On his knees, Ayron and Eva were face to face. She cocked an eyebrow at him. “I knew you were talented, but I wasn’t aware your skills included advanced language instruction.” Then she turned to Lexi. “I bid you welcome, Alexis Sims.”
Visibly shaken, Eva went into her room and sank down on a bench. “Please, come and sit by me, Alexis Sims.” She motioned to the spot next to her.
“Thank you, Mother Eva. And please, call me Lexi.” She sat down, allowing the old woman to maintain the pretense that her moment of weakness had been a planned gesture of hospitality.
“Our Tryb, too, traveled here from Earth,” Eva said. “So long ago our memories of that world are now nothing more than myths told and retold over millennia. But we are sisters under the skin. Tell me how you came to Iridia, child. And tell me how it is you know our language so well.” She gave Ayron a look out of the corner of her eye. Lexi had a feeling he’d be called on to explain once she was out of earshot.
Lexi told Eva the truth. That she’d arrived on Iridia because of an anomaly in the portal. She spoke slowly, scanning her mind for terms the matriarch would understand. Eva allowed Lexi to tell the story at her own pace, murmuring a word of sympathy or encouragement from time to time.
Lexi laid it out, from the frightening moment when she realized she’d landed on Iridia to the Tellex chip that allowed her to communicate to taking refuge in the cave. With a glance at Ayron, she skipped the part where Eli had been on the verge of claiming her, saying only that he and Ayron had found her, then battled, and Ayron emerged the victor. She said very little about their days alone in the grotto, only that Earth did not have a place half as beautiful.
“We had to delay our return to your city when the sandstorm hit. We stayed in the grotto until Ayron thought it was safe to travel.”
When she quit talking, Eva was silent for a few moments. Then she patted Lexi’s hand.
“You must be exhausted from your long journey, child. I have many questions, but they can wait.” She waved to her attendants. “Nadina, take Lexi to bathe and get her something to eat before she sleeps. Mara, bring food and drink here. I will speak with my grandson before he takes his rest. Privately.”
Mara’s face fell. Her disappointment at not being privy to any more juicy details was so evident Lexi almost felt sorry for her. She allowed Nadina to take her hand and lead her away. She couldn’t bear being around Ayron for another minute. His cold, distant attitude hurt more than his harshest spanking ever had.
***
Ayron told Eva as much as he dared, leaving out the details of their intimate relationship.
“She’s amazing, Mother. Incredibly smart, yet innocent in so many ways. Her people don’t believe in touching or hugging, even their children. And they live cut off from nature in great cities filled with plants and trees that neither grow or die.” He shook his head. “You should have seen the look on her face when I took her to the flower grotto. She’d be there still, if I hadn’t dragged her out.”
A faraway look came into Eva’s eyes. She smiled. “Ah yes. I remember the first time your grandfather took me to the flower grotto.” She took Ayron’s hand. “It’s been so long since I’ve seen you this happy.”
“Happy? I’m just glad to be back home and have all the nonsense of your epic hunt over with. Honestly, Eva, you’ve got to stop creating these dramas. Had it not been for the hunt, Eli would still be alive.” Ayron stopped, appalled at what he’d said.
Eva had a pained expression on her face. “I grieve for the loss of a life. But Eli had a cruel streak. I saw it grow as the years passed. Eventually, I would have been forced to banish him.” She stood, signaling their conversation was over. “I must rest now, child. Tonight the whole Tryb will gather to celebrate your triumphant return and witness the claiming.”
Ayron knelt and kissed her hand, then headed to his home at the top of the city. He knew what Eva’s devious mind had planned but he had no intention of going through with a claiming. The ceremony was very different from that of mating. Mating was cause for celebration, but the actual claiming of a mate was never done in public. When a female was claimed, a warrior treated her as his property, stripping her naked and penetrating her right there on the platform in front of the crowd.
The females who were claimed came from Trybs that had banished them. Iridia had no prisons. When a crime was committed, the Tryb’s Mother convened a council to hear testimony from all concerned. They came up with the punishment, and their decision was final. Small infractions required restitution, sometimes even a period of servitude to the injured party. For minor crimes, the guilty party was stripped naked, and the one wronged administered a public paddling. With first-time offenders, being stripped naked. bent over a stone bench then spanked by an angry victim in front of the entire Tryb was usually enough to discourage any further bad behavior.
But if the crime was serious — inflicting bodily harm on a child or a weaker Tryb member for example — the sentence could be as severe as banishment from the Tryb. The men were cast into the Outlands to live or die as the gods willed. The women were sent to another Tryb to be claimed, destined to live out their lives in forced servitude to whatever master that Tryb chose for them.
She might not be a member of his Tryb, but Ayron couldn’t subject Lexi to the humiliation of a claiming. She hadn’t committed any crime. She didn’t deserve that fate.
***
Ayron led Lexi to the center of the platform and dropped to one knee. The drumbeats rose to a crescendo then fell silent.
“Mother Eva, I present this female. This prize, this treasure. In your name, I have hunted her down. Rescued her from certain death in the Outlands. Battled the mightiest hunters in our Tryb to win her.”
He’d decided to keep the details of Eli’s death a secret. No good would come from confessing he’d attacked Eli when he found the hunter on the verge of cruelly claiming Lexi. Taking the life of another was punishable with exile, except in self-defense or defense of another Tryb member. Though Lexi wasn’t part of their Tryb, after the comment Eva made about Eli, he knew if she had heard the whole story she’d have supported what he did. But now that Eli was dead, he didn’t need to destroy the reputation of a hunter the young men looked up to.
“I defeated them all,” he declared, his voice echoing off the stone walls. “And emerged victorious.”
The crowd roared their approval. He waited until the noise died down. “Mother Eva, I relinquish my right to claim her and give her to you, freely, as a tribute. She will serve only you in thanks for all you have done for me. For all of us.” His voice lowered dramatically. “And in the name of our brother Eli, who gave his life during this hunt for the honor of our Tryb.”
Eva gave him a sharp look then took his hand and raised him to a standing position. “Behold the winner — our mightiest hunter! I congratulate you and accept your gift in the spirit in which it was given.” She led the applause, less enthusiastic now that the throng discovered they weren’t going to witness a claiming after all. “Now, let us all celebrate the return of our hunters — and the memory of our fallen hero.” Eva waved a hand, and half a dozen young men appeared, bearing casks of wine and liquor from her private stock.
Eva had had years of experience handling the members of the Tryb. She left the platform and made her way slowly through the crowd, accepting congratulations and tossing out compliments. Once the drinks were flowing and the drums had taken up their sensuous beat again, she led Ayron to her private quarters.
Eva waited till she’d shut the door then whirled around. “What in all the gods was that?”
He’d never seen her so angry. Not even as a child, when he’d snuck out one night to take her pet relis for a romp in the Outlands. The poor thing had been snatched by a pack of roving huracas and torn to shreds. When he returned home, sobbing and shaking, Eva had smothered him in a huge hug, dried his tears, and then proceeded to give him a thrashing he’d never forget.
