The little male cried the entire way back to my tent. Not loud sobs like most females would. He muffled the sound by biting his bottom lip, his body shaking from the effort. His hands were bound at the wrist, which was normal, though the rope looked old and scratchy. Even in the light of the moon, I could see the irritation on his slender wrists. I would remove that soon and apply some healing ointment.
Ducking into my tent, I sat him down on the pallet I’d used as a bed since we settled here. It wasn’t much. I was used to sleeping in trees or on the ground on long hunts. Hopefully, the male wouldn’t be too upset about it. I’d never taken a tribute before. I hadn’t prepared for this.
Once I released him, I waited to see if he would run or try to fight. He did neither, hugging his knees tightly again. Good. That would make this easier. I removed the rope first, biting back a snarl at the mangled skin underneath. How long had he been tied up like this to have such injuries? I’d never seen a female with skin so badly damaged. I wanted to apply ointment, but I worried about doing so without cleaning it first. I could bring him to the river to bathe, as most of the clan did, but given how frightened he was, that seemed like a bad idea. Instead, when Tyarr brought our meals, I requested a bowl of warm water from him. Tyarr was a kind brother, and graciously retrieved the water for me. I could see his curiosity, he wanted to meet the little male, but now was not the time. He would be kept separate for a few days to not overwhelm him while learning about his new home.
The male hadn’t moved when I ducked back into my tent. The tent was lit with a lantern in the corner, giving me a better look at him. He looked disheveled and dirty, his clothes torn in some places. That couldn’t have been from us. My clan treated tributes well. I wished I could ask how he came to be this way, but the language barrier prevented it. With a sigh, I put the bowl aside and searched my things. It was all too big for him. I could request new outfits from those who made the clothing, or I could sew something myself. My mother had taught me that a male was useless if he couldn’t be sufficient on his own. But that would take time. For tonight, we’d have to make do.
Pulling out my smallest tunic, I set it aside. I knew the town people wore clothes under their clothes, but I had no such things and my legwear was far too big. The tunic would be long enough to cover all of him, though, so hopefully it was enough.
Turning back to him, I hesitated when he flinched and hugged his legs tighter. I tried to show him through my face that I wasn’t going to hurt him, but he didn’t understand andtears spilled constantly down his cheeks. With a defeated sigh, I decided it was best to get the bathing over quickly. I pulled his soiled clothes off him, tuning out his whimpers and pleas. I did not blame him for doubting me. It only made me more determined to prove him wrong. I ran a wet cloth over his skin, wiping away the dirt and sweat. I was careful but thorough around his injured wrists, and wrapped them with another cloth after I applied the ointment I got from my hunting bag. It was easier to carry it with me than constantly return to the healers for treatment. I was glad for it now.
When I set to remove his legwear, he cried harder, trying to push my hands away as he shook his head. I wished I could leave them, but they were soiled and smelled terrible. He needed something clean. Carefully, so I didn’t hurt him, I took his hands in one of mine, removing his legwear and his little clothes underneath with the other. I purposely avoided looking at his intimate parts, to give him his privacy, and quickly cleaned his legs and feet. I offered it to him to get his private areas, and he hastily cleaned himself before trying to scoot away again. I couldn’t allow that yet. I wasn’t finished.
Tugging the tunic over his head seemed to settle him enough to whimper instead of full blown cries of fear. Normally, I would have waited on the tunic so it wouldn’t get wet, but I thought it was better for him to be covered. Instead, I maneuvered him so he was lying over an uncovered portion of the ground, his head supported by my hand so I could pour water through his hair. He flinched and whimpered, but seemed to finally understand what I was doing because he didn’t fight me anymore. I rubbed my fingers through his hair to get what dirt out I could and poured more to rinse it. Once he was more comfortable, I’d take him to the river to bathe more effectively.
The last thing I cleaned was his face. Tear stains streaked through the dirt there, and he squeezed his eyes shut when Istarted, like he was expecting rough treatment. I gentled my hand as much as I could, wiping away the dirt and tears carefully. When he finally opened his eyes, I felt my breath catch in my chest again. Pale blue and so fearful.
“You are safe,” I murmured, though I knew he couldn’t understand me. Hopefully my tone would be enough. “I won’t hurt you.”
Three
When the barbarian brought me back to his tent and started stripping me, I expected the worst. I had no hope of fighting him off. He towered over me and the muscles of his arms were probably larger than my head. I could only cry and beg for him to have mercy. And he did. He only stripped me long enough to get me clean before dressing me again. Then he traded the bowl of water for a bowl of food and fed it to me by hand when I was too scared to move until I felt safe enough to take it myself.
The food wasn’t bad, fire smoked meats and some kind of vegetable I didn't recognize. I wasn’t really worldly, having only ever experienced what was to offer in our town, so I couldn’t say what he was feeding me. Only that it was warm and filling and he let me eat as much as I wanted. After two and a half days without a meal, I was starving and finished everything he gave me. He seemed pleased, the corners of his mouth kicked up in a small smile. He offered me more from his own bowl, but I shook my head. I didn’t want him to go hungry just because the mayor had refused to feed me while we were waiting for the barbarians to fetch me. Besides, any more food and I would be sick.
