I made a save point before we encountered the new tribe, and I was constantly on my guard for anything to happen.
I didn’t have to wait very long, though.
After half a day, we crossed paths with the scouts of the other tribe, and they instantly returned to the caravan of people traveling toward us from the south. I took Mahini out alone away from all of our soldiers as a show of peaceful intentions, and I waved my hand over my head in greeting.
The other tribe was visible on the edge of the horizon, and it looked like they had halted their procession to deal with the new threat, but I didn’t know how else to show we meant them no harm.
“How do you say hello?” I asked Mahini as we waited out in the open. I was armed to the teeth, and so was my pregnant wife, but I was still anxious about her safety.
“In my language?” Mahini scoffed. “Or in the language of the tribe that approaches?”
“That one,” I chuckled.
“I don’t know,” the desert goddess admitted. “There’s a chance their chief will know many tongues, but no one else usually speaks to other tribes enough to learn the different languages.”
“Your tongue, then,” I insisted. “They’ll hear a familiar enough ring to it? Maybe?”
“We can hope.” Mahini exhaled. “My people shoot first and question later, but we are not the same as other tribes. I do not know what is going to happen.”
“No matter what,” I said, “I’ve got your back, and we’ll figure it out. Together. Now, tell me how to say hello?”
“Ahlan amora,” Mahini said with slow, precise enunciation. “It’s been so long since I’ve spoken my language.”
We spent the next couple of hours speaking in her native tongue, and I had to admit there was a musical quality to it. It reminded me of a mix between Spanish and Arabic, and a lot of guttural accentuations were difficult to master, so I was glad I had a save point as plan B.
Once I had a general idea of her native tongue, Mahini began to expand my vocabulary.
“What are you going to say first?” I asked in a curious tone.
“The first words spoken to one of your people.”
“I-I don’t know.” Mahini frowned as she thought it over. “That I’m alive, I guess. That I’m not a mirage. I’m alive.”
“That seems to cover all the bases,” I said.
“I love you, Bash,” Mahini said, but then an arrow suddenly zipped across the sand to slam into her shoulder.
The desert goddess stumbled backward, and she cried out in pain as her hands reached up to the arrow protruding from her shoulder.
“What the actual fuck!” I cursed.
Before I could react, warriors from the caravan crested the dune that stood between us at a dead run, and I was surrounded by swords an instant later. I eyed the veiled fighters, and I saw more than one with feminine facial features.
I had my panabas free in my next breath, and I twirled them in a defensive arch in a circle around Mahini. I dared them to come closer with my eyes, but they all stood back and watched my wife groaning in pain.
“Bash,” Mahini gasped as she grabbed my shoulder, and my wife stared across the sand at a warrior in a black veil and long burgundy robes. “I know her.”
“What do you want to do?” I held my breath and watched my injured wife step bravely forward two paces.
“S-Serini?” Mahini asked the masked warrior.
I saw recognition blaze in the hazel eyes of the warrior who still pointed a sword in our direction, and the other tribal warriors began to whisper to themselves. Their weapons seemed less rigid than they had a moment before, but no one sheathed their swords.
Everyone stared, frozen in place, and I waited as long as I could stand before I stepped forward to cover Mahini, but then I pointed directly at her. I directed my words at the woman my wife had recognized, and I saw anger flare in her gaze at my courage.
“Mahini!” I shouted. “This is Mahini!”
“Ana ealaa qayd al hayaa,” Mahini said as she pointed at her chest. “Mahini ealaa qayd.”
There was more conferring between the group of warriors, but the one my wife had called Serini stood frozen and stared at Mahini
like she was a ghost. Mahini’s blue eyes were pleading with the woman, and she stepped forward slowly.
“Serini,” Mahini murmured softly in a voice dripping with pain.
The woman blinked away tears, and then she reached up to release her veil. Beneath the half-mask was a beautiful young woman not much older than a teenager, and the resemblance to Mahini was uncanny.
“Mahini?” Serini shook her head sadly. “Ant mayit mordo.”
“She said, you are dead,” Mahini translated quickly, and she shot me a determined look. “She is my cousin.”
