Chapter 27
– Kenz’ox –
I can’t sleep. Worry for Dorie and for Aker’iz keeps my eyes open and my mind muddy.
The kronk story ended long ago, and since then I’ve stayed quiet, pretending Dorie is still asleep in here. I’ve even tried mimicking some of the small, soft noises she makes in her dreams, just enough that the men outside will think she’s still inside the hut.
I’ve positioned myself by the door so that if anyone comes through, I can lunge fast, grab his sword, and end him before he ends me.
It must be well past midnight, drifting toward the dawn hour.
The tribe has mostly settled down, men snoring on the ground or lying awake, simmering with thoughts about the women Dorie promised them.
Ancestors, she was magnificent. She beat the chief in his own tribe.
Beat him without lifting a blade, only with her spirit.
But if they ever realize she’s not the Woman… their fury will shake the jungle.
Even I thought she might be the Woman, back at the ship.
I even wanted it, for a foolish moment. But then I stopped wanting it and understood something I’d never felt before.
I loved her in a way no one could ever love the Woman.
I loved her because she wasn’t sent by the Ancestors, because she was just herself—small, real, stubborn, and impossibly strong despite looking so fragile—
The door is ripped off its frame. Tribesman Emar’oz thrusts a sword in first, then a lit torch, then his head. “She’s gone! The Woman is gone!”
I grab his sword hand and stomp on it with my heel. He screams and drops the weapon. I snatch it and ram it through the opening. It hits something, and his next scream is high and sharp.
I crawl out of the hut as fast as I can, sword leading. Outside, some tribesmen are still sprawled, half-asleep, but others are already scrambling to their feet. Many are coming straight at me, blades drawn.
I have a weapon, but the camp is in chaos, and if I stay here, they’ll cut me down in their fury over losing the Woman.
I sprint toward the darkness and let the jungle swallow me. And all the while, one question claws at me: how did they know Dorie was gone? Enough to rip the door off instead of checking quietly? They knew. Somehow… they knew.
Behind me, bellowing erupts, angry and panicked. I hear men crashing into the jungle in pursuit. Let them come. I must run for the beach. Both Dorie and Aker’iz need me.
And trying to lead these men away from the ship won’t work. Dawn is breaking, and some of the men are good trackers. They may get Dorie first.
And I must be there to stop them from doing worse.