Tribal Bonds Ch. 04

Hello Readers! This is Part Four of a Six-Part story. All six parts are written and will be posted in order. It takes place in the same universe as my "Sultanah" series, but you don't need to read any of that to understand this story (but you really should read it). In Part 1, Kedi was sold into slavery along with a member of a rival tribe, Cilek, but the slavers were seemingly attacked by ghosts. In Part 2, Kedi wakes up surrounded by warrior women who may e ghosts, but are certainly kinky. In Part 3, Kedi learns about the Hayalet and is seduced, in more ways than one. Please, please, please let me know what you think!

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Chapter 4: A Hayalet Marriage

Orospu had not deceived me. I was not a prisoner in the village of Daire. I was allowed to walk within the palisade walls as far as I liked. In the days following my awakening, I spent a good deal of time investigating the place. There was only one entrance to the village, directly behind Orospu's longhouse. It was heavily guarded at all times, despite the fact that everyone assured me it had never been so much as approached by enemy troops, let alone breached. All of the women in town took their turns keeping watch. What's more, it appeared that the women all trained, every day, to keep in a state of readiness. There were archery butts and tournament grounds within the palisades. They practiced alone and together. The women all had lithe, sveltely muscular bodies and the demeanor of warriors. Calm, but coiled. I respected their attention to discipline, especially in a situation in which they could obvious afford to be lax.

However, it was a small village. After a few hours, I had learned everything that there was to know about their defenses. And that, I assured myself, was the only thing I really wanted to know about the Hayalet and the village of Daire. Their food, their customs, their beliefs did not interest me. Their individual personalities interested me even less. If I wasn't studying their martial preparations, I told myself, there was nothing else to really know about them.

In short order, I felt hemmed in by the palisade walls. As a Buz, I was used to roaming daily. I grew restless and, finally, decided to leave the village to explore the country beyond the walls. As I passed through the gate into a densely-packed evergreen forest, I realized for the first time that someone was following me. Not one of the guards at the gate. Someone, a woman I did not know, just sort of appeared behind me. She must've been following me all along. Through the village. I was not a prisoner, but they didn't want me to run away either. I was impressed, rather than upset. I noted her presence as I moved.

I wandered for awhile through the trees, but I could always sense the woman behind me. Sense the tension in her, as she was prepared to do whatever was necessary if I decided to bolt. The terrain around the village was unforgiving. The trees were densely packed, there were ravines and cliffs, icy cold mountain streams. There did not appear to be any paths that I could discern. It was clear that the Hayalet had taken great care in the selection, and concealment, of their settlement. In the end, I went back to the village, unable to interest myself in the natural beauty of the place when I was unable to orient myself.

But I grew even more uneasy as I returned to town. As I had spent several days in the walls, I was no longer exotic or foreign to the women and the children. They had seen me watching their war-like preparations and had grown accustomed to my presence. And, as a result, they felt compelled to walk up to me, to engage me in conversation, and to introduce themselves. Women would walk away from the training fields, whether they'd almost been trying to kill one another, and casually sat down next to me to ask if I'd enjoyed my stay. Children attempted to pull me into their games. And there were so many of them, they were relentless.

I don't mean to imply that they were unpleasant. On the contrary, they were very warm and welcoming, while being blunt like warriors. I actually really enjoyed their gruff but somehow maternal energy. But that was the problem. I enjoyed them. They made me laugh, they were sweet, they were thoughtful. They made me want to stay. And I didn't want to want to stay. Perhaps that was the reason I'd walked into the woods in the first place, to avoid allowing these kind people to get their hooks into me.

God's wounds, the person I was avoiding most was Geri, the woman I liked most in the entire village. Ever since the day in Orospu's longhouse, I had absolutely shunned Geri. If I saw her walking towards me, I turned and walked away. The first few times she tried to wave, and walk towards me. Eventually, she just looked hurt and walked away. I admit that I did not feel good about those interactions. But, despite her evident sincerity, I couldn't trust Geri. Or any of the women in Daire. Any of the Hayalet. They were all trying to recruit me. And part of me...a large part of me, felt like it was susceptible to their charms.