Serini sheathed her sword pointedly, and she shouted at the warriors that surrounded us. I could only assume she commanded them to do the same. There were harsh-sounding words exchanged all around, but Mahini didn’t interject.
“What are they arguing about?” I asked.
“I-I don’t know,” Mahini said with a shake of her head. “She switched dialects. Something about death, but I can’t tell if it’s about me coming back from the dead or about killing both of us.”
“That’s comforting,” I chuckled.
It was amusing that this group of warriors seemed to think they could take me on, but I already knew I was going to reset. I just wanted to know if Serini would be able to calm the warriors this time first.
Then the other warriors slowly lowered their weapons, but that was all I needed to know before I could reset to the save point prior to my wife getting shot with an arrow.
Chime.
I stood in the desert in front of the caravan of my people, but in a few hours, the warriors would approach, and I had to be ready for the attack. They would be less likely to stop trying to kill me without Mahini present, but I couldn’t put her at risk again. The sight of her in pain still flashed before my eyes as I trotted toward her carriage, but I let out a breath of relief when I found her safe and well inside.
“We will meet up with the tribe today,” I said. “Your cousin, Serini, is among them.”
“Serini?” Mahini gasped. “She was just a little girl when I left. I wonder if she would even recognize me now. I’ve cut my hair…”
“Oh, she would recognize you,” I assured my wife. “But she might also shoot you with an arrow, too. I can’t have you in harm’s
way, so you have to promise me you’ll stay here.”
“B-But,” Mahini tried to argue, but I gave her a stern look, and she fell silent.
“I need to know everything you remember about your cousin,” I instructed. “I want to be able to get the upper-hand and disarm her so we can talk.”
“She’s right-handed,” Mahini offered, and she proceeded to recall every detail she could about the little girl she’d helped raise.
They’d been thick as thieves up until Mahini faked her own death, and my wife had always been scared that something similar would befall her kinswoman.
I felt like I knew Serini more intimately than I should, but it would serve me well in the fight against her that I knew was coming.
After Mahini told me all about her kin, I had her teach me some of her language, but I remembered some of what she’d said during the previous run through.
“Mordo means dead, right?” I asked.
“Yes!” Mahini gasped, and her ice-blue eyes carved into mine.
“How did you know that?”
“You taught me,” I chuckled. “Once upon a time.”
“You are so confusing sometimes,” my wife laughed.
“How do I say ‘Mahini is alive’?” I asked.
“Mahini ealaa qayd,” the desert goddess answered without hesitation.
I repeated her words slowly, and she corrected me at a couple of points, but then I’d mastered the phrase, so I moved on to the next question.
“I am her husband,” I requested.
“Ana means I am,” Mahini explained. “Zuwjuhado is a husband in my language.”
“Ana Zuwjuhado,” I repeated.
“Then you would add my name to indicate I was your wife,”
Mahini said. “Like, I am husband of Mahini. My language is very different from yours, and names are very important. We all carry our individual honor upon our names. Mine is dead…”
“That’s not true,” I said. “You have gained great honor since you’ve left your home. You are still the best warrior woman in the world.”
“You flatter me,” Mahini murmured, and a rare blush darkened her cheeks.
I continued to learn words from my wife, but soon I heard the signal from our perimeter watch that something was coming. They would attack us soon if I didn’t do something, so I kissed my women and left the carriage.
I had to jog to reach the edge of our caravan, but then I saw the warriors cresting the rise. I waved my arms over my head to get their attention, and they instantly adjusted their trajectory toward me.
The veiled faces were mysterious, and they were probably used to being intimidating, but I was the God of Time.
I wasn’t easily intimidated.
“Ana Zuwjuhado Mahini!” I shouted at the top of my lungs.
“Ana Zuwjuhado Mahini!”
The warriors slowed their pace, and I saw a couple of them tilt their heads in an effort to hear me better. They still surrounded me with blades drawn a moment later, but I gripped my panabas tightly and maintained a defensive posture.
“Ana Zuwjuhado Mahini,” I said, and I searched the faces for Serini. Once I found the hazel eyes of my wife’s cousin, I directed my words at her. “Mahini ealaa qayd!”
“Mahini?” Serini asked, but then one of the other warriors charged toward me.
