Barbarian King’s Mate by Ivy Sparks
Chapter Seven
Daphne
After walkingthrough a large corridor in what must’ve been a massive home, Garath set me down on the ground and the disgusting, bloody, spongy hide peeled off me. I sprang to my feet, trying to shake that horrible sensation off my skin. “That was much worse than I thought it’d be—and I thought it’d be horrible!”
“Take it easy.” Nissaya sauntered over to a bunch of cooking gear spread out by a smoldering fire pit. It was easy to see how she was related to Garath, though her horns were small compared to his massive ones. Her skin was a lighter, almost lavender color compared to his dark tan, and while she was muscular, she was leaner, like an amazon. She turned to me and pointed at a large clay pot. “Here’s some water you can use to wash yourself, but you have to keep quiet.”
I kept hopping up and down. No matter what I did, I still felt the creeping feeling of that squishy skin all over me. “I need a shower, and soap.”
Garath cocked his head. “Soap?”
I cringed. “God, please don’t tell me you don’t even have soap.”
Seeing that I didn’t want to move with all this goop on me, Nissaya carried the pot to where I stood. She then set it on the floor and handed me something. “Use this.”
I looked down at a piece of buffed leather in my hand. It reminded me of a cloth used for polishing furniture. “What’s this for?”
Nissaya laughed. “Clean yourself with it.”
Without a word of warning, she picked up the water jar again, hoisted it above my head, and poured a steady trickle into my hair. It acted exactly like the shower I was just lamenting not getting.
The gunk drained from my hair and washed off my skin. I ran my fingers through my hair until it was as clean as it could get. Then I started rubbing my skin with the cloth.
The water ran out and Nissaya went to fetch another pot. She kept pouring water over me until I washed all the grossness off myself.
She and Garath kept up a steady dialogue while I did this. “You really are a dunce for bringing her here,” Nissaya snapped over her shoulder at her brother. “You deserve to get your head cut off when Father finds out.”
“Then you’re as stupid as I am for not turning me in,” Garath returned.
Nissaya ignored his counter and put down the jar. She pointed at the nichi skin and mumbled, “Help me roll this up, then you take it back to Kovo. I told him I wouldn’t need it for long. That I just wanted to compare it to a nichi you hunted.”
“Where is he?”
“Down at Obeon’s house.”
Garath lifted the skin and headed for the door. Like a lost puppy, I strained my neck to keep him in my sight, and when he glanced back, he chuckled. “Don’t worry, Daphne. You’re in good hands with my sister.”
I nodded briefly, and he disappeared outside. So far his sister did seem more than competent, but Garath had become something like a security blanket since the moment we met.
Nissaya did something over by the fire, though she had a little smirk on her face. “My brother has taken to you, and it seems mutual. Hm?”
I wasn’t about to admit that. “He saved me, so I owe him a lot.”
“He doesn’t risk his hide for just anyone. There’s something more. Maybe that’s why he thinks he can convince Father… Anyhow, when you’re finished there, you can have some ubos cakes. Then it’s straight to Garath’s chambers, where you’ll be safe.”
I took my first good look around the house in which I found myself. The water I used to bathe went through cracks in a floor constructed of thick, cylindrical canes. Skins covered a bench against one wall, with a table making for a comfy place to eat a meal. Other than that, I didn’t see much furniture.
Weapons and the stuffed heads of various alien creatures hung on the walls. Everywhere I looked, everything seemed to be made of stone, plants, and leather from skins.
A section of the wall gave a view of what Garath and Nissaya called a village. It wasn’t a village, though. It was really a city—a gargantuan tribal city.
I didn’t see where they were carrying me when I was inside the nichi skin. Now I saw how this house perched on one edge of the cavern wall, giving a view of a sweeping vista over the valley. Countless dwellings extended as far as the eye could see, with the sun bathing everything in a heavenly light. It really was beautiful.
Nissaya shook me from my thoughts. “It isn’t as nice as Kavius, but it’s a shelter in a storm for now.”
I turned around to see her patting some cakes and putting them on top of a large hot rock that sat on the embers. It was then that I noticed tattoos covered her arms, shoulders, and chest. They vanished under the loose wrap around her breasts, but when she turned away, I saw them angling down her back like Garath’s did. The lines were finer and in a different pattern, but they covered the same area in a mass of dark swirls, designs, and combinations.
