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This post has three chapters. -H

Chapter Six

The next morning, she and Kohl left Shaga Tribe and were back to crossing the dunes. They trudged through sand with the sun beating down. It was hot in the day and cold at night. She slept under the shelter at midday.

Waking up, she rushed out of the tent with a piercing cry. Kohl rose in one graceful motion, going in. She heard stomping.

When he came out, she was still dancing and shuddering, the horrifying thing practically in bed with her. Kohl held the monster up by its tail, dead. Its plated and sectioned body was limp, its many legs curled under. Its transparent round head with eyes all around was oozing and broken. She began the long exhales, stuttering noises, her hands flapping at her own chest. He burst into laughter, pretending to throw it at her, bringing another cry. He tossed it away in another direction.

"End it, Kohl!" she cried, her nose wrinkling, involuntary, looking all around herself on the ground.

Watching her, Kohl laughed again.

* * *

She smiled at Kohl, so handsome, as he poured welith into her cup the next morning, his graceful hands and broad shoulders. He poured into his own with the pretty cobalt blue pot. She took hers, going to sit across from him. "Thank you, Kohl." She sipped at it.

His brows went up, his eyes sweeping her. "What are you up to?" He took a drink of his welith and then stopped, a strange look coming over his face.

Her shoulders were shaking. By the time he'd risen and walked away to spit it out, a wad of sand coming with it, she was helpless. He turned and looked at her and her laughter died and she scrambled up.

He came for her and she shrieked, running out into the sand. She was too slow, Kohl behind her. Crying out again, she was laughing, Kohl echoing her laughter as he caught her, bringing her down and rolling on top of her.

"You are in so much trouble," he said, pinning her.

"You deserved it. Let me up." She squirmed.

"Not a chance." His hands left her wrists and were under her clothing and she was laughing. Then she wasn't laughing, her arms coming around his neck, his mouth on hers, all of it urgent.

He eased the darkness in her, as she believed she did the same for him.

But sometimes at night, Havelen would open her eyes, the silence of the desert all around her. It was like no other silence, the deepest hush, and she would think about the hunter warden's tread, slow and heavy, in their tracks. Turning around, she would bury into her Rangisin, her hand on her necklace and her heart pounding.

* * *

"Is Taka Tribe like Shaga Tribe?" she asked him as they walked.

"Each of the tribes is different. Taol Tribe is known for the fierceness of their fighters and their strong women."

"And Taka Tribe? They have the hetspahs."

"They have the hetspahs, and their textiles, and the women make a potent liquor and they dance."

"What is Shaga Tribe known for? The sukas?"

"The sukas we keep, yes, which only live in our part of the desert, and our bed skills."

She laughed, turning and looking at him, her smile fading. "You're serious."

"Do you have any complaints?"

Her brows went up. "That's not--No." Her cheeks were hot. She faced forward. "Do Rangisin women seek out the men from Shaga Tribe?" When he didn't answer right away, she looked at him.

His eyes slanted toward hers, beautiful and clever eyes, long lashes. "It's said a man from Shaga Tribe rarely sleeps in his own bed."

"Is that true?" she demanded.

Kohl shrugged.

"Tell me," she said.

"Tell you what?"

She faced forward. "What is the popa made from?" He'd refused to tell her that, too.

"You like it, Havi. Does it matter?"

"What makes it purple?"

"Fruit."

"It's fruit?"

"It's fruit in something else."

"In what?"

"You don't want to know."

"What is it, Kohl?"

"It's a drink."

"End it, Kohl. Tell me."

He sighed. "You saw it coming into camp, Havi."

Her brows crooked, and then her eyes went wide. "What?"

* * *

"A brother," she said that night, her back to him and warm in his arms. "Green eyes. I never knew you were so secretive."

His large hand was roaming her body, a wonderful thing he did. Her skin was warm and sensitive.

"I would hardly be successful at being secretive if you knew I was, Havi." He nuzzled her and came up. "Your skin is soft like a baby hetspah."

"Did you have lovers in Talmyth?"

"Of course."

"Of course," she echoed. "How recently?"

He was quiet. "Recently."

She felt her cheeks flushing, her breathing getting faster. "What was her name?"

"You have my bands, Havi."

She made a noise, unimpressed. "Who was your first lover?"

He laughed. "Young Rangisin men go to a silma."

She turned her head, giving him a narrowed glance, and faced forward. "Who is Silma?"

He reached for her shoulder, running his fingers down her side lightly and over the curve, making her shiver. "A silma is a woman. She's usually older, but not always. A silma teaches the young men. You go outside her tent and wait, and if she likes you, she invites you in."

