Hangman squatted in the middle of the long camp waiting for his relatives to get ready to leave again. The hunting party only returned for one night. Now they were leaving again.

  The same warriors left this time, but they took their wives with them. Estia, Butcher’s wife, came with them along with Boxer’s wife, Zyria, Magnet’s wife, Kealra, and Viking’s wife, Nagana.

  Midnight’s daughter, Neia, and Chaos’s wife, Rila, came, too.

  The party assembled in the middle of the camp and exchanged farewells with everyone else in Butcher’s band.

  A few people tried to wish Hangman the best of luck. He let them wish him goodbye, but he didn’t answer them. He wouldn’t have the best of luck. He left on this trip like he was going to his own death.

  At least he only had to do this once in his life. As soon as it ended, he would come home and everyone would forget it ever happened.

  The party moved out and headed due south. The band knew this territory well and didn’t deviate along the way.

  The band remained quiet until midafternoon when the travelers entered another narrow ravine that opened into the next valley system farther south.

  The travelers turned a corner in their path and walked in on another Godless band sitting under the trees resting—or at least the women sat under the trees resting.

  Five armed men stood by the path to block the way. They must have heard the travelers coming.

  They relaxed when they saw who it was. “We thought you were Renegades,” one of the biggest warriors gasped. “They’re everywhere these days.”

  Butcher furrowed his brow at the guy. “Wish? My God! You’re huge!”

  Wish burst out laughing. “Everyone says that when they see me after a long while.”

  Butcher glanced around. “Where’s your father? He should be here.”

  The man on their right spoke up. “The Renegades killed Bantam in a raid last year. Wish is our Kral now.”

  Shadow stepped forward and held out his hand. “Congratulations. You’ll be a great Kral to your band.”

  Wish’s cheeks colored. “Thank you, Uncle.”

  “Who are you taking to the gathering?” Butcher asked. “Your daughter Arda can’t be eighteen already. That isn’t possible.”

  A tall, slender young woman stood up from the place where she’d been squatting with the other women. She burst into a beautiful, glowing smile. “Hello again, Uncle.”

  Butcher gasped and his hand shot to his forehead. “It isn’t possible! The last time I saw you, you could barely hold a bundle of sticks!”

  Arda laughed. “I wasn’t that small, Uncle. It was only four years ago.”

  “Are you taking anyone else?” Shadow asked.

  “She’s the only one. What about you?”

  Shadow waved at Hangman. “Hangman is going. He’s the only man of our band who is of age.”

  Wish’s eyes darted to Hangman and he immediately looked away. Arda did the same thing and sat down. She sat sideways so she wouldn’t see him. She never looked at him again.

  Wish recovered by waving behind him. “Join us. We’re all going to the gathering. We can travel together. It will be safer and we can catch up on the news on the way.”

  The two parties merged. Hangman knew almost everyone here.

  Wish’s band wasn’t technically related by blood to Butcher’s band—not that Hangman knew about. The Godless of Wish’s band only called him, “Uncle” out of respect for his age and position.

  The two groups sat down together, but only for a few minutes. Then everyone set off on their way south.

  “I remember when I went to the gathering.” Butcher laughed. “That seems so long ago.”

  “You got yourself a good wife, it seems,” Wish remarked. “She must be strong and healthy if she’s still going after all these years—and your sons are strong and married. We should all be as lucky as you.”

  “Yes, I’ve done well—but I would have come away from that gathering with a wife either way. There were more than twenty young women there waiting to pair up with only four men. We got to take our pick.”

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  Shadow snorted. “I’m sure it won’t be like that this time.”

  “Of course not,” Butcher replied. “It almost never happens that the women outnumber the men. All those young women came back the next year and they were the only women available for over thirty young men. The women got to take their pick and all the other men left alone. It’s a shame so many men go unmarried, but it’s the way of things, isn’t it?”

  Hangman didn’t interject. He stayed near the back of the group and hoped no one noticed him, especially not Arda.

  She avoided him and made sure to walk as far away from him as possible.

  He could distinguish himself as a warrior on raids and hunting parties. He could earn the respect of his Clan.

  No force under the sun would make a young woman choose him as her husband. That was never going to happen.

  He had been dreading this gathering for over a year, but he already made up his mind to just get through it and put it behind him.

  Plenty of young men left the gathering without wives. He wouldn’t be unique in that. He would probably be one of many the way Butcher said.

  Unpaired young men left the gathering every year. If they didn’t get a wife that year, they stayed single for life. That was the rule.

  There were already too few women to go around. Unpaired young women went with the next year’s young men. The unpaired young men from the previous year never got another chance to marry.