“Do the tattoos mean anything?” I ventured to ask.
She smiled up at me. Her large, gray eyes twinkled, and for a second, I almost forgot she was an alien. “The tattoos speak of our lineage, battles fought, loved ones lost. They serve as a reminder. Now come, sit down. You must be hungry.”
I didn’t want to admit just how hungry I was. I inched toward the fire and lowered myself to the ground on the opposite side of her.
She held out a cake and cracked a huge grin. “You won’t get anything to eat sitting over there. Come over here. I won’t bite you, although I can’t be so sure you wouldn’t do the same to me.”
My head shot up before I realized she was teasing. I got so used to thinking about all the monsters that might kill me that I never considered that some other alien might think I was dangerous. What a thought.
I scooted around next to her, and she handed me the cake. Its consistency reminded me of a biscuit. It felt dry, but smelled sweet.
Nissaya added, “There’s more water over there if you’re thirsty.”
I brought the cake to my lips and mumbled, “Thanks. I really appreciate your hospitality.” To my surprise, the cake actually tasted delicious. It had a nutty, sweet flavor. I didn’t dare ask what was in it.
“You must be pining for your own homeworld,” Nissaya went on. “You can understand how we feel.”
“I wouldn’t say I’m pining for it, but I wouldn’t mind getting back there. Things must be pretty bad for your people on this planet—if you have to hide in this cavern.”
Garath returned in time to hear this. He did something over by the bench and didn’t try to enter the conversation. He sat down next to Nissaya, and she gave him his own ubos cake. He ate while he listened to us talk.
“It isn’t so bad, as you can see,” Nissaya replied. “We’re doing pretty well, considering the circumstances.”
“Do the Vorlax hunt you too?” I asked. “Is that why you have to keep hidden?”
Nissaya shook her head. “It isn’t the Vorlax we have to worry about. The Ranxi are still searching for the last Kavians who escaped Kavius. If they found out some of us were hiding here, they would attack again. They would annihilate or enslave everyone. They aren’t ones to leave a job half done.”
“Wow,” I breathed. “That’s bad.”
“What about you?” she asked. “How did you end up a captive of the Vorlax?”
“They attacked me and my mentor while we were exploring the forest. We landed here to study the habitat for potential human colonization.” Nissaya snorted at that. “Don’t laugh. We didn’t know the Vorlax were here.”
“They weren’t here. They only came here in the last couple of years.”
“Well, they’re here now,” I sighed. “Which means we won’t be colonizing this planet unless they disappear. We didn’t see any sign of them on the beach, and we must have bushwhacked our way through a couple of miles of jungle before we climbed that hill. They must have had some way of tracking us because they came at us in full force.”
To my surprise, Nissaya whirled around and assailed her brother. “You didn’t tell me this! I thought the Vorlax had merely happened upon her. Why didn’t you say they had tracked her and organized an attack?”
I wasn’t sure what difference that made, but Garath responded, “I was going to, though at the time, we had more important things to discuss. But yes, these Vorlax appear to be getting more intelligent. And I might have a theory why… There was something strange about the specific Vorlax that captured her. I was waiting to speak to Father about it.”
Nissaya turned back to me. “If the Vorlax attacked you like that, my father, Narrock, might grant you sanctuary until you can reunite with your clan. As much as he hates outsiders, he might take pity on a victim of the Vorlax. He hates those pests almost as much as he hates the Ranxi.”
“That would be great.” I didn’t tell her that human research scientists didn’t operate in clans, but that wasn’t important.
Garath continued, “It’s a long shot, but that was what I was thinking too, that he’d take pity. I still believe that somewhere deep down, father still has a heart.”
Nissaya shrugged, not seeming as convinced. “Either way, we’ll have to keep her hidden for now, just in case.”
Garath turned to his sister. “Daphne believes her fallen comrade had a communications device to signal her ship. If we can return and retrieve it, we might be able to contact her people so they can retrieve her. She can also warn them of the dangers of this planet.”