I’d almost gotten it, but it wasn’t anything a little reset couldn’t hurt.
Chime.
I didn’t need to learn any more of Mahini’s language before I confronted the warriors and Serini, so I marched away from the caravan alone. I crossed the distance and crested sand dunes between the tribe and our carriages, but I stopped within sight of their numbers.
It was truly breathtaking to behold so many people traveling together, and the words the scouts had used to describe it did not do justice to the sheer volume of people I saw before me. They easily had more than enough warriors to take out all my guards, but they didn’t realize they were up against the God of Time, and time was always on my side.
The tribe sent out the group of warriors to meet me once more, and I kept trying to get through to Serini, but she could never stop them before the other warriors attacked me.
Chime.
Serini joined my cries to stop, but the other warriors didn’t listen now that I was alone. It seemed Mahini’s presence alone had been enough to give them pause, but without the darkly-tanned face and dark hair of one of their people, I stood out like a sore thumb.
Chime.
I removed my helmet to appear more human before them, and I was rewarded with arrows flying toward my head.
Chime.
I tried everything I could think of to convince them to stand down, but it seemed like it would come to a fight no matter what I did. I had other methods of getting around hostile fighters, though, so I reset for a final time to freeze the shit out of some of the assholes.
Chime.
This time, I didn’t expect any peaceful agreement to occur until I relieved them of their weapons, and I stood at the ready with my panabas in hand. Once the warriors were sent after me, I took a defensive stance, and I waited for them to come.
I was surrounded once more, but I was ready for this, and I shot out a blast of ice magic. Several of the warriors were caught in the icy current, and their weapons dropped from frozen fists by the
handful. Serini was one who dodged the ice spray, though, and she leapt forward with her sword swinging.
“Mahini ealaa qayd!” I said as I blocked the blow of her blade.
Confusion flashed in her eyes, but it was enough to throw off her momentum, and I managed to knock her blade away with a flick of my wrist. I twirled my blade around the length of her sword until I had the edge of my steel hooked under her hilt, and then I twisted her weapon out of her hand.
“Mahini ealaa qayd!” I repeated, and I was rewarded with a spark of recognition.
“Mahini?” the warrior woman asked, but the second I nodded, she dove for her blade. She was fast, too, and she was on her feet an instant later with her weapon in hand. “Mahini eelea mordo.”
I blocked some brave attacks from behind me, and I turned to coat the new warriors in a fresh layer of ice so many of them dropped their frozen blades. There were only a small handful of warriors left armed, but they closed even tighter around me, and the warriors I’d disarmed took a karate-like stance and tightened their circle.
“Fuck,” I cursed, and I prepared myself for the next attempt.
Chime.
The bell tolled in my ears as a signal of my failure, but I wasn’t about to give up. I would make this work somehow, I just had to fight smarter, not harder. I was the God of Time for fuck’s sake, and while I hated to kill any of Mahini’s people, I could make my point very loudly if necessary.
This was going to be it.
I could feel it.
I marched across the distance toward the Trahana tribe, and I waited for them to encircle me, but this time I had a different plan in mind. I was surrounded by the warriors a short while later, and I stared closely at Serini in an attempt to get her attention.
The warrior woman looked at me quizzically, but she held her blade out steadily, and I saw murderous intent in her gaze.
Then I summoned my plant familiars, and the tiny vines shot out of the sand to grasp onto every last warrior’s ankles. In an instant, I’d stuck them all in place. I stood and appreciated my handiwork for a moment as the warriors struggled against the vines that bound them in place, but those who fought the hardest only managed to fall over.
It was a simple matter after that to relieve them of their weapons, but a few of the warriors grappled with me, and I received more than one punch to the face.
Then I came to Serini, and I used a more gentle approach to take her blade out of her hands. The warrior woman spat in my face, though, and I was glad I hadn’t removed my helmet yet. I still swiped the back of my gauntlet across the surface of my helm, and I glared at my wife’s cousin.
“Rude,” I said in the common tongue, but then I switched into the woman’s first tongue. “Mahini ealaa qayd.”
Serini’s eyes widened, and she glanced around as though Mahini would materialize before her. A pained expression crossed her face, and she spat at the ground.
