Charlie sat on the small piles of imperial made pillows and animal hides. He kept his hands folded on his lap as he stared downwards, not daring to look a single one of the ferocious-looking women in the eye. About 10 or so of them surrounded him and 11 if you included the woman who sat on the throne.

As she happily picked through his jacket, examining any personal belongings he may have had in it, he took the time to examine the room in its interior. There were large, vicious animals and creatures that he did not recognise lining the walls. Maybe the only animal he could see that was recognisable was the head of a desert crawler hung on the wall.

The building itself was made of a mix of red tarp and a deep, blood redwood that matched the colour of the feathers in the hair of the women. Their glares and expressionless faces surrounded him. Eventually, Charlie decided to break the silence.

“Sorry, but I think I am lost. I was just trying to get back to the part of the village where my fellow merchants are,” Charlie was cut off by the woman on the throne raising her hand. For a few seconds, she stared at him, like she was constructing a sentence.

“You Charlie?” She said, trying her best to say his words in her thick native accent.

“Yes Mrs,” he said, assuming she had probably seen his merchant’s badge that he kept in his jacket. Leaning closer, the woman stared at him, as if she was waiting for him to do something.

“Sorry, I think I need to be going?” Charlie said with a chuckle as he went to stand. Two of the women in the red headdresses and red paint grabbed his shoulders and forced him down.

“No recognise?” she said, her voice deepened as she purred her words to him.

“Sorry,” Charlie said, not knowing what to say as the woman moved off her throne.

Like a wild animal, she moved on all fours around him. She was like a wolf hunting prey as she moved around him. He could even feel her warm, humid breath clinging to him as she growled into his ear on every other circle going around him. Slowly she moved, with a purpose that was unknown to Charlie.

“I said, you no recognise?” She said as she pressed herself against his back.

“Oh, sorry, no,” Charlie said, not knowing if saying this would help with the situation or not. Sneering and giving a small growl, she manoeuvred around him and to the front. She moved closer until their noses were almost touching.

“Why?” She said, her voice not changing from its deep, demanding, and slightly dangerous tone.

It was like he was being talked down to by an older sibling or teacher. He wouldn’t say mother as she was only a little older than him, so it was far more like an angry teacher or adult. Wait a minute. He was seventeen, that was almost an adult. Just because this woman had a more mature sounding voice and beauty didn’t mean that she was that more intimidating. But then again…

Looking into the eyes of the woman, he could see an almost animal-like hunger. Looking down to her sneering mouth, he saw the sharp teeth. Oh fuck. This was a situation he would usually find himself laugh at, but being face to face with this woman… Charlie chuckled slightly. For some reason when the Chiefess did this it was scary, but when she did it, it was just funny.

“Why smile? Why not recognise!” she yelled at him as she shoved him onto the ground. Charlie wanted to be scared, but as the woman pinned him and started to nibble at his neck, he just found himself laughing more.

“Stop! It tickles!” Charlie said as the woman grabbed his arms and pinned him against the ground.

“Be scared!” She said as she began to angrily bite him even more. Her telling him to be scared had the opposite effect as he only started to laugh even more.

“No!” She said as she saw him start to laugh more. Several warriors along the side stared at them. None of them were sure what to do.

“What do we do?” A warrior said to another in their native tongue. as they watched the two struggled together on the ground.

“She looks angry, but she isn’t using her full strength to do anything to him,” the second responded.

“It's like they are paly fighting, yet she seems to angry?” the first said again.

“I say we stop this. But then again, he does look like he is enjoying this,” the second says, noticing the other women also looked to be just as amused and confused as them.

“My clanswoman are you alright down there?” the first asked in their native tongue. The woman angrily took her face away from Charlie’s neck, revelling the large red love bite she had left from nibbling angrily on him. Regaining her composure, she sat up and looked at her friend.

“Yes, I’m just interrogating him on why he doesn’t remember his closest friend!” She replied. As most conversations at the moment seemed to go, he didn’t understand what was being said as the native talked in their native tongue.

“Yes, I understand, but he looks to be very happy?” The first warrior woman explained. The woman snapped her head around to look at the blushing red face of Charlie. Still a few gasps of laughter left his lips.

“Bastard!” She said as she turned around growled at him. Strightening her back, she calmed her nerves.

“Bind him to a pole in my field, then bring me a translator. I wish to remind him of who I am,” she said as her warriors grabbed him. Four of them lifted him into the air and carried him off.

The woman was left alone with her other warriors. Once the women carrying Charlie were gone, she collapsed onto the ground. That scent. The scent of Charlie that she had been so deprived of. Grabbing his jacket off the floor, she shoved her nose into the fabric. That scent. Ourupadia had told her that the Chiefess was doing her best to keep him close by her side, and she could see why. The scent of a marked male. The scent of a man that would give strong children. Devine a scent.

“My friend, what are we to do with the male?” Once warrior rightfully pointed out. He was the male of the Chiefess after all and they most likely didn’t want to anger her unless they had a death wish. The women present all had similar thoughts as they imagined the Chiefess either having them sacrificed to the rain goddess or roasted over a fire then eater to worship of goddess of the hunt.

“As I said, once the translator arrives, I shall… politely force him to remember me!” She said joyfully as she hopped off to go and start preparing for the ritual. One of the warriors then left after her to go and find a translator while the remaining warriors started to pray that the Chiefess didn’t find them.