"You go in to have sex with her?"

She felt Kohl shrug. "The silmas enjoy themselves. There's no harm. Nobody is being unfaithful. Olea is a silma."

Havelen went still. "You had sex with Olea?"

"No, Havi. How else can a young man learn how to please a woman?"

When she didn't answer, Kohl leaned to look at her face. She glanced at him.

"Don't tell me," he said. "Let me guess. Alethean men blunder untrained into a woman's bed and hump at anything that moves. Why am I not surprised?"

"Do they have older men to teach women to please the younger ones?"

Kohl laughed. "Young men aren't difficult to please, Havi." He laughed again.

"You never told me about the silmas before."

"Like that was going to come up."

* * *

They got to the madi's tent at Taka Tribe and found a woman sitting on a cushion, cross-legged. The textiles were vivid after the plainness of the desert landscape. The madi's face was spare, high cheeks and intense black eyes under a slash of dark brows, a long straight nose and settled mouth, but her lower lip was full, drawing attention to her cheekbones, and then the slant of her eyes, changing everything. It was open sensuality in an austere face.

They walked to sit on one of the two cushions. The madi said something in Onsagi and Kohl answered. They pushed back their face coverings.

Kohl spoke in Lews. "Elor, Madi of Taka Tribe, this is Havelen, the ashi, and my promise. She speaks Lews."

The madi looked at her and spoke in Lews. "Ashi. You're welcome here."

"Thank you, Madi."

The Madi turned to Kohl. "I heard a foolish Taka Tribe mistook a desert Rangisin for a Talmyth saket and got cut."

Havelen turned to look at Kohl pointedly.

He ignored her. "A misunderstanding, Madi."

Elor looked at Havelen. "This misunderstanding won't happen again in Taka Tribe. Not here. Not in any band, Ashi. I've said so."

Havelen relaxed. "Thank you, Madi."

Kohl went into his pack and pulled out a large and flat round object as large as a plate. When he unwrapped it, it was a purple color Havelen recognized right away. She could smell it, sweet and rich, and she experienced a perfect and keen moment of enticement and revulsion, hovering in that balance. It smelled so good. She shivered.

Kohl rose, bringing it to Elor. "Mishë, the Madi of Shaga Tribe, has sent a gift for you, Madi."

The madi's eyes lit up as she took it. "Cheese from suka milk. There's nothing better." Her eyes flashed to Kohl's. "Is the fierce madi of Taol Tribe going to receive a gift so generous from your brother when you go there?"

Kohl laughed, sitting again and shaking his head.

The Madi of Taka Tribe made a sound in her throat, but she looked pleased. "Your brother is Shaga Tribe and can't help himself from charming a woman."

"I know, Madi," Kohl said, a little sour, glancing at Havelen.

"I'll have to find a way to thank him next time we meet," Elor said. "I see you're taking the ashi to Shosa, as the prophecy says."

"Yes, Madi."

"That desert is deep, Kohl. It's an unlikely journey."

"It is, Madi."

The madi looked away. "The tribes need something unlikely. We need a way to fight, even if we are defeated. We can't leave this world as a hunted people."

"My brother would like to know if Taka Tribe has chosen, Madi."

"Ay. We'll go into Nabed."

"My brother has said to tell you, Madi, that Shaga Tribe has chosen the same."

"The hetspahs can't survive in Nabed. We know how to keep ourselves alive there for a time, but to live there? We're going to lose many of our people to hunger and the storms and the liquid sand. We'll see what Taol Tribe decides." Elor's eyes included them both. "A tent has been prepared for you and the ashi, and there's a place to wash. Please come and join us in the large tent when you're done."

* * *

At Taka Tribe that night, Havelen drank too much of their liquor, made from a cactus. She hadn't had liquor before, and it seemed like such a small amount. The people of Taka Tribe were friendly, and they were cheerful, drinking, which they seemed to do a great deal. She remembered she laughed and that there were dancers, and there was music, and not much else.

"You were heavy," Kohl told her the next morning in bed in their tent. "I almost just put you down and let you sleep on the sand. You brought me back here and threw me down and had your way with me."

"You're lying," she said, sitting up, her hair everywhere. Her stomach felt awful, her head pounding. Her mouth was disgusting.

"You're the only woman who could be even more beautiful after the night you've had. When one of the women danced, you called me a philanderer for looking at her."

She didn't remember that. "You looked at her?"

