Page 35

CHAPTER

TWENTY-SIX

AIDY

We're trapped inside the cave.

At least myself and Valmir are. Corvak can come and go as he pleases, since they worship him. But after being attacked, I no longer feel very hospitable towards the snow-people. They sit at the entrance and clutch the bowl, waiting for handouts, but I steadfastly ignore them.

Corvak is furious and feels responsible. When I woke up the next morning, he apologized to me a dozen times, then gave me a knife. "I have to go hunt because I will not let you go hungry and there's nothing to eat in the cave."

"What's the knife for?" I'd asked.

"Shove it into Valmir if he tries anything," Corvak replied. "I do not like the thought of leaving you alone with him, but I have no choice. You will not starve."

"I can still hear you both," Valmir had called from the other room.

Corvak had just pressed the knife into my grip harder, reminding me that I can trust no one but him.

That was earlier. Now it's afternoon, and I pointedly ignore the plaintive hoots of the snow-people. They lick the bowl as if it's going to magically fill itself, and when it doesn't, one throws it at me angrily.

"Nasty things," Valmir comments from his spot in the corner. He's tried moving around a bit, mostly to relieve himself in an unused container, but it's clear he can't walk much. "Your mate sure knows how to pick them."

"Shut up. It was a good idea." It would have been an even better one if they acted like adults and not toddlers throwing tantrums. When they turn away from the entrance, I know Corvak's back. I breathe a sigh of relief when his large form fills the doorway and jump to my feet. "Thank goodness."

His expression is grim, and he produces a few sad-looking roots. "The game in this area is completely gone."

I nod, unsurprised. The snow-people—metlaks, Valmir calls them—have brought nothing today.

Not even dead things. It makes it easier to refuse them, but I still feel guilty.

Pinkie came to the cave earlier, her expression hopeful as she made the "eat" signal over and over again. It feels like I'm abandoning a friend.

But they're not really friends, and the wound throbbing on my arm reminds me of that. I've got it wrapped and bound with cord, but I'd give anything for some antiseptic or a real bandage. All I can do is hope I don't catch anything, germ-wise, before it heals entirely.

I try to take the roots from Corvak, but he only pulls me close, kisses the top of my head, and then moves deeper into the cave. "I can roast them for you. Rest, Aidy."

"I feel fine today and you've been gone hunting," I protest. "I can shove a few roots into coals."

"Just let him take care of you. Kef me, you two are annoying," Valmir comments with a roll of his eyes. "Either let him feed you or don't."

I make a face at him. Being cooped up in the cave with him all day hasn't bonded us as friends.

If this is what all the others on the beach are like, I'm not sure I want to be around them.

But it's not just me I have to think about.

I have a baby growing inside me and we can barely manage to keep ourselves fed.

There's no way we'll be able to survive with an infant in tow.

Like it or not, I need to be around others of my kind that have had the same experiences.

I need to know who else has had an alien baby and what that was like.

I need to know if we're really going to be on this snowy world forever.

Turning to Corvak, I say, "I'll take the roots.

" He gives me a searching look, as if he's wanting to see if I'm ill or not.

I feel better today and smile up at him, putting my hand on his chest. It's been days since we've really touched.

I've been sick, and with the addition of Valmir, our life here in the cave has been thrown into chaos.

I miss him fiercely in this moment. Impulsively, I grab a fistful of his crude shirt and tug him down toward me, giving him a quick, hard kiss. "I love you."

His expression brightens.

I release him with a playful smile. "Tell Valmir if he doesn't shut up you'll break his other ankle."

"Hey!" calls Valmir.

Corvak chuckles at my sass. Not that I think he actually would injure Valmir again, but it can't hurt to try to shut him up, even if just for a few minutes.

I stoke the fire in the middle cave, push the roots into the coals so they can cook, and listen as the men talk.

Their voices are low, but I hear Valmir give a hiss of pain.

"Told you," he says. "There's no walking on it yet. I need another day or two."

If it's truly broken, he's going to need more than that.

It worries me because our cave is high up in the cliffs.

If we can manage to make it past all the gathered metlaks, there's a lot of steep ground to cover before we get to a lower elevation.

