Chapter Nine
MANDY HADN’T EXPECTED the attack. Everyone had been more than friendly to her since her arrival. “Huh? Why?”
“You offworlders. You don’t belong with our males. We are a worthy race filled with openness and connection to all things. Yet you come with your tainted blood and your alien technology and ruin what you do not understand.”
Watta seemed to be a few years younger than Mandy, but not by much. A young woman, mature enough to realize she had no business warning Mandy off Lore.
“If he wanted you, don’t you think he would have gone after you already?”
Watta flushed, stunning despite the ugly anger on her face. Like the other female barbarians, she had a slight frame, muscular yet toned. She stood a few inches taller than Mandy, had long dark hair and golden eyes. Her skin, like the males, was a smooth tan. Truly beautiful—on the outside.
Mandy continued, “And with your talk of offworlder ‘taint,’ you have to realize Lore’s green eye isn’t native to your world.”
Watta snapped, “See? You insult one of our finest warriors. He’s worth ten of your human scum.”
“Insult? I’m just saying—”
“You do not know the value of what you’ve been given.” Watta leaned closer and had the audacity to poke Mandy in the chest. Behind her, Kahl frowned and closed the distance between them. “And Zehn, he is not for you either. You, woman with eyes ofauhleh.” Watta sniffed and left as Kahl joined them.
“Are you all right?” he asked, concerned.
“I’m fine. She’s just jealous.”
He blinked. “Jealous?”
Now it was Mandy’s turn to blush. “Never mind.” She walked back into the village center, Kahl at her side.
“May I ask a question?”
“Sure.” She waited for something else to throw her off her game.
“Why did we not pair before? Did you seek two for pleasure instead of one?”
Yep. There it was. Something else she didn’t want to talk about. “I had no plan to pair with anyone,” she said frankly. “I’m still not sure how I ended up getting with Zehn and Lore. It just…happened.”Because I’ve never seen anything sexier than those two making love.
“Ah. They are a force.” He smiled. “Our finest warriors aside from our alpha and beta. Yet I would have you know I’m also skilled. Our best axe man, as you will see when we join the Cloud Games to show off our skills. In another month or two, we shall all compete.”
She didn’t think she’d still be around by then, but stranger things had been known to happen. Like Mandy having crazy sex with two alien barbarians.
He continued to talk about the celebration that sounded more like an Olympic event. Saved by Lisa, Mandy joined her friend with the weaving women. Intrigued, she watched as they wove fragile strands of the maffet leaves into a patterned basket.
“Isn’t it cool?” Lisa asked. “They use the maffet tree for everything. The finer the threads, the easier it is to make clothing. Then you can weave the leaves into baskets or roofing. And the wood is good for everything from housing and furniture to boats that the northern tribe, the Water Tribe, supposedly uses.”
Mandy tried her hand at thinning threads from the leaves using their process and ended up loving it. She’d tried knitting once at home and had enjoyed the routine. But a woman who could create and manipulate fire from thought had no need of idle pastimes. Here, the women welcomed her to try.
The rest of the day passed in a blur as she helped her new friends make goods for trade in the open market. Yet her thoughts remained on Lore’s declaration of affection…and Zehn’s absence.
***
Zehn knew the time had come to convince his pretty woman to stay. After the mess Lore had made earlier—a mess Zehn didn’t think a mess at all, but Lore was beside himself thinking he’d put more distance between them—they had agreed on a new way of dealing with her.
He tapped at the outside of her dwelling and waited.
“Zehn? Come in.”
He pushed aside the thin shield of vines hanging down to afford her privacy and entered to find her going through the many gifts he and Lore had given her.
She glanced up at him with a frown. “What am I supposed to do with all this?”
