A Warlord's Heart

Warlord Series

Published by Michelle Howard

Copyright © 2013 by Michelle Howard

Edited by: bellamediamanagement

Cover Design:
www.estrellacoverart.com

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Thank you for respecting the author's hard work.

This is a work of fiction and is not a reflection or
representation of any person living or dead. Any similarity is of
pure coincidence.

Acknowledgements

I am fortunate in the friends I’ve made along the way
in this writing venture and because of them I’m a better author.
Thanks to my beta readers, my editors, my fans and everyone who has
picked up one of my books to try. I can’t express my gratitude
enough for the love you’ve shared. Thank you a million times.

Chapter 1

“Vaan, you can’t change my mind,” Miki warned
as her mate trailed kisses up the sensitive curve of her neck.

“I but seek to warm you,” he murmured.

Miki held back a smile at the blatant lie.
His hands curved around her hips, tugging her close. The evidence
of his arousal prodded her middle.

“I’m very warm.” Vaan’s touch always warmed
her.

“Mmm. You are now.” The whisper teased her
ear as he straightened and tucked her hair behind her lobe.

Midnight eyes gazed down at her. “You are
insistent on leaving, yes?”

Miki stroked her hand over the length of his
braid, enjoying the silky texture as always. “It’s important that I
meet with the neighboring Su-Su. A lot of changes have occurred and
we’ve relied on their trust because of what happened with Thenl.
Now I wish to meet with them and listen to their concerns and
desires.”

His lips twisted as his hands slid from her
waist and he stepped away. “Why you? I could speak with them.”

Miki snorted. “You frighten them.”

In fact, no Raasa would dare gainsay the
Overlord. His defeat of Thenl acted as a double-edged sword. They
feared him yet were grateful to him. It was why Miki knew she had
to be the one to conduct the visits and confirm that the treaty
with Kaban, Raasa and Desani had no negative repercussions on her
people.

“If they are frightened then they are weak,”
he declared.

Miki rolled her eyes and walked toward the
last of the bags she’d packed before Vaan interrupted her by
storming into their bedroom. “They’re not weak. They’re Raasa. As
am I. Do you think I’m weak?”

Vaan didn’t answer. Miki turned from their
bed and glanced over her shoulder. He stood with his arms crossed,
a dark frown aimed her way. She tried not to be distracted by how
the pose emphasized the flexing muscles of his bare torso.

Shaking her head to wipe the lustful
thoughts, Miki probed. “Vaan?”

He released a frustrated sound and shifted
his weight. “You know my answer in this. If not for your courage,
she’ma, my Warlords and I would be asleep in a dark cave my
vengeance unfulfilled.”

She eased the heavy luggage to the floor.
“You do know calling your mate a weed is not sensitive or
sweet.”

“Good as I am neither,” he countered, coming
over to take the bag from her loose grip. “What of our
youngling?”

He followed her out the door of their bedroom
to the lower level of their home, muttering all the way down the
stairs. Miki sighed. She knew her decision to travel without him
would meet with resistance but it needed to be done. If she took
Vaan along he’d intimidate everyone with his presence alone.

Miki hurried down the steps. Excitement
rolled through her at this opportunity.

“Slow down or you will land on your head and
I will not be pleased, Mikayla.”

Miki ignored Vaan’s growl and met Balal and
Kavan at the bottom. Each Warlord held one of her daughters. At the
sight of the tough warriors, hands calloused by swords cupping the
youngling by the head and the butt, her heart melted. It took a
while but now all of Vaan’s Warlords were comfortable carrying the
girls if needed.

“Is Hapani ready?”

It was Kavan who answered. “Yes, my
lady.”

Miki ran a hand through Erana’s black curls.
The silky length reached her shoulders. They grew quickly. Erana
bounced in Kavan’s arms, her diamond-shaped, green eyes glowing
with happiness.

“Mikayla,” Vaan snapped, reaching her side.
The bag he carried thumped on the floor loudly. “If I allow you
this trip you will take several of my men with you.”

Perfect. She smiled and leaned over Balal to
kiss a drowsy Arane, who blinked in her direction and yawned. Tiny
fangs flashed before she closed her mouth and snuggled securely in
the arms around her.

“I agree, Vaan. You can send someone with
me.”

His arm lashed around her waist as he pulled
her to his side. “Not one. Kavan, Merik, Eatan and Carog will
accompany you.”

That was four. Mikayla could imagine the
reaction she’d receive with such a large Kaban escort.

***

“Four is too many, Vaan.”

If he could send ten he would. Vaan did not
like the idea of Mikayla out of his sight. He’d accustomed himself
to having her within reach. “You will take them or stay home.”

Her face took on a mulish cast and Vaan knew
he’d won. He hadn’t wanted her to go anyway.

“Fine. They can come.”

He stumbled and his arms tightened. “You
accept?”

Her green eyes spit fire. “Yes.”

Fear crashed into him since he had thought
she would refuse. He started to protest but the mullish look on her
face warned him not to.

“Our youngling will stay with you and Balal
can help since Kavan must accompany me.”

He stared intently, wondering how hard he
could push her. If he forced the issue, his mate would anger and he
would need make amends. For once it was not something he looked
forward to as he had the feeling it would not involve bed play. He
was learning the heights her stubbornness could take.

