I put on the clean pair of socks that was also supplied, and then my boots. My boots have seen much better days. It is only Aldit’s patching that has kept them in wearable condition. Perhaps now there will be time to make us all new boots.
We brought the hides we’d been preparing with us—we had put in too much work to leave them. And if we do not need to prepare for winter, he can practice his father’s trade.
Once again, it reminds me that I never learned a trade.
I was raised to be a banished warrior; to survive…no one ever prepared me for what happened if I survived and needed to live.
4
YVA
The counselor stares at me. He has a piece of technology in front of him that he keeps writing on. Every time he asks me a question, he notes my answer. I hope his whisperer translates my words correctly.
While the door to the room is closed, the guard who walked me over here is on the other side. I’d like to believe he is there for my protection, but it is much more likely that he is there for the counselor. The humans do not trust me, even though it is the humans who attacked us.
So far, the man on the other side of the desk has asked about my tribe and what it means to be banished. I am sure brothers told him the same things that I am, or will tell him the same thing when they speak with him.
All fourth born sons are banished.
However, different tribes prepare their fourth born sons differently. Something I hadn’t realized until talking to my brothers.
“So you learned how to hunt and fight to increase your odds of survival?” The man is frowning as if confused.
“That is correct.”
“But the only way you can return home is if you have a mate.”
“No. The only way I can return home is if I bring a woman. She is then free to choose her own mate from the warriors in my tribe.”
The lines in his forehead deepen. “And then what would happen?”
“I do not understand the question.” Perhaps my whisperer is not translating correctly.
He stares at me for several heartbeats. Perhaps he did not understand his own question. “Let’s pretend you have taken a woman and brought her to your tribe. What do you do?”
“That depends. Did she choose me as a mate or not?” While the incentive of being able to return home with a woman has always existed, no banished warrior has ever returned to my tribe. There are rumors that a banished warrior returned several generations ago to a different tribe.
And while we all dreamed of returning, I think we all knew it was a lie. Something for us to talk about around the campfire and for our parents to cling to. Does any tribe really expect a banished warrior to return when no one expects them to live for more than a year or two at most?
“Yes, she chose you.”
If she chose me, it is because my mother is chief, but the outcome is the same. “Then I work to ensure her happiness.”
“And what work is that?” he presses.
“I would be part of the hunting parties. The hunting parties prepare the meat and preserve it. We also prepare the hide for the leather workers, prepare the bones for use and carve them into handles for blades, or beads, or spoons. One cannot hunt in the depths of winter, yet people always need things made from bone.” Whittling and carving of bone and wood is an important skill.
“So you dealt with anything that involved a carcass?”
I nod, agreeing with him.
“And that would be your contribution to your tribe?”
“And also protecting my tribe from invaders.” I hold his gaze. “I am the most skilled fighter amongst my brothers.”
He makes a noise. “We did not offer you a place in our colony to hold a weapon.”
“No, you want to learn how we survive. How our tribes thrive.”
