Rolling his eyes, which was a funny expression on a man his age, Orthorr led me out of the cooking tent and over to a few empty pillows around the community fire. I allowed him time to get settled, but he knew I wasn’t going to let the subject go. I poked his side once he started eating, giving him an impatient look that made him smirk.
“It’s not a terribly interesting story. I was young and foolish. My clan leader at the time had told me I needed to introduce my tribute to the clan, as all protectors should. I didn’t want to. There were many who were interested in her. Tessa was beautiful and outgoing and drew attention wherever she went. She was also incredibly stubborn, and when I mentioned what I was required to do, that I would have to fight for her hand if I wanted to keep her, she outright refused. She demanded I claim her then and there, and skip the introduction process. I was too in love with her to argue. I gave her a bonding necklace, claimed her as mine, and accepted the punishment when informing my clan leader of what I’d done.”
My mouth fell open. “They punished you? Even though it was what you both wanted?”
He nodded, nudging my bowl to encourage me to eat and listen. “Back then, clans weren’t as community oriented as they are now. Many of my clan brothers believed tributes shouldn’t get a choice, and that the one with the greatest prowess shouldget to claim them. I didn't like that. I had no interest in forcing anyone to be bonded. I was given the choice to annul my bonding with Tessa and fight for her hand or to leave. I chose the latter, leaving with her to join the Northern Clan. A few who believed as I did went with me, and when the time came for the Northern Clan to choose a new leader, they asked for me to take the job. I took it so that I could ensure no tribute ever felt forced to be with one of my own.”
I stared at him in awe, taking in what he said. “So… you’re the reason tributes were treated so well?”
He made a face, lifting a shoulder. “I was the first clan leader to insist, but I could not enforce that outside of my clan. It was the other clans that made the choice to follow my example.”
“But you started it,” I argued. “You were the voice of change. They might not have ever done it if it hadn’t been for you. That’s amazing, Orthorr. The reason barbarians are so sweet is because of you.”
CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO
ORTHORR
Cedric’s awestruck expression made me uncomfortable. I did not take credit for the change because it wasn’t only me who wished to make it. Bren, Idrull, and a few others all felt the same as I did. I was just the first to enforce the rule in my own clan because I was the first to become clan leader. They had to wait until they could take the position in their own clans to make any changes. It hadn’t been easy, some clan members had fought against the change, but it had been for the best. Tributes were happier in our clan, spent the time learning the language and accepted their place among us faster than any other clan. When others recognized the difference, they began to change as well, and the overall happiness of tributes became our first priority. They deserved to be treated like the goddesses they were for continuing our way of life.
Tessa had been by my side the entire time I put the change into motion, supporting me and standing beside me when the clan pushed back. She was as fiercely defensive of me as I was of her and put more than one of my clan brothers in their placewhen they tried to say I was too weak to fight for her hand like I should have. Her scolding was more effective than a blade.
“I think it is Tessa who should have gotten the credit,” I murmured. “I took action because I loved her. I cannot say the same would be true if she had never come into my life.”
I always believed that tributes deserved to be treated better, but I didn’t push back against my clan until she arrived. When Khrull from the Fer’na Clan showed up to ours asking for sanctuary to protect his bondmate, I saw myself in him. He followed orders and honored his clan until they tried to take his bondmate away from him. It was why I allowed him and his bondmate to stay. The Fer’na had only recently attacked us, and Uttin was reluctant to allow someone he considered an enemy to join our people, but I knew something he did not. A man willing to give up his clan for love would fight to his last breath to protect the clan that cherished them both.
Cedric smiled softly, nodding in agreement. “Okay. I can accept that. I’m sure she’d be proud of the legacy she’d helped create. Thanks to her, I finally have a chance at true happiness. I wish I could thank her in person.”
Chuckling, I tucked him against my side, leaning my cheek on the top of his head. Tessa would have liked Cedric. He prioritized me and demanded equality between us. He volunteered to help me even though he was still getting his feet beneath him and barely understood our ways of life. He was a good man, and I got the feeling if they’d known each other in life, they would have been good friends.
