Primal Estate: The Candidate Species by Samuel Franklin

were concerned for two reasons. First, he was in demand for sparring, which paid his costs, and he would not be in peak condition if he was allowed to deteriorate. Secondly, having been abducted and held for a purpose other than a harvest, he was subject to guest protocols. He could not be simply killed or discarded. The Provenger had to provide for him.
Guests were guaranteed quarters, sustenance, and care. But the provisions for guests did not necessarily include freedom. The Provenger could not, by law, simply dispose of their guests. They had their law and it needed to be followed. As long as he had to be maintained, it was to his keeper’s benefit to have him producing revenue in the sparring ring.

Yootu turned his fish over and recalled the days of his youth on his green land filled with animals. Even though many had been taken by the Provenger, his family hunted every third or fourth day, as needed. Some years they followed the large herds for much of the summer and fall, as they had before the Provenger arrived. Then they returned to their tribe and caught fish in the river during the annual spring runs. Small animals were especially plentiful in the lowlands, by the river for which he was named.
Legend had it that his mother, Noanan, was kidnaped and impregnated by the sun god. This god turned himself into the river so that he wouldn’t burn her. Yootu was therefore named after this river. But the story his mother told him was different. She said that she had been making love to a boy she had met and was taken to a Provenger temple and healed of her wounds after being horribly burned when the Provenger arrived.

From his birth, he was considered special, and his people revered him. Stories of his ability to understand foreigners and animals became legend. Fortunately for Yootu, the Provenger were focused mainly on the successful development and spread of agriculture. Therefore, when he was grown they used him as their emissary. He wanted to roam and hunt. Since he was very capable, he managed to survive the many dangers of travel away from his tribe, and he always returned. The Provenger gave him wheat and told him to share it with distant tribes. When he returned Yootu managed to convince them that he had.
Yootu’s power and fame grew among all people in the surrounding territories, and he saw how they lived from the bounty of the land, following the herds. He saw many of his people growing fat and drunk from the constant use of the Provenger grain and determined he could wait no longer. Yootu led a revolt against the Provenger and stole a bolt from a battle gauntlet that provided its power. He gave it to his mother, who hid it with the help of her cousin, Shainan.

Yootu was accidentally transported to the Provenger ship while he was holding technology that the Provenger needed to take with them. He never saw his people again.

Yootu’s keeper, Bryock, didn’t like the way things were developing. The quality of sparring matches had deteriorated considerably, and the patronage of the program had fallen off as a result. Bryock knew it was due to his fighter’s mood. Instead of having many months’ backlog of reserved matches, they were now being scheduled on a daily basis; no reservations required. Yootu was getting too easy to beat, and word was getting around. It could soon reach a point where fighting him wasn’t considered a bold activity. In his prime, he’d been able to stand his ground and even beat a Provenger now and then, but not anymore.
Bryock made a deal with the keeper of Shainan, the female human they had taken ten years ago from the same Anatolian location. She was spared from being carnate for the ritual banquet because she walked in her sleep. The Provenger Psychiatric Unit insisted that she be kept for study. The duration of the studies now subjected her to Guest Protocols.

Bryock’s deal was to allow Yootu visits with her. He had to try something to motivate Yootu. At the rate things