Barbarian’s Choice (Ice Planet Barbarians #11)

Chapter 1

FARLI

“Come on, lazy one!” I say as I put my hands on my hips. “It is time to go out!” I tap my foot impatiently, though I am smiling. “If we linger here all morning all the good tree bark will be eaten, and then where will you be?”

Chahm-pee bleats at me, his expression stubborn as he puts his head in his favorite basket and continues eating his morning meal.

I groan and move forward, grabbing him by the harness Tee-fah-ni made for him. “Will it be like this today, then? Are we going to fight?”

He ignores me, head down as he chews. Some days Chahm-pee is eager to get out, but today he wishes to stay and eat and wallow in his laziness.

I will not let him, though. He gets too fat in the brutal season, so during the bitter season, I make sure he hunts with me.

“Move,” I tell him, tugging on his harness and then giving his flank a slap.

Chahm-pee lifts his head and bares his yellow teeth at me, showing he is displeased.

I snort at this, because Chahm-pee is all show.

He will bleat and drag his feet and then the moment we are in the sunlight, he is prancing and acting like a kit despite his age.

At two hands of age—eight, by human count—Chahm-pee is full-grown and bigger than most dvisti.

I think it is because I make sure he is well-fed.

Probably too well-fed, if I go by my mother’s advice.

Kemli thinks I spend too much time focused on my pet and not enough on providing for the tribe.

Perhaps she is right, but food has been plentiful ever since we came to Croatoan village, and Chahm-pee does not eat the same things we do.

I give another tug on his harness, but Chahm-pee weighs double what I do, and there is no budging him. He belches and puts his head back in his food basket.

I know what to get him to move, though. I sling my hunting pack over my shoulder and head toward the entrance to my hut, pretending like I am going to leave.

“Mmmm,” I say exaggeratedly, digging into my pocket.

I carry a pouch of rakrak seeds—Chahm-pee’s favorite—for such an occasion. I shake the bag and then pull it out.

His head immediately lifts, ears pricking. His little tail swishes back and forth. I have his attention now.

“So tasty,” I coo, and head out of the hut a few steps, then wait.

The dvisti trots out behind me and noses my pocket. He knows what I have. Amused, I pull a few seeds out and let him eat them from my hand, and then continue to head out into the village. He follows behind me, like the well-trained animal I know he is not.

“Very good, my Chahm-pee,” I tell him, pulling a few more seeds out of my pocket because I have a soft heart. “We shall go and get our hunting in for the day. That will be nice, will it not? We can enjoy the sunshine and the fresh air, and some fresh food to eat. We like fresh food, do we not?”

“Are you talking to Chompy again?” a woman calls out, laughter in her voice. “You know he still can’t answer?”

I grin, ignoring Jo-see’s teasing. Even though it is early, the village is bustling with tribesmates.

Jo-see is herding her little family toward the longhouse, where Air-ee-aw-nuh will be teaching classes to the kits, like she does every day the hunters go out.

When the weather is bad, that is family time.

But when the day is crisp and sunny like today?

The hunters head out into the wild and the kits head to class.

Warrek teaches them hunting when they are older, but when they are little—and there are so, so many little ones in our tribe—Air-ee-aw-nuh teaches them to count and how to spell in the human language.

She has offered to teach me, but I have too much to do.

“Hello, Jo-see,” I call out, smiling to the little mother.

I wink at her small son, who is doing his best to squirm away from his mother’s grip. “Hello, Joden.”

“Farli, can I come with you?” Joden asks in his sweet little voice. “I want to play wif Chahm-pee.”

“No, baby, you get to hang with Mommy and sissy today,” Jo-see says in a calm voice, even as she adjusts the kit on her hip.

Joha is only a season or so old, and sucks her thumb as she looks at me with big eyes.

She is quiet and gentle, unlike her squirmy little brother.

I wonder what their next kit will be like.

Even now, Jo-see’s belly is heavily rounded with yet another kit.

The tribe loves to tease Haeden and his mate about their frequent resonances, but Haeden just takes it all in stride.

I think he secretly loves the fact that he and his mate have resonated three times so quickly, but Jo-see loves being a mother and Haeden is a good father. They are happy.

And I sigh wistfully because I am envious of their happiness. “Where is your mate today?”