One problem at a time, I tell myself. For now, we eat and we figure out how we proceed.

I go to the heated pool and unwrap my wounded arm, washing the skin again.

It's healing astonishingly well, despite how deep the gouges were.

The metlaks have filthy claws, and I was terrified it'd get infected, but everything is scabbed over and there's no redness.

Maybe people heal faster here on this planet than back at home?

I examine my arm closely but everything looks good.

Once I've rewrapped it, I use a stick to roll the roots back out of the fire and wrap them in a skin so I don't burn my hand.

I head out to the main cave, pointedly ignoring the eager, burning stares of the metlaks waiting at the entrance and instead pass the roots to both Corvak and Valmir.

"You eat mine," Corvak says, shaking his head and trying to hand his back. "You need your strength."

I refuse it. "If we leave here, who do you think is going to be carrying the majority of our gear? The sick woman? The guy with the busted ankle?"

He sighs heavily but doesn't take a bite until I sit down next to him and nibble on mine.

"As soon as my ankle is healed, I need to leave." Valmir eats his root in two bites. "I can't wait around."

"You've mentioned that," Corvak says. "Repeatedly."

"Just making sure it's clear."

I glance over at the front entrance, where the snow-people are waiting hungrily.

It's starting to make me angry, because they know how to feed themselves.

They fed themselves before we ever arrived.

They just want us to do it now. "It doesn't look like the snow-people are leaving, even if we're not feeding them.

You think they'll lose interest and eventually leave? "

Corvak sighs and takes a big bite out of his root. "Not as long as I'm the chosen one. Even more arrived today."

Ugh. I rub his knee sympathetically. He was so excited about having an army and now it's all backfired horribly.

"So we just, what, wait for them to starve?

We'll starve, too." I gesture at the front entrance.

"The only thing keeping us safe is that they won't come in.

I worry that superstition won't be enough to stop them when they get hungry enough. "

"I can't wait around for that," Valmir says, sitting up taller. His tail lashes furiously, and he seems twitchy this day. "I'm not trying to be a keffing ass, but you don't understand how urgent it is that I return. I…I just can't stay."

"Yes, we know." I turn to Corvak. "And I don't want to stay."

"I don't, either. I want you safe with your people.

" He strokes his chin, thinking. "We need to get away from them somehow.

Perhaps trickery of some kind will be needed.

They're not intelligent. I've tried to teach them even the most simple commands for soldiers and they don't listen.

We need to make them think I'm returning to the stars somehow.

If I'm no longer here, perhaps they would lose interest."

"They want food from you—what if you poison them?" Valmir asks.

I'm horrified. "Oh my god, no. They're still people!"

He puts his hands up. "Just a suggestion. It could be a very light poisoning, just enough to make them sick. Maybe if they're shitting their guts out they won't be so quick to jump on a handout."

If Valmir annoyed me before, I'm disgusted by him now. What a disturbing thing to suggest. "Absolutely not."

"There is no glory in that," Corvak agrees, much to my relief. "They have followed me because they trust me. It would be cruel to abuse them because of that trust. I would not do such a thing, no matter how much they act up. It's not honorable."

"Yeah, well, honor's doing great things for you so far," Valmir retorts, pointing a finger at the entrance. "Your army is in revolt and your woman is injured and sick. Good job, friend."

Corvak bares his teeth in a snarl, tensing. I put my hand on his leg just in case he decides to attack Valmir. Like it or not, we need Valmir. He has to lead us to the beach people.

I squeeze Corvak's leg. "We're not killing anyone.

And honestly you've done a great job, love.

If this were truly a game, there's no question that we'd win.

You have a devoted army, however chaotic it might be.

Unfortunately for us, there is no game and your army's going to turn against us.

So let's think about solutions. I think Valmir is on to something, though. What happens if they think you died?"

He stares at me, brows furrowed. "What do you mean?"

"I haven't worked out the logistics, but what if we faked your death? What happens to the metlak army if the chosen one is dead and gone?"

Corvak considers this. "They would disperse?"

I shrug. "That's the hope, anyhow. They're banding together because of you, because they think the skies told them that your arrival was foretold in the carvings. If you're not here, they've got no one to follow, right?"