  No one had to spell it out for Hangman. He had to go through this gathering, but it would only happen once in his life. Then he could dedicate the rest of his days to defending the Clan. He never had to think about women ever again.

  The rest of his band—and Wish’s band—they all understood this, too. No one said the words out loud.

  Arda must have been dreading what would happen if no one else chose her and she had to go with Hangman after all.

  He would almost rather spend his life alone than marry someone like her—someone who couldn’t stand the sight of him.

  He would only marry someone exactly like her because no one would go with him willingly. A young woman would only become his wife if she had no other options and she had absolutely no choice but to leave with him.

  The band had to bring him to the gathering. That was never up for debate. All the surrounding Clans brought their young people to the gathering in their eighteenth year.

  This was the only way all the Clans could ensure that their young people married partners from different families. No one married into the same family.

  Hangman’s relatives laughed and talked about their own experiences at the gathering. Then some of the wives related funny or interesting incidents that happened when they left with their husbands’ bands and tried to integrate into a new family group.

  Hangman barely listened. None of this applied to him because he wouldn’t find a wife at the gathering. He wasn’t sure of much else, but he was certain of that.

  The party camped together that night. The conversation drifted to other subjects, especially the Renegade Clan’s incursions into Godless territory.

  Somehow, the conversation always came back to the gathering itself. Everyone else in the party stayed in high spirits. The subject made them happy.

  Hangman sat with his family for a while. No one asked him about the gathering or even looked in his direction.

  After a while, he walked off into the dark and stayed away until morning. He wouldn’t have returned at all unless he absolutely had to.

  The party was just packing up to leave when one of Wish’s warriors pointed up the nearest hill. “It looks like Wizard’s band is coming in, too.”

  The party stopped what they were doing. The third group of Godless saw the travelers and diverted to join them.

  Hangman hovered on the fringes while everyone hugged, exchanged the news, and then the conversation inevitably turned to the gathering.

  “Who are you bringing?” Wizard asked Wish.

  Wish waved at Arda. “My daughter Arda is the only one we have of age. Butcher is bringing his nephew, Hangman. What about you?”

  Wizard gestured to the group behind him. “We have Bullseye, Dodge, and Distra.”

  Three young people stepped out of Wizard’s group. Dodge and Bullseye were both strong, well-formed young warriors. Distra was another beautiful young woman with a much rounder, cheerier face than Arda.

  The four young people came together talking and smiling at each other. Distra couldn’t marry anyone from her own band, but Dodge and Bullseye both took an interest in Arda.

  Hangman kept out of their conversation. It never once crossed his mind to approach Distra.

  It always happened like this. If bands of the same Clan came together on their way to the gathering, their young people could decide to stay together.

  They couldn’t officially marry until they actually went to the gathering and showed themselves, but they could choose each other based on attraction and mutual interest.

  The older adults spent a long time talking and catching up on all their family news. Wizard finally suggested that everyone keep moving south.

  The four young people stayed in a group, but when the combined party made camp that night, Arda sat much closer to Bullseye than she should have.

  Dodge didn’t seem to have a problem with this. Arda leaned against Bullseye with his arms around her while all four of them talked about their home bands, their territories, and every detail of their lives.

  Hangman stayed on the opposite side of the camp so no one got the wrong idea about him expressing an interest in either of the two young women.

  He stayed near Cross, Chaos, Magnet, and their wives. No one could suspect Hangman of getting any ideas as long as he stayed here.

  The evening wore on. Everyone from all three bands eventually got tired of talking about the gathering and went back to talking about political maneuverings, hunting practices, and clashes with hostile Clans.

  Hangman did his best not to see what Arda and Bullseye were doing. Hangman avoided even looking at them until it was time to go to sleep.

  Cross stretched out on his side. Chaos and Rila curled up in each other’s arms. She rested her head on his chest and he wrapped his arms around her.

  Magnet and Kealra both lay on their sides facing the same direction. He wrapped his arms around her from behind and she snuggled into him before they both went to sleep.

  Hangman didn’t want to see that, so he turned onto his other side. Almost everyone else in the combined party was already lying down—except Arda and Bullseye.

  They sat in the same place across the camp. He leaned his back against a tree while she reclined against him with his arms around her.

  They kissed passionately with all their lips and tongues involved. Their hands were already starting to migrate all over each other’s bodies.

  They couldn’t go all the way until they officially left the gathering as husband and wife, but they could lay the groundwork now.

  It sure looked like that’s what they were doing. Hangman shut his eyes so he wouldn’t see anything else.

  End of Chapter 17.

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