2
Suddenly I am released. I stagger a little and then sit on the bed.
Sal-Hay looks at me with a frown.
“He shouldn’t be there any time,” Dan-Y says, “let alone in darkness.”
“You and I both know he has excellent night vision.”
“The pass is more dangerous than it ever was. When I came through, with the female.” He points at me. “The top ledge was barely the width of a foot wide. One slip and it would be to the bottom of the gorge for us both. No one could survive that.”
I snap my head up. “And you carried me over that?”
“You were unaware?”
“But…we could have fallen! You could have dropped me!”
“We didn’t. I didn’t. I have excellent balance and have used the pass many times.”
Fear grips my belly. I am terrified of heights and the thought of being in such a precarious position, even unconscious, makes me feel sick.
He swings his attention back to Sal-Hay. “You should have stopped him going.”
“Y-Par is a grown man, a warrior, he has his own mind. I could not have stopped him.”
“He’s my son!” Dan-Y roars, slapping his hand on his bare chest. “All I have left.” A searing flash of emotion goes over his dark eyes. A vulnerability, a weak spot, a fear all parents have.
Loss.
I make a mental note.
“I am well aware of that,” Sal-Hay says. “But he returned with news, and as leader of the Jakarty I think you should hear it.”
“What?” he snaps and flicks his tail. “Tell me.”
“He saw movement, a search party perhaps, in the crop fields beyond the foothills.”
“A search party.” I perk up. “See, they are coming for me.”
Dan-Y’s scowl deepens. “What else?”
“That is it, that’s what he saw. But your female is right. They are coming for her. She’s precious. They want her back.”
“They can’t have her back. She’s mine.”
“I am not.” I glare at him.
“You are. Get used to it.”
I stand and fold my arms, glare at him. “Where I am from this is called kidnapping you know. And it’s highly illegal.”
“It’s called taking what I want.” Dan-Y scratches his head, between his horns. “And I’m going to take you away from here. The camp is not a hiding safe place if King Athos decides to get involved.”
“I think that’s wise,” Sal-Hay says. “They will try the drones next, to search for her. They may even come to the camp, the military, and it will be all-out war.”
“They won’t penetrate it, our defences are robust.” He touches the hilt of the sword that sits on his belt.
“We have no idea what they are capable of. They went to Earth remember, something we couldn’t do.”
This seems to really piss Dan-Y off and he stomps across the room and back, his boots banging on the dusty ground. “I will take her to the cave.”
“A cave! I’m not going to a cave.” I point at him. “I’m staying here. If there’s a search party looking for me I want to be where they can find me.” I tilt my chin. “My mate will kill you all and rescue me, from right here.”
“Not going to happen.” Dan-Y grabs my hand. “We leave now.”
“It is the only option.” Sal-Hay nods. “And tell no one, because that way no one can have the information extracted from them.”
Dan-Y pauses, his voice quietens. “Keep Y-Par safe for me.”
“I will do my best.” Sal-Hay presses his hand to his chest. “But if they come, I cannot make promises. Your son is a warrior rebel, he will fight.”
A muscle flexes in Dan-Y’s jaw and his tail quivers at the end. He tugs me to the door despite my resistance.
“And Dan-Y, you keep safe too.” Sal-Hay nods at me. “Both of you.”
He doesn’t answer and I am dragged into a dark corridor. “What are you doing?” I gasp. “No. I don’t want to go.”
“We have to. It’s the only way.”
“Leave me here at camp,” I shout. “Where they can find me.”
“You are coming with me. At my side is where you belong now.”
Terror fills me. He’s really taking me even deeper into his lands, unknown lands. It’s not like King Athos’s realm, I know that much. It’s dusty and dark and has none of the comforts I’m used to.
The corridor comes to an end and he shoves at a wooden door. Bright daylight assaults my eyes and I blink and shield my vision with my free hand.
He steps out, his fingers still a tight bind around my wrist.
I have no choice but to follow.
We have emerged from a high stone wall the colour of gingerbread. A copse of skinny trees creates swaying shadows to my right and looming large in front are the purple mountains.
“Hurry,” he says. “We have to get there before nightfall.”
I gulp at the sight of the long winding track stretching ahead. It will take me even farther from rescue and Mel and El-Frankin and the life I’d hoped for on Planet Hade.
He looks left and right. “We must stay alert.”
“Why?” My fear escalates. “What’s out here?”
“Many dangers.” He starts walking, tugging me along with him.
I have to jog to keep up and I glance around anxiously. At the farmstead I’d had nothing to fear. It was safe and secure and I had everything I needed.
Almost.
“What dangers?” I ask again.
“You will see if we come across them.”
I am puffing and my forehead is sweating. “Can we…do you have to go so fast?”
“Shall I carry you again?”
“No, no. I can walk, but it’s too far to run like this.”
“Earth women really are feeble.”
“I am not feeble!” I yank at my arm and to my surprise he releases me. I halt. “I have just had a terrible experience, an awful night’s sleep and the food Sal-Hay gave me was gross, so forgive me if I don’t run somewhere I don’t even want to go.”
His tail is quivering at the end, the way El-Frankin’s did when he was frustrated. “You should consider that perhaps you will like it better here,” he says, “in the Uncivilized Tundra. There are no authoritarian rules, no dictator, no suppression, we all live how we want to live.”
“In a lawless society? Great.”
“It’s true we don’t have laws, but our word is our honor and we do have morals.”
“Yeah, right.” I huff.
He grits his teeth and his nostrils flare.
He blows out a breath. “Now you can either walk at my side, or I can carry you, unconscious if necessary, it’s your choice but we are going to the cave, and I promise you, it’s best we get there before nightfall. This is not a farmstead, it’s not a place either of us want to be after dark.”
“Why?”
“Walk or are you going over my shoulder?”
I glare at him.
He reaches for me.
I back up. “I’ll walk. I’ll walk.”
“Good.” He gestures ahead. “You set the pace.”
We start walking, my anxiety mounting with each step. I blow out a breath. “Is Y-Par your only son?” I ask, wanting to distract my mind.
“Yes.”
“And he grew up in the camp?”
“Yes, he was born there.”
“And his mother…she liked living in the camp?”
“Yes.” He frowns at me then continues looking ahead, as though he’s searching the horizon. She preferred to live free and not under King Athos’s control.”
“I am sorry you lost her.”
He makes a kind of growling sound but doesn’t speak.
“Sal-Hay is old, older than any male I’ve seen.”
“Yes, he’s old.”
“Is he your father?”
“What? No.” He grabs my upper arm and pulls me to him. “Watch out.”
“What is it?” I am pressed against his side.