True North [True North series book 1/3]

The tent I was brought into wasn’t so much a tent — but more so a small cabin. The walls were made out of wooden logs stacked on top of one another, which reminded me of our shed at home. The roof was made out of circular pieces of cloth, which seemed to be tied to the branch of a tree above, as it slowly moved up and down with each gust of icy wind that swept through the forest.

The lower skirts of the roofing ended in a large open circle, and there was another layer of roofing suspended over its top, so the smoke of the wood-burning stove that the tent seemed to be centered around could be vented out the sides.

The two females took me all the way into the center of the tent, and before I had fully registered what was happening, they began stripping off my near-frozen clothes.

“What a scrawny thing,” one of them hissed to the other.

“Calenti,” the other one replied, her face contorted with disgust.

I was shocked — not just because they had offended me so blatantly, but mostly because I understood what they were saying to each other.

I could hear the language they were speaking wasn’t my own — but I understood every word somehow. I decided to keep my mouth shut, these females clearly didn’t know I could understand them — maybe I could use it to my advantage somehow.

My hands and feet stung and throbbed as they began thawing now that I was near the fire. Quick hands undid my undergarments, and there I was, stripped of my clothes as well as my dignity as the females continued to point out the flaws of my human body.

The biggest one — a large port-wine stain on my back, seemed to catch their attention. They huddled together as they poked and prodded it, whispering to each other. Then, I was finally dressed again, in fur-lined leather garments like the ones the male had worn.

The females themselves were dressed differently, in bright-colored wool clothing. I took a moment to take in the females as they laced up my new boots, which were surprisingly comfortable.

The taller one of the two had jet-black hair, hanging down her back in two simple braids. Her eyes were dark like the male from before, and her face was decorated with colored paint. Her hands looked like mine — except she had only four fingers on each hand.

The other female was smaller, and her face appeared to be more youthful, although neither looked to be a day over twenty-five. Her hair was twisted up into two buns, which partly covered her ears. She wore a necklace of large, shiny beads, in colors I had never seen before.

“What do we do with her now?” the smaller female asked the other one.

The larger one shrugged. “Take her back to Thoridor,” she said.

I was shoved out of the tent, and roughly taken to another one. Once we reached the entrance, the smaller female yipped like the male had before.

“The human is ready,” she yelled, as she shoved me to my knees. “Bow,” she spat, and then walked away.

I bowed my head, scanning my surroundings peripherally. The clearing was surrounded by dense woods, but the trees were unlike the ones at home. Where our trees trunks were largely bare, and the leaves didn’t start until much higher up, these ones had branches starting mere finger widths from the ground. And the branches looked to be made of dark green bristles, not a single leaf in sight. I wondered what kind of nuts or fruit they bore.

I mentally tried to retrace my steps — or rather, those of the beast that had brought me here. We had come from the ice plain in a straight line, so finding my way back should be easy enough. The new clothes I was wearing protected me from the elements a lot better than my old ones, which would work in my favor once I would make my escape.

I just needed to find the hole in the frozen lake, which might prove to be a challenge, especially given the murderous fauna I had encountered so far.

I was just about to lift my head again, when the entrance of the second tent opened up. I kept my head down, until a pair of leather boots appeared in front of my knees. A gloved hand roughly grabbed my chin and lifted my head.

I squinted as my eyes adjusted to the clouded darkness of the sky above me. The male studied my face and then grabbed my elbow, pulling me to my feet and into the tent with him. The heavy fabric of the tent entrance folded back in on itself behind us, confining us into the space together.

I swallowed as I looked around me. We were the only ones here. I stepped back slightly, putting some more distance between him and I. It was highly inappropriate for a male and a female to be alone together where I came from — especially if one, or both of them were unmarried. I glanced at his hand, looking for any sign of a wedding ring of some sort, but he was still wearing his gloves.

The male gestured toward a small bench in a corner, and I reluctantly sat down.

“You’re not from here,” the male stated, looking me up and down. I just stared back at him.

“You shouldn’t have come. You don’t belong here. How did you get here?” he asked, as he took a pot from the wood burning stove in the middle of the tent, and poured its contents into a cup.

I remained silent, holding his gaze.

“Making direct eye contact with a royal is a sign of great disrespect,” the male growled, making my heart skip a beat.

Royal?! I quickly averted my eyes and bowed my head again.

“So you do understand me,” the male smirked, stepping closer.