“What have we here?” Qalae’s eyes held a malevolent glint, making them appear especially brilliant against her pale skin.
Addie pressed her lips and raised her chin. Inside her chest, her heart was beating presto tempo.
“Speak, strange woman.” She ignored Zoark like he wasn’t even there.
“She has a name,” Zoark bristled in an unusual show of temper, making it impossible to be ignored. “Use it when speaking to her.”
Qalae’s eyes blazed fire. “I wasn’t speaking to you, cripple. Don’t you dare insult your queen.”
Zoark’s upper lip curled, showing the tips of his impressive fangs. “You are not my queen.”
Face darkening with rage, Qalae bared her own teeth at him. “I’ll have you punished.”
“It will not earn you my respect. Nor my brother’s.”
The barb must have hit its mark, and she didn’t deny that Oh’nil’s opinion was important to her.
“You won’t get away with talking down to me,” she hissed at Zoark, hands balled at her sides. “You’ve gotten too bold, cripple. When will your time finally be up? Die already!”
Zoark’s eyebrows arched. “And if I don’t?”
“Do you want to be put down like a raving, parasite-infested Gosor with slothing skin?”
Zoark said nothing.
Qalae took a small step forward. “Tell me, cripple, if you could, would you challenge my mate?”
“Is that what you want? You want me to kill Net’ok, instead of risking your precious Oh’nil?”
She sprang back as if scalded, and it took her a second to muster some dignity where she so clearly wanted to lash out at Zoark.
“I never wished Net’ok dead,” she said. “He is my mate.”
Ignoring the ill-concealed rage pouring from Qalae’s eyes, Zoark spoke with annoyance, “Think of me what you will, Qalae. Whether I die tomorrow or not, people are losing faith inyour mate.”
Qalae gasped in outrage. “How dare you blame him! We live in difficult times.”
“Anyone can lead when the going is easy, Qalae. Guiding people in challenging times requires true courage and wit.”
“Net’ok has both!”
“Net’ok needs to stop relying on the High Counselor who does nothing but screech and shake that stick of his. Who punishes people for minor transgressions and invokes tribal unrest instead of solving common problems. Who looks for someone to blame instead of planning for the future.”
“Oh? You’re critical of your High Counselor, cripple? And of your chief? And you imagine yourqueenwants to hear it?”
“Sheneedsto hear it. Their decisions are not bringing relief to the tribe.”
Qalae frowned. “There are no Elkeks to be caught. No decision can change that.”
“No,” Zoark agreed, “but there’s got to be a change of plans if the original idea has failed. We came here, and it’s a dangerous wasteland. The chief and High Counselor must look around and take stock carefully. They need to draw on the lessons from the past, the lessons Chammusaayl claims to have learned.”
“He’s been trying to build up the tribe. We need strong warriors. He mated Iguell to your sister. And he wanted to mate Oh’nil. That’s why he was so angry at Oh’nil’s disobedience. He just accepted the two new warriors to the tribe - our men have grown in numbers.”
Zoark spread his hands wide. “Great! What is he going to feed all these numbers?”
Qalae had no answer to that. For the first time Addie had known her, she looked uncertain. “What would you have him do?” she asked with a slight sneer as if it was a challenging question, but Addie suspected she wouldn't mind advice.
Zoark blew out a breath. “Go back.”