Nissaya nodded. “Maybe Father will be more willing to accept her if it’s only temporary. It will be dangerous though, going back into Vorlax territory, but we’ve dealt with worse.”
I fingered the piece of cake in my hand. I couldn’t look at them. They already went to enormous lengths to bring me here. Now they were talking about going back into danger—for me.
I didn’t want them to, but if my presence really did jeopardize their people, maybe going back to the Quest was the best course after all. It was the one course that would endanger the fewest people. What did one life mean compared to the survival of an entire species that was already under threat from annihilation?
Nissaya leaned over and laid her hand on my arm. “You’re tired. You should get some rest.”
Garath sprang to his feet. “She’ll rest in my chambers, where she’ll be safe. I’ll sleep elsewhere for now.”
He crossed the room to a corridor, motioning at the room it led to. I stood and followed, watching as he opened a door to a large bedroom. A mattress occupied the center of the floor, resting on a raised base. A gauzy curtain draped over it and several windows gave another magnificent view across the cavern.
I gazed through the door at that bed. It looked so inviting, so clean and comfortable that I didn’t dare to enter. “I couldn’t. I wouldn’t want to intrude.”
“Nonsense.” Garath stepped inside and started doing random things around the room. I didn’t see what he was doing. All I could see was that bed.
It presented a completely different reality from the forest hut in which he and I had spent the last night. For some reason, I let myself believe he was some kind of animal who always slept in holes and rats nests in the forest. I didn’t think of him as… well, as a civilized person.
This was his house—his home. The nice woman who just fed me and bathed me was his sister. This beautiful retreat was his chamber.
He stopped in the middle of the room and looked around. “It isn’t much, but you’ll be safe and comfortable here. If you hear voices outside, don’t go out unless you’re sure Niss and I are alone. Father entertains here, so others come and go regularly. You could hide beneath the bed, if it came down to that. I’m not sure when Father will be in a good enough mood for me to approach him, so we might need to keep you hidden for a while.”
“It’s all right,” I told him. “I understand. I won’t do anything to put any of us in danger.” I wondered just how long I’d be hiding in his room, but I knew it’d be best for him to wait until the perfect time.
Garath inclined his head the other way, and his expression changed. “If you need anything, I’ll be right outside.”
I nodded and stood, stepping into his room. So many overpowering emotions flooded my heart that I couldn’t speak. This was all too much—all of it. I could never repay him and Nissaya for their help.
Before I could stop him, he walked out of the room and shut the door behind him. He left me alone with that bed—his bed. Would it smell like him? Would it give me dreams of him?
I took a step toward it. His voice rose outside the room and Nissaya answered him. They might’ve been talking about me, but I was overcome with exhaustion. This was the first time I’d been alone since Philippa died, and the first time I’d felt truly safe since…
I couldn’t remember when I felt this safe. I didn’t feel safe on the Quest because I didn’t really want to go into space at all. I kept expecting some disaster to strike the way it struck my parents.
I didn’t even feel safe at the Academy of Sciences before I left Earth. My last catastrophic relationship kept me in a state of stress for years. I didn’t realize it until long after the relationship ended. All the signs were there of a coming implosion, but I had ignored them.
Even before that, going all the way back to my childhood, I always guarded myself against some unforeseen assault. Even when I knew I wasn’t in immediate danger, I guarded myself. With my parents working out in space, I never really felt safe, even on Earth. I always stayed on high alert, just in case something happened.
I wasn’t perfectly safe now—far from it. Still, this house, and this room—Garath’s room—surrounded me in heavenly safety. For the first time, I felt like I could finally let my guard down. Someone else was looking out for me. I could shut my eyes, because Garath was right outside that door. He would fight and die to protect me. I didn’t doubt it. I was never so certain that anyone else in my life would do the same thing.
I kicked off my shoes and socks. I took off the shredded remains of my pants and unwrapped the piece of leather Garath gave me to cover my chest. I piled everything in the corner and sat down on the bed.
It bounced with a soft, springy feeling, the mattress filled with some sort of spongy material. I crawled under the delightfully clean blankets and the gauze curtains swished into place. They softened the light and shut out all care. I was safe. I was comfortable. I was asleep.
