Page 19 of The Virgin's Chosen Dragon

***THEO***

Theo collapsed onto the pallet in the hut, exhausted after hours of helping Peter with his English, and closed his eyes, hoping he’d be able to sleep. Only a few minutes later, he drifted off and didn’t surface until the sun came up the next morning. Surprised at how well he’d slept, he lay there for a few minutes, letting himself wake up slowly, going over the day before in his mind, searching for any detail that might explain how they got there.

He finally gave up when nothing stood out to him, got up from the pallet and pulled back the flap over the door, shading his eyes when the sun nearly blinded him. He found his way back to the center of the village, following the smell of something cooking and the sound of voices, relieved to see Eden sitting by the fire. She was holding a steaming cup in her hands, a look of enjoyment on her face, and he felt a little stab of desire, but quickly pushed it away.

“You look like you slept well,” he said, sinking down onto the ground next to her. “Is that coffee?”

She grinned at him,“The best I’ve ever had,” she said. “They grow it themselves up on the side of the mountain. I’ll go get you a cup.”

Before she could get up, Rose appeared, a cup in her hand. “For you,” she said, handing it to him. “Breakfast next.”

“Thank you,” he said, smiling up at her. “But you don’t have to wait on me, Eden can do that.”

“Hey,” Eden said, giving him a nudge in the ribs. “You can wait on yourself.”

He grinned at her. “But it’s so much more fun watching you do it,” he said, then leaned over and gave her a kiss. “Just kidding, sweetheart, the truth is, I just like watching you. It doesn’t matter what you’re doing.”

A blush appeared on Eden’s cheeks. “Theo, everyone is watching us,” she said. “Stop teasing me.”

Rose smiled down at them. “I’ll bring breakfast,” she said. “You eat, and then we will go gathering with the other women. It will be fun.”

“Gathering?” she asked. “What does that mean?”

“We go and look for fruit, nuts, roots, anything we can eat,” Rose said. “There’s lots of food out there, we just have to find it.”

“Sounds like you’re spending the morning in the jungle,” he said, grinning at her. “I bet you’re going to have tons of fun, just watch out for snakes.”

She gave him a dirty look. “And I suppose you think you’re just going to hang around camp all day,” she said. “I bet they’ve got something planned for you as well.”

Just then Peter came up, one of the long spears in his hand. “Come, we practice,” he said. “Spearfishing today, you must get ready.”

“Told you,” Eden said, a grin on her face. “Go on, I’m sure you’re going to have tons of fun.”

“What about breakfast?” he asked. “I’m starving.”

“Practice first, food later,” Peter said. “Let’s go.”

He leaned over and gave Eden a kiss. “Just in case I don’t come back, don’t forget me,” he said dramatically. “I might starve to death before they let me eat.”

Rose came back with two steaming bowls only a second later. “Here we are,” she said, presenting the food with a flourish. “Very filling; give you lots of energy.”

“Eat later,” Peter said, shaking his head. “Practice now.”

He started to get up but stopped when Rose shoved the bowl into his hands, then turned to her father and began speaking rapidly in their language. Peter finally held up his hand. “Eat now,” he said. “Practice later.”

Looking down into the bowl of lumpy porridge, dotted with specks of something he couldn’t identify, he wondered if Peter had the right idea, but scooped up a spoonful and put it in his mouth. A burst of sweetness hit his tongue, followed by the mellow flavor of some kind of grain, and he took another bite, genuinely pleased with the food.

Eden was still staring into her bowl. “Try it, it’s good, I promise,” he said. “Kind of like oatmeal but better; just close your eyes and take a bite.”

When he’d scraped the last bite from the bowl, Rose appeared again with a big platter of fruit. “I could get used to this,” he said, then saw Peter heading his way again. “But it looks like breakfast is over.”

Eden laughed and plucked some fruit off the tray. “Here, take these with you,” she said, then leaned over and gave him a big kiss. “Good luck, I think you’re going to need it.”

When Peter got to him, he shoved the spear into his hands, then turned and walked away without a word. He looked over at Eden, shrugged his shoulders, and followed him. It took almost an hour before Peter signaled that he wasready to join the other fishermen, and he set the spear aside with a groan, relieved his training was over but not sure he had enough energy left for the fish. But he trudged down to the shore with the rest of the men, then sat watching for a few minutes as they waded in, spread out, and began searching for fish.

When he finally joined them in the water, he had a clear idea of what he was supposed to do, but it was hours before he finally speared his first fish. Holding it triumphantly in the air, he was surprised when the rest of the men began to cheer, and realized that as hard as it had been, the effort had been worth it.

He couldn’t wait to show Eden the fish that he’d caught, and he wondered what her day had been like, if she’d enjoyed foraging with the women as much as he’d enjoyed fishing. There were two more fish in the basket Peter had given him before the sun began to sink in the sky, and he knew that he’d done his part to feed both himself and Eden for that day.

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