“Mahini ealaa mordo.” Serini refused to meet my gaze again.
“I’ll bring her,” I said, and I sent a silent reminder to my vines to stay put. I added a few layers of ice around the nastiest fighters’
hands, and then I went to fetch my wife.
A few moments later, I presented Mahini to her cousin, and Serini looked like she was about to faint.
“Ealaa, Ealaa qayd!” Serini gasped.
“Ealaa qayd,” Mahini repeated, and she fell into her cousin’s arms.
The two women embraced each other for a long moment, and the other warriors began to murmur amongst themselves. I didn’t speak enough of Mahini’s language to be able to recognize any similarities, but it was definitely from the same region. Their facial expressions reminded me of many of the faces that Mahini graced me with, and I couldn’t help but feel affection for the men and women who had just been trying to kill me.
The cousins pulled apart at last, and I commanded the vine around Serini’s feet to withdraw. The warrior woman jerked her chin toward me and rattled off a tirade of words in the desert language, and Mahini released her beautiful melodic laughter.
“Does she know where your mom is?” I asked in a hopeful tone.
Mahini’s eyes lit up, and she turned to her cousin with a jumble of words already pouring out of her mouth that I didn’t understand, but the solemn shake of Serini’s nod was clear without any translation.
“Tell her we need to speak with the chief,” I said, even though I hated to interrupt the heartfelt reunion. “He might know things Serini doesn’t.”
“Good idea,” Mahini said before she returned to the conversation with her cousin.
Serini and Mahini exchanged a bunch of words at a rapid pace, and it was hard for me to keep up with, but I did hear a couple of words I was familiar with. I heard them say Trahana a lot, and Kimaku as well. Those were tribe names, and it seemed a point of much debate.
At long last, Mahini threw her hands up as though in surrender, and Serini smirked victoriously.
“What just happened?” I chuckled.
“Serini has married a man of the Trahana tribe,” Mahini explained. “I told her it was a bad match, but she will not hear any reason.”
“Okay,” I laughed. “But what about the chief?”
“Serini will take us to him, but first you must release the warriors.” Mahini jerked her chin behind us at the bound men and women in veils and turbans. “They will not attack again.”
“If you say so,” I said, and I sent a wave of my will to my plant familiars. They all receded without a fight, and the bound warriors rubbed their raw ankles. “We’ll need an honor guard if we’re going to the chief.”
“What do you mean?” Mahini tilted her head, and her obsidian locks swayed across her shoulders.
Fuck, I was glad she never got shot with that arrow.
“I mean we need to have a small show of force,” I explained.
“Show we aren’t alone, and we aren’t going to be intimidated.”
“That could work.” Mahini tapped a finger against her chin as she thought it over. “He will want to meet the women, too. Even Zenda.”
“It’s dangerous,” I cautioned.
“I do not think any harm will come to them.” Mahini flashed me a bright smile. “I have convinced Serini I am alive. Nothing else should stand in our way.”
The warrior woman she referred to was conferring with the other warriors, and it looked like their conversation was just as heated as her and Mahini’s had been. Maybe it was just a
mannerism of the region, but the angry-sounding words rang across the distance between us.
“Who would you want to join us?” Mahini asked.
“Riondale,” I replied easily. “And maybe Jorgen and Corvis.
The leaders of our squads.”
“That makes sense,” my wife agreed.
A short while later, we were all gathered together and ready to meet the chief of the Trahana tribe. I did my best to clean myself up, and I dipped my hands into a barrel of water before I raked my fingers through my hair. It gave me a princely look, and I carried my helmet under my arm so the sun could dry my damp tendrils.
Corvis and Jorgen fussed over their uniforms, but Riondale shot them a sharp look, and the two men calmed their nervous motions. Eva and Zenda peered around us in curiosity, but they eyed the warriors with obvious trepidation.
We followed the warriors back over the sand dunes, and we entered a row between the camels and sleds hauled by the desert people. Camels brayed in our direction, but I kept my eyes locked on the path ahead.
The people in the caravan with the Trahana tribe stared openly, but I noticed there was a wide variety of dress styles and turban colors. Was there more than one tribe here?
