"You know I never told them that it was you who killed Tragon. I blamed it on Tarius, and they believed me. You could have come home at any time," Darian said.
"Don't you get it, Father? I
wanted
everyone to know I killed Tragon. I'm
glad
I killed him. Because of him Tarius was very nearly killed, my whole world was turned upside down. The bastard killed my child. Do you know what it's like to have something alive in you one minute, and then have it painfully thrown from your body? To have to put that tiny dead thing into the earth, burying the dreams you had for a child in a grave?" Jena asked. She choked back her tears.
"If you are not a prisoner, then leave with me now. Let Tarius go where the wind blows her, but you stay here in the Jethrik with me," Darian pleaded.
Jena got up and started pacing the room. "Haven't you listened to a word I've said? I don't
want
to be here. I love the Kartik. The Marching Night is my pack. Tarius is my mate, my lover, the only one I have ever wanted or will ever want. I love Tarius. I love her because she is a woman. I love her because she is the Katabull. I love her because she is Tarius the Black. And do you know what, Father?
She
loves
me
. That wonderful, damn-near goddess-like person loves
me
. She worships the ground I walk on, and what is so damn awful about that?" Jena grabbed her sword up and started to leave the room, but she turned in the doorway. "What the hell are we going to do with you?"
She turned to Rimmy. "Take him to the hold and lock him up. You're needed on deck."
* * *
Darian felt the ship pull away from the docks even as he was being locked in a cell in the hold. They didn't leave a guard, but one look at the lock and bars told Darian he wasn't likely to get out.
Where the hell would I go if I did get out? I'm out at sea surrounded by the most fearsome group of fighters ever assembled. Hell, most of them are probably Katabull.
Jena appeared at the door to his cell with a cup. "Ever been at sea before?"
"Not since I was a lad," Darian answered.
"Better drink this then. It's a Kartik tonic. It tastes vile, but it beats the hell out of sea sickness." She handed it through the bars to him, and their hands touched. She quickly drew hers away.
"Thank you," Darian took the cup. His hands were still tied, and he had trouble getting it to his mouth. When he had finished it he handed the cup back.
Jena sighed. "Here, let me untie your hands."
He held them out, and she untied them. As soon as they were loose, he grabbed her hand without warning, and she moved swiftly, banging his head into the bars. Darian stumbled back rubbing his head.
"I wasn't going to hurt you!" Darian protested.
"Then I'm sorry," Jena said.
Darian looked sad. "You've seen a lot of action, haven't you?"
"I've seen my share," Jena said noncommittally.
"Is Harris . . ."
"He's fine. Married to a Kartik swordswoman, part of the pack of the Marching Night. They're expecting their first child, so they are at home with the Katabull Nation," Jena said. In spite of herself, she was enjoying talking to her father.
"And Arvon?" Darian asked.
"Arvon and Dustan stayed to continue to clean the coast of the Amalite scum," Jena said.
"They're still alive and together then . . . that's good," Darian said in a far away tone.
"All right, Father, explain this one to me. Why are Arvon and Dustan a good thing, and Tarius and I aren't?"
"Because neither of them ever pretended to be anything different. Because neither of them are my only child," Darian said.
"Fine," Jena started to go.
"Wait, Jena . . . I'm sorry," Darian looked at the floor. "Tell me what you and Tarius and the Marching Night are doing at sea in an Amalite vessel? You've fixed it up to look like a Kartik freighter, but it was originally Amalite."
Jena was silent.
"Who can I tell?" Darian asked.
"We are working with Queen Hestia and the Kartik army. We have five such ships, which the Katabull captured from the Amalites. The Amalites have been raiding Kartik ships. When they raid our ships, they will get a surprise," Jena said.
"I'll give her this; she's clever," Darian said with a laugh.
"You'd better decide she's more than that, or this will be a very long trip for you, and when we get to the Kartik I'll have Hestia throw you into the darkest dungeon in her castle," Jena promised.
"You have that kind of pull with the queen, do you?" Darian scoffed.
