CIRCLES OF STONE (THE MOTHER PEOPLE SERIES) (60 page)

The thought was
exciting.  Once a woman was given to a man, she had to obey him in all
things, for he owned her.  The idea had puzzled Tron at first, but he had
come to understand that it meant the woman belonged to the man, as a spear did,
or a fur, and he could do as he liked with her.  Especially in Akat, she
had to obey him, and he could force her if she refused to do as he asked.

From the look she
had given him, force would not be needed with Veeta, and Tron was a little
disappointed.  Compelling a woman to have Akat satisfied a deep urge
within him.  To take a woman completely by surprise was even more exciting. 
He had done this many times as he traveled.  Whenever he stayed near a
tribe, he had watched and waited until one of the women was alone.  Then
he had crept up on her from behind and put a hand across her mouth, so her
screams would not be heard, before pushing her to the ground.  Some women
were too terrified to scream anyway, but others were fighters.  He liked
them best.

Perhaps, when he
was stronger, he would force one of the other women in Dagon's tribe.  He
had learned enough to know that while the women were not supposed to have Akat
with any man except the one to whom they had been given, the men were admired
for having Akat with many.  A woman was beaten if she was discovered, but
a man was seldom punished, even if he had taken another man's woman, or had
used force.  Tron grinned to himself.  It was a strange system, but
one that would suit him well.

Dagon came to him
a few days later and asked if he was strong enough to fight.  Tron saw the
other men watching him, and he stood immediately, spear in hand.  But it
was not these men Dagon wanted him to fight.  It was men from another
tribe, who were killing reindeer in the area where Dagon and his tribe
hunted. 

This was the
meaning of territory, Tron realized as he listened to the men speak of the
battle to come.  Part of the land around them seemed to belong to Dagon's
tribe, just as a woman belonged to a man.  If other men tried to hunt
there, they must be killed. 
           

The fight was
short and unexciting, for the other hunters spotted them and fled.  Dagon
plunged his spear into the chest of a man who had been wounded and could not
run fast, but the others escaped.  They chased them for a time, but then
snow began to fall and Dagon signaled that they should return.

Disappointed, the
men began to boast of battles they had won in the past.  Tron listened
carefully, eager to understand these new ideas.  Whenever they killed
enough men from the other tribe, he gathered, they raided their dwelling
place.  Sometimes they killed the old people and any remaining men, but
they did not kill the women.  Instead, they forced Akat on them, then
brought them back to join Dagon's tribe.  There was always a need for new
women, to be given to the hunters.

The fighting, the
stealing of women, appealed to Tron.  But most appealing of all was the
idea of territory.  Always, he had believed the land belonged to the
Mother, that She had given it to all to use freely.  Now he saw that men,
not the Mother, owned the land, just as they owned women.  The thought
gladdened his heart, even as his anger grew.  Menta and Zena and the
others had lied to him about this, as they had lied about all else.  There
was no power in this Mother they spoke of so fervently.  He had always
suspected this was true, but now he was certain.  Here, She did not even
exist.  To Tron, that was the greatest puzzle of all.  If there was
no Mother, how was it that the clearing teemed with young ones?  Where did
they come from, if there was no Mother to give them life?

Perhaps the god
they spoke of was life-giver.  But that seemed impossible.  How could
a male god give life?  Only women could bear young.  Akat was
involved; that he knew from listening to the women.  Tonight, Tron
decided, he would get the answer.  He would claim Veeta and mate with
her.  It would be easy enough to make her speak.

As darkness fell,
he grabbed Veeta's arm and tried to pull her into the hut where he slept. 
She did not submit as he had expected.  Instead, she shrieked and called
loudly for Dagon.

"This
stranger does not know how to proceed," she said angrily.  "He
cannot just drag me into a hut!  No man can have a woman until she has
been given.  And I am your daughter, who deserves better treatment!"

Dagon strode
toward them. "If you were not a stranger, I would kill you for this,"
he shouted at Tron.  "I, the leader of this tribe, will tell you when
you may have Veeta.  She is my daughter, and better than the other
women."

"I do not
know your ways," Tron answered, keeping his voice pleasant. 
"Tell me what I must do.  I would like to claim Veeta, and you have
said I could have her."

