Saving Verakko: The Clecanian Series Book 3 by Victoria Aveline (books to read for teens TXT) 📕

with widened eyes. “You’ve been living in the woods by yourself for a week? Why didn’t you go back?”

Lily studied Verakko’s face. His tone was more curious than accusatory. Her hackles, which had been primed to rise at any moment, calmed. “We’d planned to follow the river until we reached a city. Alex is smart and resourceful. I told her to stick to that plan.” She picked up some fallen nut-like spheres she’d been gathering but thus far had been too nervous to eat and muttered, “I couldn’t just leave her.”

Verakko tucked the large bundle of firewood under his arm and stared thoughtfully into the depths of the darkening forest.

The silent moment dragged on until Lily felt like she was going to burst. “What, no comment about how stupid and impulsive my choice was?” she groused. In all honestly, there was a grain of truth to what he’d said before, and that was what upset her the most. She found she cared what he thought of her decisions.

“No. I understand now. You’ve given me hope, actually, for the freed humans. If they feel a fraction of the loyalty you do and are anywhere near as brave, they might stand a chance.”

Lily’s knees quivered, and her eyes stung with tears at the unexpected and wholeheartedly sincere remark. It hadn’t been a compliment exactly, more of a statement of fact, but to Lily, that was even better. A knot seemed to loosen deep in her gut. She murmured a quick thank you and retreated farther into the forest.

He gave a small grunt behind her and followed. “However, I only saw one human male, so unless all the females have your survival skills, they still may not make it.”

And just like that, Lily’s irritation returned. She held her tongue, stewing, attempting to convince herself that his comment hadn’t been meant to undermine the female sex as a whole. Her restraint only lasted for a short time before she spun on him. “And why would the amount of men dictate how easily the women can survive? I’ve survived out here for weeks without a man helping me.”

Surprise at the sudden reply to his comment registered on his face for a moment before his eyes narrowed. “You, little female, are an enigma. I just assumed the male of your species would have learned how to fight in school as our males do and would therefore be helpful in this circumstance.”

“Guys here are taught how to fight in school?”

He shrugged and tromped past her, taking the lead. “Depends on where you’re from. I had to learn when I was in husbandry school, but not all cities require it.”

Lily scanned her memory. She’d never attended a real school, but she was pretty certain fighting wasn’t part of most curriculums. “So, you’re a farmer?”

“A farmer?” He studied the area, not really paying attention to her, and gestured to a clear patch of earth. “Will this spot do?”

“Not unless you want to be impaled by that widow-maker,” she said quickly, pointing up to a dead limb near the top of the tree that hovered precariously above the clearing. “Husbandry school. That’s for farmers, right? Animal farmers.”

Verakko scowled up at the branch as if willing it to fall. Then, her words seeming to register, his brows knit and he faced her. “It must be an odd translation. There may not be a direct equivalent in your language, so sometimes the translator will use an approximation or an outdated usage. We learn to manage a wife and household in husbandry school, not livestock.”

Lily watched his retreating back as he moved farther into the forest and had to prevent herself from recoiling. Manage a wife? No wonder this guy had a low opinion of women; they trained misogyny into boys at an early age.

She shuffled behind him. Keep it to yourself. Not your planet, not your culture. You don’t have enough information to judge. And who are you to judge anyway?

“What about here?”

Lily scanned the spot with a clenched jaw. A few feet away, she spotted puddles of stagnant water. “If mosquitos don’t exist on this planet, then sure.” Her tone came out a little more curt than she’d meant.

He frowned at her. “Do you have something you’d like to say to me?”

Before she could stop them, words burst from her lips. “Manage a wife? How do the women feel about being managed like a bank account? What do they even teach? How to calm a wife’s inevitable hysteria, or how to guide her in making you the perfect meal?”

To her utter disbelief, a wide grin spread across Verakko’s face, and he barked out a laugh then gave his head a little shake of disbelief. “You don’t even understand how far off the mark you are.” He resumed his search for a camp location but over his shoulder added, “And for the record, out of all the females I’ve ever met, you are by far the most likely to dissolve into hysterics.”

Lily snatched a small brown nut from her sack and pelted him in his broad back.

Stiffening, he eyed the fallen nut. He stooped while managing to hold the firewood and scooped up the small orb. Holding her furious gaze, he cracked the dried husk with his molars, then popped the bright yellow nut into his mouth. “You just made my point.”

Steam must surely be whistling out of her ears. Crossing her arms, she closed her eyes and breathed. In. Out. In. Out. Lily tried to focus on her father and all the ways he’d taught her to be master of her emotions, a lesson she’d never truly exceled at. When she opened her eyes again, she saw Verakko waiting impatiently.

“Can you help me find a camp now, since you seem to have a problem with every one I choose?”

She donned a smug grin. “That’s