“Bash,” Mahini said as she looked around. “I think the Trahana tribe are not alone. Others have joined them. This is incredible!”
“Oh?” It was like she could read my thoughts, and I chuckled to myself.
“You knew already,” Mahini said flatly.
I bumped my shoulder playfully against hers but didn’t answer, and she flashed me a rare toothy grin.
Then we arrived at a pavilion-like tent, and the warriors in the lead disappeared inside, but Serini was included in the group. I waited patiently for them to return as the remaining warriors eyed me warily, but I just smiled sweetly back at them.
They knew only a fragment of what I was capable of.
The warriors came back outside the tent a moment later, and Serini smiled warmly at Mahini. The two girls hugged each other again, and I wondered how many times they would remember they were together once more. It was still heartwarming to see my wife so
happy, and I could only imagine her reaction to seeing her mother again.
It was going to be awesome.
A happy wife equaled a happy life, and I was all about winning every aspect of this existence. That meant getting my women their hearts’ desires, even if that included traveling across the world.
We entered the tent with Serini and one other warrior, and I paused just inside the threshold to let my eyes adjust to the dim lighting. A large, overweight man sat on a pile of pillows on the opposite side of the tent, and I bowed my head respectfully toward the man I assumed was the chief.
Mahini placed a cautioning hand on my shoulder, and the desert goddess stepped forward to clear her throat. I wasn’t sure what she said next, but the chief’s eyes flicked from me before returning to my wife’s face.
“You speak the common language?” the chief suddenly asked, and Mahini paused in mid-sentence.
“Yes, Great Leader,” Mahini said, and her shock was obvious in her tone. It wasn’t like her to let a man throw her off-balance, but this was someone she respected.
“Where are you from?” The chief leaned forward, and he rested his elbow on his knee as he peered closely at my face.
“Earth,” I said simply.
“I am of the Kimaku tribe,” Mahini said in a proud voice. “I am looking for my mother.”
“What is his name?” the chief asked as he gestured to me.
“This is my husband, Bash,” Mahini explained. “He is the God of Time.”
“Impossible,” the chief spat, and he eyed me suspiciously.
Fuck, yeah.
I always enjoyed a good challenge.
“What was your name again?” I arched an eyebrow. “I don’t think we’ve been properly introduced.”
I held out my hand for the larger man to shake, but he merely stared at my palm in confusion, so I let my appendage drop to my side.
“Bash, this is Chief Wombutu.” Mahini shot me a warning look.
“He is the leader of the Trahana tribe, but he has also managed to join together many tribes who have survived attacks recently.”
Chief Wombutu pulled himself up a little straighter, and I could tell my wife’s words pleased him, but he still hadn’t given us anything we didn’t already know.
“Has he said if your mother is among his people or not?” I pressed.
Mahini turned a questioning glance to the chief, and the large man shook his head.
“The Kimaku tribe is at the Chunga Oasis,” the chief said to both of us, but his words were heavily accented. “Anyone with them will be there. That is where my people are going. To seek peace.”
I gave Mahini a moment to process this, but it wasn’t new information. There had been a small hope that Mahini’s mother would be with the Trahana tribe, but our original plan was confirmed.
We had to reach the oasis.
“Can we join you on the march to Chunga?” I asked without any hesitation.
The chief stared at me with obvious curiosity mixed with mistrust, but he seemed to be weighing my request fairly. Tension filled the air as we waited for his response, and Zenda shuffled nervously from foot to foot behind me. The two other warriors and
Serini inched ever so slightly closer to their leader, and they eyed me cautiously with their hands on their weapons.
“I mean no harm,” I said into the tense silence. “I merely think it will be more efficient if we work together.”
“I agree,” the chief said at long last. Then he snorted, and the sound obviously meant something to the warriors since they all jumped and scooted away from their leader. “You may join us on our journey to Chunga.”
Relief swept over me, and I made a new save point to clinch the deal into place.
“Awesome.” I grinned. “Then you’ll learn exactly who I am.”
“I am looking forward to it.” The chief bowed his head, so I mirrored the gesture. “You should get to know the people of the desert, too. We are not as we first appear.”