But I was Buz. I had said the words. I needed to return home. I needed to get revenge. I had to resist, with everything I had. And so I avoided Geri. I avoided everyone else. I avoided learning their names, learning their families, learning their customs. I answered as briefly as possible when spoken to. I didn't raise subjects on my own. I ate by myself. I watched them train and tried to simply fade into the background noise of the village, awaiting a time when I would be blindfolded and taken out of this valley of temptation. After a week or so, the women stopped engaging with me. They seemed saddened, rather than angry. Except Geri, who I didn't see anymore.

The only person who would not take the hint was, of course, the Kabile slut Cilek. In every respect, she had taken the opposite approach from me to life among the Hayalet. She followed Omuzlar around like a lost puppy. She strutted through the village, loudly talking with everyone she came in contact with. She played games with the children and got caught up on the gossip with the adults. In short, she seamlessly integrated herself into the Hayalet in no time flat. She seemed to completely abandon her Kabile identity and to become a Hayalet. Which, I suppose, was characteristic of the weak Kabile spirit. Regardless, the women in the village seemed to like her, even if she came off as cloying to me.

It was perhaps a week after I awoke when Cilek finally admitted it. I was sitting on a table outside of Orospu's house, eating a small breakfast that I had prepared for myself. I had woken early and bathed myself in the trough outside before anyone else awoke. I had not spoken to anyone that day. I was enjoying the satisfaction and the solitude when Cilek sat down across from me, a large, stupid plastered to her face.

"Good morning, Kedi," she said. I looked up from my meal, but didn't respond.

"Gah! What are you eating?" Cilek asked, looking down at my breakfast.

"Please leave me alone," I responded.

"It looks like a... a rat!" Cilek observed.

"That's because it is a rat," I said. A mouse, really, but they taste similar. Cilek's face turned slightly green and she shook her head.

"I ate with Omuzlar just a few moments ago. Porridge with honey. I am surprised that Orospu is feeding you that...rodent. I am sure Geri would..."

"Orospu has stopped offering me breakfast," I explained, "I am more than capable of procuring my own food."

"Why would you eat rats when you can have porridge with honey?" Cilek asked. I signed and dropped a rat leg onto the table before me.

"Didn't I asked you to leave?" I said haughtily. The only reason she wasn't dead was because Buz understood what it meant to be good guests. It didn't seem that she realized how precarious her life was. Instead, she just bowled past me again.

"And lamb for lunch," she said, still looking at the mouse.

"I appreciate the Hayalet, but I do not need them to survive. I do not want them to feel that they need to take care of me. I am perfectly capable of surviving on my own. When I leave here, I won't have to overcome any bad habits, like you. Getting fat on other people's work," I said. Cilek laughed a little and shook her head.

"I think you're overstating the impact of porridge and honey," Cilek said, and then, more seriously, "And when will I have to unlearn life in Daire?" she asked, "I am never leaving."

I suppose that I should have seen that coming. She had seemed changed during our time in Daire. She seemed happier, less timid. She smiled more and interacted with the Hayalet in a familiar way that seemed far more comfortable than I'd ever expected to see her. Still...to abandon her tribe...

"You do seem to fit in well with Hayalet," I said acidly, "It is strange. I can barely tell by your actions that you are even a Kabile. You seem like a Hayalet woman," I said and Cilek smiled. Then I twisted the knife, "Which, strangely, just confirms what Kabile cunt you really are. To have no loyalty or decency, that is the definition of a Kabile," I spat. I leaned back, satisfied with my insult. But, rather than reach for the nearest club to bash me for my insolence, as I would have done to her, Cilek just snorted and shrugged her shoulders.

"Fuck the Kabile," she said easily, "What good have those icy twats ever done for me?" My mouth dropped opened.

"They are your tribe..." I stammered. Cilek rolled her eyes.

"The tribe that sold me into slavery. That treated me like a freak even before then. Who fight endless, pointless wars, with other stupid Northern tribes for no real reason," she said and the hair on the back of my neck stood up, "The Kabile have never wanted me. I never wanted them. Good riddance. The only good thing they ever did was disown me. It let me find where I truly belong." I felt like there were knives stabbing into my flesh with every syllable that poured from Cilek's venomous lips. It felt like everything she said could equally apply to my tribe!

"But...loyalty...blood. These things mean something," I said, afraid that it sounded more like an argument than an assertion.