Jena smiled wickedly. "Haven't you heard what the crew are calling her, father? My mate, Tarius, is the queen's most powerful ally, because she is the chosen leader of the Katabull Nation. Hestia will do anything I ask her to do just to keep Tarius happy."
* * *
Jena went to bed and went to sleep. When she woke up Tarius was with her, but Jena didn't remember her coming in. She got up as carefully as possible so as not to wake Tarius. She dressed in puffy pants and a wrap around shirt, slung her sword on her back and went barefooted up on the deck, only to find her father standing on the bow looking out to sea. Jena ran up to him. "How did you get out?" Jena demanded. She was about to call for someone to come and get him and lock him up when her father answered her, not bothering to turn around.
"Tarius released me. Said she saw no sense in keeping me in lock up since I couldn't go anywhere," Darian said.
"Tarius . . . What in the gods' names was she thinking? Why, you'd kill her in her sleep if given half a chance," Jena said.
Darian turned then. "How dare you accuse me of such a thing."
"Oh, I don't know, maybe because you condoned . . . No,
demanded
that she be executed for the great crime of loving me. Or maybe it's because you held me still with your hand over my mouth while you gleefully watched your precious ruler stick an arrow through her body while she was stocked and tied to the back of a wild horse. Maybe because you watched as that horse dragged her off through the underbrush and did nothing but cheer. She may trust you, but I most certainly do not. In my eyes, you're no better than an Amalite. Worse, because Tarius never turned a stone to hurt you." Jena stomped back down the deck towards the hold. Halfway there she stopped, and without turning around said with venom, "You so much as look at her the wrong way, old man, and I'll kill you myself."
Darian watched as she disappeared from sight. He didn't know what he had expected when he tried to sneak on the ship to steal Jena last night, but it certainly wasn't this. Jena hated him. She was not being held captive by Tarius or the Marching Night. She was here only because she wanted to be here. She loved the man, woman, beast, human—whatever. Truly
loved
her, so much so that she would renounce her kin and her country.
That being the case, what real crime had Tarius committed against him? He had lost face, and he had lost his daughter. But how much of that was Tarius's fault, and how much of it was his own?
He was stuck with them now, because they would never let him go back to the Jethrik. Darian wondered who would run the school. What would they think had happened to him when they found his horse at the dockside with him nowhere in sight? His whole life had changed, and only one thing was really clear. If he didn't want to spend the remainder of his life in a dungeon in Kartik, he had better find a way to forgive Tarius the Black and get Jena to forgive him.
* * *
"But why? Why did you do that?" Jena demanded, nearly screaming.
"Because . . . he's your father, Jena."
"Exactly my point. My father, the man who helped Persius try to kill you. The man who made me marry that awful Tragon!" She was screaming now.
"If you could forgive me, you can forgive him," Tarius said looking up at Jena from where she was sitting on the deck working on her armor.
"It's not the same, Tarius," Jena said, breaking Tarius's gaze. She started pacing back and forth in front of Tarius, waving her hands wildly in the air. She had all of Tarius's attention now, her armor repair temporarily forgotten.
"It
is
the same," Tarius insisted. "I'm sure that in his eyes what I did was much worse than what he has done."
"You didn't order him killed," Jena said. "You didn't stand by and ignore the fact that Tragon was going to rape me. Didn't stand ideally by and do nothing while he killed my baby, and you never would have."
"But I wasn't there for you, Jena," Tarius said in a low voice.
"But that wasn't your fault, Tarius. It was at least in part his fault that you weren't there with me. You weren't there—you don't know how he pleaded with the king for your death." She started pacing again. "Why the hell did he have to come on our ship? Another few hours and we would have been gone. Now we're stuck with him, and it just makes me want to scream."
Tarius let out a growl and jumped up. She ran to Jena, grabbing her and throwing her over her shoulder.
"Tarius," Jena laughed. "What the hell are you doing?"
Tarius just growled and continued carrying Jena towards the cabin as the crew whistled and yelled.
Jena laughed and shook her head. "But it's the middle of the day! What about your armor?"
"You do something to me when the fire's in your eyes," Tarius said in a low voice.
"Well, in that case," Jena started playing at getting away.