“I’ll keep that in mind,” I chuckled.
“We shall feast this night,” the chief said with a heavy accent, and he clapped his hands together until servant-like people scurried inside the dwelling.
They whispered words with the chief, and then the two people left once more. They weren’t wearing the heavy turbans like the
warriors, but their faces were still covered in veils. It seemed almost sacrilegious to remove one’s mask, but Serini had done so once she’d accepted Mahini’s presence.
Perhaps it was a sign of closeness to allow someone to see your face.
There was much I still needed to learn about the desert people, and traveling with them would provide me with the perfect opportunity to get to know them up-close and personal.
By the time we reached the Chunga Oasis, I would be an expert on every tribe in the caravan.
“What do we do now?” Mahini asked as we exited the chief’s dwelling.
“We join our carriages with their caravan,” I said and turned to issue commands to the three men who’d accompanied us. “Hobble the horses outside the perimeter. But set up the majority of our tents on the tail-end of the caravan. I don’t want to be in anyone’s way before we learn more about their cultures.”
“Yes, sir,” Corvis chirped.
“Instruct the carriage drivers to stay close to their vehicles,” I told Jorgen. “And arrange a hunting party for this evening. I want to
contribute to whatever feast the chief is planning.”
“Yes, sir,” the hunter replied.
“Tell the men to stay on guard,” I instructed my general. “Just because we are joining these people doesn’t mean everyone will agree with the chief’s decision. We must remain vigilant at all times.”
“Yes, sir.” Riondale saluted crisply.
With all my commands given out, I walked Mahini, Zenda, and Eva through the caravan, and we couldn’t help but gawk at the various campsites set up by the different tribes. Mahini stopped to talk to her cousin, Serini, when we ran into her again, but my wife didn’t seem to recognize anyone else in the group.
There were close to ten different tribes joined together, and they’d all separated their camps ever so slightly from one another.
Tensions were high the further down the line you went, and the closer you got to the tail, the more it seemed like fights might break out at any moment. Tribe members stalked around the perimeters of their camps, and their counterparts mirrored their motions.
I’d have to question the chief about the level of peace he’d managed to form among the tribes, but it seemed tenuous at best from an outside perspective.
He couldn’t be the warlord everyone up north had mentioned.
By the time we reached the end of the caravan, the men had arranged for our campsite to be set up, but just as we’d all gotten comfortable, a messenger arrived.
“Chief Wombutu ealaa antizar,” the man said in a rushed tone.
Mahini frowned and grunted, and the runner disappeared from view an instant later.
“What was that all about?” I asked.
“He said the chief is waiting,” Mahini explained, but then she shrugged. “I think.”
“It must be hard to be surrounded by so many different languages,” I said. “I wonder how the chiefs manage to do any bartering for their people.”
“They must spend a lifetime learning.” Mahini’s eyes shone with pride for her people. “A new chieftain is selected from a young age, and he is taught everything the current chief knows. They work together until the older chief dies, and then the younger one takes over.”
“Sounds simple enough.” I grinned. “What happens if the younger one dies first?”
“That would only happen in battle or hunting,” Mahini said.
“And a chieftain isn’t allowed to do either. They are fed by members of the tribe who hunt for them.”
“Chief Wombutu must have a good hunter,” I observed. “He seems more than well-fed.”
“Yes, the larger the chief, the more successful the tribe,”
Mahini explained.
“Well, let’s not keep him waiting,” I said.
By the time we arrived back at the chief’s tent, I was sweating profusely and desperately in need of a drink. It had been a long day full of respawns, so I was more tired than I liked to admit. It wasn’t body fatigue, more so an exhaustion of the mind, and I hoped the chief didn’t want to throw me through the verbal hoops during the feast.
“Greetings, strangers,” Chief Wombutu said as soon as he spotted us.
A roaring fire had already started in the pit in front of the chief’s dwelling, and women scurried around pots held over the flames. A huge boar was spitted nearby, and the mouthwatering aromas wafted into my nostrils.
“Greetings, Chief Wombutu,” I said. “I instructed my men to hunt for something to contribute, hopefully they won’t be gone long.
The two best hunters in the world are officially in your company.”
