The mayor, a portly man with a thin mustache, frowned at my father. “You’re volunteering your own son?”
“He’s no son of mine,” Father hissed. “And I’ll not have him in my house a moment longer.”
The town marshal tipped his head, looking at my father like he’d grown two heads. “They want women to service them. Why would we–”
Father shot me another hateful look before turning back to the group. “Given whatproclivitiesPhineas has, I’m sure he’ll be able to fill that role. At least sending him, we won’t lose an actually beneficial member to our society.”
All eyes swung to me and looks of disgust twisted in their expressions. I choked back a sob, still on my hands and knees where my father had thrown me. I kept casting around for ideas of how to stop this, but I came up blank.
“Is there proof?” the mayor asked. “I won’t have him sent along only for him to cause trouble for us. Our alliance with those dirty barbarians is thin already.”
“Yes, your honor,” Fraser said, stepping forward from where he’d stood in the doorway. “He told me himself.”
Shame made my face burn. I did tell him, and I regretted it immensely. After coming home from another ball empty handed, without any women to court, Father lost his temper with me and called me useless. I’d barely choked back the tears until I got to my room. Fraser found me there sobbing. I wasn’t sure how to get Father to leave it alone. And I was scared I’d be forced into a relationship with a woman eventually, knowing I wouldn’t be able to touch them that way. It honestly repulsed me. Fraser had played the comforting brother, patting my shoulder and urging me to speak to him. He said he wanted to help, but he couldn’t until he knew what was going on. I suspected he already had his suspicions. All he needed was a confirmation, and I literally spelled it out for him. He said he’d help me, that he’d find a way to get Father to turn his attention away from me. I never thought he’d go so far as to sell me out to the barbarians.
“Well, then I guess we’ve got ourselves a volunteer,” the mayor said, pushing to his feet. He moved to stand over me, a sneer on his face. “You’re doing our town a great service by sacrificing yourself to the cause. Do us all a favor and do what’s needed to keep them happy. If they bring you back, you’ll face the noose instead. We don’t want any of your kind tainting our town.”
They gave me no chance to defend myself. No option but to accept their demands or die. And two days later, I found myself with my wrists bound, standing just inside the gate to town, staring down the stampede that was barreling toward us. I should have never trusted my brother. I shouldn’t have trusted anyone. Now, thanks to my family, I was going to die. There was no way they’d want anything to do with me. It’d be lucky if they didn’t take it as an insult that the town offered me instead of a woman.
As the barbarian representatives came closer, I closed my eyes. I didn’t want to watch what happened next. I just wanted it all to be over. Maybe, if I was behaved enough, they’d make it quick when they killed me.
Two
“Rath. You’re needed outside,” my clan brother Verus said as he poked his head into my tent. I’d been in the middle of sharpening my blades for the next hunt, and I didn’t immediately look up at him. I hated leaving things half finished.
“Who calls for me?”
“Orthorr,” he answered, his expression curious. He didn’t know for what reason I was being called by the clan leader, only that he was sent to fetch me. I finished my task, sticking the blade back in its sheath on my hip. Pushing to my feet, I stretched my muscles. I assumed if the clan leader wished to speak with me, it was for a fight. I was one of the biggest in the clan, the best hunter, and I was called upon to assist in guarding or fighting if the fighters of the clan were outnumbered. It didn’t happen often, but they had gone out to gather the newest batch of women for the clan. Perhaps a town had finally gotten brave enough to refuse them.
Ducking my head, I stepped out of my tent, following my brother to the center of our village. We were nomads, we moved often, but during the colder seasons, we settled near the forest for easier hunting. As the best hunter, I was used to long daysin the cold, and it didn’t bother me, but it was always nice to sit by the massive fire that burned constantly in the middle of our village.
Orthorr was waiting for me, his frown pronounced by the wrinkles on his face. He was an elder and he didn’t hunt anymore, but he taught me the skill himself when I was just a boy, and I was always happy to see him.
“Village leader, you sent for me?” I asked, putting a fist to my chest with a slight bow in greeting. He returned the gesture with a fist to his chest and a dip of his chin before tipping his head towards the receiving tent. I fought off a grimace. I had no interest in what lay in there.
“One of the towns offered a male. I considered sending him back, but you’ve been alone too long. Go see if he interests you before I decide.”
I wasn’t the only male in our clan that had no interest in females. There were others. A few who weren’t interested in relationships at all. But most were open about their conquests and not interested in settling down. I had no interest in trysts. I wanted a bondmate, someone to take care of. But since the towns who were beholden to us only sent females, I thought that was impossible.
With a certain level of wariness, I stepped into the tent. The females were offered as a tribute to protect their towns. They were supposed to be volunteers, but more often than not, they were sent without true consent. It took those ones longer to accept that they were in good hands. My clan didn't hurt females. We needed them to continue our line. Our clan, like so many others of our line, produced only males. We needed females from outside our clan to continue on. None would be forced, but after a while, they would learn to accept their status as a place of honor. We would truly cease to exist without them.
Loud sniffles and whimpers filled the room as I stepped inside. It was dark, given the late hour, and the females couldn’t yet be trusted with an open flame without supervision. There were two guards on either side of the tent, watching over them, but they wouldn’t harm them. They were only there to keep them from running off. It was dangerous to wander the forest alone, especially if you didn’t know it like I did.
For a moment, I couldn’t see the male Orthorr referred to. It couldn’t be a joke, Orthorr was not the teasing type, so I considered maybe he’d gotten out and was going to check with the guards when I saw him. In the sliver of light from the fire, he sat curled in a ball, his arms wrapped around his knees and his head down. I would have walked past him had his hair been any longer. But males of the towns often kept their hair short, like this one did. He was a tiny thing, no bigger than a female, with pale skin and a slim figure. I stepped up to him, curious, and froze when he looked up at me. Even in the dark of the tent, I could see how pale his eyes were. Without the sun to offer its light, I couldn’t be sure, but they looked like the early morning sky, pale blue and enormous. They filled with tears and he scooted farther away from me, bumping into a female behind him.
His fear of me made me sick to my stomach and the need to care for him was overwhelming. I scooped him up without forethought. He cried out, frightened, but I wasn’t going to harm him. All the tributes would be assigned a male to watch over them eventually. To better teach them our ways and keep them safe. This male would get the same treatment from me. I would protect him and care for him until he was trusted enough to assist with tasks for the clan or… Well, women who became with child were allowed to stay with their chosen males and merely rest, but that wouldn’t happen with him. Perhaps he could joinme on the hunt if he was interested in such things. Given his petite frame, I kind of doubted it.
If we were compatible, I’d do whatever necessary to get him to choose me. Orthorr was right, I’d been alone a long time.
Stepping out of the receiving tent, I masked my discomfort at the male’s tears. I wanted to comfort him, but our languages weren’t the same. Only a few spoke the tongues of the town clans. They gathered the women and brought them here. If I wanted the male to know he was safe, I’d need to show him until he understood me better.
Orthorr turned as I stepped out, raising an eyebrow at me. “He suits you then?”
I didn’t answer outside of a slight nod. Time would tell if we were truly compatible, but he was very beautiful, and he called to my instincts to care for him. It was enough for him to be assigned to my care. Orthorr nodded.
“We will accept his tribute, then. Tyarr will bring your meals to your tent. Uttin said he was well behaved, so he should not cause trouble, but watch him closely. We’ve never accepted a male tribute before. He could be a trap.”
“Yes, clan leader. Thank you for calling for me.”
