The Mate I Never Chose
"Joni? That miserable little rat. I gave his uncle credit at the supply depot all through the rainy season, and he sells us out for a pocketful of bounty scrip?"
"Poverty doesn't ask for a moral compass, Kasim," Jafar said quietly, not looking up from the heavy leather strap he was busy securing around Rangga’s torso. He pulled the metal buckle tight with a sharp click, testing the tension against the unyielding stone of Rangga's shoulder. "When a man's children haven't eaten warm rice in three days, loyalty to strangers from the mountain is the first thing he forgets."