Marks, Rena - [Blue Barbarian 02] - Stranded by Rena Marks

Author:Rena Marks [Marks, Rena]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 0101-01-01T00:00:00+00:00

* * * * *

RAYHAAN:

I wait for the last of the hunters to leave before I bring my kill to Adretta. All of the

hunters I’ve met on the trails have told me she has worked hard this day, scraping furs and

preparing the meat for their return to the village. It has enabled them to work in half the

time.

As I approach, she sits outside the cave, where one of the hunters has set up a stone

worktable for her. It will work well for the rain season, but during the freeze of winter, we

will have to move it back inside.

I move quietly. When she looks up from her table, her eyes widen. I am the last person

she expects.

“I thought I was done. Maca brought what he said was the last of the meat.”

I nod. “He did. This one is for you.”

She looks shocked. Then, because I don't trust her not to get the wrong idea, I say, “It is

from Lucie. My mate wants to make sure you are cared for.”

She bows her head, and it is the acknowledgment I need. She needs to understand Lucie

is superior in every way.

I sit next to her on the log.

“You and I have never discussed what happened between us.”

She is silent.

“I only took you to my furs because I had no choice. Drakar was not attracted to anyone,

there was no possibility of him mating, and we needed an heir. It was my duty to try to find

someone. He thought perhaps there could be something between you and me that would

grow, and I bowed to his higher direction. But it was not meant to be. I knew it after that

night.”

Adretta is tracing a pattern in the dirt with a stick. She says nothing.

“I am sorry. But I knew after that night that a mating was not in the calling for us.”

“I didn't know,” she whispers. “I thought it would just take more time.”

“Yes, I can see that now. I thought I was letting you down gently, because you understood a mating would not occur. Now I see you were building a relationship in your

mind.”

“I wasn't thinking clearly,” she admits. “I'm ashamed to face it. But I thought the

relationship was owed to me. I'm not sure why.”

“It is how you were raised. By the entire village. No one has ever said no to you. You

were given, and given, and then given some more. You learned how to receive with open

arms, but you did not learn how to share or give back.”

She nods. “You are right. When you left after Drakar's message appeared in the skies,

everyone was excited that he may still be alive after so many moons away. Me? I was

annoyed. My status would drop immediately to second queen instead of first.”

I try not to show my shock. I did not realize how bad she had become.

“I know,” she continues. “Even now, I am appalled. I do not know what I was thinking.

Then suddenly, there were ten other women brought here. They didn’t have work duties.

They were being pampered like Blaedonian royalty.

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