As Ki'adan was lead away, Jayari and her rider made a stop to gather up her own items, and fetch Zala, and Jayari took a moment to dress before insisting she ride her own horse. She was not about to ride back home naked, and she was not about to ride back home on someone else's horse like a wayward child brought home from being naughty--which, was exactly how she felt, and sort of exactly what was happening.
Only the stakes were far more dangerous, and her stomach clenched as it all sank in.
Ki'adan could be seriously punished. He could be maimed or worse. He was son to the chieftain of their rival tribe! Gods. How stupid was she?
And what did this mean for her? If the chieftain's daughter was meant to be chaste until marriage...well...what if she wasn't?
Desperately, she wanted to talk to Ki'adan. She wanted to apologize to him. This was her fault, for she'd flirted and teased and told him she wanted him, all of him, when she should have stopped. He'd made sure she wanted it, said they didn't have to, and she'd still insisted. How could she be such an idiot!
And when, finally, they arrived back home, Ki'adan and his captors just ahead of them, Jayari saw with horror that her father was waiting for them, pacing anxiously--and then going still when his eyes landed on Ki'adan, his eyebrows rising. Then, slowly, they moved to Jayari--disheveled, her hair wet, and...
...Fuck her life.
Boobs painted on her cheeks, and a penis on her neck.
Jayari remembered that as soon as he looked at her and she saw his expression evolve to that "I am so busted forever" expression she was so familiar with, and she ducked her head as though wishing she could just melt into Zala and vanish forever. Oh. My. Gods!
The bloody-nosed man dismounted his horse and bowed low. "We found her, sir," he said. "And we found...him." Then he paused, and cleared his throat. "Together."