#
Seeing Jena struggling against Tarius as Tarius started to carry her off below, Darian made a move to go "rescue" his daughter.
"You'll only embarrass yourself, old man," a woman said in Jethrik as she grabbed hold of his arm. "She's not hurting Jena, and she's certainly not forcing her. They're just playing a little game."
"How can you be so sure?" he asked.
"Because I've been riding with them for three years now. I know you'd like to believe different, but Jena is with Tarius because she wants to be. Tarius doesn't have to force her," she said.
"I'm beginning to understand that, but . . . a game?"
"We Kartik like our sex," she said with a smile. "My name's Radkin, and you are?"
"Darian," he said simply. "At home I have much wealth. Help me get back to my homeland with my daughter, and I will make sure the deed does not go unrewarded."
Radkin laughed. "First off, I have no idea how one would go about doing that. Trying to get Jena away from The Great leader, I mean. If Jena didn't kill you, Tarius most surely would. Second, I don't think you understand the nature of the pack of the Marching Night. None of us would betray Tarius, not for any amount of money. Not for anything. Every one of us would give our life for her—or for Jena for that matter. As they would for us. Riding with her, to be part of the Marching Night, is to know that you are the best. That you are a part of the greatest fighting force ever assembled, and no one I know would give that up. Third, if you are going to ask one of the Marching Night to betray Tarius, at least have the good sense not to ask the Katabull." Radkin smiled at the look of shock on Darian's face.
"She is queen of the Katabull?" Darian asked.
"She is our Great Leader," Radkin answered.
"Is she a good leader then?" Darian asked curiously. "I know in battle she is one of the best."
"In battle she is the best. And as leader she is the best. Understand this, Tarius was not set upon the throne without much thought. She didn't beg for the position, she pleaded against it. What better leader could you ask for than one who doesn't want the power?" she said.
Katabull logic
he presumed. "Where did you learn to speak Jethrik?" Darian asked.
"Working the docks in Kartik," Radkin said.
"Do all of the women there do men's work then?" he asked.
Radkin stared at him. "Men's work? What does that mean? Work doesn't belong to men or to women, but to both. What a strange culture you must live in! Men's work indeed! Next you'll be telling me they have women's work as well." She laughed.
"Is that," Darian pointed in the direction Tarius and Jena had gone. "Is that common, too, where you come from?"
"Game play? Why sure! As I said, we Kartik like our sex, and you have to keep it fresh, don't you?" Radkin said.
"I meant women with women and men with men," Darian said.
"Oh, aye . . . Very common. Especially among the Katabull. Roughly two thirds of the Katabull are queer, myself included," she said.
"How do you propagate?" Darian asked curiously.
"Cross mating," Radkin said with a shrug.
"What's that?" Darian asked, ashamed to show his ignorance.
"One couple is female, one couple is male, and they cross mate with each other. We have the children together, and all four raise them. Cross mating. It makes the cubs strong, and makes sure they get lots of attention."
Darian kept asking questions about the island and their culture and Radkin happily answered him.
Truly it was a different world his daughter had been living in. No wonder she was so changed. No wonder she wasn't embarrassed about her relationship with Tarius. It was normal on the island. According to Radkin, Jena was the envy of every queer woman in the Kartik, and there were apparently plenty of them.
Rimmy ran up to them. "Radkin, Jasper thinks he sees something from the crow's nest."
Radkin nodded and ran off. Darian watched as she scurried up the ropes into the crow's nest. She took the glass from the man, looked a second and then screamed out, "Amalites off the starboard bow and closing fast!"
Both Radkin and Jasper slipped down the ropes to the deck. Everyone everywhere seemed to change places as the Kartik soldiers moved to look like a typical Kartik sailing crew, and the Marching Night ran below.
"You'd better come with me." Radkin took Darian by the arm and dragged him below. He watched as the hand on his arm changed, became thicker, hairier. When he turned he was looking into the face of the Katabull.
"Rimmy! Go get Tarius and Jena."
Rimmy had changed as well.
"Do I have to? You know they're going to be . . ."
"Just go get them," Radkin ordered.