"Then it should have meant something to the people who sold me," Cilek explained. My chest grew tighter and I felt my head reeling. Cilek...her words sounded like something I'd heard in my own thoughts, deep in my brain in places I couldn't acknowledge.

"And besides, what more could I possibly want than life here? I will live in cozy house, eat plenty of good food, and fuck ten beautiful brides! There is nothing better in life than that." Cilek said, but I barely heard it. Her earlier words were still circling in my brain. I was suddenly angry, although I couldn't say why. I think I was angry that Cilek had made me think about the...betrayal that I'd experienced. Made me think about the values of blood and loyalty and what they meant to me if they didn't mean anything to the Buz. I felt my eyes narrow. I was about to spew some venom at Cilek, to assuage my anger and confusion.

"I wonder what is going on?" Cilek said and I suddenly became aware of my surroundings. I pushed down the feelings that Cilek had raised and looked around. The normally orderly, dispersed crowd of Hayalet women within the palisades walls had seemingly spontaneously moved together. Now they were surging through the center of town towards one of the longhouses. I wondered if the women were preparing for war. But there was an excited buzz in the air and women were talking and laughing. The Hayalet were all moving, all at the same time. It was almost a festival atmosphere.

"Hey," Cilek said, grabbing a woman by the arm as she walked by, "What is going on?" Rather than be annoyed by Cilek's presumptuousness, as I would have been, the Hayalet woman just smiled.

"Damat's newest bride has arrived earlier than expected from Magara! She arrived last night," the woman said, "The wedding will happen soon!"

"Damat and Sonraki were so excited! Are we invited?" Cilek said, showing a level of knowledge about village gossip that was frankly embarrassing. Still, I was curious.

"Of course, you're invited," the woman said to Cilek then she looked up at me, "Both of you."

"What is happening?" I asked The woman broke free of Cilek's grip and moved away, Cilek turned back to me, her eyes glittering with excitement.

"Damat is the youngest adult Cadilar in Daire, only 20. Right now, she has only one wife, Sonraki. Sonraki's first child, a Cadilar (which is good luck on a first pregnancy) was born three months ago. So they are ready to marry again. They have been waiting on the arrival of their next wife, Daha, for weeks. She wasn't supposed to be in until next week. But I guess she is early," Cilek explained breathlessly.

"How do you know this?" I asked, a little disgusted. Cilek didn't seem to notice.

"It is all anyone has talked about since the news of our arrival died down," Cilek said, a little incredulously, "How have you not heard about it? It has been months since a new women entered the village."

"I have minded my own business," I said, letting the judgment sit heavy in my voice. Cilek didn't notice or care. She rose quickly from her seat.

"Come on, let's go watch the wedding," she said. I stayed seated, shook my head.

"I don't care about their weddings," I said honestly.

"Ugh, you're impossible," Cilek said, "You are invited. It would be rude not to go. They will think you are an ingrate," she said. Cilek knew it was important to me to be seen as gracious. She pushed the right buttons to spur me into action. Or maybe I was just curious and wanted to be convinced. Whatever it was, I sighed and rose from my seat. Soon, Cilek and I had merged into the crush of humanity heading towards Damat and Sonraki's longhouse. The door was not large enough to accommodate everyone at once, and I soon felt hemmed in by the shear amount of people. I felt arms and legs brushing against me, felt the head of bodies

Finally, Cilek and I, side by side, pushed into the longhouse It was absolutely packed with Hayalet women and children. They were so close that they could barely move. But there was a small, open area in the center of the longhouse, where the great fire would be lit at night. I saw two young women standing sheepishly in the middle of that open area as the crowd swirled 360 degrees around them.

"The short, dark-haired one is Damat. Her wife is the busty red-headed girl standing next to her," Cilek explained. The were both pretty girls, looking overwhelmed by the attention. The new wife, evidently, was not present.

"You will be able to see better from there," I heard a family voice say over the din of the crowd. I turned towards the source of the voice and didn't see anyone at first, "Up here," the voice said. I looked up and saw, directly to the right of the entrance door, Omuzlar sitting on a bed, or cot really, that was hanging from the wall. She was patting the cot on either side of her body, 'Guests should get a good seat."

"Thank you," Cilek said, "Omuzlar, it is so good to see you!" She immediately climbed up onto the cot. I looked up at them for a moment, and then back to the middle of the longhouse.

