Zandalee kissed her fingers and touched her shoulder in some kind of tribal sign. “Jes. Our youngest. She brings our tribe much pride with her bravery.”
The men nodded. After a quiet moment, Tiern asked, “What is the story with you and them, then?” He nodded across the fire to the other Zorfinan hunters. “I mean, if it suits you to tell me.”
Zandora threw back her head and gave a rich laugh. “I like you, Tiern Seabolt. My sisters enjoy you even more.”
“Oh, erm.” Tiern rubbed his neck and gave a nervous laugh as the sisters watched him like prowling cats. “Thanks . . . ?”
“Why do they think you’re cursed?” Harrison asked. “Because women rule your tribe?”
“No. It is because the Zandalee allow magic. We do not give census keepers permission to enter our lands. If they try, we kill them.”
Paxton’s heart thrummed erratically. The other men raised their brows. Samuel said, “You mean, you allow your Lashed to work freely?”
She gave him a fierce look. “Is that a problem for you?”
“No.” Samuel raised his hands. “I have no problem with the Lashed.”
Paxton tried to keep his voice steady. “I didn’t know there was any place in Eurona where it wasn’t outlawed.”
To this, she shrugged. “Zandalee do not care for laws of Eurona. Or Zorfina. We make our own. In this way, our people flourish.”
The men nodded, eyebrows still raised. None of them dared say anything against this.
“Do you have children of your own, then?” Tiern asked.
This brought a smile to Zandora’s face. “A son and daughter for me. A son for my sister.” She motioned to the older of the two, then the younger. “This one married just this summer.”
“So many children . . .” Samuel’s words trailed off and his eyes glazed as he stared off.
A clang echoed from the commons gates, and they turned their heads toward the sound of running. A military commander from the castle burst through the tents to the fire pit, out of breath. Paxton jumped up with the other hunters to hear the news.
The man’s forehead was creased in remorse. “A fishing village in the north was attacked during the night. Doors ripped from the hinges, men were devoured while their wives and children watched helplessly.” He stopped, swallowing.
Curses. It was breaking into homes? Why couldn’t the beast have shown itself where any hunters had been instead of a helpless village? The hunters shared horrified expressions.
“Perhaps we can station hunters in the sea towns with horns, so they can alert us if the beast comes,” said Samuel.
Paxton shook his head. “We don’t have the numbers for that. But we can send word to towns to have their own men with horns at the ready. Each town could come up with their own system of alert, stationing their people at different intervals, maybe in trees—”
“But there are curfews throughout the kingdom,” the officer said.
“Blast the curfews!” Paxton shouted. He closed his eyes to calm himself.
Harrison stepped forward. “With all due respect, sir, if people are willing to help, I think they should be allowed.”
The officer set his jaw. “I will speak with the king’s commanders. If they agree, we’ll send mounted messengers to towns to set the plan in motion.”
The hunters nodded, and the officer left them to prepare for that night’s hunt.
They hunkered over the maps.
“Our greatest success was the night we were all close enough to hear one another’s calls,” Paxton reminded them. “If they approve the horns, we can afford to spread a bit farther, but it’ll be at least two days until we know.” He ran his finger along a length of the waterway.
“But the beast has moved north,” Volgan argued, pointing closer to the ridgelands.
“That’s the last place it attacked,” Harrison said. “But the beast has attacked many places with no rhyme or reason. Always along the waterways.”
“Then you can stay down there by the creeks, and we’ll follow the beast north along Eurona River,” Volgan argued, chest puffed.
“It’s a swift swimmer, and it knows it’s being hunted,” Lord Alvi told them. “I say each group takes one of the major waterway veins—North Creek, South Creek, Eurona River, even up around the bay. My men and I will take midriver. We’ll be too spread out to help one another, but if we have no luck, we’ll go back to grouping closer again tomorrow night. Agreed?”
Paxton gritted his teeth in annoyance. He knew Lief was trying to appease his men, but Paxton wanted to stick to a plan where he felt their odds of killing the beast were much better. He was sick of wasting time and lives for the sake of stroking the pride of a few.
After another silent night of hunting, the Zandalee were irritable on their return to royal lands at daybreak. They kept snapping at one another in Zorfinan, and the men moved further away, steering clear. Samuel suggested cutting through the nearby town to get them back quicker.
Families filtered out of their homes, women sweeping their steps, men off to work. The Zandalee watched the women with interest. The few children approached with caution, curious, watched closely by their mothers.