"That is
true," Dagon agreed, in a more conciliatory tone. "After the next
hunt, when you prove again that you can kill a big animal, you may have
her."

Tron waited
impatiently for Dagon to announce a hunt.  He would have liked to stalk an
animal by himself, but Dagon said each man must make his kill while others
watched, so no one could pretend by claiming an animal killed by a
predator.  In this, too, the big leader's word was law.  The thought
irritated Tron.  He would prefer to be the one who made such
decisions.  One day, he decided, he would be.

Finally, Dagon
announced that the time was right.  Tron saw two of the other men watching
him suspiciously as he prepared for the hunt.  Dagon saw their look, too.

"These two
will not fight you for Veeta," he told Tron jovially, "for they are
her brothers.  But should you wrong her, they will not forget."

Tron strode ahead,
ignoring the looks.  He would show them that he, Tron, was a better hunter
than any, even Dagon.  Within moments of reaching the herds, he had
spotted a likely animal.  An old male with massive antlers, it was feeding
a little apart from the others.  It had been weakened, he thought, in
fights with other males.

He stole up on the
old bull, making his breathing so quiet not even an animal could hear. 
Taken by surprise, the reindeer leaped in the wrong direction, and Tron was
able to throw his spear into its neck.  It staggered away, but Tron knew
he had dealt it a mortal blow.  He would not have to track this one for
very long.  When he caught up with it, the wounded animal struck out
viciously with its feet and antlers.  Tron waited until the worst of its
thrashing had subsided, then he leaped in daringly and thrust his short spear
into its chest.  One of the hoofs caught him a glancing blow, but
otherwise he was not injured.

“This Tron is
indeed a good hunter," Dagon said admiringly. "To such a man, I
willingly give my only daughter." 

When they returned
to the huts, he made his announcement to the tribe.  "Tron the
stranger may now have my daughter, Veeta," he told them. 

"Let no other
man have access to her,"  he instructed Tron,  "so that she
will bear your sons, and they can learn to hunt as you do."

He turned to
Veeta.  "It is time you had a man, and this will be a good one for
you.  Obey him in all things.  That is my command.  Take him now
to your hut."

He turned away and
called for food.  Tron would have liked some food, too, for he was hungry
after his battle with the reindeer, but he dared not disobey Dagon.  And
when he entered Veeta's hut, he saw that she had food and drink ready for
him.  She even had water, to bathe him.

Gently, she
removed his furs and rubbed his body with a soft skin dipped in water. 
She handed him a drinking vessel cleverly made of an antler, and pieces of meat
that had been cooked to tenderness on the fire.

"Is it all to
your liking?"  Veeta's eyes were teasing, but he saw that her hands
were shaking a little.  Perhaps Akat was new to her.  Tron found that
hard to believe, for she was surely old enough, but in this tribe, he supposed
it was possible.

The thought
excited him.  He drew her against his body and kissed her lips, then her
breasts. She moaned, and tried to pull away.  He drew her closer instead,
and when she struggled, he did not let her go.  His movements seemed to
excite her, even as she resisted.  Slowly, he forced her to the floor of
the cave.  He saw her eyes then, eyes like a cat wanting a mate, but
determined to struggle too.  Pinning her arms over her head, he straddled
her.  She thrust her body up, trying to wriggle from his grasp.  He
pulled one of her hands down and placed it on his organ.  It was rigid,
rocklike, and she shuddered.  He made her hand stroke it as he forced her
legs apart with his knees.

She gasped and
then, suddenly, her resistance disappeared.  Her hands came around his
back to pull him against her, and she thrust her hips at him urgently. 
Tron entered her, feeling the moistness, the tightness.  She was good,
this one, full of fire, like another he had taken, a long time ago, except that
one had fought him fiercely...

He shook his head
to push the memory away.  So often, it had started to become clear, then
disappeared.  He did not want it now.

