Chapter 10
Ten
UTTIN
Of all the scenarios I’d considered before Simon arrived, I’d never thought my tribute would be royalty.
But Simon told me he’d met the male before and as royalty often did, he’d had an entourage surrounding him before they lay together.
Feigrind wasn’t pleased to know a male from Simon’s past was the one who had been hugging him so fiercely, but I didn’t blame the tribute.
He was relieved; I could see it on his face.
And he was polite to Simon as far as I could tell.
Returning the tribute to his home would be a journey.
Our clan had never gone that far south before.
I assumed Einar had at one point, so I considered asking for him to accompany us on the journey for directions, but this close to the cold season, it would make the journey difficult.
We didn’t want to get caught in bad weather along the way.
First, we needed to speak with Orthorr before any plans were made.
Not only would the tribute need to be returned to his home, but the town who had sent him had to be dealt with.
According to Simon’s story, they knew the male wasn’t of their town.
They’d sent him anyway. That went directly against the treaty.
For the first time since he arrived, the tribute eagerly left my tent, even walking a few steps ahead of me as we returned to the village center where Orthorr’s tent sat beside the receiving tent.
I called out to my clan leader, waiting for his permission to enter, and ducked inside.
I came to an abrupt halt when I saw who Orthorr was meeting with.
“No.”
Orthorr sighed heavily. “Yes. It seems a storm is headed our way. We will need to prepare.”
My gaze flicked to the three older women who stood in front of Orthorr.
They called themselves seers and were never wrong when it came to predicting the weather.
If they were coming to Orthorr with warnings of a storm, it wouldn’t be a small one.
My gaze flicked to the tribute, then back to Orthorr.
“How soon?”
The wind whistled and Orthorr’s tent flap whipped around behind Simon and Feigrind, answering the question before the women could.
“Tomorrow. This storm will be upon us by day’s break. And it will bring winter with it.”
Cursing under my breath, I turned to Simon. “Can you explain it to him? It won’t be safe to travel until the storm has passed.”
Simon nodded, stepping closer to the male to speak with him. Orthorr narrowed his eyes, so I moved to his side to explain. “We were correct. He was not from that town. But it is worse than I expected. He is a prince of Al Nuzem. We need to return him to his home or risk war.”
Orthorr’s eyes widened in shock, and he spluttered, “How?” loud enough to make the tribute jump. Simon put a hand on his shoulder, drawing his focus again as I explained what Simon had shared with me. Orthorr looked concerned when I finished, glancing at the tribute again.
“What is the possibility he will blame us for this? We are not prepared for war against an entire country even if we call upon our allies.”
“I do not know,” I admitted.
I’d tried to treat the tribute fairly in his time here, but I doubted he saw it that way.
I’d shackled him to my side and ignored his advances.
There may have been a dozen ways I’d insulted him.
And the only person who could speak with him to change his mind was Simon, who was not known for being sweet and understanding.
The tribute let out a sob, and my head snapped around to look at him. Simon shook his head at my concern.
“They’re angry tears. He’s frustrated.”
I could understand that. Zoya had been right. I should have seen it from his perspective sooner.
“Simon. Issue him an apology on our behalf for the misunderstanding,” Orthorr requested.
“We will set him up with a tent of his own and everything he might need until we can return him to his home. And you can assure him of that. We will not force him to stay here with us. As soon as it is safe to travel, he can go home.”
“I’ll bring him myself,” I added firmly.
Orthorr shot me a glare. “You need to stay here. The tournament will be held in the spring. You need to train.”
For the first time in my life, I glared back at him. “He is under my protection. It is my job to bring him home. No one else will do this but me.”
ZAKAI
No amount of bartering would change their minds and make them take me home immediately.
Simon, the pink-haired beauty who acted as my translator, explained that there was no way to outrun the storm, and if we were caught in it without the protection of the clan, we could freeze to death.
They were preparing things here to bear it, but it wasn’t like we could drag a tent along with us during the journey for shelter.
I wanted to shout and scream at the injustice, but I knew I couldn’t.
They couldn’t control the weather. And they repeatedly assured me I could go home as soon as it passed.
I had no choice but to trust their words.
