Mechan hardly paid attention to Zari, who had been coming by ever since Ishara was discovered missing. He knew the woman had her own ambitions. In the past, he had rejected her proposals of marriage at least a dozen times. Today, the chieftain did not want to deal with her or her conniving ways. “The daughter of a chieftain. The whole situation would have brought problems. How long do you think you could have kept her before her father showed up to take her back?” Zari faced the elder tree branch, one hand on her chin. Mechan sighed and went back to cleaning off his machete. Earlier that day, he had gone hunting and found a worthy foe—a stag. The blood stained the cool metal of his weapon, painting it a dark, purple-red hue. Would she ever stop talking? He thought about throwing her out and making it clear that she wasn’t welcome to invite herself in whenever she pleased, but he could not slight the woman’s family by embarrassing her.