Veeta's body began
to shake, and she cried out.  He watched her contorted face and
smiled.  He would be able to make her do whatever he wanted, as Nevilar
had, for the pleasure he could give her.  But this one was not soft and
yielding like Nevilar.  She was a fighter, and he liked that.  He
thrust into her hard and fast.  Her eyes opened wide, her mouth,
too.  She screamed, a shrill scream of pleasure that turned to a whimper
of pain as Tron went deeper still.  The sound pushed him over the brink of
his passion and he exploded inside her.

Moments passed, then
Veeta moved beneath him.  "You are as fierce in mating as you are
fierce in hunting," she said.

"You have
mated many times?"     

She shook her head
indignantly. "I have not.  I have waited for the one I wish to be the
father of my child."  

Tron tensed. 
This was the thing he wanted to know, but at the same time, he did not want to
betray his ignorance.

"Tell me of
this," he said cautiously, hoping to make her speak further.

"Well,"
she replied, "everyone knows that it is during mating that the man gives a
child to the woman.  But if a woman has many mates, no one can tell which is
the father.  Some of the women do that.  But I will not," she
concluded virtuously.  "I will have only your child, for I will not
mate with another."

Tron did not
reply.  Emotions and thoughts were whirling so fast he had hardly heard
the rest of Veeta's words.  Only the first had stuck in his head. 
The man gives a child to the woman.  He, Tron, was giver of life, not the
Mother.  How they had fooled him, made fun of him!

He stared at
Veeta.  He could do anything he liked with her, with any woman, for he,
not they, gave life.  They were not better as they had always made him
think.  They were nothing without him.  Rage filled him, that he had
been fooled for so long.  Well, he would get his own back now.  He
would be sure to give this one a life.  He would mate with her over and
over again until she could not move.  The thought aroused him as he had
never been aroused before.  He felt his organ grow hard again, hard and
long and angry. 

Before Veeta could
speak further, Tron flipped her over onto her belly and pulled her buttocks up
so he could enter her from the back.  This, he preferred to any other form
of Akat, for it was what the animals did.  Veeta croaked with surprise,
but he was inside her before she could move.  In and out he went, as hard
as he could, enjoying the fact that she was helpless, could not resist his
heavy thrusting, which shoved her breasts, her face into the dirt.  Then
the pressure became too great, and after one final, lunging thrust, he exploded
and fell across her body.

Veeta pulled away
from him.  She was shaking with rage, he saw, and he was surprised. 
Perhaps here, they did not perform Akat in that fashion.  Nevilar had
never minded.  She had seemed to enjoy it.  But Veeta was clearly
very angry.  Still, she belonged to him now and he could do as he wished.

"That is like
the animals," Veeta hissed. "You cannot do that to me, the daughter
of Dagon.  Some other woman, perhaps, who has no place, can be treated as
if she were no better than an animal, but no man can do that to me!  My
brothers will hear of this!  My father too!"

"I can do as
I like with you," Tron replied lazily, closing his eyes against her
furious face.

A rustling sound
made him open them again.  Veeta stood above him clutching a rock. 
He grabbed her wrist, to prevent her from bringing it down on him, and as he
made the gesture, he saw the memory again.  But this time, instead of
eluding him, it came clearly into focus:  Zena - it had been Zena, the one
who had fought so fiercely.  He had forced himself on her in the Ekali, to
get back at her, and then she had stood over him, as Veeta was standing over
him...

It was Zena who
had wounded him.  The thought amazed Tron, that a woman could have
inflicted such damage.  But there was another recognition, one that grew
and grew until even his hatred for Zena, his anger that Menta and the others
had abused him, had told him lies, receded before it.  Now there was only
one thought in his mind.  Zena could have his child - his child, not
hers.  It was his, and he would have it.

Tron paid little
attention to the furious barrage of Veeta's words, to her threats.  She
would get her brothers to beat him, she screamed, for he had abused her,
treated her as if she were an animal.  She was not an animal.  She
was Veeta, Dagon's daughter, and she would not tolerate such abuse.  He
realized what she had said only when she ran from the hut and he heard excited
voices outside.  Then he moved fast.  Stuffing some meat into his
bag, he grabbed his furs and spears and crept silently toward a sparse growth
of trees beyond the clearing.  No one saw him enter the woods.  It
was fully dark now, and all the others were sitting around the fire deciding
what they should do.