Charlie wasn’t sure where to look. On one hand he didn’t want to look down as he usually did in this kind of situation as he had been stripped of his clothes. Neither did he want to look up as a large fire had been formed and several women with the red headdresses and red painted arrows on their skin danced around the flames. They danced nude and chanted words in their crude language.

The woman with the larger red feather headdress looked to be the leader. His suspicions were only confirmed as he saw her sitting gracefully om large throne on platform elevated above the dancers. Several women sat to the side, beating out a monotonous beat on the drums. Rapidly the drums started to increase in rhythm, and the dancers hurried to the side lines to sit and watch as their leader elegantly walked down the wooden steps the led up to her throne.

For a moment, her eyes locked onto Charlie, sending shivers down his spine. As the woman began to throw herself around the fire in her tribal dance, he could guess she was depicting some kind of animal or hunt as she was given a large hunting spear by a warrior from the small crowd. As she hopped and leapt around the flames, she pointed and jabbed the spear at members of the crowd.

“The dance is traditional to the huntress clan. It represents hunting prey and is often preformed before they either hunt or sacrifice someone,” A voice whispered into Charlie’s ear. Turning, he felt his situation get ten times worst as he saw Phukomeia staring back at him.

“Oh fuck,” he muttered as he didn’t know weather to laugh or cry.

“Hay! That is no way to greet me!” Phukomeia said as she kicked him in the shin.

“Yes, but you did just tell me I am going to be sacrifice,” Charlie said solemnly.

“Don’t worry, from watching the dance so far I guess she plans to hunt you for sport,” Phukomeia said, beaming a smile at him that was far to joyful to match what she had just said.

“Ah, thanks, now at least I know how I’m going to die! A bloody arrow or spear right through the heart,” Charlie said as he watched the huntress’s dance get ever closer to him.

“No, no, no, when she captures you, she shall bring you back to the tribe to be eaten,” Phukomeia said, again smiling as if what she said was helping the situation in anyway.

“FUCK!” Charlie sighed as the dance of the huntress started to approach ever nearer.

“Phukomeia! Stop! You aren’t helping!” the somewhat voice of reason came from Nolkonoe of all people.

Moving to his side, Nolkonoe placed a soft hand onto the side of his face.

“Don’t worry, we only eat people we don’t like or who have been chosen to be sacrificed. And we don’t tend to eat/sacrifice outsiders,” Nolkonoe said, her words sending mixed emotions or relief and fear through Charlie.

“What she is trying to say, is that when you are captured you shall be strapped again to this pole and sexually not actually, devoured by our tribe! Or more likely just the ten – twenty women or so present here, including us vultures,” Nolkonoe said. Like Phukomeia she smiled as if her words were enough to calm him. Now all he could think of though was how he was going to be gang raped to death.

“Why is she doing this?” Charlie whimpered to Nolkonoe.

“Well, she most likely wants to try and claim you. Something that would usually place her at odds with the Chiefess, but since she is the heir to one of the four great clans, she will most likely be involved in a political battle more than anything else,” Nolkonoe said, smiling as she saw the look of blunt fear on Charlie’s face, yet the seductive yet warrior like dance of the huntress heir was enough to start physically arousing him.

“Four great clans?” Charlie questioned, wanting to know the severity of the situation.

“Yes, there are four large clans that make up our tribe as well as keep it functioning. There is my clan, the vultures. We back the Chiefess as the ruler of the tribe. There are then the warriors, they also back the Chiefess. The same goes for the huntresses as well. The fourth though are the biggest clan, but also the weakest as they are the forgers, the peasants. They are the ones usually chosen as food when our food stocks begin to run dry. They do not support the Chiefess,” Nolkonoe gentle caressed the butt cheek of Charlie as she wated him soak up every bit of information.

“The reason though that she is doing this is probably to increase the strength of her clan. Or it would be, but I think she is just doing this out of spite as I hear some warriors say she is angry at you for some reason?”

“How is doing this ritual meant to increase the strength of her clan?” Charlie asked, his eyes not breaking from the swaying hips and bouncing breasts of the warrior woman. He was amazed at her dance simultaneously was so incredibly arousing yet terrifying to him.

“There are few men in our tribe. As such, if a man is married into a clan, then he will have to bare a lot of children with the women of the clan. This would greatly help one of the four main clans as it would mean either more warriors or huntresses to have fight for you and rule over the other clans. It is also probably why the Chiefess is so against you going off with other women. She loves you, don’t get me wrong, but she also probably wants to have children with you start repopulating her clan. After all, she is the only one who remines of it. The reason she stays in power though is mainly from the backing of the four clans,” Nolkonoe explained, seeing an unusual look of sympathy in the eyes of Charlie as he listened to the situation the Chiefess found herself in.

“Klipesia here is not like her mother. She is more set on taking over the tribe. Thus, why her warriors wear more red than white, this of course contrast with the usual colours of the other huntresses still backing the Chiefess. Her claiming you will probably be a show of power if anything else,”

“And if your so loyal then Nolkonoe, then why are you here helping her?” He questioned.

“Don’t worry, my clan are not a fighting one. But the Chiefess’s is, and despite not having a clan, she does have an incredibly loyal royal guard. And they should be arriving soon…”