“There are others in her group that may do better as chief,” he says. “A girl named Amber.”
My brow furrows. “That girl is ambitious.”
“And able to make hard choices. I talked with her, and she is well aware that many of her people lack strength. She would do what is necessary for her tribe.”
“This girl you speak of lacks intelligence.”
He snorts a condescending chuckle. “But she is not so foolish as to prop the weak.”
My head snaps in his direction. “Do not speak of Elena in that way.”
“Did you lose your good sense when you buried your head between her legs? I admit to my jealousy, but can you to your ignorance?”
I bare my teeth, tightening my grip on my spear. It’s not that I’d ever cross weapons with Ramsey, but I cannot allow this slight.
“We can leave the shore tonight with the ones we deem worthy.”
“When we were exiled, we gave up all hope of extending our line. No woman would bear our seed. But the truth is, most men of Tempest share that fate. Our numbers grow thin, while our pride grows endless. These women can change our fate. Their wombs quicken at a rate far exceeding that of our own women.”
“Breeding like rats.”
“Tell me, Ramsey, how long until the Tempest women’s wombs do not quicken at all? Until female births go from one in ten to one in twenty?”
“Better to die strong than suffer being weak. You know they are of the lesser seed. We all do.”
“The strong endure, and her people will far outlast our own if what they say of their population is true, and we have no reason to think it is not.”
“The coming cold will devastate them.”
“Without help, on this island, that is true, but the people of this world differ from what we’d expected. Perhaps some will survive, outliving our people.”
He’s quiet because the very beliefs that make up his core are being called into question, and he doesn’t know what to think. Just as I had not.
“The men are growing impatient with this ‘courtship’.”
“These women have never mated. They work from dawn to dusk and suffer exhaustion. Once they are allowed back at our village, there will be more time for leisure.”
“And what of the men who do not find mates, as we far outnumber the women?”
I’m about to ask him if he’s worried about himself, but I decide not to goad him further.
A rustling of foliage alerts us to a presence. We turn to face our foe, weapons drawn.
A jaguar emerges, sleek and eyeing us warily. Ramsey throws his axe, making quick work of the creature.
“Not many of those left,” he grunts, walking over to retrieve his axe.
And there’ll be even less in the future. As destiny demands.
Ramsey grabs the cat by the neck, bringing it over to me. “Be warned, my friend. Respect is not easily earned back once it is lost.”
As annoyed as I am by his slight, I decide not to pursue angry words. Right now I cannot afford to make him my enemy, because if I’m going to convince my people to bring Elena and her tribe back to our camp, I’m going to need all the support I can get.
18
ELENA
The women on the shore are not the same women that left Penticar.