Indeed. I’d never been to a city such as this. It didn’t surprise me that my clan brothers wanted to explore.
“Where are we going?” Zakai asked Simon, completely ignoring my original plan of sticking around a while to answer questions from the clan. I rolled my eyes, stepping away to speak with Orthorr, who was in conversation with a handful of clan leaders around the communal fire.
“Ah, Uttin. You’re here. Good. We need to discuss a few things. Bren has made an interesting suggestion. Some of the older generations are struggling with the constant moving. He is considering petitioning the king and queen for a more permanent development for one or two of the clans. As you know, we never considered it before now because of the animosity between the towns and our people. It was safer to follow the herd.”
Given that most towns wouldn’t trade with us willingly, I agreed with him. But a more permanent development might not be a bad idea. It would spare those unable to travel and give us a place to return to without giving up our way of life.
“That sounds good. Would you like me to bring it up to the king and queen?”
Orthorr nodded once. “Since the documents for the alliance between us are still being drawn up, I feel it is a good time to do so. It may take them time to find a good place—we are unfamiliar with the terrain—but perhaps not in the city proper. It is… crowded.”
That made me laugh. That was an understatement. I thought the towns where tributes lived were crowded with their rooms stacked on top of one another, but the capital city of Al Nuzem was more crowded than all of the towns combined. It would be easy to get lost for days inside and never find your way out.
We discussed for a while what a true development would need, and what we could get for ourselves versus what we would need to import. At one point, I asked Zakai to join me, but he whined and complained until Orthorr and the other clan leaders agreed to join the group heading for the communal bath. I hadn’t known there was such a thing, but apparently Simon had found it while exploring the city, and they’d been discussing visiting when we arrived.
We went because I couldn’t deny Zakai anything he wanted, and I also wasn’t going to say no to another bath. Despite the size of the communal one, the water was hot and clean. Several of my fellow brothers sank into it much like I had, with groans of satisfaction and blissful expressions. Their bondmates all laughed, having experienced true baths before, and cuddled up to their lovers.
The conversation picked up where it had left off, this time with Zakai’s input on the surrounding area and what might be feasible, and what his parents might allow. He seemed intrigued by the notion and asked a member of the staff to fetch him a map so he could show us places that might work. There was a vast forest not too far south from the capital that might suit our needs, but he warned that the creatures of that forest were dangerous, and not many ventured into it willingly. Since we were used to that in the forest where we settled in the winter, it wasn’t an immediate deterrent, and I asked Rath to join the conversation to go over what he felt would and wouldn’t be an issue.
Watching Zakai as he gestured to the map, talking grandly with a brightness in his eyes that I rarely saw when we were farther north, I considered our clan being one of those that stayed in Al Nuzem. What reason did we have to return aside from the herd? And from what Orthorr had been told by King Zohaib, there were many animals in this country that could feed the clans. I knew it would make Zakai happy to stay close to his home, and he wasn’t a fan of the cold.
But it wasn’t just my decision on where we would go. The clan had to decide such a thing together. I would not be a clan leader that forced them into unhappiness just because of the needs of one person. Even if that person was my bondmate.
“Orthorr.” I spoke low so as not to interrupt Zakai’s explanation of dealing with the heat no matter the time of year.
Orthorr looked at me, and a smirk pulled at his lips when he took in my expression. He nodded once. “I know. I thought of it as well. We will bring it to the clan and see what they think. It is our way of life to follow the herd, but perhaps it is time for change. After all, accepting male tributes has led us here, to a country that accepts us and wants to make an alliance with us. Sometimes, change is a good thing.”
Twenty-Six
ZAKAI
The wedding was a several-day event. There were ceremonies each day that had to be done to bless the wedding and our marriage, as well as meetings to finalize the alliance. My mother did everything she could to include pieces of the barbarian culture, but a good deal of it was what I’d experienced each time my siblings had married. Day after day of old men and women droning on about the sanctity of marriage and future prosperity. It was boring, especially since none of it seemed to be about me and Uttin. They said the same thing at every wedding. Mine wasn’t special. I hated that.
An arm came around my waist, stopping me from hitting the old priest who had droned on for the last hour. Most of the room was falling asleep at this point.
“Be at ease, tavi,” Uttin murmured against my ear.
“But he’s so boring,” I complained under my breath. If I actually made a scene, my mother wouldn’t hesitate to punish me.
“Think of other things until he is finished,” Uttin coached.
I frowned at him. “Like what?”
“Like the final ceremony tomorrow. It is the biggest, yes? And afterward, we will be done with all the fuss.”
Leaning heavily into him, I bit back a sigh. “Can’t we be done now? I just want to drag you to our rooms and?—”
Clapping filled the room, signaling the end of the priest’s droning speech. I breathed a sigh of relief, taking Uttin’s hand as he helped me to my feet. But before I could sneak away with him, my sister grabbed my arm, pulling me out of Uttin’s grasp and pushing me into the herd of my siblings waiting behind her.
“What—What are you doing?!” I demanded incredulously.
“It’s the night before your wedding,” Samira chided. “You will not stay with your intended this night. Honestly, you should not have been staying with him this entire time, but Mother and Father overlooked that since they are still feeling the urge to baby you after your kidnapping.”
“We’re not that nice,” Nadia added, clutching my arm with her talon-like nails. “You’re staying with your family tonight. Tomorrow, you can return to your man.”
“Wha—But—” I protested, but they gave me no chance to argue. With seven siblings, I had no hope of overpowering them. Uttin watched the exchange with amusement before letting his own clan brothers drag him away. At least if he was with them, I could hope that he wouldn’t find Orthorr and start working again. I wanted him to relax.
Because my siblings knew me well, they didn’t try to demand we go out drinking. That would end in disaster for us all. Especially if Nadia challenged me to a drinking contest. She was the smallest of us but drank like a fish. Instead, they had set up an evening of pampering with massages, body wraps, and rejuvenation pools. And they brought me all my favorite foods as well. I put up with their interference for a time. Begrudgingly.
