Barbarian's Prize(48)
I try not to feel too triumphant in the face of his defeat. I put a hand on his shoulder and squeeze it. “There is yet another human woman, and Farli will be of an age in a few seasons. You may yet have a mate.”
He sighs.
I understand; it is cold comfort to think of another when the female he wants is as attractive as Tee-fah-nee. But she is mine; even Taushen can see it. “Do you wish to hunt or shall I?”
“I will hunt,” he says glumly, pulling his spear from the carrying loop over his shoulder. “You collect wood and dung and the root for Ti-fa-ni. Maybe if I feed the human Jo-see she will appreciate it.” He doesn’t look thrilled at the thought.
I clap his shoulder. “We best get started, then.”
TIFFANY
“I can’t believe it,” Josie wails. She clutches a thin sheet of plastic in her hand that crinkles like foil and thrusts it toward me. “I found that on the medical bay.”
“Out of order,” I read aloud, smoothing out the odd ‘paper’. “Harlow must have left the note in case anyone else stopped by.”
“How is it out of order?” Josie’s voice is despairing. She drops to the ground near my propped up leg and her eyes are shiny with tears. “I need it to work. I need it!”
I shift in my chair, my leg throbbing. “You aren’t the only one.”
She looks over at me and dashes her fingers under her eyes. “Shit. Sorry. I just…I had my hopes up, you know?”
I do know. She’s ready to start her new life. She wants a mate and babies. She’s tired of being held back by the past. Boy do I know how that feels. Her face is so sad that it makes my heart hurt. “I’m sure she’ll be back soon, Jo. If it can be fixed, Harlow can fix it. We’ll just stick around for a while, get the language beamed into our brains, let my leg heal, and wait for them to come back.”
Josie nods, but the disappointment is still written on her face. “She probably got the stonecutter working again and went back to the main cave. That means more caverns will be opening up and everyone will be moving back.”
“Mmm.” I’m not looking forward to that. Moving back means travel – which I’m rather sick of at the moment – but it also means more people crammed into one cave system. Normally I wouldn’t mind that, but more people means more men falling all over me to try and get my attention.
I’m pretty damn sick of that.
My thoughts stray to Salukh, and I shiver under my furs, thinking of the way he strode across the snow, all fluttering dark hair and intense, angry eyes. He’d made a beeline right for me, and I knew, somehow, that he’d been watching over us and had come out the moment he saw I was hurt. And I should be annoyed that he was following us, but I’m all warm and fluttery instead, because he’s here. He’s here and he’s going to take care of things. He’s going to make sure I’m safe.
For some reason, I feel instantly better at that thought. It doesn’t matter that I have a bum leg or that Taushen is mad or that the machine is broken and Harlow’s nowhere to be found. None of that matters, because Salukh is here and he makes me happy. Actually, seeing him cross the snow toward us like some big blue avenging devil made me feel happier than I’ve felt since landing on this planet.
Maybe when we get back to the South cave, I’ll invite him to share my furs on a more permanent basis.
I turn to Josie. “It’s going to be a while before the men get back, I imagine. Should we go ahead and get the language beamed into our heads while they’re gone and get the headache over with?”
“Might as well,” she says, and the cheerful note is back in her voice. Not much keeps Josie down for long.
Chapter Fourteen
TIFFANY
Getting the sa-khui language downloaded to my head involves standing very still while the computer shoots a laser-beam into my eye. I’m not sure about the logistics of it, other than it nukes your brain momentarily and makes you wake up with a splitting headache. Josie and I take turns getting the language and then sit, waiting for the men to return.
My head throbs and aches, and my brain feels as if someone took an apple peeler to it. Not fun, but it had to be done. “I can’t wait for Salukh to come back,” I tell Josie, leaning my cheek against the weirdly comfortable chair that’s been moved into the ‘main cave’. It’s probably more like a cargo bay, but it’s open and makes the aliens less skittish. Plus the door is nearby and there’s a metal section of the floor that’s been set up to use as a fire-pit, encircled with stones. A few pieces of odd furniture have been moved into the area, and I wonder if that’s Harlow’s work or other visitors that have stopped by. Near me on the other side of the fire pit, Josie is curled up in her cloak and seated on a stuffed pillow.