Courage,
X__________________Xabove all things
- A red-haired woman stood beside the woman Hetum pointed out to him. Nahur chuckled when she quickly lowered her gaze. Did she think he would not see her? He was a hunter it was his job to see these things. Her behaviour only confirmed her desire to hide something. By the end of the night whatever she wished to hide would no longer be a secret. Nahur would weasel every secret out of the blonde haired woman by the time the night was out. Laughing at the possibilities he left the women and returned to his position at the front of the group. He didn’t want anyone to guess his moves. While these men did follow him they only did so because he’d proven himself skilful. That didn’t mean they did not wish to take his place. They were warriors and could only be trusted to a certain extent. Every man wished to change their social standing within the village. It wasn’t until you were on the council you could rest assured and that position only offered some stability. The only men that were rarely bought to question or to prove themselves were the elders. They held the highest rank in the village. Until he got that position Nahur knew he would have to constantly watch himself. He was the man to beat. Everyone would follow him until they found a way to best him. It was his job to make that as hard as possible.
When they finally stopped for the night Hetum needed no encouragement. He went for the blonde after he helped Nahur set up his tent. Nahur being the leader on this raid had his tent set up a good distance from the other men. He was allotted a privacy the others would not have. Not that they cared. The only thing on their minds tonight was the women and the possibility that those women would enter their house as their women in a few hours time. By late afternoon tomorrow they would be in the village and many of them would be married men with women untouched by anyone else in the village. The newest of the women and the probability of impregnating these women excited the men more than anything.
Nahur was excited by the possibility of capturing royalty. Sitting to a meal prepared by the younger men in the troupe he made himself comfortable on the bed that had been prepared for him. Nahur saw no reason not to relax his position. This woman would be bought to him bound there was no chance of her escaping those bindings nor his presence. She was trained as a warrior so he understood the desire that must be burning within her. Escape. That would be the only thought in her mind. She would soon learn that hope and escape from him would be hopeless. And, if she proved to be royalty; then hope for escape would be impossible.
Hemur dragged the woman into his tent and tossed her on the floor. Nahur poured himself a goblet of wine before tossing the animal skin jug to Hemur. The man caught it and moved to the back of the tent. His rank Nahur supplied him with large tent. There was a large area for sitting and further back was where Nahur sat on his makeshift bed. His eyes scanned the woman with appreciation. She was beautiful. There was no denying that. Her body did not hold the extra skin of most women in his village. Nahur knew it was because she was allowed to be active. She unlike the women in his village did more than bear children. She and the other women that were captured also stood as protectors of their village.
Nahur wanted to train their women in this manner as well. Getting the councils agreement was the obsticle for him to overcome. He believed they simply had to secure the women’s trust and make them believe their life in the village was what they desired. This of course meant chagning the general attitude towards women within the village. That was where the dispute came in. If these women could be strong warriors for their village then they wouldn’t need the men. Nahur didn’t believe that. Besides husbands would be responsible for their wifes. Should they ever decide to leave then their husbands who trained them would hunt them down and deliever the best punishment. A few months ago his village had been invaded. The women had been stolen because they had been defenceless. Those that were heavy wtih child were taking and only the weak and childless were left behind. The tribe that captured them had not even been strong. It had been a disgrace to the village one they could not afford to suffer again.
Instead of attacking the tribe they left the women there with a few men keeping their eyes on the children that were born. Male children were to be taken from the village and returned to their father. Female children would remain with their mother. Under Nahur’s pusaussion they put together a plan to get new women and bring them into the tribe as wives for the young warriors. Some declined the offer and pulled together their own troupe to go after the women that were taken. These were the warriors that were already spoken for. The young unmated warriors followed behind Nahur; he lead them and the division was important. It marked him as the head of the new generation. With this status he was sure to get a spot on the council because the young men would tie their loyalty to him after this raid.
Turning his attention to the women before him Nahur wondered if the gods were smiling down upon him. All of his actions recieved the greatest reward. Here he’d captured royalty some thing that was unheard of between the Northern and Southern tribes. His voice was heavy burdened by the gruntal accent of his people. That did not stop the words from fluidly falling from his lips, “
tell me how did you allow yourself to be caught princess?”
Nahur was one of the few people in his tribe that spoke the language of the Northern tribe. His mother taught him with his father’s approval of course. One should always be ware of the tongue of one’s enemey. So his mother believed. It was how she managed to escape his father on more than one occassion. His mother always let him know this was before she understood the duty of her heart to his father. Nahur didn’t know what duty his mother spoke of but he assumed it was something only a woman could understand.
X__________________Xis the first quality of a
warrior.
