Page 32 of Betrothed to the Yeti

My lip quivers as tears roll down my face. “Please don’t kill her,” I whisper without breaking eye contact with Nima. “Pabu wouldn’t want to kill her.”

“Go get your lambs, Jaya,” he says in his haunting, dark voice.

Nima’s eyes clear as fear switches places with her greed. It flashes for a second before her lips twist into her seductress pout. “Jaya’s busy,” she snaps. “My little sister was showing me the errors of my ways. We want a bright future for Alpha. Don’t we, my dearest sister?”

“Do you mean it?” Do I dare to trust her? If Pabu can keep her in line, we could fix this village. Maybe if we bring back the families from the ‘lower wall’ area, they could lead the way to integrate Gamma, Delta, and Beta’s customs. Their family members who have lived in the other villages for the last few months, experienced the customs first-hand.

“Of course,” Nima says, crawling around me. I whirl around to keep her in my sights as she approaches Pabu. The hairs on the back of my neck stand on end.

“I’ve always been a devout follower of the Protector God,” she purrs. She stops with her knees between his feet. Her hands trail up his shins to his knees.

“You will find I am quite pious and…skilled in ways to worship you,” she says with a nuzzle against his thigh.

I stuff my fist into my mouth to muffle my sobs. The phantom is in control. The phantom is the basis of evil and depravity, according to Pabu. Will he resist my beautiful sister, who looks exactly like his beloved first Seer? I wait for him to extrude as she paws her way to his groin. My heart breaks with each nuzzle of her face against his leg. I can’t determine whether he’s enjoying her attention, because my eyes are glued to the back of her hair.

“No,” he whispers. “No,” he shouts when she doesn’t stop. “I said No!” He yells and kicks her hip, so she topples to the side. She mews in feminine protest. He bends over. I half expect him to check her for injuries. “Stop disrespecting my wife,” he roars at the end of her nose, and her hair blows back.

“Lambs!” He yells before grabbing my wrist. I trip over Nima as I’m hauled against his body.

“Why have the goat girl sister whose hobby is goats, when you can have the sister with a more…amorous hobby?” Nima’s eyes twinkle and her lips pucker at Pabu.

I see red. I push Nima away from him. We grab each other by the throat. I swat Pabu’s hands away to crush my weight on my larger sister. “Nima, it doesn’t have to end like this. We could all live in peace by sharing resources.”

“Do you think I’m that naive? I’ll have your lambs trot over your corpse before I eat them!” She screams in my face with lips peeled into thin lines. Her knees squeeze my soft middle and push my organs under my ribs. Nausea boils within me. I struggle to breathe instead of vomit.

She may have bested me before I left, but hard-won muscles from picking the frozen ground are my secret weapon today. My knuckles turn white as I squeeze her throat with all my strength. We roll, grunt, and screech like wild animals. Nima reaches exhaustion first. She releases my neck to scratch at my fingers. Blood drips from small cuts around my nails but I can’t force myself to let go of her. Her eyes water while her cheeks drain of color.

“I always hated you,” she whispers as the light fades from her eyes.

Huffing and puffing, I scramble away from her lifeless body. Tears dilute Pabu into a black-striped blur. What have I done? Horror, shame…and a righteous sense of justice flood my bones. Her terrible life morphed her into a terrible person. I hope she will do better with her fresh start in the next life. Sobs shake my breasts as I mourn who I thought she was and what I had to do to who she became.

My niece’s fierce screams pull me from my grief. Pabu calls after me but doesn’t follow as I tear into Nima’s lavish home. I pound up the winding staircase, following the baby’s cries. I sprint down a hallway adorned with nude pictures of Nima, whose leers will haunt my nightmares. Mina’s room is a celebration of pink. From the pastel, fluffy fabrics to the spent crystal decorations, there isn’t a centimeter that’s not glittery pink. My niece’s face darkens to magenta, matching her crib linens. A quick diaper change and she nestles in my arms.

Back outside, Pabu carries us bridal style to the back of the house, following the urgent calls of our lambs. I nuzzle against his chest and examine the black-rooted hairs I find on his pectorals. My fascination holds my attention until he kicks his way into a small shed. The mud hut is half the size of my family’s home in the slums and a quarter of the size of Pabu’s front worship room where Ku Huang lives. I hold my breath as we step inside and close the door behind us.

A dozen goat kids hop and scamper among piles of scat. Empty food troughs and frozen water bowls decorate the walls. Our kids, tied to a post with their leads, huddle in the corner. The pitiful living conditions squeeze my heart. I can’t leave them here. Do I leave the door open, so they can blend with the ‘lower wall’ animals and take their chances with the tigers—if Pabu didn’t kill them all?

“No need for the pouty lip,” Pabu growls. “Do you want the lambs?”

“I want all the lambs,” I whisper to him. I kiss Mina’s head to hide my face as my cheeks flame. He just picked me over Nima, and I’m requesting pets? Where did my audacity come from? I never ask for anything, because I can’t stand being a burden…but Pabu has never made me feel like one…

Pabu takes Mina from me, and I run to Ku Huang’s kids to hug them. As my nose burrows in their fluff, I thank the Gods they are unharmed. I promise to keep them safe and at the side of their mother.

My eyes meet Pabu’s glowing violet orbs over their furry bodies. The corners crinkle. A bright smile, filled with terrifying fangs, shines down at me. “All the lambs are now our lambs,” he declares.

“I don’t deserve them,” I say, returning to his side.

“But they need you,” he replies. “As does this little one.”

His canines are freezing when I kiss his lips, but worth the cold when his chuckle rumbles against me. I point to the rope holding the thatched roof together and he rips it down. The one to two-foot pieces aren’t ideal, but will be enough material to guide the goats to their new home. I set Mina in the pile of straw from the fallen section of the roof to watch us wrangle lambs. We laugh as the lambs run circles to evade our attempts to tie them.

"Are there more children on this side of the wall?”

“The Elders and most Leaders are too old. Their children are grown,” I say to avoid his real question. Is there anyone I wish to save? My mind shifts to images of Nawang and Dronma before their marriage.

Pabu counters with a replay of Dronma’s refusal to help me retrieve my lambs from Nima.She didn’t stand up for you…not as children, not at the wedding, and certainly not today. Is she a sister in name alone or only when the title suits her?

“I have all the family I need right here,” I say aloud, not to be heard but to feel it in my heart. I wait for the deluge of guilt…that never arrives.

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