The male leading us away had a gentle demeanor that reminded me a lot of Brexl.
“How do you know Brexl?” Taylor asked.
“He is my grandson.” The male beamed with pride at the mention of his grandson.
Taylor glared at the elder male and I knew what she was thinking.Why didn’t you go with him?I thought that too when I saw what I assumed was Drovo’s father.
Trivix’s house was a small one room dwelling with a thatched roof. The four corners of the house were filled with a bed, supply baskets, a fireplace, and a table.
“Come sit at my table. I will pour you some tea.”Trivix led us to a short-legged table, and we sat on cushions on the floor.
He scurried to his corner of supply baskets and pulled out two bone cups and a wooden jar with a leaf etched on the front.
“Here you go.” He placed the cups in front of us and opened the tea jar.
“Oh,” the older male with bushy gray eyebrows and long unkempt gray hair to match frowned into the jar. “I hadn’t realized I’d run out of tea.”
He wore an embarrassed expression on his face as he looked up from the jar.
“You two stay here. I’ll return shortly with some fresh tea leaves.”
He left the house in a hurry and we watched him leave through the door he’d left open.
Taylor turned to me with a concerned look on her face. “What are we going to do now?”
“Well, we can’t be here when the full moon hits. I don’t like these guys one bit and I don’t doubt for a second they’ll keep us here against our will once we don’t glow for Drovo and Brexl.”
“Yeah, I assumed that as well. My concern is that they might hurt the guys in order to prevent them from making it back to the mountain. The other women won’t stand for us to be kept here against our will, but no one knows where we are. If Drovo and Brexl are killed, there will be no way for us to get back to the others.”
“They can’t kill Drovo and Brexl. The two of them could face down this entire dekes and stillsurvive,” I stated.
“That’s true.” Taylor chewed her bottom lip. “But they’re strangely obedient to them, too.”
“Annoyingly so,” I agreed.
I sat and thought for a moment about our dilemma.
“We need to figure out where they are keeping the guys. I’m assuming they aren’t going to just let them wander around the valley of their own free will.”
“No, they’re going to keep them tied up for sure.” I chewed on my bottom lip. “Once we figure out where they are, we need to figure out how to get them out of here.”
Before Taylor could respond, Trivix came back with a basket full of yellow flowers and loose leaves.
“These flowers make a very tasty tea,” he commented as he settled a water pouch over the fire.
“Where are you from? I’ve never seen anyone like you two before,” he began.
“We’re humans from Earth. We were kidnapped from our homes and the ship we were on crashed here,” I explained.
“Earth,” Trivix fumbled with the word. “Well, I’m glad you’re here.” He grinned at us both in a way that only a sweet old grandpa could.
He served us tea, and we drank it silently while Taylor glared at Trivix the entire time. He eventually let out a deep sigh and faced her head on.
“I was afraid.” He remarked with his shoulders slumped.
“Huh?” His words had caught Taylor off guard.
“That is why you are looking at me like that, is it not? You wish to know how I could let my own grandson go into exile without going with him. I was afraid.”
