The Lost Tribe: Maliha the Wanderer (Book 1)

Fresh meat

Maliha followed Ujarak outside to one of the larger pits of fire, his hand waving and motioning for her to step to the largest one.

Abazz' head tilted in their direction as she silently moved closer to the campfire, faces gleaming back at her from the burning flames. Xiuri was seated rather close, her deep black skin matching that of the female who sat beside her. They almost looked identical save for the lightness that was in the woman's eyes and the glow that lit her skin. Her stomach was rounded with pregnancy though the bump was nowhere near as large as Nahi's, it was still clear that she was pregnant.

Xiuri met Maliha's eyes for a split second before she was lowering them away, her brows knitting in self-reproach. Maliha wanted to go and sit by Xiuri, to reassure the woman that there were no hard feelings for the words she spoke. That Maliha did not blame her for the marks along her skin. The guilt was not for Xiuri to carry but Ujarak's large arm pulled her towards him.

Urging her down into one of the low cushioned seats. As she sunk into the chair and crossed her legs at the ankles, he gave her a thin blanket to ward off the light chill that had filled the night. The chatter around the he campfire quietened down as all eyes lingered on them with apt attention. Maliha's hands fidgeted with nerves, her twitching fingers ground to a halt at Ujarak's heavy stare. His large rough hand smoothing over her fingers subconsciously before he snapped his hand back.

His body shifted slightly away from hers, the side of his arm and back greeting her instead of what was once the side of his body and face. Her teeth gritted in annoyance, but she made no visible sign of her feelings, she just sat there waiting for the eating to begin.

Bodies moved around the large fire pit as they prepared pots of meat stews, roasted vegetables and breads sweetened with honey. She had never sat at the main fire before. In her short time here, she had sat at one of the smaller fires where a lot of the younger men who hadn't become warriors and the women who weren't old enough to have a lover sat.

Though everyone ate, she noticed that the foods that they ate were different from those at the larger pits and now that she sat at this fire she could see how much they had missed out on.

Her typical meal was filling but it was predominantly based around vegetable and breads with a small slather of meat and cheese, however sitting at the main fire pit she could see that though the foods were the same the quantity of meat and vegetables were a lot larger.

The tribe worked on a basis of 'what you worked was what you were entitled to'. So, if a woman only worked the land then that was all she would get. However, if she was married to a warrior who hunted then she would be entitled to his share and vice versa. If she also milked the cows in her spare time or tended to the chickens or pigs she would be entitled to any food, they produced.

The rule worked well for those who were coupled together but for the widows of the tribe their meat portion was dependent on the charity of others. Though no one was ever left to starve and produce from the harvest were always shared equally, the quality of meals differed depending on what you did.

Maliha supposed it was fare because ultimately you worked for what you earned but those females who had been widowed were always that little less disadvantaged. If they did not hunt enough then women without a man would simply go without meat, unless she caught fish by the stream.

There wasn't a large number of females who were unattached. Women who took the intimate role of a knar to a warrior was often given the fruits of his labour and him, hers. It was not a necessity, but it served well for the men to have eggs and bread for breakfast and the women meat for dinner.