He was daydreaming about schools and factories back at his hut, at sunset, when three women arrived. He sat up and said, "Can I help you?"

They grinned, bearing bowls of fish and vegetables for four. The tallest of them said, "Thoko sent us to pick from."

Arlen blushed and mumbled. Okay, yes, he didn't mind, and he supposed it was better than being assigned all three at once. But... "Did you get any choice in this?"

"It was a strong suggestion. We're of age, and he wanted you to settle down."

Of the three, two seemed to be sisters, each tall and strongly built, with the bright green eyes of the chieftain. The third was a somewhat rounder girl with a cruder but more colorful skirt and top, and a nervous expression. All cute, and he didn't know a thing about them but guesswork. Arlen's fists clenched. "This isn't how we do things where I'm from."

The younger sister said, "But you live here now."

"When in Rome," he muttered. But no, it was one more sign of him not getting to control his life. "I'd like to get to know you all, but I can't choose today. I want to see more of the isles."

Though the third lady nodded, the other two were a bit annoyed he wasn't ready to grab one like a new shirt off a display rack. So the older sister said, "Let me spend time with you first, then."

That left him with one suitor at a time, anyway, with the others sent away. He said, "Are you Thoko's daughter?"

"Niece. How did you learn to build these things you're working on?"

He tried to relax in his shabby hut, where there was hardly room for two to sit on the straw mats. There was so much to be done! He explained, "In a faraway land there were people who valued designing new things, and rewarded it, and most could read so that there was an ever-growing record... It's complicated."

"We don't need a thousand years of history to know how to do things."

"You do, if you don't want them to rust away and collapse."

She said, "Seems to me that now that we have the bits and pieces washing ashore, and somebody to explain them, it doesn't much matter which bearded sage thought them up or why."

Arlen relaxed and smiled, because he'd decided he had no real interest in this woman. He talked about exotic lands and factories, then asked about the islands. "Have you seen the Roaring Storm?"

Unlawfully taken from Royal Road, this story should be reported if seen on Amazon.

She had. The boats were well made for the technology level, but mostly kept within sight of land... or the Storm. It was said their ancestors had miraculous ways of navigating by the stars, no longer necessary and now forgotten. She'd also been to Stormhowl Island with her sister and gone sliding in the mud there, a tradition. That was fun to hear, and they talked about sleds and skis. The only place around here with snow was the peaks of Catacomb Island, the place of stone men.

That made him sit up straighter. The woman explained that creatures of rock and light moved by some enchantment there, guarding a ruin of the Builders.

"The Builders were people? Not just another name for the spirits?" He'd heard the term offhand. Now, he was thinking of the supposed ghost battlefield and of ruins.

She frowned. "I want to hear more about you, not talk about some bunch of angry eccentrics."

He let her draw him into talking more about home, but for her the only interesting parts were what she'd see if she could visit Earth today, not why or how such things as roller coasters or televisions existed. So when the sun set and she left to return to the single womens' quarters, he'd had a pleasant conversation but wasn't sorry to end it.

He also had other goals besides picking a wife right now. That could wait. He wanted to see more of this new home.

#

In the morning he asked about borrowing a boat, and was told to petition Thoko. He had to wait behind several other islanders who had disputes to settle, over a reckless brawl and harsh words last night. To Arlen's surprise, the high chief ordered a duel right outside.

The two men involved in that argument stood in a cleared space, behind wooden shields, shouting insults at each other. A crowd gathered to watch and jeer. Each man had three javelins. Thoko called out a ritual challenge to them both, and one of his servants displayed a bundle of three black arrows while chanting something about them being "the High Chief's might".

The duelists feinted and circled. Arlen kept well back. Those javelins looked sharp! One man threw and the other blocked with his shield. Then a second spear flew and went wide, into the audience. People leaped out of the way, barely in time. Another exchange of blows, one thudding deep into a shield and scratching the arm that held it. Its holder howled in anger and threw his last spear well, catching his enemy in the leg. Then he started forward but someone shouted, reminding him he must not. The other guy had the right to throw, still. A feint, a half-step, a pained staggering hop, and then the last javelin flashed out. Its target didn't trust his shield and flinched away. The shaft sailed past him and struck a woman.

Horrified, Arlen rushed in to try to help. Someone grabbed him, held him back. The duelists threw down their shields and went at it with their bare hands. Arlen said, "Are you people crazy? We've got wounded here!"

The island's main shaman-doctor was an old man, and when he shouted people listened to him. They let him drag the woman with a spear through her hip a little way off from the brawl. Arlen helped, wincing at her pained gasps. Now that she was away from the fighting fools, the doc pulled the weapon out of her -- no barbs -- and went to work with a splash of rum, a rag to bite on, and magic. His face was stony and he said nothing to her, only directing an apprentice boy to watch and help. Arlen muttered reassurance to the lady and tried to hold her steady.

Cheers and jeers sounded from the duel beside them. Arlen didn't care. "Savages."