"Briefly. You grabbed a spear and tried to run me through."

"I did not." She lay back down and pulled the covers over her head. "When are we leaving?"

"Not today, with you recovering from your depravity."

"End it, Kohl," she said, trying for volume and just sounding pathetic.

Evidently Kohl thought so too, making a noise in his throat and uncovering her, stroking her hair. "Come have some food, little drunk. You'll feel better."

"You cannot be serious," she said weakly, refusing to open her eyes.

"The people of Taka Tribe have something to help with what you're feeling." He was still stroking her hair.

"Can you bring it here?"

"No," he said, his voice smiling in that annoying way.

* * *

Taol Tribe was the strangest of all. Their camp was more permanent, although they migrated seasonally and only stayed in the village a part of the year. It had tight winding streets between clay houses that were decorated in colorful repeating patterns.

As they got to the maze, a Taol man appeared. He never looked back, just happening to be in front of them. Kohl just happened to follow him. Someone else just happening to arrive to take Kohl's cart without looking at them. Kohl didn't seem to notice it was gone.

They arrived at a courtyard. It was a small green place in the desert with a natural pool. In the very middle of the courtyard was a shelter from the sun, a roof surrounded by the same rounded seats going up, reminding her of a smaller version of the council chamber in Talmyth.

In a circle inside that, in the center, a man was sitting on a cushion, waiting for them. The woman beside him was much younger. His daughter, maybe. The circle was pierced in multiple places with paths that converged, leading there, like the spokes of a wheel. People lined the seats created by the rising tiers, craning their necks, the ongoing murmur of voices all around them.

There were already two cushions. She sat next to Kohl. The madi was a fierce-looking man with a long white mustache, white eyebrows that went in every direction, and a square face with deep lines. She and Kohl pulled back their head coverings and washed their hands, all of it known to her by now, the same in all the tribes. As she knew they would, the people of Taol tribe stared at her, and there were whispers all around until the madi held up his hand.

The noise stopped, silence descending. A man came bringing four cups. Havelen tried not to think about it and drank, a different kind of sweetness.

"It's corver, a wine," Kohl said low to her, smirking. "Don't worry. It's watered down, little drunk."

"Toss off, Kohl," she said under her breath.

"Kohl, brother to the Madi of Shaga Tribe," the madi said, "and Havelen, the ashi. You're welcome here. Word of your travels to the three tribes have come ahead of you. I'm Asun, the Madi of Taol Tribe. Taol Tribe will fight the wardens if the prophecy gives us any way to strike at them. If that fails, we will go into Nabed to find our fate. My daughter, Anik, will guide you to the ruins. She will accompany you into Shosa and return to me." The madi rose and walked away.

Kohl didn't seem surprised at the abrupt ending to the meeting. As they got to their feet, people stared openly. The young woman approached, gesturing, and they walked with her. For a keen moment, their guide reminded Havelen of the young woman Vincet had taken from Iskel and tried to make his inka, the Rangisin woman who'd been so brave. She had the same confidence in her body, graceful and sure.

Anik, the daughter of the madi, was tall, with a pretty, expressive face and short hair, those green eyes that the madis had. She carried a long spear.

Giving Havelen a sweeping glance, neither friendly nor unfriendly, Anik spoke. "Did you come from a cocoon? Can you do magic?"

"No," Havelen answered. "No."

"That's too bad," Anik muttered. "I liked that story."

They walked until a man came and blocked them, more people gathering around. His eyes swept Havelen. He was as large as Kohl, with an impassive face and big hands, his knife at his waist. He said something in Onsagi to Kohl, gesturing at Havelen.

Havelen's eyes were darting. The people of Taol Tribe were known as fierce among the desert Rangisins, who were, in general, a fierce people. The Madi of Taol Tribe hadn't given Havelen assurances that nobody in the bands would trouble her like the other madis had. Maybe he thought she didn't need it among his people. Or, it was also entirely possible, from what she could tell, that the madi simply expected Kohl to protect her.

"The Alethean speaks Lews, Daye," Anik said.

"She's Alethean?" Daye said in Lews, his eyes shifting to her, sweeping her. "We haven't met an Alethean woman. Do they all look like you?"

Havelen's belly was tense. "No."

"I'm Daye, little firehead."

"I'm the ashi. My name is Havelen. It's nice to meet you."

"You're a cool one." Daye's eyes shifted to Kohl. "I don't know you. What's your name, Shaga Tribe?"

"Kohl."

"Elder brother to the madi, it's said."

"Yes."

