Chapter 9: Of Fair Trade & A Favor

The following morning was not a pleasant one for me. I had no idea how Threm would react to a stranger attempting to make a trade with him and I insisted that my mates remain at our camp while I went to negotiate.

"I will go with you," spoke Roya.

"And I," said Sheel.

"Neither one of you will go," I replied. "This is work that requires strategy, not force. One man alone may succeed where a show of force could invite disaster. I will go alone. If I need your help, I'll return for you."

They did not like it, and even argued (very unusual for a woman with a man) still insisting that they go along. They had even brought up the "choices and opinions" clause. But, about this subject I would not budge, I refused to put them in any danger. If anything happened to either one of them I would never forgive myself.

Finally, after convincing them just how important this was to me, they gave in. Then after they both had given me a long sensual kiss and extracted my promise to be careful, and me offering a few parting words of instructions to Sheel and Roya, to keep a sharp watch for any danger, I took the largest jar of salt and headed out at a rapid trot toward Threm's camp.

I topped the rise the girls and I had hid behind the night before and walked down the gentle slope toward a group of twelve men talking amongst themselves.

As I approached the gathering, the talking hushed as one of the men stepped forward. He was a giant of a man, at least 6'6", with broad shoulders and arms the size of my thighs. He spoke, "I am Threm, and we, the clan of Threm have laid claim to this land. You are trespassing here."

I stepped forward, "I don't wish to fight. I only wish to trade for a female. The females name is Treeya."

"And what have you to trade for this female if she were here?" Threm asked.

"I would trade this salt for her." I said as I set down the clay pot filled with salt.

"As much as I would like to have that great quantity of salt, I can not help you. There is no female named Treeya here." Threm replied still eyeing the salt.

"Then perhaps you would allow me to look over your other females and..."

Threm cut my words off, "I said there is nothing here for you. Now go."

So, that went well. I didn't think it would be a good idea to call Threm a liar, although he had obviously lied about Treeya, so I decided the best thing to do was leave on friendly terms then come back later and steal Treeya away. I would worry about any consequences related to that action when it occurred.

"I'll go", I finally replied, "I wish no trouble." With that, I reached down and picked up the salt pot.

"Wait!" Threm called out, "You have not paid the price for trespassing on our land."

"What price?" was my response, "I haven't taken anything from you!"

"You will leave the salt and then you can go."

"This salt belongs to me. I will not pay such a price for nothing."

Without warning Threm pulled out a very large, bone knife, "You will pay one way or another." He said menacingly.

The rest of his band turned and faced their leader, then several of them readied their thrusting spears pointing them threateningly in my direction.

Before my awakening, I would have left the salt and walked away without any farther consideration. But, my new mind questioned if this man would even allow me to leave in peace regardless of my leaving the salt or not. He obviously hadn't shown any concern when he killed my clansmen. No, I would have to fight. I knew that one man standing against twelve was not very good odds, but I also rationalize if I could dispatch Threm quickly, the others just might think twice before taking any aggressive action themselves.

I set the pot of salt down then slowly stepped backward without turning my back to the hostile crowd. They all watched my retreat with keen interest several of them even taking a few threatening steps toward me.

When I was about twenty yards away, I yanked out my spear and threw it with all my strength, driving it deep into Threm's chest. Threm clutched franticly at the shaft impaling him, then giving it a twist, he quickly jerked it upward and ripped it out. The area around the wound opened spurting his blood over his furs, some creating an ever-larger pool on the ground. My spear had obviously struck a vital area, probably his heart. He stood for a moment, fascinated by the sight, before bellowing out in agony and falling face first to the ground.

The others stood unmoving, they had never seen a spear being thrown before. To them spears were used for thrusting only. Then the shock wore off and five of them rushed toward me. Just as I was reaching for my knife I heard the whistle of arrows flying over my head. Two of the five men rushing me fell dead in their tracks with arrows protruding from their bodies. Less than a heartbeat later a second set of whistles followed the first and another pair of assailants dropped.

