“Well now, dearie…what is it exactly you want to know?”
“Oh!” Nina turned in surprise to see an old woman standing just behind her in the forest. She had a kindly, wrinkled face and very unusual eyes—they seemed to be a bright yellow. Of course, maybe that was normal for some Tarsians, Nina had no way of knowing.
“I’m sorry, did I startle you?” The old woman gave her a kindly smile and tucked a wisp of gray hair back into the thick bun at the back of her neck. A large ring she wore on one of her fingers flashed in the sunlight as she did, blinding Nina momentarily.
“Oh, no,” she said, blinking. “I just…’
“I thought I heard you asking for a guide, and you look like a stranger here.” The woman smiled again.
“I am a stranger,” Nina confessed. “I’m…not for around here at all. I just, uh, flew in last night, and I was wishing I knew more about the local flora and fauna and customs…really just everything.” She returned the old woman’s smile. “For instance, how old are these trees? We have some like them back where I’m from, and they’re some of the oldest living things on our planet.”
The old lady nodded thoughtfully. “Well now, these trees are ancient and very beautiful, but we have something even rarer farther in, toward the center of the forest—near the swamp.”
“The swamp?” Nina’s heart began pounding for some reason. “Did you say swamp?”
“Why yes, of course. It’s a very fertile area. Some of the most beautiful flowers on all of Tarsia bloom there. Would you like me to show you?” As she spoke, she pushed another wisp of white-blonde hair out of her eyes.
Nina frowned. Hadn’t she had gray hair before? And why were her fingers so long? She tried to examine them more closely without being obvious about it, but the flashing of reddish sunlight on the pink jewel in the old woman’s ring kept getting in her eyes.
“What do you say, my dear?” The old lady smiled at her again, showing extremely white teeth.
“I…” Nina shook her head. For some reason her thoughts felt sluggish. “I guess so,” she said at last. “Only I can’t be gone too long—I have to be back for the gathering tonight.”
“But that’s hours and hours away,” the old woman said soothingly, her ring flashing again as she spoke. “Plenty of time to see the sights of the swamp.”
“I…suppose.” Nina blinked her eyes. Why did she feel so sleepy all of a sudden?
“Come.” The old woman wrapped her surprisingly long white fingers around Nina’s wrist and pulled her forward, deeper into the woods. “Let’s go see what we can find.”
* * * * *
“For the last time, I do not want to be joined to you.” Reddix crossed his arms over his chest and sighed wearily. Tilla was like an animal, reluctant to let go of a bone she wanted to chew—only in this case, he was the bone. Her stubbornness gnawed at him with blunt, grinding teeth.
“I don’t care what you want,” she said, putting a hand on her hip. “You promised—you swore I would be your bride.”
“If and only if I became the OverChief. That may not even happen now—Saber is back.”
“Right and he brought that little tzeeba-haired Lissa with him,” she scoffed. “Who ever heard of a clan leader who joined with his amalla? No one, that’s who—it’s disgusting. Face it, Reddix, you are going to be the next OverChief, and I will be there by your side when it happens.”
“You don’t want to be with me any more than I want to be with you, Tilla—you just want the status that goes with being the OverChief’s wife.”
“That’s not true,” she protested.
Reddix sighed wearily and rubbed his right wrist which wouldn’t stop itching. “You can’t lie to me about how you feel. Your loathing for me is almost as strong as mine is for you. You’d rather find a half-eaten grubba bug in your meal than touch me.”
“That’s not true, and you know it. We could have a very good joining—a very amicable partnership if you’d just be sensible. I’ll even let you…touch me when you want to. Until we finally get a child, that is.”
“You’re too fucking kind,” Reddix growled. “But what makes you think I want to touch you any more now than I did before? I’d rather put my hand in an open flame than make love to you, Tilla. At least with fire the pain is clean.”
Tilla’s face went from red to white. “How dare you insult me this way?”
“I’m not trying to be insulting—well, not much,” he amended. “Just trying to get my point across. I don’t want you. And if you’d just admit it, you don’t want me either.”