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Jagga prepared a crude wooden platter for her. He sliced one of the steaks into thin strips and also loaded her up with some of the charred vegetables. For an eating utensil, Serenity received a knife. It was similar to the one Hruk carried, with a blade of knapped obsidian, but it was much smaller and easier for her to use.
Serenity dug in immediately.
She skewered a slice of steak and popped it into her mouth. The outside was perfectly seared and seasoned, and the inside was rare and juicy. Just what she had been craving. She wolfed down two more slices and a piece of tangy charred pepper before she caught herself.
Shit, where were her manners?
She was totally pigging out, and the two ukkur hadn’t even gotten their food yet.
Neither one of them seemed concerned about this. As Serenity soon realized, table manners didn’t really apply out here in the woods. Using his knife, Jagga speared the biggest steak, lifted it from the coals, and deftly tossed it to Grodd, who caught it bare-handed and proceed to eat it just like that. No platter, no utensils. He grunted as he ripped a big chunk with his teeth like a wild animal.
Serenity suddenly felt less bad about her manners. But she did slow down, taking time to actually savor the simple but delicious meal.
She studied the small knife Jagga had given her. For such a primitive tool, it was exceptionally well-crafted. The edges of the stone blade were razor sharp and attached to the wooden handle with sinew.
How had Jagga figured out how to make something like this? Even as smart as he was, surely he couldn’t figure it out on his own. And the tents. The cooking methods. The medicine…
Serenity’s mind filled with questions. She was about to hand over the translation device so she could ask, but she stopped herself. She needed to at least try to practice the ukkur language.
“Jagga,” Serenity said. She held up the knife. “How… how make?”
He was sitting across the fire with his own platter of food.
“Well, first I had to find a good piece of stone that was the right size, and—“
“No,” Serenity interrupted. “How…” it took her a moment to remember the word. “Howlearn?“
She gestured to the tents, to the fire, the pack containing the herbs and medicine he had used to help Hruk.
“How learn?” she repeated.
Behind her, Grodd rumbled. The deep, masculine sound of his voice vibrated through Serenity’s back and into her more sensitive places, making her gasp.
“Jagga smart,” Grodd said proudly. “Grodd big strong. Jagga big smart.”
Across the fire, the younger ukkur grinned.
“Thanks, Grodd. But I didn’t figure it all out on my own. We had a teacher, remember?”
“Oh yeah,” Grodd said.
“That’s right. Our knowledge was passed down by an old gray bearded ukkur.” Jagga took a bite of his food and looked at Serenity. “But that is a long story.”
“I’m not going anywhere,” she said in English.
Jagga quirked his eyebrow.
“I listen,” she said, this time in the language he could understand.
“All right,” Jagga said. “Well, I guess I should start from the beginning…”
CHAPTER 28: SERENITY
Serenity listened intently as Jagga told his tale. The firelight on his face only added to the drama. He began by describing his life as a slave for the nith working in the ksh fields. That was where he had met Grodd. Grodd didn’t get along well with the other ukkur, but for some reason he took a liking to Jagga, and the two became close friends.
It was thanks to Grodd that they both escaped.
The nith were cruel masters, and they derived sadistic enjoyment from torturing the slaves who displeased them. Their favorite method was lashing the ukkur with nettle whips that gouged and tore their flesh. Grodd was often punished in this way, but the big ukkur always accepted his whippings silently, without the slightest concern.
