“Oh, too much grass there?” Kenz’ox pretends to translate. “How about here? Notenoughgrass, you say? I see.”
They finally find a spot at the edge of the clearing, toward the beach. It’s obviously where Kenz’ox was planning to build it the whole time, but I appreciate that he’s trying to entertain me and running with my little impulsive joke about the baby supervising the project.
Damn it.He is actually an incredible man. He could have completely railroaded this, taken over the saucer, and kicked me out. Instead, he’s letting me decide things and agreeing to my suggestions, seeking compromises and being constructive.
I wonder if he’ll think about the Borok tribe. Going there might really be the best thing for both of them. Aker’iz would have friends and other women to relate to growing up. Other girls, even. While Kenz’ox would certainly be a valued tribesman.
When he looks back at me, the evening light catches in his hair, emphasizing the golden strands.
“You work hard,” he says simply.
“So do you.”
We just stand there for a heartbeat. The air between us is warm and seems to shimmer. For the first time, I feel that having them here could actually work. But I’ll have to keep them at arm’s length as much as I can, and I have to ignore the purely physical attraction I feel. That kiss lit a heat in me that just won’t go out.
Aker’iz gurgles something that sounds suspiciously like a happy chuckle.
I clear my throat. “We should eat something.”
“We have fresh meat,” he says, still watching me.
I turn away first. The air feels even heavier now, as if the world is holding its breath.
That’s when I hear it: a faint hum from inside the saucer, as well as a subtle change of the blue light inside it.
I whirl around. “What was that?”
10
–Kenz’ox–
Dorie suddenly goes into the Plood ship and stays there.
“Let’s do some cooking,” I tell Aker’iz as I add wood to the fire. “You’ve had enough for now, I think. And you don’t like this anyway. Soon, when your teeth get a little bigger.”
My thoughts keep returning to Dorie. It’s hard to believe that she’s staying here just to repair the ship when she knows about a tribe where she could live safely. Nobody would choose to live outside of a tribe unless they had to, like Aker’iz and me. It’s as if she’s waiting for something.
And her skill with the spear… I’ve never seen anyone so accurate. She took down an irox when I was sure it would kill us both.
“It’s mysterious,” I mutter softly. “Nothing makes sense about her. Do you think…couldshe be the Woman?”
Aker’iz reaches for the fire, but it’s too far away to be a danger.
I try to remember the shaman’s lecture about the Prophecy. “A man would meet the Woman in the jungle. Then worship her in the special way, and then there was a Gift… was it from her or from him? Then she would mate with the man, and she would become the Mother of Xren…”
Thinking back to that lecture, which was by far the most popular the shaman ever gave, I find that I remember everything he told us about the Woman’s body. And how it should be worshipped.
He wasn’t wrong, but the full experience of a naked woman was much more powerful than his wooden doll. Oh, Dorie was wonderful, fighting the irox naked, and then standing on the beach as the sea Big dragged the irox into the depths. That is something the Woman could have done.
Aker’iz complains about me standing still for too long. I can tell from her tone that what she really needs is sleep.
“But that’s not your problem,” I tell her. “I will figure it out. This is where Dorie keeps her salt. Should we use some?” I open the jar and drizzle some of the salt on the sizzling meat. “We’ll just make more later. Or find it in that ocean.”
The baby soon falls asleep in my arms, and I gently put her into her pack and lean it on a rock at an angle, the way she prefers it.
The Woman. Worship. And even if she’s not the Woman, the shaman assured us it would be pleasant for her, and that it would be appropriate to honor any woman in that way. I can certainly see how it would be pleasant forme.
Perhaps that’s why she’s being distant and cool. She expects worship, but of course she can’t ask for it.
