Crystal Healer (24 page)

"But Star Wolf alone could not be the tribe, and so he prayed for another to be made and sent down from the skies. The stars did not listen. They only watched from their lonely places, for they did not know what it was to be more than one. When Star Wolf's prayers became too loud, they tired of him and brought down the darkness so they would not have to see his sadness.

"Star Wolf wandered, alone and blind, and still the abundance flowed from him. The small creatures grew larger, and the world richer, but still he longed for the tribe. When he could no longer bear the solitude, he took up his dagger and cut himself in two.

"His blood soaked into the ground, turning it red, and the world that he had made abundant began to wither. The skies wept, and the land shook, until the stars lifted the darkness and saw what had become of their only child. They sent down their healing light, and from one part of Star Wolf fashioned a man, and from the other a woman. To honor Star Wolf, and so that man and woman might never be alone, they gave them the gift of creation. Whenever the two become one, another is made. So the first tribe came to be."

The storyteller made a broad gesture, sweeping his arm to encompass all of the intent young faces.

"Star Wolf's blood still makes the ground under you red. Whenever you see it, remember his sacrifice. He made it so that you could be his sons and daughters, the tribe he never knew."

The children reached out to the elderly male, touching him affectionately on the arms and belly with their small paws. He returned the gestures by placing his paws on their heads and murmuring words too soft for us to hear.

The story probably should have seemed gruesome, but I found it strangely beautiful.

"So this is how the oKiaf believe they were created?" I asked Jylyj.

"It is how they believe the universe was made," he corrected. "The oKiaf believe that Star Wolf was the first humanoid, the father of all people."

A minor commotion on the other side of the fire pit distracted me, and I looked over to see the chieftain and his men had moved away toward a group just entering the encampment. The new arrivals wore heavy cloaks with fur-lined hoods, and along with packs carried two long branches from which the limp body of a big, muscular animal hung.

"Who are they?" I asked Jylyj.

"I don't know. Travelers usually wait until morning to present themselves." He shifted, trying to get a better look. "They've brought a recent kill, which means they have hunting rights in this territory. Only the chieftain can grant them that kind of status."

The game the strangers had brought was taken away by six tribesmen, while Dnoc conferred with the tallest member of the group. He gestured several times in our direction.

"We should go and introduce ourselves," the Skartesh said. "The first to meet travelers are always any other travelers in the encampment."

We walked around the fire, and as soon as Dnoc saw us, he gestured for us to join them. Five of the travelers pulled back their hoods, revealing oKiaf faces, but the sixth and tallest of the group remained cloaked.

"Does the chieftain know what a troublemaker you are, Duncan?" the tall one called out in flawless Terran. "I can tell him, if you like."

My husband's expression softened, and he released my hand to go to the stranger. They curled one arm around each other's neck in a curious embrace before the tall one shrugged out of the cloak.

The traveler was not oKiaf, but a member of some feline species, and had a long, narrow head covered in short black-and-white fur. I guessed her to be Uorwlan, Reever's trader friend, although she wore the native dress of a male, adapted to accommodate an intricate weapons harness that crisscrossed her torso and hips. An astonishing amount of silver ornaments with glittering clear blue gems hung from her neck. Her eyes, much larger and more slanted than the oKiaf's, matched the gems in color and brilliance.

To my eyes she looked rather a starving, dirty jlorra, but Jylyj and every other male around me seemed to be staring at her with great admiration.

"Where is this Jarn you've told me of?" the feline woman asked. "I want to meet the female who convinced you to take her to wife."

I considered that an invitation, and walked over to stand at my husband's side.

"My wife, Jarn," Reever told the female. He looked down at me. "This is my friend, Uorwlan."

"I am happy to know you," I said, and made the Jorenians' polite gesture of welcome. "Do you know you're wearing the garments of a male?"

"She has good eyes." The Takgiba's piercing blue gaze shifted down and then up as Uorwlan inspected me. "But Terrans are usually larger, are they not? Is she a child, or a runt?"

"I am an adult, but I was made in a machine," I told her before Duncan could answer. "Evidently, there wasn't much room in it."

"So it would seem." Uorwlan's thin white lips peeled back from sharp-looking teeth in a faint snarl. "I've tried to learn that Jorenian hand-speak, but it made my wrists sore." Without warning, she bent and slung her arm around my neck. "Good to meet you, little sister."

I returned the embrace, feeling awkward but determined to make Duncan's friend feel welcome.

Uorwlan straightened, cuffed me under my chin, and eyed Jylyj, Qonja, and Hawk. "Are these your other husbands?"

I smothered a laugh and shook my head as I performed the introductions. The Takgiba gave each man the same rough embrace before addressing Reever.

"I thought I'd come down to the planet and see how you were fairing," she said. "I trade with all the tribes in this region; Dnoc and I are old friends. He thinks I'm a male, by the way, so don't wreck my hunting privileges by telling him otherwise. I've no taste for cooking and scraping the ground with my nose."

That explained her choice of garments. "I wish I'd thought of that."

"It helps not to have discernable teats," she told me, rubbing the flat surface of her chest. "Mine pop out only after I breed. Not that I plan to. I've yet to meet a male worthy of siring my offspring." She gave my husband a sly glance. "Well, one, but my kind and Terrans can't crossbreed. Probably for the best. Back when we were slave running, Duncan and I would have whelped an entire colony of kids between us."

My chest felt tight as I realized what she meant. This female and my husband had been lovers.

Dnoc spoke to Jylyj, who said, "The chieftain asks if you want your usual kiafta, Uorwlan."

"Why bunk alone when there are two Terrans to warm me?" the Takgiba said. "I'll sleep with Reever and Jarn."