“That is good to hear.” The chief smiled like he didn’t fully understand me, and I wondered just how much of the common tongue he really knew.
It would be hard to communicate with him if we didn’t speak the same language, but a little was better than nothing at all, so I would take what I could get.
We followed the chief inside his lodging where several more pillows were distributed around the space, and it was to these that the leader gestured for us to sit. We took our seats and crossed our legs, and I smiled politely at the leader of the multiple tribes.
“What happened to the other chiefs?” I asked in a curious tone.
“They did not survive,” Wombutu said in a solemn voice. “Their subordinates have taken over, but I have promised to guide them in the path of leadership.”
The chief spoke the language better than I realized, and I decided to pay close attention to what I said. It wouldn’t do any good if I offended our host.
Servant women brought dishes heaped with a variety of foods, and I could already smell the spices covering everything. I was eager to try some of the local cuisine, and I sniffed it experimentally. All I could smell was some kind of pepper and roasted meat, so I dug in with a ravenous appetite.
The heat on my tongue nearly knocked me backward, and I looked around desperately for something to drink. I was a fan of spicy foods back on Earth, but this would make even the most diehard Scoville fan sweat. Once the initial heat abated, however, it was like a pathway for flavor had been carved through my mouth.
I savored every last bite, and I drank greedily from the waterskin in between, but I wasn’t the only one swigging fluids.
Zenda sipped with lady-like grace, but Eva wasn’t even turning red.
The noblewoman could handle her spices, it seemed.
Mahini moaned with delight over every morsel, and the look on her face was one of pure bliss.
A servant arrived with a string of jackrabbits tied by the legs, and they whispered urgently to the chief, but the large man laughed and caught my eyes.
“Your friend has returned with the game,” the chief said. “I told them to fry them in cuzca batter. You will like it.”
I couldn’t tell if it was a promise or a threat, but I knew Jorgen would come through. The avid hunter could track a falcon on a cloudy day, and he could find dinner anywhere. I was glad I’d brought him along with us, but I itched to join him on his next expedition into the wilderness.
There was no telling what kinds of exotic game we could find in the desert.
We spent the remainder of the evening in the chief’s dwelling, but conversation was stilted and awkward. I wasn’t entirely pleased with the results, and I considered resetting to my save point when Serini entered the main chamber.
“Abn eamiy lays qdhran,” Serini said in an angry voice.
Mahini froze, and her ice-blue eyes flicked between her cousin and the chief. I wasn’t sure what was just said, but I didn’t think it was a good thing.
“Abn eamik dayf alsharaf,” the chief replied, and Mahini’s shoulders relaxed ever so slightly.
“What is happening?” I asked.
“Serini said we were not dirty,” Mahini explained. “And the chief said we are honored guests.”
The desert goddess shook her head in confusion, so I didn’t pressure her to explain further, and I returned my gaze to the scene unfolding in front of us. Serini held her hands on her hips, and she stared into the chief’s eyes without surrender or submission.
I liked that the women were given equal voice here, although there appeared to be more females among the servile class.
“Who said you were untouchable?” The chief craned his head around Serini to peer at us. “Who said you must camp at the end of the line?”
Understanding suddenly dawned on me, and I flashed the chief an apologetic smile.
“That was by my command,” I explained. “I didn’t want my men to get in the way.”
“Honored guests cannot be in way,” the chief replied. “You will camp beside me.”
“As you wish.” I bowed my head.
After the feast, I passed on the instructions to move our lodgings up the line closer to the chief’s dwelling, but I saw more
than one dirty look from the tribe we supplanted. I suddenly realized the formation of the caravan was a ruling mechanism, and that the tribes were given a tier to occupy within the chief’s esteem.
Once the initial awkwardness was behind us, though, we all fit in quite nicely with the desert tribes. We struck out on the road again the next day, and it was nice to have more people to watch, but the size of our entire group made for slow progress across the landscape.
It took us another week to arrive at the oasis, but when the trees appeared on the distant horizon, I thought they were little more than a mirage at first. Then they focused clearly in my vision, and I whooped with joy.
Where there were trees, there was water.
The Chunga Oasis awaited me.