For the first time in days, I was clean, fed, and warm. Fatigue dragged at my senses, but I fought against it, too scared to close my eyes for long. He must have noticed, though, because he frowned and wiped off his hands before scooping me up again and moving me over to the makeshift bed. He didn’t crawl in to join me, or make a move to take advantage of me. He just tucked me in and turned down the lantern, finishing his meal in the dark. I tried to keep my eyes open and on him, to make sure he didn’t come after me, but fatigue won out and I fell asleep before too long.
I woke up while it was still dark to my whole body shaking. It was freezing and while there were blankets below me to protect me from the ground and one above me, it wasn’t enough. I curled in on myself, trying to tuck my legs into the overly large tunic for warmth. It was when my teeth started to chatter that the barbarian woke up. He’d been asleep next to me, facing the flap of the tent’s entrance, but he turned over and I could feel him staring at me in the dark. I clenched my teeth hard enough to make my jaw hurt to stop the chatter, but I was still shaking. I was never a very good actor.
A large arm came around my waist, drawing me against the barbarian’s chest. I stiffened, afraid that now that we were awake and in bed together, he’d finally take advantage, but he only turned me over and tucked my head under his chin, wrapping himself around me. I didn’t understand why until the warmth sank into my skin. Relief overwhelmed me as my body relaxed. He was warm and holding me to keep me warm, too. It didn’t take long for the fatigue to drag me back to sleep again, and I stayed curled up against him until morning.
When I woke again, it was lighter. The sun hadn’t quite risen yet, but I could see better in the tent. I was still cuddled up against the large barbarian, using his body heat to keep warm. A part of me wished I could go back to sleep and pretend for alittle while longer that I wasn’t sold off by my own father to a barbarian clan that might very well kill me as soon as I proved not useful. I wasn’t a strong or clever man. They would be disappointed once they realized how useless I was.
I bit my lip, fighting back tears. More proof of what a useless man I was. Before her passing, my mother used to call me ‘sensitive’. My brothers called me pathetic. I learned to hide my tears as much as possible to not garner their attention. I didn’t want to catch the barbarian’s attention either.
Only, it’d been hours since I was last able to relieve myself. It was the discomfort that woke me. I wasn’t sure where to go or if I was even allowed to relieve myself without supervision, but I didn’t want to wake the barbarian and earn his ire to ask. I squirmed uncomfortably, willing myself to wait, but my movements were too erratic because the barbarian stirred and opened his eyes, his brows drawing together slowly.
He asked me something, but I couldn’t understand him. I shook my head helplessly, fear and discomfort at war in my mind. Would he lash out like my father did?
Sitting up, he tried again, gesturing at me with a questioning look. I took it to mean him asking me what was wrong, but it was embarrassing to answer him. I felt my face flush, dropping my gaze to my lap.
“I need to relieve myself…”
He was quiet for a moment and when I looked up, he seemed confused. My body protested the wait and in a desperate move, I squirmed and pressed my hands into my lap, trying to hold out.
Body language worked better than talking because his eyebrows shot up and he pushed to his feet, leading me outside to a trench used in place of a toilet. He said something to me again and when I frowned, he scrubbed the back of his neck with his own frown. He pointed to the forest and shook his head no. Then mimicked running with his fingers on his palm. Norunning. I wished I could tell him I wasn’t brave enough to do such a thing so he wouldn’t hurt me, but I could only nod to show I understood. He gave me privacy, stepping past the line of trees so I could do my business. When I was through, I hurried to where he was waiting, not wanting to give him any reason to harm me. He’d been kind so far, but I didn’t trust it to last.
He brought me back to his tent and urged me back to bed. The sun was just rising, so it was still early, but he didn’t join me like he had before. Instead, he wrapped me tightly in the blanket to keep me warm and sat on the ground near the lantern that he relit. It looked like he was mending his clothes and the methodical movements of his hands lulled me back to sleep.
When I woke for the third time, the sun was up and the tent was well lit. The barbarian was still working, his expression calm and focused. While he wasn’t paying attention to me, I got a better look at him in the light. He had long brown hair that was shaved on the sides, as well as a thick beard. He slept shirtless, which was astounding given how cold it got. Then again, he was warm like a fire even in the middle of the night, so the cold must not have bothered him. His arms and chest were covered in tattoos, symbols carved in ink on his skin. I didn’t know the meaning of any of it, but it was kind of pretty if you looked at it in the right light. When he’d come to fetch me, he’d had necklaces on, but they were set aside for now. All that decorated thick muscles and a wide chest. Even his thighs were massive. I was beyond terrified of what might be in his pants, especially if he planned to use it on me, but thankfully he slept in trousers the night before. If it was proportional to his frame, then I might have had nightmares.
Like he could feel me studying him, he turned and raised an eyebrow at me. I dropped my gaze immediately, fighting back the urge to hide under the blanket.
“Korvash,” the barbarian said. I didn’t know what the word meant, but when I gathered enough courage to look up at him, he beckoned me with a wave of his hand. I whimpered, terrified of what he wanted from me, but he waited patiently and didn’t speak again until I got off the bed and moved closer, careful to keep the blanket around my shoulders. The tunic he gave me kept me covered, but it was too large and kept slipping off my shoulders when I moved around too much.
He rewarded me coming closer with a soft smile and a nod of his head. Then, without a word, he lifted me to my feet and stood me in front of him. I sucked in a sharp breath and tried to edge away, but he held fast to my hips, moving the blankets out of his way.
“P-please, no…” I whimpered. Not that he could understand. For all I knew, in his language, it sounded like I was saying yes.
