“I see,” Net’ok said, and he sounded resigned. “It was because of your daughter, wasn’t it? You’ve never forgiven me for trading her for my… for this woman.”
“You’re the chief,” Chele hissed with venom. “You can do whatever you want. And this old woman has to live with the consequences of your whims. But fate has come down hard on you. It punished you better than I ever hoped it would.” She spat at the ground.
Net’ok sighed deeply. “I wish like fucking hell I were now battling the marauders.” His face set in determined lines, he turned to the women. “Oma and Mekni! Take Chele to her tent and tie her up. I’ll deal with her later.”
Uncertain at first, the women looked at each other. Chele was not well-liked, but many women had secretly sought her medical help at different points of their lives, and they all remembered it. Oma certainly did.
“Do as you’re told!” the High Counselor barked.
Slowly, they went to Chele. The old woman didn’t resist. Head hanging low, she allowed them to lead her away.
Klarm brought out a long length of rope. The post from Oh’nil’s punishment was still standing, an ominous testament of the suffering to come.
Chemmusaayl took control of logistics with a great deal of enthusiasm.
“No need for a second post,” he reasoned. “We’ll tie them together, back to back.”
He roughly yanked Addie toward the post. Oh’na made another grab for her, screeching and crying.
“Away with you, child.” Chemmusaayl looked around only to realize that Chele wasn’t on hand to take the girl away. “Go away. Go home.” He hit her with his stick.
Oh’na yelped and readjusted her vise-like grip on Addie’s dress.
Her resistance enraged Chemmusaayl. He hit her again, but Addie saw it coming and twisted, shielding Oh’na with her body. The stick came down on the small of her back. The blow was hard, arching her body in response. She didn’t whimper but she wanted to. Was this how hard he intended to a little girl? What was wrong with this man?
Next to them, Qalae erupted into action. With an impressive speed and unexpected force, she wrestled the stick from the High Counselor’s hands and swung it, making it whistle through the air, catching him on the side of his head. He staggered back, stunned.
But the queen wasn’t done. “You and your stupid stick. You don’t know how long I’ve wanted to do this, you small yellow prick.” She attacked Chemmusaayl with his own weapon.
He was bigger than her, and he obviously knew how to fight, but Qalae was her own little warrior. Her strong white arms with their smooth firm muscles wielded the stick tirelessly, and her agility was no match for the lazy Chemmusaayl. She danced around him as she scored hits on his arms, on his head, shoulders, and sides, and where the stick came into contact with bare skin, angry red marks immediately formed.
People stood around frozen, eyes fixed and jaws hanging to the floor. Chemmusaayl was breathing hard, winded and struggling to ward off the blows. He was losing to a woman.
“Enough!” The chief roared, leaping at Qalae. Right before he subdued her by wrapping her into a bear hug from behind, she brought the stick low and in a precise upward arc caught Chemmusaayl’s jewels with its end. The High Counselor whistled thinly, clutched his crotch, and toppled face-first on the rocky ground.
Chapter 39
The night came at last. The campsite became deserted.
A lonely sentry kept watch by doing walkabouts around the settlement, but his trajectory was too far from the center where Addie and Qalae were tied to the post.
Ihr and Ehr found a perch on top of a nearby teepee - the chief’s - and occasionally peeked at Addie out of one eye or another. The queen’s Yuux, unnamed, settled on top of the post. The post was not a single length of wood, which couldn't be found on this planet, but three chunks of sturdy shrub stems interlocked with each other and reinforced with tight wraps. Points to the For for ingenuity and excellent craftsmanship.
Addie wriggled her hands and feet to get some feeling in them. The ropes were super tight.
The Yuux on top of the post moved and cooed trying to attract his host’s attention.
“Why didn’t you name your Yuux?” Addie asked the queen.
Either because they were women, or because the High Counselor had gotten incapacitated too early in the process and hadn’t finished supervising the tie-up, Addie and Qalae weren’t gagged. Neither were they pricked with a sharp knife, and Addie wondered if Chemmusaayl would do it tomorrow, after he and his privates had had a chance to decompress.
“No one names them, Addie,” came Qalae’s amused reply. “They’re animals.”
“We name our pets where I come from.”
Qalae was silent before saying wistfully, “One day, I want you to tell me about that place you came from.” As if they had all the time in the world to catch up.
Addie injected some pep into her voice, “I’d love to tell you. It’s very different.”
