The first speaker scoffed. “Pot meet kettle, Zakai. You’re worse than I am.”
“Is he though?” a third speaker asked, then laughed. I had to assume someone threw something at him because I heard a soft thump before the laughter started. One of the reasons I preferred the smaller fires was because it was sometimes hard for me to keep up with the conversation. Not just the language bit, the first and third speaker were using the common tongue, but just who was speaking about what. Until I was familiar with someone’s voice, I couldn’t always place who was speaking during a conversation, even if I’d met them before.
Luckily, Alice knew this and was always quick to lean in to help me, her voice lowered so she wouldn’t draw attention. “That first one, the one who liked your sass, is Simon, the man who invited us to join the clans. The one speaking Erabi is Prince Zakai. He’s the one who made a treaty with the barbarians to allow them to move to Al Nuzem. He was also present when we were picked up and bonded to the leader of their clan. I’m not familiar with the third one.”
“That’s Patrick,” Simon explained. He must’ve been close enough to hear, or nosy enough to lean in and listen. Either way, I tried not to let it bother me. Alice and I were still new to the clan. It was normal to not know everyone, even if I had the ability to see. “He’s the Northern Clan cook and a secret troublemaker. He just likes to play innocent so he’ll stay his mother’s favorite.”
From the gasp, Patrick didn’t agree with that. I raised an eyebrow in what I hoped was Simon’s direction.
“Oh, please… I don’t even need my sight to know you’re the true mastermind of chaos around here.”
Several people snickered or outright laughed, and I could hear the grin in his voice when Simon replied. “You’re one of my people. I like it. Your sister made it sound like you’ve been occupied with a big barbarian of your own. How long did it takeyou to get swept off your feet? Our record holder right now is Finn, who didn’t last a week.”
“Simon…” Finn whined. The embarrassment was clear in his voice, but no one seemed to judge him for it. They shot teasing comments at Simon instead, the conversation upbeat and playful, not cruel.
“Didn’t you seduce your barbarian?” someone teased in the barbarian language. “He wasn’t interested in males before you came along.”
“Damn right, I did.” The smugness in Simon’s grin wasn’t even masked. He sounded proud. “Feigrind never wanted a male before me. Now, he can’t get enough. I’m just that good.” His attention turned back to me. “So? How long did it take for you to be charmed by a barbarian? Or are you like me and did the seducing yourself?”
I felt my face flame as I considered how to answer. I hadn’t even talked to Alice about my relationship with Garrun yet. As far as she was aware, we were friends. She didn’t realize there was more.
“I, uh… We aren’t– I mean we haven’t—” I stumbled over my words, unsure what to say. Garrun and I had done things together, but it was just the one time. He was still insistent that he didn’t want to rush me. We kissed and cuddled, but I didn’t know about seducing. Things just kind of fell into place with him. I didn't think either of us did any seducing.
Simon startled me when his voice appeared almost right next to me, like he’d moved closer to converse better over the noise of the village center, making me jump. “Are you shy? Or are you a virgin trying to figure your way around your first cock and unsure how to proceed? Because I can help with the second one.”
Alice, who was still close to my side, gasped. My face burned so hot, I felt like I might burst into flames. This was not something I’d ever hoped to discuss in front of my sister.
“Can I say neither? We’re taking things slow.”
Instead of accepting that answer, Simon snorted. “The second one, then. Well, when you’re ready to learn about something actually interesting, you can come talk to me. I’m an expert on good sex, and I refuse to let my fellow prior-townsfolk suffer having painful sex just because they’re ignorant.”
“How noble, Simon,” someone, I believed Zakai, murmured, their common tongue stilted like they were still learning the language. “You are going to teach a class too?”
The tone was sarcastic, but Simon actually sounded interested, his voice perking up. “Maybe I should! A good deal of those who left the towns did so because they preferred same-sex couplings. And because the way they could have been persecuted, most haven’t had sex before now. They should learn what to expect before they do something stupid and end up bleeding from their arseholes–”
“Simon!” someone barked, cutting him off. He argued back, like the brat I now knew him to be, but I was too shocked to focus on what they were saying. I assumed things would move along to that kind of sex eventually, but I hadn’t realized there were risks involved.
“Does… does that actually happen?”
When I’d asked to speak with Alice, I hadn’t expected the conversation to go so wildly astray. Apparently, my question sparked a few more in the group to ask questions, and Simon ended up having an impromptu lesson on sex between men because he said “Ignorance isn’t an excuse for bad sex.” The fact that he seemed less concerned about possible injury and more concerned about people having good sex was a little shocking.
Eventually he got stolen away by his barbarian, and Alice and I headed back to our tent together. I didn’t forget my promise to Garrun, but I wanted to speak to my sister first. There was a lotgoing on in my head, and I needed her help to sort it all out. I’d never been in this position before.
She guided me to my bed before plopping down on her own, our knees bumping as she sat across from me. The tent wasn’t very large, but I assumed that was because most barbarians didn’t spend a lot of time in their tents. The only time Garrun brought me to his was when he needed rest. We didn’t spend time there often.
“So, that was… informational,” Alice began, her tone conversational but a little awkward.
I huffed a laugh. “You can say that again.”
“And you… needed the information? You’re not just friends with that barbarian you’ve been spending time with?”
The tone of her voice was a little confusing. She sounded uncomfortable.
“Does that bother you?”
She went quiet long enough for me to grow concerned that there might be another obstacle between me and Garrun being together. I’d admit I hadn’t actually thought about it. No one ever talked to me about sex or their interests, always more interested in pretending I didn’t exist or complaining about me getting in the way. I hadn’t even realized anyone cared about who loved who until our journey here. No one ever discussed it around me.
“No… I guess not,” she said quietly, though I could hear the frown in her voice. “I mean, I’ve heard talk about that kind of coupling being sinful and rumors about members of our town who possibly had interests like that, but I didn’t think much of it before now. I’ve seen male couples around since we got here, Simon included. I guess I just didn’t expect it from you. I never did ask what kind of person you might be interested in. I’m sorry I assumed.”
