Like I don’t already know that?
Chapter Eleven
TIFFANY
I sleep in my furs alone that evening, and the nightmares return. Nightmares of being grabbed and held down, nightmares of men pushing me to do things against my will. This time, instead of the aliens, they have familiar faces – Vaza and Taushen. I wake up in a cold sweat, shuddering, and spend the rest of the night staring at the embers of the fire and wishing I wasn’t such a coward.
Josie wakes me up the next morning. “You sleeping in?”
“I’m not now.” I rub the sleep out of my eyes and I feel as if I’ve been stomped on. Ugh. “What’s up?”
“We’re about to start the final round and Aehako wants you there.”
Ugh. I’ll have to face my actions after all. “All right.”
“Dress warm, we’re going outside.”
I nod and get dressed in my warm layers. Time to face the firing squad. Josie remains at my side, and I’m grateful for her presence. As we pass through the main cavern, I notice it’s rather empty, and I get a funny feeling in the pit of my stomach. The funny feeling continues when we trek out into the snow and I notice it’s churned up from many booted feet heading out before us.
I’m not surprised when we follow the cliff wall and I see everyone’s waiting for us out in the snow. Kira, Farli, the elders, even grumpy Haeden. The five men are off to one side, Salukh standing proudly at the end of the line. He gives me another devouring gaze and I feel like a jerk for letting him down. I should speak up, call the whole thing off.
Then I look over at the other four men. They’re casting me angry, betrayed looks, and my bravado fails. Any protest I want to make dies in my throat. I want to race back to the safety of my cave, but Josie puts an arm around my waist and leads me to stand next to Aehako off to one side.
“This is the final round of the competition,” Josie declares. “Let’s have a quick seed count update before we start, shall we? Hassen, how many?”
Hassen steps forward and shoots me a burning look. “Three.”
Taushen is next. His smile is wide and proud. “Four.”
Vaza moves up next. “One.”
Then Bek. “One.”
I’m not surprised that Hassen is doing well, but I am a little surprised that wiry, excitable Taushen is in the lead. I smile to try and ward off the unhappy looks being cast in my direction, like I’m pleased with the results.
Salukh steps forward. “None.”
There’s an awkward silence. I glance away, because I can’t look over and see the unspoken demand in his eyes. I know what he wants me to do. I’m just so afraid.
Josie speaks again. “Today’s contest is split into four parts, and that means there will be four seeds up for grabs. Whoever ends up with the most seeds at the end of the day will be the winner. If there is a tie, we’ll hold one final competition between the two as a tiebreaker.”
Clever Josie. She’s giving Salukh a chance to catch up. I could hug her right about now.
“And then after this,” Aehako interrupts, stepping forward to the center of the group. He casts a stern look at the men. “No more fighting over her attention.”
“I just want to clarify that this contest is just to escort Tiffany to the Elders’ Cave,” Josie protests. “Not her hand in marriage.”
Off to one side, I hear an irritated snort that sounds as if it’s coming from Haeden. He intensely dislikes Josie, and I have no idea why.
She scowls over in his direction and then looks back at the men who are competing. “After this, you will have shown off all your skills. She will know of your prowess as hunters and providers. If Tiffany wants a guy’s attention, she’ll come to you. Understand?”
Silence.
“It is understood,” Aehako answers on their behalf. He crosses his arms over his brawny chest and gazes over at me and Josie. “Let us proceed.”
“All right,” Josie says, and steps forward. “Like I said, this last competition is split into four parts. There’s one for brains.” She ticks off a finger, then another. “Brawn. Talent. The last one is for effort, and the tribe itself will vote on who has put in the most effort for the day. And we’re going to go ahead and start with brains. That’s why we’re standing out here next to the cliff.” She turns and points up.
I turn to look at what she’s pointing at, and so does everyone else. There are five specks of color high on the cliff, a bright red that I didn’t notice until now.
“Up there are five bone medallions that have been dyed red so you can see them. All four medallions are the same, and all four are hanging several feet down from the lip of the cliff. Your job is to get one medallion down and bring it back to me. The first one to place a medallion in my hands gets a seed to add to their count.”