“I’m pretty sure no woman wants to be taken, either. They have lives and families.”
I smile. “True.” I want to ask about her family, but I suspect that she’ll give me another glare and stop talking. “So, what is the plan for today?”
“You can leave.”
“I can, but I’m not going to. If you don’t want to share, that’s fine. I’ll just follow. But I want to find a stream to top up my water skin.” I offer it to her, both so she can take a drink and feel its weight, or lack of weight.
She takes a couple of swallows before handing it back. “I want to head for the foothills. From there I should be able to get a bearing. Maybe there’ll also be a stream.”
“Let’s hope so, or by this time tomorrow, things are going to be dire.”
5
RUBY
My legs are tired, and my body aches from sleeping on the ground. I really don’t understand why he hasn’t picked me up and carried me back to his brothers…who aren’t his actual brothers but other banished men.
I’m struggling to believe that their families cast them out because they were fourth born sons. Sure, there are more men than women, but there has to be alternatives, right?
Though I don’t know what they are.
I’m used to him following now. He doesn’t attempt to walk next to me, or even to talk to me. And when I glance back he seems quite content, ambling along in the dappled sunlight. The dark red leaves aren’t what I saw in books about Earth. There the trees are green. As is the grass.
While I’m used to him, I’m annoyed he is there. But at the same time I’m grateful that I’m not alone on this strange world. I don’t like the twisting, sharp edges that causes within me. I should hate him.
But I can’t because he never asked to be banished, and he’s just doing what his people do. And getting back to the colony is what I need to do.
There I know what to do, when to do it, and what is expected of me.
I’m not sure what he wants… Well, I can guess. If I was him, and I’d been living with other male warriors for years, I’d want to get laid. I open my mouth to ask if that’s what he’s hoping for and shut it just as fast. I don’t even know his name.
I scowl. I’m sure it was used yesterday, but there was so much going on and my thoughts were consumed with escape, not with getting friendly.
“What’s your name, Banished Warrior?” I could call him Alien, but this is his world, which means I am the alien.
“Aldit.”
I say his name softly to myself, so I don’t forget. I want to ask him for water, but his water skin is almost empty. The meat we ate for breakfast was enough to wake my stomach, but not enough to sate my hunger.
A small part of me wants him to pick me up and carry me back. Of course, I’d hate him as soon as I was rested. And once I return to the colony and write my report on the screamer attack, the capture and fight with the colony soldiers, what will happen?
Will the leaders want Aldit and his brothers removed because they pose a threat? Or will they be left alone? Will they mount a rescue for the other three women?
I don’t know the answers, and I feel as though I should.
It’s not his fault that we ran into each other.
Nor is it mine, yet someone will suffer.
“I hear water,” he says.
I turn, and he’s already stepping off the path to search for the sound I can’t hear. I pause for only a heartbeat before following.
The stream is only a few yards away and I don’t hear it until I’m almost in it.
He stands by the edge, lips pursed, looking very unimpressed.
“What’s wrong?” My mouth fills with saliva as I watch the water flow over the rocks and carry on toward what I guess is the big river that we followed yesterday.
