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“You are being incredibly weird right now. Did you have too much to drink last night?”

I looked over at Karisha, who kept smudging the same piece of paper and then erasing her words to only write the exact same thing again.

“No,”

she scowled, pulling the paper away from me to hide it from view.

“I can control my alcohol intake, unlike some,”

she shook her head.

“May I remind you that I only had one cup last night?”

it was my turn to retort the personal attack. Fine, she could play it further and remind me how I’d gotten drunk and made a fool of myself two days prior, at dinner, but something told me she wouldn’t want to bring up those memories.

“That’s ‘cause you were too busy dancing with your man all night,”

the tribe lady giggled, her expression changing into a smirk.

“You know, I’ve been trying to remember and… I don’t think I have ever seen Dahr dance. Like… ever,”

she leaned in, knowing that my attention would be captivated by her story. She was right.

“But he’s such a good dancer!”

I exclaimed, remembering all the ways he’d swirled me last night. How his arms and hips followed the rhythm of the drums to perfection and how he’d pulled me by his side, pressing his body tightly to mine and not losing our connection for the long hours we spent dancing, long after the majority of the other couples had stopped.

“Markos and I were more than surprised, believe me. I think everyone was,”

Karisha confessed.

“What does he do then?”

I expected Dahr to have a line of women fighting to get a piece of his time. I even worried about what would have happened to my heart if he’d suddenly decided to change dance partners and invite one of the other women that were dancing in a group. Fortunately, the warrior’s attention remained fixed on me for the entire celebration. And long into the night, when we returned to the tent.

“He generally drinks and watches the dancing, brooding in a dark corner somewhere,”

Karisha said with a smile, her brows slowly raised in question.

“Maybe no one asked him,”

I shrugged.

“You asked him?”

Karisha looked at me as though I had suddenly started speaking another language. She took a breath and looked confused, so she needed to say the words again.

“You. Asked. Him?”

“What do you mean?”

I looked at her. It was my turn to frown. Weren’t we at a party? With music playing? Wasn’t I being intimate with the man.

“Who else was I supposed to invite?”

I did remember several couples dancing, including Karisha and Markos, as well as several groups of men and several groups of women, who, for some reason, chose not to mix.

“You actually said: Dahrrian, will you dance with me this solstice? And he said yes?”

Karisha looked at me pointedly, acting like a kindergarten teacher who needed to make sure her pupils understood the major difference between red and blue.

I was starting to get a little annoyed at this back and forth. Obviously, there was something on Karisha’s mind and the fact that she did not trust me enough to tell me what was happening hurt more than I would have wanted it to.

“I don’t remember exactly what I said, but yes, I invited him to dance. Probably not as formal as you put it, I might have said something about dragging his ass to the dance floor. Though, I don’t really understand why the words matter, since their effect worked, didn’t it? Dahr dancing?”

I blinked at her a few times, observing how her mouth opened and shut, to only open again, swallowing whatever words she wanted to say.

“I just… didn't think…”

Karisha shook her head.

“But of course, it makes perfect sense now.”

“What makes perfect sense?”

I pressed, hopeful that I had provided enough information to merit an explanation.

“All ready, tribe lady,”

Mira’s voice arrived through the tent just then, slicing the thread of conversation I had weaved with Karisha.

“Come,”

my friend urged, her features rejuvenated with new excitement.

“You will die when you see this!”

she giggled and, just like I had done with Dahr the night before, she grabbed my hand and started pulling me away from the table.

Having no choice but to follow, I walked by her side and out of the tent, with Mira following us. Both women shared the excitement, and they kept looking over at me, as if to see if I felt the same. I was sorry to disappoint, but all I was capable of displaying were wide eyes and arched brows. I didn’t understand why we were all suddenly so excited to go back to Dahr’s tent, but the marching of giggles sprouted by both Karisha and Mira were incentive enough to follow them with a building curiosity.

“You go first,”

Karisha said with excitement, motioning me with her hand to open the tent flaps. I looked at her again, to see that she was so excited that she started skipping slowly, urging me to move.

So I did.

I opened the tent flaps to reveal the same lavish and artistic paintings and sculptures I had seen before, the wide bed on the side of the room and the large table that started to hold more and more dishes of food since my arrival.

And…

A wardrobe.

And a copper bathtub, just like the one Karisha had.

And a mirror.

Basically, my entire side of the tent, if I could even call it mine, had been replaced with a bedroom of necessities. The same metal bar that had kept me prisoner for days had now become the space jewellery and baskets of serums and soaps hung from; the bathtub situated right underneath. To the side, I had an extendable dressing panel, just like Karisha’s, and a small wooden wardrobe, very similar in design to hers.

“What is this?”

I looked at her first, to see a wide smile on her face and then turned to Mira, who looked equally happy.

“Open it!”

Karisha clapped with excitement, although something told me that she already knew.

Dresses.

Lots of them.

Long, beautiful, orange, organza and silk dresses.

“Dahr picked the colour, so you have to take it up with him,”

Karisha immediately said, as if expecting me to start complaining about the fact that the entire wardrobe contained different shades of orange fabrics.

“To match his flames,”

I said more to myself, the realisation hitting me. “But why?”

I turned to question as I grabbed a dress to study the masterful crochet design.

“Again, you have to take it up with Dahr,”

Karisha responded as both her and Mira started opening drawers and showing me where everything was.

“All I know is that he came to my tent one morning and asked for a replica of everything I hold dear as a woman, but in orange.”

“And underwear!”

I squealed with excitement when I opened the bottom drawer to find orange sets of panties and bras.

“I knew you would like that one,”

the tribe lady giggled.

“Took me a while to put that together.”

“Karisha… this is…”

I sighed, barely able to contain my tears. I turned on my heels and walked back to my friend to trap her in a hug, which she immediately reciprocated.

“Mira will get some hot water ready for you, there’s lots of soaps and a couple of hours till dinner. I suggest you make them count, Grannicus will probably expect a thank you,”

she snickered, looking at me with a playful grin.

“Oh, I know just the thing,”

I giggled as well, thinking of all the ways I would thank this man for giving me a sense of normalcy.