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But she will have a mate at her side to help her adapt.
For now, I must get everyone to safety at a hunter cave so the ancestors will not follow us. Luckily, there is a heavy snow falling from the grey, overcast sky, which means that our tracks will be quickly covered.
To my relief, the others do not complain. There is the occasional exclamation of surprise from Noj’me or Set’nef, and when Rem’eb awakens, he growls in anger and tears at his bonds, and we pause for a moment to reinforce the knotwork.
“Not much farther,” I reassure them when I see T’ia shivering. “This I promise.”
Noj’me blows out a breath and watches in wonder when it fogs in front of her. “He says it is not much farther,” she reassures the others. “Then warmth and shelter.”
Set’nef nods at me, his expression uneasy. “Lead on.”
I will not fail them. They have trusted me, a stranger, with their lives. I will bring them to the others and we will learn from one another, just as we did when we arrived on the beach from the island.
We make good time to the closest hunter cave. It is one full of supplies, as most do not bother to stop so close to the fruit cave. It is also a very large cave, I notice, with two large chambers and a kit-sized hole in the back that leads deeper into places a hunter cannot go. Normally I ignore such things, but today I cannot help but think of it and worry.
I set R’slind down in the snows and check out the cave to ensure it is safe, and then bring them all inside. T’ia immediately kneels in the dark by the fire pit. “I’ll get a flame going.”
“My thanks,” I tell her, and turn to Noj’me. “Do your people have other caves in which you come above? Is this cave safe?”
“No one come above,” she replies, her words growing better with use. “Forbidden.”
“Someone came above,” R’slind says to me. “I found a cave and someone snatched me. They used that weird sleep powder on me and when I woke up, I was in the jail cell.”
I nod. I believe her. “Someone must be breaking their rules if it is forbidden. They attacked T’ia and myself in the fruit cave with the sleep powder.”
“That’s a problem for tomorrow,” T’ia comments, banging her spark-makers together. “Rem’eb will be difficult to deal with and we need furs and food. Let’s tackle one issue at a time.”
R’slind grimaces. “She’s right. Let’s focus on right now. I’ll go see what I can find. Why don’t you check in on the others?”
She is right. I watch her get up and head into the darkness, lit only by the bright blue of her eyes. I know she cannot see much, but it is brave of her to want to help, and I am filled with affection for my mate once more. Brave, smart, strong R’slind.
T’ia clears her throat at me and then bangs her sparkers together again.
“Our captive. I did not forget.”
Though we both know I did.
A short time later, there is a fire blazing in the fire pit, and T’ia has set up a pouch full of tea to warm. The ancestors are wrapped in furs and T’ia is feeding Rem’eb a few sips of water, gently brushing her fingers over his chin to catch the drips, and I think about what she said. How she is not resonating, but she suspects she will be soon. She feels something and wishes to keep him by her side.
I understand this all too well.
A new fur kilt around my loins and proper boots upon my feet, I get up and head to the back of the cave, where R’slind has been lurking. I thought she might need a moment to herself but as time passes and she does not join the others by the warm fire, I begin to worry that something is troubling her. I find her in the shadows, folding a pile of furs into a stack. She has a snowcat fur wrapped around her shoulders and another tied at her waist, and she looks soft and touchable and so beautiful that my chest aches and my khui sings even louder at her nearness.
I crouch next to her. “You should sit next to the fire, my sweet R’slind. It is warmer there.”
“I’m okay.” Her hands smooth over another one of the furs. “I’m just going through to see what can easily be made into clothes or shoes, since we’ve got six people to dress, and just tossing on a pelt isn’t going to help if we’re traveling in all that snow. And I can figure out how to sew, at least. I know the basics. I actually wrote a fanfic once about a seamstress—”
