The males drew even closer, the other two putting away their weapons as well. “Come. Meet our female,” Sankro invited, looking only at her.
She nodded and stepped forward, knowing without a sliver of doubt Tomis would follow.
The males closed in around her, flanking her as they walked over the hill and down the other side. A crude structure nestled amongst a grove of trees. It appeared to be crafted of mismatched recycled materials—rubble from one of the bombed villages, no doubt. Thin slats of wood made up the roof, packed and fortified with dirt and chunks of moss.
In the doorway stood a female Zandian, not much older than Talia. Like the males and children, she, too, wore a simple covering of animal hide. The three young they’d seen at the river hid behind her, and she carried a tiny infant in her arms.
“Eslyn, look who we found!” Sankro called out as they approached.
Shock and wariness danced over Eslyn’s pretty features, but she dropped into a curtsy.
Talia stopped and mimicked it.
“This is Talia,” Sankro said.
“And Tomis.” A prickle of foreboding at the way Sankro excluded Tomis crept up the back of her neck.
“Come in, the young just picked fresh yellow star berries.”
They all pushed inside the ramshackle structure. Eslyn placed a bowl of fresh fruit on a makeshift table for everyone to eat. The young gathered around, staring openly at her and Tomis, creeping closer and offering shy smiles.
“This is Alyx, Ren, Teena and Solo.” Eslyn pointed to each child as she named them off.
“How old are they?” The reverence with which Tomis regarded the young warmed her. He would make a wonderful father if he loved young so much.
What would happen if he’d managed to put a child in her belly? Would he still renounce her and give her over to his prince? Or would he make a claim?
Though she’d never had any interest in bearing children, a thick longing took over, coating her throat and tugging on her chest, as if some invisible string had been tied around her heart and cinched tight.
“Alyx is six, Ren is five, Teena is three, and Solo was just born. He’s is a product of last year’s breeding season.”
Who was the father? Sankro, their natural leader? Talia eyed the males who took positions in the small hovel, blocking the door, filling the space with their large frames. It seemed all Zandians were much bigger than her. Even Eslyn was larger than Talia, nearly as tall as the males. So, her growth had been stunted from being away from the crystals.
She glanced from the children’s faces to the males, trying to match them.
“We all bred her,” Sankro said, guessing her question. “We are one family. All the children belong to all of us.”
“Have you been hiding here since the Finn invaded?” Tomis asked, plucking a handful of berries from the bowl and offering them to her. “How did you escape?”
“Yes.” It seemed only Sankro spoke for the males. “We were just children, all of us. Our parents hid us in an underground shelter together. Made us promise not to come out until we heard silence for at least three planet rotations. So we waited. It was nine planet rotations before it all stopped. When we came out, no being was left. The Finn sent patrols out in airships for a while, but we hid in the waterfalls. The heat of the water masked our body heat from their sensors, and they never found us. Now, they hardly ever patrol.” His gaze fell on Talia and stayed, again sending a niggling of discomfort through her. “We didn’t know there were any other Zandians alive.”
Tomis dropped a proprietary hand on her shoulder. “There aren’t many, but there’s an enclave of Zandians who escaped the planet during the invasion, including Prince Zander and the king’s master at arms. Zander has spent the last fifteen solar cycles building the means to take the planet back. He would be overjoyed to know any Zandians survived on-planet. Come with us, to his palatial pod.”
They received Tomis’ invitation with about as much enthusiasm as she had, sharing glances she couldn’t read with one another.
Sankro dropped onto a bench made of a piece of wood propped over two stones. He waved them into similar seats around the table. “There are no airships to be flown off-planet. Did you think the Finn left anything of value lying around?”
“There’s a graveyard of old ships a planet rotations’ walk from here. I plan to construct one from the junk there.”
Sankro’s lip curled. “Good luck, friend.”
Clearly he found that plan as lacking as she did, yet his derision brought up a defensiveness in Talia. “Tomis is a trained warrior,” she said. “He knows what he’s doing.”
Sankro grinned. “I wouldn’t be so sure. You’re welcome to stay with us while he tries.” This time, there was no mistaking the leer.
She glanced at Eslyn to see what the other female thought, but the new mother turned her back, bouncing her knees to rock the infant who didn’t require soothing. The other males nodded.
“Talia goes with me,” Tomis said stiffly.