“Off spear-fishing with Hassen,” Jo-see says, smiling.

“It’s a nice day and they said that means that the kas-fish will be emerging from the mud to warm themselves.

” Joden bends over and picks up a stick, his little tail swishing, and then offers it to his mother.

She takes it without a glance, and her son scampers off to collect more things while his mother talks.

Jo-see nods at me. “Going hunting yourself?”

I nod cheerily, watching Joden as he races over to Chahm-pee’s side to pet him. The dvisti is huge full-grown, and while Joden is not afraid, he is still small in comparison and Chahm-pee has big feet. “This fat one needs to be fed, and I am filling that cache we emptied over the brutal season.”

“Mm, well, be careful,” Jo-see says as she shifts Joha in her arms. “Haeden said he saw tracks and to look out for metlaks. You know how dangerous they are.”

I resist the urge to roll my eyes. Jo-see means well, but ever since Joden was born, she has tried to mother me—and everyone else in the tribe. No one has seen metlaks in this area for seasons, and I am as good a hunter as any. “I will.”

“You taking Taushen with you? Or Sessah?”

I shake my head, trying to slide away from the conversation without being obvious. Jo-see loves to talk, and if given the chance, she will hold me here all morning without realizing it. “I did not ask them.”

“Oh, you should,” Stay-see says as she approaches.

She holds Pacy’s hand in hers and her second little son, Tash, is strapped in his carrier on her back.

Pacy watches me with a curious look on his face.

He is unlike Joden in that he is a quiet, thoughtful boy, whereas Joden is currently trying to pull Chahm-pee’s tail.

I pry the little hands away from my pet and shake my head at Stay-see. “I have not seen them and do not want to wait around—”

“Sessah will be sad to miss you,” Stay-see says in a sing-song voice, and Jo-see giggles.

I snort. Time to go, before they start matchmaking. “We must be going,” I say firmly. “And these little hunters must be off to do their learning.” I give Joden a conspiratorial wink and a pat, directing him back toward his waiting mother.

“Yeah, we’re going to be late,” Jo-see says, glancing over at Stay-see. “You feel like making breakfast this morning?”

“Don’t I always?” Stay-see grins. “Harlow wanted us to stop by and get Rukhar along to class, too. You know he’s a handful in the mornings.”

Jo-see’s flexible human brow creases. “She’s still not feeling well?

” When Stay-see shakes her head, I feel a bit of worry tug at me.

All of the humans do well here despite the cold, except Har-loh.

She has always been a bit fragile, but ever since resonating a second time to her mate, her pregnancy seems to be sucking the strength out of her.

Every day she looks a little thinner, a little more faded as her belly grows.

I know her mate is worried. I worry, too.

When I return, I will bring something special for Har-loh to make her smile, then. Maybe snowcat or the hraku roots the humans love so much. Perhaps that will help her spirits.

“I must be going,” I tell them, but the two humans are barely paying attention, their minds focused on Har-loh or kits…

or finding Sessah and foisting him off on me.

I wave goodbye to the group and then grab Chahm-pee’s harness and hurry him along before someone else can stop and talk to me.

I like chatting with the human females, but I am more worried that Sessah is going to show up and ask to join me.

We hurry along, and I am relieved that my dvisti is no longer dragging his hooves and trots after me eagerly.

We make it out of the village and into the gorge alone, and once there, I can breathe a sigh of relief.

Sessah is…a problem, and one I do not know how to handle.

He is just coming into his adulthood and has decided that since we are closest in age, we should be pleasure-mates.

I…do not share this sentiment. Sessah is nice, but he is also still gangly and young, and his adoring attentions make me uncomfortable.

The tribe finds his devotion amusing, but I do not.

I have taken no pleasure-mate since coming into my adulthood, and do not plan on it.

I am waiting for resonance.

Perhaps I am a dreamer, but I am waiting for a hunter that looks at me with fire in his belly and stars in his eyes.

I want him to gaze at me the way Haeden gazes at Jo-see, or Pashov devours his Stay-see with his eyes.

I want him to have that same intense look on his face like Hassen does when he watches Mah-dee, or Rukh when he cares for Har-loh.

I want what Vektal and Shorshie have—to be his partner and equal in all ways, and to finish his thoughts for him, and to occasionally sneak away to do the mouth-matings when we think no one is looking.