The Barbarian Before Christmas (Ice Planet Barbarians #17.5)
Ruby Dixon
Author’s Note
This story falls a little bit after the end of Icehome #1 (Lauren’s Barbarian). If you’ve been reading along and are all caught up, great! You’ll remember who all these people are.
If you’re behind a few books and just want to read about our blue boys, there are a few newcomers from another slave ship on the far side of the mountains, and Vektal and a lot of the hunters from the main tribe have been away from home helping them get set up to survive. There! Now you’re all caught up. :)
Veronica and Ashtar are mentioned a lot in this particular book, but if you’ve read my dragon series, there’s no surprise as to what Ashtar is. You haven’t missed their book. It’s coming up. I just really wanted to write this story now instead of a few months from now. We’ll circle back to them. I promise.
And a tiny housekeeping note. I try to keep tabs on everyone that moves back and forth between tribes and ages and so on and so forth. That being said, I’ve caught myself in a mistake. In LAUREN’S BARBARIAN and BARBARIAN’S TEASE, the list of hunters that go with Vektal does not include Aehako. I’m not entirely sure why, because in my head, he’s always been there. I wrote this entire story and then realized too late when I cross-referenced my notes that he wasn’t in the list of hunters mentioned there. So I could either scrap the scenes I’ve written for them in this book, or admit my goof.
I love what I’ve written too much, so mea culpa! Please ignore my mistake and pretend like he was there the entire time, just hanging in the shadows. It didn’t affect either one of those stories in any way, shape or form, so I feel comfortable “inserting” him into the storyline.
With all that out of the way…enjoy!
<3 Ruby
1
BEK
I scan the sandy shore, as I do every morning, looking for pretty things. Yesterday there was a rock in the shape of a swirling circle, and the day before, a strange dried creature that looked like a giant pinkish burr. This day, there is nothing of particular interest, and it makes my mood even more sour than usual.
At least if I could find a gift for my Ell-ee, this day would not be a waste. Instead, every day here on the shore, coddling the newcomers, is a day I do not spend with my mate. It is she who should be getting all my attention, not these new tribesmates who scream at the sight of a fresh kill or cringe when something needs to be gutted. At least the strangers from the island are not as bad as the humans, but I have no patience for those that keep me from my mate. Any patience I had disappeared many nights ago.
I kick at the sand with my boot and uncover a large crystalline granule that looks as if it has a hole punched through it. I squat to pick it up, my tail flicking against the rocky shore, and examine it. This could be a necklace, I think. I can braid a decorative cord delicate enough for my Ell-ee's neck, and I imagine placing it against her skin, the warmth and trust in her eyes as she gazes up at me…and I bite back a groan of frustration and anger.
To think that I have spent so long away from my mate, after so many seasons without her. This cannot be borne. I should be at her side, pampering her. Making her feel safe. We have been gone for a full turn of the moons now, and I miss her as if my heart is gone from my chest. More than that, I worry about her. My Ell-ee is brave, but she is fragile in her own way. Who will be there to hold her when she has bad dreams? Who will be there to take a bite of her food so she knows it is safe to eat? She needs me and I…I need her just as badly. It feels as if I am half alive without her.
With a snarl, I straighten and kick the sand.
"Ho," calls Rokan, approaching from behind me. "You stomp like a kit deprived of his favorite toy. What troubles you this day?"
"Do you not know?" I snap at him, irritated. "You are the one that can sense things that cannot be seen. You tell me what troubles me."
He moves to stand next to me and leans on his spear heavily, gazing out into the rolling, endless waters of the great salt lake. "The same thing that troubles me. I miss my mate. I need to be at her side."
I grunt, because as always, he is not wrong. "And yet we are trapped here. Looking after those with less skill than a kit, hand-feeding them and coddling them."
"That is unfair," Rokan chides me. "The human females are new to this world entirely, and those from the island are not used to this cold. They will learn quickly. Already they work hard and need us less every day."
What he says is true, but I cannot bring myself to feel anything less than annoyed at them. I flip the smooth crystal in my hand, thoughtful. "We have not been mates for very long. It is…difficult to leave her."
"It does not grow easier," Rokan tells me. "My Li-lah is about to give birth to our kit soon, and I think of her constantly. Her and my little Rollan. I hoped to be home before they celebrate No-Poison Day. Rollan loves it so much. It is a joy to watch his face when the decorations are hung."
Ah yes. The human celebration in which they decorate a puny tree and wish for showers of plants that are not poisonous to show that they are loved. It is a bizarre thing to celebrate, but the humans have many odd habits. I think of the small gifts I have been acquiring for my Ell-ee every day. I have many pretty shells for her, odd trinkets, and a large bag of salt to flavor food. I think of the No-Poison Day and wonder if my Ell-ee would enjoy it. I like the thought of showering her with plants so she will give me kisses. I want to make her feel as special as the other human females do. No, even more so, because she is mine. "No-Poison Day will be very soon now," I say, and my tone is surly. "It is yet another thing we miss out on."