Obviously, the arrows had been poison tipped, but I didn't have time to think about that because by then the last of them was on me. He lunged at me with his spear. I sidestepped and fell, spinning as I hit the ground, my knife slipped out of my hand coming to rest several feet away. I narrowly missed being caught by the second thrust aimed directly at my head. I flipped up onto my feet and turned to face my enemy. He lunged at me again, his right foot slipping as he moved, his motion now unbalanced. My left arm shot up to redirect the motion of his thrust throwing him even more off balance. As he fell to the left my right arm swung out, my open palm catching him under the chin. "SNAP!" His head snapped backwards breaking his neck cleanly. As his body fell to the ground, I picked up my knife then quickly looked around for any additional threats. The other members of his clan flew like birds startled into flight by the arrival of a predator.

Even before I turned, I knew what I would see, there they were, my two, rebellious, beautiful mates standing on the top of the raise, both of their bows armed with nocked arrows in the event they were needed again. They had saved my life. I smile up at them shaking my head.

I turned back when I heard a very frightened voice calling my name, "Dac? Is that you Dac?"

It was Treeya. She stood alone some twenty feet away seemingly to frighten to come any closer. Her long red hair looked tousled with red curls spraying from her head, and her normal sweet, dimpled young face now looking almost petrified.

"Yes Treeya it is I. Roya, Sheel and I have come to take you back with us if you wish to do so." I told her in a reserved voice.

"Is that Roya and Sheel on top of the hill?" She asked looking up toward my mates.

"Yes, that's them. Are there any men still in camp?"

"No. Some left early this morning to hunt, the others you frightened away, accept for them of course." She said with caution still filling her voice as she pointed to the bodies on the ground.

I turned and waved for Sheel and Roya to join us. They relaxed their weapons then made their way down the bank. As they passed me, they each gave me a quick kiss on the cheek then they continued over to Treeya and proceeded to hug her.

When I joined them I overheard Treeya asking, "... but what is this magic? Men die without being touched. All the other women are afraid. I would have been far too afraid to come out myself if I had not recognized Dac, and your clothing, it is so strange and flying things, and... I do not know?"

"You will know all," Roya told her smiling, But first, you need to know that when Dac found out that you had been taken away he insisted that we come find you. And we have. So Dac," she turned to me, "will you ask her if she wishes to come with us?"

"You're doing just fine," I smiled at Roya, then I turned her chin up with the tips of my fingers and kissed her on the lips, "You ask her. And, thank you my love."

Roya smiled, "You're welcome and worth it my man."

Then I turned and similarly kissed Sheel, "Thank you my wild kitten."

Sheel smiled, "Anytime my love, you're welcome. And you're more than worth it."

Then Roya turned her attention to Treeya, "Treeya this will be very different for you to understand but Dac has given women choices and he asks women their opinions, so do you want to stay with this clan or do you want to come back to ours? There are only three of us left."

I could tell Treeya was both curious and confused about the way my mates and I were interacting, but she voiced nothing of it and instead looking from Roya then to me then back to Roya once again she said, "If you were only one I would go with you. This is not a nice clan."

Sheel kissed her, "That's the first of many opinions you will make," then smiling she added, "and opinions make him very happy," she pointed toward me while laughing.

That got a good chuckle out of both Roya and me but understandably, Treeya did not get it.

"So," I said walking over to retrieve my spear from where it had fallen after Threm had yanked it out of his chest, "Why don't you three go pack Treeya's belongings while I recover the arrows. I don't want to frighten the other women any more than I already have."

"Yes Dac," Roya and Sheel responded at the same time. Then after Sheel retrieved the salt, the three women headed toward one of the long huts.

I had an after thought and called out to the women, "Oh, yes. You might as well gather all our clans sleeping furs and soft leathers that were taken from us too."

Roya turned her head in my direction then nodded her acknowledgment.

One at a time, I hauled the dead bodies to the far side of the camp well behind the last hut and out of sight. Although I did not feel any real remorse over their death, after all it was they that had picked the fight, I still worked as considerately as possible, unlike prey, I did not feel it appropriate to hack apart their bodies while extracting the girls' arrows.

