Page 7 of Barbarian's Treat

"Oh lord," Sam breathes.

"A maze," Mardok says in a slow voice, struggling to reason with Hassen and his dense head, "does not go in a straight line. It has twists and turns. Just digging a tunnel in the snow will not be a fun game."

"It will if I do it."

I smother a laugh behind my hand, because I can tell that Hassen is being deliberate in his foolishness just to tease Mardok, and yet Mardok has not figured this out. He is too serious at all times, Farli's mate, and no doubt Hassen has decided to play with him.

"Maddie's gonna be a widow if this continues on for much longer," Sam murmurs at my side. "Maybe you should step in."

I do not know anything about mazes, but I do know that making Sam happy is the reason I wake up every morning. So I step forward, my hand outstretched. "Show me this skin. I will have a look."

Sam follows after me, her hand brushing down the side of my fur-lined tunic.

"I made a plan last night," Mardok says as I take the skin from him. "If we set up a good base for the maze, we can always improve upon it in the future. It's important to start with the right foundation."

"...or we can just dig holes in the snow and hope for the best," Hassen chimes in.

I eye the unrolled skin and...now I am confused. Covering the skin are drawings of lines everywhere, squares upon squaresupon squares. I turn it to the side, wondering if I am looking wrong. "What is this?"

"A grid—" Mardok begins.

Sam makes a pained sound. "You want to measure out this entire field in a grid?"

"It would ensure accuracy," Mardok says, voice stiff.

"It's a Halloween maze," Sam protests. "It just needs to be fun, not accurate."

"See?" Hassen says, clapping Mardok on the shoulder. "We go with my plan."

"No," both Mardok and Sam say at the same time.

"You have an idea, my heart?" I ask my mate. Normally I would not volunteer Sam for anything. She is not shy, but she does not like attention. She does not like the eyes of others upon her, because she does not always trust their motives. Back with my people, however, she has relaxed quite a bit. It helps that I have known all of them for many hands of seasons. There are no strangers here, not even Mardok. In fact, Sam is the stranger. It is very different from Icehome Beach, where newcomers seem to appear regularly.

She feels safer here. More relaxed.

I will go wherever she pleases, but a small part of me is glad that she enjoys Croatoan. My parents are glad to have all three of their sons near them, and my brothers Rokan and Aehako have their families here, too.

Well, right now Rokan and his mate Li-lah have taken their kits to visit Icehome Beach. But they will return soon enough, and definitely in time for the birth of our kit.

Our kit.

Just the thought staggers me, and the skin in front of my eyes blurs.

"It's a maze for little kids," Sam says. "We need to keep it small and friendly. We don't want anyone feeling claustrophobicor scared. It's meant to be fun. I think you've got some good ideas here, Mardok, but what you have might be too complicated."

The tattooed male crosses his arms over his chest and eyes me. "What do you think, Sessah?"

"I think my mate is the wisest of all of us, and we should let her have control." I grin and flex my arm. "I will be her muscle."

"Muscle is all I am good for," Hassen adds.

Mardok's mouth twitches. He thinks for a moment and then shakes his head. "Not...not going to comment on that. Okay, Sam. Tell us what you're thinking."

My mate takes her bone knife and kneels in the snow and begins to draw.

CHAPTER

SIX