A bright torchlight swung over and washed over her. Stacey squeezed her eyes shut hard, feeling herself hyperventilating, and the hands roaming her body froze. They then hugged her to a firm body behind her that felt strangely tall with widespread legs. The beam of light drifted high above her head.
She pleaded with her eyes toward whoever had the torchlight. The dark figure carrying the torch walked toward them.
"We thought there had been signs of you people around again," said the dark figure with the torch, speaking in Tadpole. Stacey was surprised to find that she could somewhat understand what was being said. "You can't take her. Let her go."
"She's not yours either," a deep voice behind her brayed. "She doesn't have your scent on her."
"She's one of our young. She's protected under our law. If the Ancients want her, you'll have to fight me to take her," the dark shadow man said.
His voice was familiar. Stacey recognised it. The torchlight shifted and she caught a glimpse of his face. Mr Huo. The big boss was here again? What was he doing up at this time of the night?
"You have a lot of strong young ones in that building," the arms around Stacey tightened. "Stronger than this one. She hasn't been brought up as well as the other young I have seen around."
"She was lost and we only recently found her again," Mr Huo said in a calm voice. "Let her go."
"She's not a child. According to your reckoning, she is already mature."
"Oh? How old would you say she is then?" Mr Huo didn't sound surprised.
"A score of years or so. It is the fruitful time of the month for her. A male who mates with her now would soon have her with child. I can smell wildling in her and that sweet scent of ovulation. If we war, we could claim her by right."
"We do not want war. The whole world is watching this group of young to see what they will become. It is a form of entertainment," Mr Huo said.
"Understood. Watching the young grow is a very satisfying sight. Nevertheless, I am the leader of the Whistledowns beastmen. I declare my right to claim the gifts of men on behalf of the Ancients through battle. It has been many years since we last demanded our right. Our people are lacking in females and the males of our people fight unceasingly."
"I will report it to our superiors," Mr Huo said. "Even so, you cannot take this young lady tonight."
"Very well," the braying voice behind Stacey snorted and thrust her to stumble forward into Mr Huo's arms. "I will expect to see her on the battlefield a week from now."
Stacey heard the clip-clop of hooves while Mr Huo held her tight in his arms to keep her from falling. Her legs had gone weak. She stiffly turned her head to see what looked like a massive centaur trot away in the light of the torch. Centaurs were real? She could still feel those hot hands on her, dirtying her. Her breasts felt bruised.
When the centaur was gone, Mr Huo tightened his grip on her shoulders and shook her so hard that her teeth chattered. As if she wasn't already shaking hard enough.
"Are you an idiot? Are you stupid? What made you come out at this time of the night when the beastmen have been seen in the vicinity? You're lucky I came along in time or you would have been kidnapped to become a baby making machine for the Ancients in the mountains or a plaything for the beastmen. Has no one taught you to fight yet? What were you doing standing there in a daze and letting yourself be molested? Where's your personal knife? Don't tell me you don't even have a weapon to defend yourself."
"Beastmen?" Stacey asked in a faint voice, breaking free from his painful, shaking grip.
"Ah, I forgot," Mr Huo said, slapping a palm to his forehead. He looked around at the darkness surrounding them. "Since there are no cameras here, let's just be frank with each other here as one Earthling to another. Your Aussie accent is such a dead giveaway and so jarring when juxtaposed with other more refined accents."
"Excuse me?" Stacey felt like she was hearing things now. She'd just been insulted. All the Aussies in the universe had just been offended. Right? His American English accent was not considered refined either, ok? As an Aussie, she had the right to insist that the underdogs ruled - not the other way around.
As for the locals, Stacey had no idea what their accent was closest to. It was a unique accent all on its own. The townspeople's accents were broader than the trainees and staff who had come from the city. In contrast, the city accents were crisper and better enunciated.
As for their English spelling and grammar, Stacey decided she wouldn't comment on whether it was closer to British or American English. It was complicated. The occasional pidgin like words and sentence structures totally threw her off sometimes. Of course, once everything was filtered through her brain, it turned into relatively reasonable language.
But still. Being told her English accent was unrefined… Stacey was offended. She definitely didn't speak ocker. She wasn't a bogan. What was he getting at? It wasn't like he had a perfect English accent either.
"You must have come from Australia, yes?"
"Yeah. Cheers," Stacey said, feeling her mind still reeling and jumping about.
It was like she was stuck in a strange dream and nothing was real. He was from Earth? That meant she wasn't alone.
"I'm originally from America. My parents migrated there from China," Mr Huo said. "I manage the family business here on Gaius, while my brother manages the business on Earth. You are the first wildling to come to this continent directly from Earth outside of accepted channels for quite a few decades."
Wildling? Accepted channels? Wait. Nevermind that. There were channels?
"There's a way back? I can go back home?" Stacey gripped his hand in excitement, forgetting about being intimidated. "You can take me back?"