Surprisingly, three of the four arrows I managed to remove undamaged, the forth was beyond repair with a snapped shaft having occurred when the man had fallen face first. I took it with me anyway, figuring I could use its steel tip and feathers as repair spares, and I didn't want to leave any evidence of our new weaponry at this camp anyway.

When the three girls returned, each carrying a large bundle of furs, leathers and other smaller items, Treeya, with her eyes focused downward ask me with a weak voice, "Martreen asked if it would be permitted for her to speak with you? She is this clan's healer."

I raised Treeya's chin until her brilliant green eyes set off by the dark redness of her hair were looking directly into mine before I answered in a gentle tone, "My dear sweet Treeya, the first thing you will need to realize is that you need not ever be anxious to speak too me or ask me about anything. Roya and Sheel can explain. And yes, I would be more than happy to speak with this healer."

Treeya offered me a timid smile then she turned and waved her hand motioning to someone inside the long hut. Immediately a tall, slender, woman in her early thirties stepped out. She had a light-olive complexion, high cheekbones, and wavy black hair. Her head lithely rested on a long, slender neck, and her wide lips underscored a face of rare beauty, but her eyes were the most impressive, they looked bright, intelligent and knowledgeable.

I walked toward the woman meeting her halfway, "Hello, I am Dac of the Jearet clan. And you must be the healer Martreen." I greeted her.

When Martreen started speaking, she held eyes low, as was customary for a woman when speaking to a man. Then something inside her seemed to change, she gained confidence in both her stature and her demeanor. She raised her shoulders then her eyes and looked directly into mine, "Yes I am Martreen. Thank you for speaking with me."

I nodded.

"Dac of the Jearet clan," she said softly in a melodious voice, "Forgive my audacity, but I... we need your help."

I looked into Martreen's deep brown eyes. She had the biggest, brownest eyes I had ever seen. They were wet and deep and they maintained such a steady, soulful gaze that they seemed almost able to read my mind, causing me to look away momentarily.

"How may I be of help?" I asked turning my eyes back to her. I felt a bit uncomfortable. After all, I had just killed this woman's clan leader.

She didn't respond immediately and time seemed to linger.

"One of the many drawbacks of being a man is that women find it very difficult to tell you what is really on their minds, I assure you, there is no need for any apprehension when speaking with me," I remarked, breaking the silence as we both studied each other.

After another long pause, Martreen sighed. "Thank you, I sensed as much in you. If you will permit, I would like to offer a little background information concerning our clan which may help you to understand my appeal."

I nodded.

Martreen offered a petite smile of appreciation then continued, "Four winters ago this was a normal clan living day to day trying to survive, then one day Threm came along, he provoked a quarrel with our clan leader and in due course killed him then laying claim to this clan as his own. Threm was not a good leader, he would strike a woman over the smallest infraction, he controlled the other men through force and intimidation, and he took what he wanted, no one was happy under his unkind rule."

I was puzzled. Did she perceive me as some kind of liberator? I shrugged my shoulders. "My original intentions concerning Threm were not as they ultimately played out, but based on what you're telling me, his demise may be the best thing that ever happened to this clan."

"Well, yes and no," Martreen replied, "you see Threm didn't come to us alone. He brought another man with him. This other man, Broc is the one that led the hunt early this morning, and even as bad as Threm was, this Broc is even more unstable, and is unquestionably less intelligent. Threm at least understood that there is a limit to how much suffering you can inflict before you have a revolt on your hands, Broc has no comprehension of such a concept. Threm managed to keep Broc under at least some control, but now without Threm there is no telling what Broc will do. I'm sure that under Broc's rule, the men of this clan will eventually revolt, but how many men and women will be made to suffer and even die before that occurs. Dac of the Jearet clan, I appeal to you to help us deal with this Broc."

I still did not feel comfortable getting involved, for one, clan laws forbid it, and second, I did not have any personal knowledge concerning this Broc. I told her as much, "By convention, clan problems are to be resolved internally, not by outsiders. Please remember, my only purpose in coming here was to reclaim that which was by force taken from me. Therm's death was a direct result of him threatening me with his weapon. I just don't see how I can get involved in this clan's affairs because of that."