"Come on Kedi," Omuzlar said, "You don't have to fuck me, just sit next to me during the wedding. You won't be able to see anything if you say down there." More and more people were pouring into the longhouse. I was jostled to the side. I looked back at Omuzlar, who again patted the cot. I sighed, pushed my way through the crowd, and hoisted myself onto the cot.

"Better?" Cilek asked. At the very least, it was better not to be jostled by the crowd. Further, it was much easier to see, even if I was just a few feet above the crowd. I recognized many faces, though I knew very few of the names. The crowd was dense, too dense for comfort but they seemed festive, relaxed. Except for Damat and Sonraki, who seemed nervous. I also notice Orospu for the first time. She was standing just on the edge of the open area where Damat and Sonraki were standing. She was wearing some sort of colorful robe and I quickly gathered that she was the officiant.

"Much," I said, "thank you."

"Huh," Omuzlar said haughtily

"What?" I asked.

"I didn't know you knew how to be thankful. Geri will be surprised," she said. I felt my cheeks go red. I was about to respond angrily, though I didn't know how. But I was interrupted before had a chance.

"Everyone here?" I heard Orospu's voice loud and clear over the din of the room. I looked back to the center and saw that she was looking directly a me. No, she was looking at Omuzlar. Omuzlar looked around me towards the door, which had flapped closed.

"I believe so!" Omuzlar yelled back and Orospu nodded.

"Excellent," she said and then raised her hands 'Silence please!" she said in a voice that was neither quiet nor loud. Instantly, the entire crowd became completely still and silent. I was impressed by Orospu's control the crowd. The entire gathering froze in expectation.

"Sonraki and I," Damat said suddenly in a quavering voice. As she spoke, she reached out and grabbed her wife's hand. Sonraki smiled and whispered something into Damat's ear. Damat smiled and seemed to be more at ease, "Sonraki and I would like to welcome you into our home...and to thank you all for being here to meet our new wife, Daha." The crowd cheered and those closest to the two brides tossed rice into the circle where they stood. Damat and Sonraki inched closer together, laughing and holding one another.

"We are not yet used to this," Sonraki said, "To getting new wives." The crowd cheered again.

"I am sure you'll figure out what to do with her!" a bawdy voice called out from the churning sea of people. There was a roar of laughter.

"I am a bit surprised," I said, half to myself and half to Omuzlar and Cilek, "There is little solemnity. It is not at all like a Buz wedding."

"Well we can tell," Cilek said, "No one is marrying a goat!" She and Omuzlar laughed at my expense and I felt my cheeks get hot. But before I could respond, Omuzlar was talking.

"According to the elders, weddings were solemn back in the old days. In the valley. With men and women. But, today, we think of a wedding as a happy affair. Why should a wedding be dour and serious? The point of marriage, if you do it right, is to have fun. Make children," Omuzlar explained expansively. I admitted, to myself at least, that there was some wisdom in that. "A ceremony can still be meaningful, even if it is pleasant."

"Women and Cadilar of Daire!" a voice yelled directly next to me, so close I almost jumped. I looked to see Orospu, standing at the door to the longhouse. I hadn't even noticed her walking away from the center of the building. There was a beautiful young girl I'd never seen before standing next to her. "Please welcome the newest member of our community, Daha of Magara!" Orospu said. The crowd cheered and Daha smiled and looked down at her feet. She was tall, lithe, with dark red hair.

"She looks familiar," Cilek said as the crowd in front of her disappeared. Orospu began to move through the opening in the crowd and Daha moved after her.

"She should," Omuzlar snorted at Cilek.

"Has she been to the village before? Has she met her new wives?" Cilek asked and Omuzlar laughed.

"Never been here before her mother brought her last night, but she knows Sonraki," Omuzlar said. Daha and Orospu were had just about reached the center of the longhouse, the crowd filling back in behind them as they passed. Daha moved next to Sonraki.

"How? Did Sonraki..." Cilek stated, but my breath caught in my throat, a gasp that my two companions heard over the crowd.

"They're sisters," I said. Daha and Sonraki were standing right next to one another. They were nearly identical. Same lithe bodies, same large breasts (though Sonraki's were large), same long necks and wide mouths. The same dark red hair. Sisters.