“It shall be as you say, Mikayla.” He leaned
forward to murmur in her ear. “If you are hurt in anyway… if my
Warlords see you in danger.” Vaan broke off the threat and
exhaled.

Her soft hand caressed his jaw. “I’ll be
fine. All fear a Galip warrior.”

Balal snorted behind him at her use of Vaan’s
battle cry.

“You tease but I will start a war for you,
Mikayla. Know this if you know nothing else.”

His chest ached at the thought of something
befalling this female he’d come to care for above all others.

“You are a good mate and
mala
.” He
used the Raasa word for mother.

She kissed him on the cheek and switched to
the Raasa tongue. “I love you, too.”

Vaan recognized the words as he’d
painstakingly learned to say them in her native language. “I love
you.”

When Mikayla eased from his hold, he
reluctantly let his hands fall to his side. She kissed their
youngling and nuzzled them until they smiled and giggled.

Moments later, Vaan stood at the gate as his
mate rode off with his men and he prayed the Blessed One kept her
safe until she returned to him.

Chapter 2

Vaan stared in amazement. Mikayla hadn’t been
gone but a day and already he longed for her presence. At the
center of the dining hall, Arane poked her wooden sword toward
Balal and her sister Erana jabbed the Warlord with her weapon as
well.

“Die! Die!” They chanted at the same
time.

Balal gripped his middle with both hands, his
face forming weird contortions as he groaned. His Warlord staggered
a step then another and collapsed to the floor. The girls giggled
loudly, stabbing him in the back and side with their toy
swords.

Balal to his credit never flinched.

Done with toying with their ‘dead enemy’, his
youngling toddled toward the large wooden table where several of
Vaan’s men dined. When they circled a servant, juggling a large
tray who almost tripped, his hands clenched. Ever since the girls
began to walk, his terror for them had increased by ten fold. He
winced as they dragged their swords on the stone floor behind them.
His next lesson with his youngling would be the proper care a
warrior used on all blades taken into battle.

Each Warlord ducked their heads with muffled
curses as they neared. It was good Mikayla was away or she would
have scolded them all. Arane and Erana slowed when they reached
Ramar, who sat at the very end of one of the tables, enjoying the
mid-day meal. His gaze cut to the girls before going back to his
plate as he continued to eat.

“Die! Die!” They repeated and stabbed him
with their blunt weapons.

Ramar rose to his feet with a roar and
withdrew his dagger. Vaan tensed as he watched the scene
unfold.

Ramar disarmed Erana with a gentle version of
a move Vaan recognized. Her lower lip quivered. In a
lightning-quick slash, he parried Arane’s attack. She skipped the
lip quiver and stomped her foot. “Die!”

Vaan bit back a grin at their antics because
they now had the attention of everyone in the dining hall, Raasa
included. A few of his Warlords snickered but changed the humorous
sound to a rough cough when they caught Vaan’s glare.

Ramar continued to stand, balanced on the
balls of his feet as if facing a true enemy though his eyes glinted
with merriment.

Unfortunately, Vaan’s youngling were not
amused. Arane poked Ramar several times in the leg with her sword
and demanded, “Die, Noan,”

Vaan choked as Ramar turned bright red. His
youngling had offered the highest insult to his Warlord by
referring to him as a childcare giver. He would have to talk to
Mikayla again because he was sure she was behind teaching them the
Raasa word.

“Pease,” Erana chimed in, tears welling in
her green eyes.

Balal chuckled from his death throes on the
floor.

Ramar tapped the blade of his knife on
Arane’s sword, continuing to battle. Vaan approached on silent
feet, drawing several stares including Ramar’s as he stood behind
his girls. His youngling never turned, too focused on their
opponent.

Arane sniffed loudly and the tip of her
weapon wobbled in her chubby grip. Vaan realized his stubborn
daughter was close to tears. It was not something he could accept.
He withdrew his own sword from the harness at his back and met
Ramar’s stare over their heads.

“Die,” Vaan mouthed and flashed his
blade.

Ramar ‘died’.

When his Warlord fell to the floor without
the entertaining display of Balal, his youngling giggled and jumped
up and down. The sound of their laughter had no price. He sheathed
his sword just as they turned and noticed him.

“Falo!”

His lower legs braced for impact as both
launched their tiny frames and wrapped their arms around him. Vaan
stooped to their height to better receive their loving embrace and
the smell of zanni berries filled his nostrils. The scent combined
with their youngling touch reminded him that he had love in his
life. An emotion he easily would have discounted in his hardened
past but no more.

When he pulled back, he brushed at the
midnight curls on their heads and said the first thing that came to
mind. “You grow better with your weapons.”

“Train,” Erana announced, her tiny fangs
biting her bottom lip.

“Sword,” Arane added, lifting the hilt of her
wooden weapon.

“Yes,” Vaan agreed, rising to his feet with a
youngling in each arm.

He winced as their swords, a gift from the
Desani King, clattered to the floor when their arms curled around
his neck. More weaponry care lessons were definitely in their
future.

***

Miki wondered if mentioning the condition of
the hapfe stalls would improve the standards or anger the Su-Su of
the compound. This was the second Raasa home she had visited. The
first had been beyond welcoming toward her and eager to speak of
the benefits since the treaty with the Desani.

Not so for Harol. The Su-Su had been rude
from the moment of their arrival.

“I see the brute you joined has allowed you
out. I questioned if you’d made him Su-Su in light of your birthing
experience.”