quickly. I didn’t tell Daphne she wouldn’t be safe in that tunnel. It was one of the least frequented ones, but that wasn’t much reassurance. Someone was bound to find her if I wasn’t fast enough.

I headed for one of the largest dwellings, a castle among the small huts, and burst through the entrance without knocking. The front hall of our family home was empty, but I could smell something cooking in the kitchen. I made my way there, and as soon as I entered, my sister, Nissaya, looked up from her cooking pots. Her horns, nubs compared to mine, had a little cloth wrapped around them and her short black hair. Her lips were pouted as usual, and her skin, not as tanned as mine, glistened from the heat of the kitchen. I paused for a moment to catch my breath, saying nothing.

“That’s how you announce your return after all of these weeks?” she began. “When are you going to learn some manners?”

I darted over to her. “Save your scolding for another day, Niss. I need your help.”

“Watch out!” She shoved me back. “I’ve been working on these ubos cakes for hours.”

“Come on, Niss!” I almost yelled. “This is important.”

She threw her weight to her other hip and raised an eyebrow. “Are you telling me Father’s ubos cakes aren’t important? You know how he gets when they aren’t cooked to his tastes. He’s beheaded people for less.”

I grabbed her hand away from the cake mixture. “Forget all that. He’ll behead me if you don’t help me right now.”

She spun around, indifferent. “Nothing is that important.”

I struggled to draw in a steadying breath. “Listen, Niss. You’re my only sister and I love you, but I need you to come with me right now. It’s a matter of life and death.”

She flung her handful of mixture into the bowl and snatched up a cloth to wipe off her hands. “You don’t even have the decency to greet me properly, and you blunder in here demanding my help. I should whip your hide off for that.”

“I don’t want to rope you into this, but you’re my only hope. I’m a dead man without it. I might be a dead man, even with your help. I did something… that might have been stupid.” It really was only dawning on me now, the extent of my mistake. I had brought an outsider to our hidden home, and all because I felt indescribable, incomprehensible things about her.

What was it about Daphne?

Nissaya pinched her lips, having finally been convinced. “This better be good.”

I waved toward the door, and she followed me nonchalantly. Thankfully, my sister was the no-nonsense type. She didn’t ask questions as we wound around the paths necessary to reach the tunnel where I had hid Daphne. It was only when I stopped at the entrance that she lost her patience with me.

“What do we have to come all the way up here for?” Nissaya demanded. “Why couldn’t you just tell me in the house?”

I drew close to her and lowered my voice to a husky whisper. “I brought an alien to Caverncall, Niss. She’s a human. She was…”

Nissaya backed away and slapped my chest hard. “You blundering idiot! What did you do that for? You know how Father will react when he finds out. He hates all aliens with a passion after what the Ranxi did, and he only gets worse with every year that passes.”

“I didn’t have any choice. She got captured by the Vorlax and they killed her comrade. They would have done the same thing to her if I hadn’t intervened.”

Nissaya raised her eyebrows all over again. “You intervened with the Vorlax? How many?”

I shrugged and looked away. I didn’t want to talk about it. “It might have been four or it might have been five. The point is, I got her away from them, then I…”

“You fought four or five Vorlax—over an alien female? You have lost your mind at last.”

“Will you spare me the wisecracks? I need your help. I have to hide her until I can explain the situation to Father.”

“How do you plan to do that?” she countered. “You’d have to hide her from the entire village. There isn’t a man, woman, or child in all Caverncall who doesn’t answer to him.”

“Except you. You’re the only one who can help me. I have to keep her hidden until I have a chance to tell Father about her and explain.”

Nissaya snorted. “There isn’t anything you can tell him that will make him accept her.”

“I think I can make him understand. There was… Well, never mind about that. Will you do it?”

She threw up her hands and let them slap on her thighs. “I’ll probably live to regret this, but all right. You’re gonna owe me, though. Consider this the opening of an unlimited tab on the price you’re gonna pay me back for this.”

“Done.”

“Where is she?” Nissaya glanced about.

I motioned her to follow me and led the way to the neighboring tunnel. When I first stepped inside, I didn’t see Daphne anywhere. I feared the worst, but in half a second, she charged out of the shadows. “Garath!”

She stopped dead in her tracks when Nissaya walked around the corner. “It’s all right, Daphne,” I told her. “This is my sister, Nissaya. She’s going to help us get you into the village without being seen.”

“How is she going to do that, I wonder?” Nissaya sneered.

“You must have some idea. That’s why I came to you. You’re the most clever person I know.”

“Don’t flatter me. Where exactly do you think you’re going to keep her without Father seeing her?”

Daphne’s eyes widened. “Your father? You’re hiding me from your own father? You didn’t tell me that.”

“He hates all aliens,” Nissaya told her. “He took a blood vow when our mother died that any aliens who entered our territory would be killed on sight.”

Daphne frowned. “But humans aren’t responsible for what happened to your homeworld.”

“That means nothing,” I added. “If he finds out you’re in Caverncall, he won’t take it well.”

Daphne looked behind her into the black tunnel. “I shouldn’t be here. I should just take my chances with the Vorlax.”

“No.” I grabbed her hand. The very thought of her endangering herself like that brought out an instinct I’d never felt before. Wherever she was, I felt an undeniable certainty that she would always be safest with me. “You’re here and you’ll stay here. We can do this. We just have to figure out how.” I turned back to Nissaya. “We’ll take her to the house. She can stay in my chambers. Nobody enters my chambers without my permission anyhow.”

Nissaya burst out laughing. “You want to take her to the house—Father’s house? Forget it.”

“She’ll be safe in my chambers, so long as we can get her there unseen.”