"There's a rumor that a foolish Taka mistook a Shaga for a Talmyth saket and got cut."

Kohl shrugged.

Daye's eyes returned to her, although he still spoke to Kohl. "She's beautiful like the stories. I didn't know you could give your promise to an inka. Do you bind her magic with the promise bands?"

"Havelen isn't an inka. She's the ashi," Kohl said.

Daye's face said he didn't see a difference. "Rumor also says you were swept up by the wardens, Shaga Tribe, when you took a woman from a Leopol-át."

"That's true."

"The ashea here? She's the woman you took?"

"The ashi, yes."

"They didn't kill you," Daye observed.

"The ashi arranged my escape before my execution."

"And then what? How is she here now?"

"I went back and took her again."

Daye laughed. "Now we know you're Shaga Tribe. You steal a woman from an Alethean and get caught by wardens and manage to escape and you still go back for her?" Daye laughed, more general laughter sounding, but it wasn't unfriendly. "Is this Leopol-át still alive?"

"He's hiding behind wardens for now, Taol Tribe."

"And so you take the ashi to Shosa for the prophecy in order to sweep the wardens from your path to get to him. I didn't know Shaga Tribe were so bloodthirsty."

"When we need to be." Kohl looked down at Havelen and smiled slowly, catching her hand and bringing her close. He raised it and caressing her wrist above her band, bringing it to his mouth and holding her eyes.

It was completely brazen. Havelen tried not to, looking away and glancing back at him, but her mask of calm failed and she broke into a grin. The people around them gave high knowing cries as Kohl folded her hand into his.

"Fierce, yes, but still Shaga Tribe," Daye announced to more laughter.

People drifted away, speaking with one another, no longer looking at them.

Anik gestured. "I'll show you where you'll sleep. Your things are there."

* * *

The next morning, Kohl got her up before dawn. Her hair was everywhere and she was blinking. She yawned. When it resolved, he was looking at her with a small smile.

"What?" she said.

He crawled over her and she lay back. "I like to see you in the morning, Havi, with your cheeks flushed and your full, pink lips for kissing, and your fire hair all around you, and your round breasts and pink nipples." He kissed her and then drew away and tried to pull the blanket down.

She caught it and held on, yawning again, her whole face scrunching, and then she sniffed. "Why do we need a guide to the Shosa ruins, Kohl? You don't know how to get there?"

He laughed, sitting back. "You question my worth as a Rangisin and a man and you don't even know it because you're a sexy Alethean, like I would ever get lost in the desert. I know where the ruins of Shosa are because I can see my own shadow and figure where I am in the world, Havi, but we have to get across a dangerous expanse of Nabed without getting swallowed."

She sat up. "Swallowed," she echoed him, blinking. "By what? Are there large animals there?"

He reached and put her hair behind her shoulder, trailing his fingers down her arm. "There are large animals, yes, but no. The sand."

She shivered, her nipples tightening. "There are large animals in the sand? Karnukles?" She wasn't really awake yet.

His smile got wider. "In a sandstorm, the wind can cause the sand to turn like liquid and swallow anything on top, sucking us straight down. And we could also drown."

"Sucking us straight down," she echoed, her brows drawing in. "Drown in the sand?"

Kohl laughed. "No. In water, baby."

"Water," she said. "In the desert."

"More people drown than die of thirst in the deep desert, Havi. When it rains, the sand doesn't absorb it. The water becomes a wall of sludge seeking any way down, and it can sweep everything into itself."

She was staring at him and then she yawned again, holding her hand over her mouth. "How long will it take us to get there?"

"Will you stop being so sexy? We have to go. About a week."

"All right." Reaching for her comb, she began braiding her hair.

When she was done, Kohl was frowning lightly at her, watching. "Your tails make me a little crazy." He pushed her onto her back.

She squirmed, her hands on his chest. "I just did my hair, Kohl. We have to go."

"No. It's too late."

She had to redo her hair after, and they made Anik wait, the Taol woman standing with a long spear in her hand.

Havelen eyed their guide's cart. "Why don't I have a cart, Kohl?"

"I'll carry your water for you."

"Like you would for old people and children," she said, taking a guess.

"You weren't born in the sand like a desert Rangisin, Havi. It would slow us too much."

"And I'm short," she said, her eyes narrowing at him.

He grinned. "Don't worry. You're useful."

Anik spoke to Kohl as they arrived. "My knowledge ends three days into Nabed's mouth, Shaga Tribe. We'll be going much deeper than that. We'll go slow and hope we don't get unlucky. You have a mask for her?"