Closing my eyes for a moment, I focused on the warmth of the sun on my face. Thanks to my love for Tessa, I was able to create a life where tributes were free to choose who they loved and brothers were able to accept that claim without fighting for it. And thanks to Cedric, things would change yet again. Not justfor me, but for my clan. I couldn’t have gotten through all that paperwork without him.
I silently thanked the fates for sending me my two greatest loves. It was because of them that we could make a life so perfect.
Uttin and the rest of his party returned to the clan the following day, and the clan was packed up to leave only a few days later. King Zohaib sent a company of hunters, guards, an herbalist to teach about the local plants, and even an engineer, to help us set up a permanent settlement and learn about our new home. With several clans accompanying us, plus the slower pace of moving families, animals, and tents, the single day journey King Zohaib had expected took at least four. We could only travel so far each day before we needed to rest for the sake of those who traveled with us. The townspeople especially weren’t used to traveling and had trouble with the heat and sleeping on the ground.
When the forest finally came into view, I heard the ripple of excitement throughout the clan brothers riding beside me. There had been so much sand between the kingdom and our destination, it was hard to imagine just a vast forest cutting through all that wasteland.
“It is the river,” Malik, the hunter King Zohaib had sent, informed me, pointing in the distance where the trees were less thick and a wide river could be seen in the distance. “It cuts through the land and the trees surround it, splitting off in several directions so that the forest became as vast as it is now. Our king has chosen land for you over there,” he pointed again, this time to the left. “As it has more shallow waters for bathing,and the creatures can be easily deterred from entering those waters.”
“What kind of creatures?” Cedric asked warily. He’d spent most of the trip inside one of the wagons, as his fair skin had turned a bright pink from too much sunlight, and Zoya had insisted he needed a rest, but as this was our final day, she finally allowed him to join me on Dagr’s back for the rest of the journey.
Hugging him against my chest, I kissed the top of his head. “Relax, kolrav. No creatures attacked you while we were in the river before. We know how to keep each other safe.”
He whipped his head around, gaping at me. “There were dangerous creatures in that water? I thought it was too shallow for that!”
Malik shrugged, urging his mount forward. “Even shallow waters have risk if you don’t know what to look for. That’s why I am here. To teach our new allies what to look for. Your bondmate is right. You need not worry. Just don’t bathe alone.”
Cedric made an incredulous noise, but the excitement was making my clan brothers restless, and I knew better than to think we could continue our slow pace forever. I glanced to my left where Uttin rode beside us. When he caught my eye, he nodded once.
“Brothers! With me!”
He took off, leading a large group of our people forward to where a few of the king’s guards were already camped and waiting for us. Dagr picked up his pace a little, but I did not race off like the others. I stayed with those who could not tolerate such a quick pace, and I could tell by the way he slumped against me that Cedric was grateful. He didn’t like when we rode too fast.
We made camp where the forest thinned near the shallow waters Malik had spoken about. The trees gave us shelter from the heat, and easy access to hunting, but were thin enough notto need walls for protection against the creatures of the forest. It was a larger space than we’d had before, but with both the Northern Clan and Clan Urthazrak settling permanently, we needed all the space we could get. The rest of the clans, the ones who would only stay until their guests were ready to choose where they wished to go, settled their camps a little farther down. They would return to that place when they wished for rest, but would not remain there permanently. It was not our way to stay in one spot forever. Only a few of us were willing to make the change.
Sliding off Dagr’s back, I helped Cedric down as well, keeping a hand on his lower back as we led my stallion to where the others were being gathered by Godr and the other horsemasters. Their fences would need to be put up first for their protection. The rest of the clan would focus on putting up tents and digging a trench, doing the tasks that needed to be done whenever we settled in a new area.
“What do we do?” Cedric asked, eyes wide as he watched clan brothers spread out and start unpacking. “We should help, right?”