Pointing off to the east, he eagerly waited for me to look at whatever he wanted to show me. I glanced in that direction, doing a doubletake when I realized what he wanted to see. Sitting up with a gasp, I stared wide eyed at the lights of every color twinkling in the distance.
“Al Nuzem capital.”
“Talqara,” Dras added from nearby. “Tyos can’t pronounce it, so he won’t say it’s name.”
His tone was teasing, but he still got a dirty look from Tyos. I snickered at their squabbling, giving my attention to the city again. It was still far off, mostly just a cluster of sparkling lights against the dark, but I’d never seen it before. If it were close enough to see, it meant we weren’t far, right?
“How long will it take to get there?” I asked eagerly.
“We will arrive by sunrise at this pace,” Dras informed me. “I told Tyos to wait and let you sleep. He refused to listen.”
Tyos spat something in his language that I took to be an insult of some kind, giving his brother a sour look. Dras just grinned at him, unrepentant. He was kind of a stoic guy for the most part, but around his clan brothers, he relaxed enough to play around.
“It’s fine,” I told Tyos, patting his leg gently. “I’m glad you showed me. It’s really pretty.”
Relaxing, Tyos rested his chin on top of my head, wrapping his big arms around my shoulders. “It is nice. Smells nice, too. Spices and flowers.”
The idea of a city as big as that smelling nice was intriguing. I’d been to one of the larger towns and even the capital of Eldara once. They were nice, but they didn’t smell very good. So many people crowded together meant it usually smelled like sweat and unhappiness.
Rukon, who rode in front this time, let out a whistle and put his arm out, the hawk that had flown above us for most of the journey landing on his arm. He slid a piece of paper into the cylinder tied to its leg, then jerked his arm up like Tyos had to give the bird a boost.
“What’s he doing?” I asked.
“Sending message to clan. They prepare when we arrive. Food, tents, alert horsemaster. These things take time.”
Ah. That made sense. I lost track of the bird eventually, it was too dark for me to see well, but I couldn’t get myself to close my eyes again. I was too excited. In just a few hours, we would finally arrive in Al Nuzem’s capital. I’d risked everything to come, literally ran from my life to escape my town and hid from knights on the journey. To finally arrive at our destination felt both elating and surreal. And a little intimidating, if I was being honest with myself. It would take time for me to wrap my head around it all.
Tyos hugged my middle again, pressing a kiss to my temple, reminding me that I didn’t have to face it all alone. Meeting the clan, going into the city, finding a place to call home; he’d be there for all of it.
A little voice inside my head pointed out that I never truly asked about that. He’d gotten excited while talking earlier, but I’d never asked for a translation. Twisting in his arms, I looked up at him nervously.
“Tyos… What… what are we?”
He cocked his head, frowning at me. “What?”
My cheeks burned, but I straightened my shoulders, refusing to chicken out. I needed to know for sure. “Are we… Are we courting?”
That expression of confusion didn’t waver, and I was a little worried I wouldn’t get my answer because of a translation issue, but Dras got close enough to us to smack Tyos in the back of the head, scowling at him as he growled something in his language. At first, Tyos was too outraged by the hit to pay attention to what Dras was saying, but eventually Dras’s words must’ve gotten through to him because he paused, looking down at me, then back at Dras. He asked him something and Dras rolled his eyes, pointing a finger at me and raising his eyebrows. Tyos made a face, then drew in a breath and let it out slowly.
“Yes, velren. I wish to courting. I want Arlen always.”
CHAPTER EIGHTEEN
ARLEN
We arrived at the clan just as the sun fully rose over the horizon, bathing the rows of tents in soft morning light. It was a lot bigger than I expected, the tents almost making a small city themselves, there were so many. Even so early, it was already active, with people bustling about, putting up tents and carrying food. A small group of them met us when we arrived, taking the horses into their care and greeting us with friendly smiles. One with twin braids clapped Tyos on the back when he slid off his horse, greeting him warmly before giving his full attention to the horse. I might have been concerned by the way he ignored me if the horse hadn’t been just as happy to see him, nudging him and bobbing his head as the man spoke in a low tone and pet his nose.
Tyos chuckled, plucking me off the horse’s back while explaining, “Godr is horsemaster. They love him because treats.”
The sentence was a little odd, and it confused me until I saw more horses crowding the man as he pulled little bits of food from his pockets and handed them out, talking to the horses likethey understood him and giving each one an affectionate pet. It wasn’t until he got to the horses that belonged to the pair of barbarians who joined us when we left that clan a while back that he faltered, his eyes widening as he looked around.
Leaning closer to Tyos, I asked, “Why does he look horrified right now?”
Tyos frowned, looking at Godr again, then smirked when the barbarian pair walked by and the smaller one gave him a look so dark, it would’ve terrified me if I’d been on the receiving end of it. “He and Drin have…” He hesitated, trying to come up with the word he wanted, then shook his head when he couldn’t figure it out. “They laid together in past.”
“Oh!” I honestly hadn’t thought of that. That was my mistake, though. I still wasn’t used to male pairings being accepted here. Apparently so accepted that they courted and enjoyed each other at their leisure without worrying about anyone finding out.
It occurred to me that I could’ve met with more barbarians before deciding to court, but I banished it before the thought could fully form. It didn’t matter how many barbarians I met, none would be as amazing as Tyos. He saved my life, protected me, and he was so sweet to me, it made me feel like I was walking on air most days. There was no way I could find someone better than him.