“How do you suggest we mask her scent?” Nissaya flared her nostrils toward Daphne. “That smell is unmistakable.”

My blood rushed to my head. So I wasn’t the only one who smelled Daphne’s scent. “I’m sure the smell of your delicious ubos cakes will cover it up.”

Daphne scowled at Nissaya. “Are you saying I smell?”

“Everyone smells,” Nissaya soothed. “You smell like a human. That’s all I’m saying.”

Daphne grew silent, perhaps unsure if that was an insult. I took her arm. “Come on. The sooner we get you to the house, the safer you’ll be.”

Nissaya dodged into our path and blocked me. “Hold it right there. You can’t just waltz through the village leading her by the hand. Everyone and their mother will see her.”

I smiled wryly at her. “Yes, I’m glad you’ve caught on to that, sister. It’s why I’ve been waiting for you to come up with one of your brilliant solutions, in fact. So what do you suggest?”

“I suggest we wrap her in hides—preferably off some freshly killed prey with a scent powerful enough to mask hers. I just saw Kovo butchering a nichi. I could ask him for the skin.”

I nodded. “Sounds good. Go get it.”

She hurried away and left me alone with Daphne. As soon as Nissaya was out of sight, Daphne whispered, “Are you sure about this?”

“Absolutely. My chambers will be safe for now, and soon the entire village will be. I just need to convince Father to offer you sanctuary.”

“Your sister didn’t sound too hopeful of that. What if he doesn’t? It’s a bit of a dilemma, isn’t it? You can’t know if he approves until you tell him I’m here. And by that point…” Her eyes skimmed the cavern behind me, but I couldn’t be sure she saw what was right in front of her. “What am I saying? It won’t go badly. It will go disastrously. There has to be a better way.”

“I don’t see any better way. That’s why I’m doing this.”

Those words dropped into a chasm of silence. She didn’t try to answer. She glanced to her right and her left, then shuddered. She was starting to get the message.

I extended my hand to her and squeezed her arm. I couldn’t help it. She looked too anguished. “It will be all right. You’ll see.”

Just then, Nissaya returned. She carried the nichi skin over one shoulder and let it drop on the floor in front of Daphne. “Phew! There. That will do the trick.”

Daphne wrinkled her nose at the hide. “That smells disgusting!”

“Exactly,” I told her. “It’s the only way to get you into the village unnoticed.”

Nissaya added, “You’ve come this far. If you had a run-in with the Vorlax and somehow survived, then a little bit of stench can’t be that much worse. You can bathe afterward.”

She didn’t wait for Daphne to respond. Nissaya took a corner of the hide and flipped it aside. It unrolled on the ground to reveal the bloody inner surface. Clumps of gristle and meat still clung to the white connective tissues.

Daphne curled her upper lip at it. “It’s huge!”

“Nichi are huge creatures. This is only one section of the hide. Kovo didn’t want to part with all of it, but he let me have this.” Nissaya waved Daphne forward. “Get in and I’ll wrap you up. Then Garath can carry you to our house without anyone realizing it.”

Daphne blinked at the hide, then at Nissaya, but that crazy sister of mine finally got through to her in ways I couldn’t. Daphne swallowed hard and, grimacing and groaning, she stretched herself out on top of the hide’s gory interior.

“Perfect!” Nissaya gushed. She looped the hide over Daphne’s body.

Daphne groaned some more until Nissaya told her to be quiet. Nissaya and I rolled her over and over until the hide completely concealed her from view. I could just hear Daphne groaning in grotesque horror inside the roll.

“Be quiet, now,” Nissaya ordered. “Garath is going to pick you up and you can’t make a sound until we get to the house.”

Daphne fell silent and Nissaya nodded at me. Daphne whimpered once when I hoisted the roll onto my shoulder, but she remained totally silent as Nissaya and I headed out of the tunnel. I kept my eyes down and followed Nissaya’s feet marching in front of me. She called pleasantries to everyone who greeted us, but I concentrated solely on putting one foot in front of the other. Nothing else mattered.

I followed my sister as she veered onto the ramp leading to our family home. Just a few more intersections and we would be inside where no one would see us…

Out of nowhere, someone collided with me from my right. “What a magnificent kill, Garath! Where did you find it?”

I glanced up to see that boor Zixor leering down at me. He might have been one of our top hunters, but his overbearing need to compare victories and repeat stories of his exploits drove most people mad.

I tried to push past him, but he fell in step with me, bombarding me with questions. “Look at the silver luster on the coat! It’s even better than Kovo’s latest kill.”

“Sure is.”

“Did you find it in the Evergreen Swamp? I haven’t been down there yet, but I hear the pickings are excellent.” When I grunted a response, Zixor pushed further. “Go on, Garath. Tell me. It will be a secret between us.”

That was a joke. Zixor couldn’t keep a secret to save his life. He kept barging into me and nearly toppling me under the weight of Daphne and the heavy hide. I was just about to shove him off the path when Nissaya saved the day.

She hustled up to me and wedged herself between me and Zixor. She pushed him away from the roll, which was just as well, because although the nichi skin masked her scent, I could still smell her through its thick layers.

“Excuse us, Zixor,” Nissaya told him, “but we have to get this nichi prepared for Father’s evening meal tonight. You know how particular he is about his food, and I don’t dare delay. Please let Garath through. Thank you.”

She didn’t wait for Zixor to agree. Nissaya planted herself between us and held Zixor at bay, making a clear space for me to mount the last ramp to Father’s house. Zixor wasn’t one to give Nissaya much push back—in fact, she was probably the only person who could keep him at bay, given his crush on her.

Still, I sensed his eyes burning into my back as I walked away. I marched on regardless, climbing the steps to our dwelling and bursting through the front door, precious cargo in tow.