"Come inside. We'll eat," Zana said, leading the way.
Midori followed with Cael and Pugly trailing right after. Tribesmen and women backed away but nodded politely as they passed. Midori gave them a tentative smile as she walked by. She was grateful for their hospitality, but just as wary of them as they were of her and Cael.
"Your pet will have to wait outside," Zana said, nodding at Pugly.
"My pet?"
"Oh, that you would someday give me such a glorious title! I long for the day," Pugly sang and sat obediently outside the hut.
Midori’s eyes adjusted to the darkened room as she walked through the door. It was larger than she'd assumed from the outside. The building was round, with a low circular table in the middle taking up most of the room. Curved wooden stairs on one side led up to a balcony running along the top, creating a second floor looking down over the middle of the room. Members of the village stood shoulder to shoulder along the ledge, while Zephryn and the other tribesmen who were with him sat on the floor around the table.
Zana pointed to where Midori and Cael were to sit. By this time, other curious youngsters were following them as well and sat on the floor behind them, giggling and whispering behind their hands. The table held a feast of food. Midori nearly wept at the sight of it. A blessing of thankfulness and a prayer of sorrow for the fallen was said, and then the feast began.
Zana began piling up Midori's plate, and some of the other children joined in to serve Cael. Midori took a grateful bite of some kind of meat, so happy to have it hot and freshly cooked. She'd happily never eat another piece of dried jerky again.
She was so busy eating her fill, she hadn't been paying attention to the conversation between Zephryn and the other tribesmen sitting around the table. But when she turned to see how Cael was enjoying his fare, she noticed his full attention was on their discussion.
"They're discussing the best way to free the women in the city," he explained.
The discussion was becoming heated. Evidently, some villagers didn't want Cael and Midori involved at all.
"Some of them blame us for the vyrmm's attack and the death of their tribesmen," Cael whispered in her ear.
Midori noticed the sour stares from a few young warriors sitting to Zephryn's right side. One in particular, a young man with a stony glare and unblinking black eyes, made shivers run up her spine. She didn't need Pugly's telepathy to know what he was thinking. That man hated them.
"Zana," she asked when the child handed her more food, "who is that man staring at us? He looks upset."
"Ah, that's Jessa." Her smile disappeared, and her eyes grew moist. "His woman, Ananika, was taken by the four-armers. I like Ananika. She tells the best stories. I hope they bring her back."
"I hope so too."
Midori returned her gaze to the young man. Although he had stopped staring at her and Cael with fire in his eyes, his face remained hard.
"They don't look like they want our help," Midori said.
Cael nodded and took a bite from a piece of green and yellow fleshed fruit.
"But you and I both know the two of us have the best shot of getting to the slave quarters. If you pretend to be a guard, and I'm your prisoner?—"
"That's too risky. I can't guarantee your safety. No, it's better if I simply come clean about who I am. If I turn myself in to the guards as the prince, I might convince them to release the tribe's women."
"And what if your uncle has issued an order to have you captured or worse—executed? You've been gone for weeks. There's no telling what they've been told to do. At least with my plan, you'll have a way out. Plus, you'll have the help of the tribe."
"I don't like it. Too many things can go wrong."
"It didn't stop you from standing up to a bunch of guards the first day we met. Or throwing me into an escape pod to rescue me from an exploding ship. Or scaling a cave wall so I wouldn't fall. You've protected me from the moment we met, even when something could go wrong. I know you'll do it again, even though we're walking right into danger. I trust you, Cael. You need to trust yourself, too."
Cael gave her a grim, studied look for a moment and nodded. "You're right."
Midori gave him a thin-lipped smile and stood up from the table with her hands on her hips.
"Chief Zephryn," she raised her voice over the din of the heated conversations.
Jessa turned his gaze to her, his jaw clenched so hard Midori could see the muscles pulsing beneath his skin. She forced herself to look away.
"Chief Zephryn!" she yelled above the conversation. This time, the crowd quieted as Midori spoke. "We have a plan."
It was late afternoon by the time the details were set. They planned to leave in the morning before dawn. A few tribesmen had already done some reconnaissance, though it was dangerous for them to stay too long in the city. They were jungle people, and it would draw too much attention to stay there for any real period of time, especially close to the slave quarters.