We took Uorwlan with us back to our kiafta, although I felt a little disgruntled with how quickly Reever had agreed to let her stay with us. I didn't know why it bothered me, either--Iisleg customs gave men the right to have two women, and it wouldn't be the first time I had shared a bed with two other people.

Uorwlan talked a great deal, all the way from the fire to our shelters, and hardly paused for breath. She spoke of her overland trek to reach the camp, killing the game with her escorts, and how paranoid the Elphian had become lately. By the time we bid the others good night, I was almost tempted to ask Qonja and Hawk if I could join them.

As soon as we were alone, the Takgiba began stripping out of her clothing, revealing more black-and-white fur and a long, thin tail that moved as languidly as Uorwlan did.

"Secure the inside of the entry hide, will you, Jarn?" the Takgiba asked. "The natives won't intrude on us, but they've been known to peek."

I saw she intended to remove all of her garments, and turned to Reever. "You never let me sleep naked."

He shook his head at me slightly before addressing the Takgiba. "Uorwlan, my wife and I are exclusive to each other. We will not have sex with you."

"What?" The feline gave him a look almost as astonished as my own.

"She thinks she can
couple
with us?" I said, almost at the same time.

"How else am I to get warm?" Uorwlan gave me a hateful look. "So this is what you've done to him? Turned him into a Jorenian?"

I didn't like that, especially as being exclusive had been Reever's idea from the beginning. "Terrans are usually monogamous," I informed her. "When I agreed to become his wife, I also accepted his ways."

"That Terran"--Uorwlan pointed to Reever--"was never monogamous. Even when he shared my bed. In fact, he went through females almost as quickly as he did blades."

I had forced myself to accept that Reever had given his love to Cherijo before me. Now it would seem a small army of females had had him even before her.

She studied my expression. "He didn't mention that, did he? Ah, well, they never do. All males are seeders, you know, and they're never truly happy unless they can spread it around. Did he ever tell you about the slave harem we liberated from the pleasure colony on Anig fel? I ended up putting guards on our cabin so he could get a few hours' sleep. You wouldn't believe what I had to do to have him to myself once a week."

"What my husband did with you or anyone else in his past is irrelevant to me." Anger made my voice cold. "All you need to know is that you can't have him now."

"Is that what you think, little sister?" She bared her teeth and tugged a blade out of her belt. "Duncan saved my life, and I'm in his debt. He can ask anything of me, and I will give it to him." She tossed the dagger from one set of claws to the other. "So if he wants a place in my bed, on my ship, or anywhere else, it's his."

I pulled one of my own blades and held it ready. "Not anymore."

"Perhaps I should go and sleep with Qonja and Hawk," Reever said as he stepped between us and with two blurred motions took the blades from our hands. He looked at Uorwlan. "You are my friend, but Jarn is my wife, and I love her. You will respect that and our bond." He turned to me. "And you, Wife. You will calm down and not provoke Uorwlan any further."

"
Provoke
her?" I echoed, outraged. "She drew the first blade. You wish me to stand by the next time she loses her temper and let her stab me?"

Reever's eyes darkened. "I wish you to leave her alone, Jarn."

"If you are finished arguing," Jylyj said from outside the side entry to the shelter, "we have been summoned to meet with the master hunter."

Twelve

The frigid air nipped at my hot cheeks and curled around my clenched fists as I stepped outside. The encampment had obviously settled in for the night, for I saw only a few males walking around the outside of the shelters farthest from the fire pit. Like the men on watch who had met us earlier that day, they carried the pronged weapons, but each also held a small torch of flaming heartwood, which they used to illuminate their path.

I wanted one of those torches. I could see myself accidentally dropping it on Uorwlan's twitching tail. Or my husband's thick head.

Reever paced me. "You're angry with me."

"When did you notice?" I didn't look at him. "Before she pulled a blade on me, or after?"

"You don't understand Uorwlan or what she was trying to do. I had to stop you before you did something foolish." He tried to take my hand as if he meant to establish a link.

"So I am ignorant
and
foolish." I avoided his touch and put another foot of space between us. "That is good to know. I might never have come to that conclusion by myself. Thank you for educating me."

He moved closer. "If you will allow me to explain--"

"I need no explanations from you, Duncan," I said flatly. "If you prefer to be with her, all you need do is say so, and I will step aside. But we have a child, and Marel is more important than your desire to . . . how did she put it? Run through females as fast as you do blades?"

He made a frustrated sound. "Uorwlan has a love of the dramatic, and she always exaggerates things. She believes that the relationship she had with me in the past gives her first rights. There is also a more immediate problem with her. She is--"

"
Daevena
take Uorwlan," I snapped, sick of hearing his concern for her. "You can have her if you like. You can have as many females as you wish--create a new harem for yourself, if you desire--but know this: Whatever you do with her, whatever she means to you, when we leave here, you are coming with me."

"I was afraid you would mistake my meaning," he said. "I don't want Uorwlan, Jarn."

Now I looked at him. "I don't care, Duncan."

"The oKiaf consider public quarreling between a male and female extremely distasteful," Jylyj said. "They regard it on the same level as relieving yourself in the open."

I glared at him. "Yes, of course. We wouldn't wish to piss on the ground in front of anyone."

There was no more time for him to say anything, for we had arrived at the master hunter's kiafta. Jylyj called out a soft-voiced greeting, and the entry hide was opened to admit us.

The master hunter's family already occupied their sleeping platforms, and the older male paused to tuck a fur around the smallest child before turning to greet us. He wore few ornaments in his mane, and had heavily scarred arms and paws that bore mute testimony to his experience.