My barbarian had a long conversation with the barbarian in the robes while I stayed close to Simon. Sometimes the conversation was heated, other times it seemed more like they were discussing nothing important. It was a curiosity to see them interact.
“Is that his father?” I asked Simon, eyes still locked on my barbarian.
“Who? Orthorr?” He snorted and shook his head.
“No. Orthorr is the clan leader. Uttin is the clan second. He takes over if Orthorr is unable. I think Orthorr is hoping Uttin will take his place eventually, but he doesn’t get to choose outright.
There’s a whole tournament they’re planning to decide who fits the job best.”
My eyebrows rose slowly. I hadn’t realized how important my barbarian was. All I knew about him was that he was frustratingly stoic and bossy.
“Is he uninterested in males?” It was the only possible reason I could think of that he would rebuff me.
Simon tipped his head, studying the barbarian who had cared for me the past few days.
“I haven’t ever asked.” He glanced at his barbarian who stood nearby and asked him a question in the barbarian language.
The barbarian answered gruffly, seeming annoyed, though I wasn’t sure why.
Simon rolled his eyes and ignored the behavior.
“Feigrind says he has no preference but is uninterested in bonding for now.”
Well, I wasn’t interested in bonding, either. I was just looking for a bit of fun to pass the time. Especially now that I’d be stuck here for longer than I’d hoped when my barbarian agreed to bring me home. I eyed Simon suspiciously.
“Sex does not mean bonded, right?”
A slow smirk crossed Simon’s face. “No, but fair warning, these barbarians are criminally sweet. If you start sleeping with one, you might not want to leave.”
I scoffed, waving away his comment. “There is nothing that would make me want to stay in this godsforsaken cold. How do you tolerate it? Yaifem is not this cold even in the winter months, correct?”
Simon tipped his head toward his barbarian again. “These big guys are warm. Just cuddle up to one, and you’ll be fine.”
With a resigned sigh, I looked back at my barbarian.
He was still deep in conversation with the man in the robes, a fierceness to his expression that made my dick perk up.
I’d been interested in meeting the barbarians at the brothel due to their size alone.
After knowing this one a few days, I wished I could get to know him better.
But he was surprisingly stubborn about it.
“Have you learned any of the language?” Simon asked, drawing my focus away from the tempting barbarian nearby.
I shot him a scowl. “I am a prince of Al Nuzem. It is they who should learn my tongue, not the other way around.”
To my shock and horror, Simon gave me a bland expression, unimpressed by my title.
“Right now, you’re a tribute of the northern clan.
And the only person you’re hurting by refusing to learn is yourself.
If you want to jump your barbarian, you need to be able to communicate with him. He won’t touch you otherwise.”
I growled, clenching my hands into tight fists. “Why should he not learn my language? Why must it be on me?”
Simon shrugged but didn’t respond. Instead, he leaned against his barbarian, who moved closer behind him so Simon could lean against his legs. The big barbarian ran his fingers through Simon’s soft hair, speaking low to him until Simon was practically melted against him in bliss.
I’d always hated not being the center of attention. It bothered me. So I did what I always did when I wasn’t getting what I wanted. I acted like a brat.
“Does your barbarian know of our time together? Would he be jealous to know I made you scream?”
The barbarian might not understand me, but he heard the suggestive tone and whipped his head around, glaring at me. I would be worried if I wasn’t so sure my barbarian would step in to protect me.
“You’re asking for trouble,” Simon commented dryly, reaching up to pull his barbarian down for a quick kiss before shooting me a look filled with malicious intent.
“Besides, he has no reason to be jealous. Only one of you had to pay me to fuck, and only one of you made me come so hard I passed out. I’ll give you a hint: the second one wasn’t you. ”
My mouth fell open in shock. “You said—I thought—” I hesitated, frowning at him. “He made you pass out? Truly?”
Simon barked out a laugh and nodded. “I’ve been saying since the first time that these barbarians have magic dicks. Wait until you’ve been with one yourself. Then you’ll know what I mean.”
“Do they have magic asses as well? Because no one will be fucking me.”
My parents might one day forgive me if they caught me fooling around with another male, though I was always careful to not let them find out, but I didn’t think they’d ever forgive me if I was the one being fucked. No matter how much I wanted it.