The Battle Lord Saga 02 - Her Battle Lord's Desire (4 page)

husband you fell in love with. I, too, have something to prove to your Council of Elders after

they denied me even seeing you.”

He found her mouth, found her ready for his kiss and the way he pressed her firmly against

his body. He ran his hands up her back, bringing one warm palm up under her jaw and behind her

head to cradle her tightly to where he could kiss her so thoroughly and deeply that she was unable

to breathe. Lifting his head, he gazed down at her face, to see how her thick, dark blue lashes

fluttered against her cheeks, and her mouth, still wet, remained parted for him. Slowly she opened

her eyes to find his blue-gray ones smiling into hers.

“Well? What did you decide?” he murmured, smiling.

“It was so wrong what they did to us,” she said.

“I agree. After what we’d already been through, they were wrong to keep us apart. But

you have to admit, they finally did return you to me.”

“Yeah, but they only did it because they thought I was no longer any good to them.”

Cupping her face in his hands, he kissed her again, this time not so deep or slow, but

enough to keep her off-center. “Remember what I told you back during that time we were locked

in here?” he asked when he pulled away the second time.

“We talked about a lot of things,” she smiled. “That is, when we
talked
.”

Yulen chuckled. “I told you what was past was over. Gone. Let’s learn from what we’ve

been forced to endure and use it to make us stronger for the future. Your life, as it was in Wallis,

is gone. Your parents and Keelor...they’re no longer part of your life.”

At the mention of her little sister’s name, he saw tears well up in her eyes again.

Undaunted, he continued. “The same goes for me, as well. My life before you is no more.
I’ve

changed.
You’ve
changed. We’re not the same people we were before we met. And for that I’m

so grateful.”

He kissed her once more, aware of her hands reaching up to clasp his holding her face.

“You. Me. Together we’re a force to be reckoned with. Let’s march to Wallis and show them

what we’ve become. We’ll take enough supplies to help them through the winter, we’ll repel the

Bloods, and then I’ll leave behind enough men to see them safely through to the spring thaw.

What do you say, my beautiful love? Ready to thumb your nose at the Council? To be honest, I

would give my right arm to see the look on Piron George’s face when we present ourselves.”

Caught up in his enthusiasm, Atty nodded as she threw her arms around his neck and

melted into his next kiss. Yulen lifted her into his arms and took her over to their bed that was

still rumpled from their earlier bout of lovemaking. Laying her across the quilts, he stretched out

beside her and held her tightly against him.

“When should we leave?” she whispered against his lips when he finally released her.

“Did you say they were on starvation watch?”

She nodded.

“It doesn’t sound pleasant.”

“You mean you’ve never had to be on one?”

“No,” he shook his head. “Not that I recall.”

“It’s when you assess what food you have left, and then you tally how many people there

are, and divide it accordingly. Ration it per meal, per day. Then you stand by and wait for it to

run out. After it does, you begin to tally the dead.” She shivered in his arms, and an alarming

thought came to him.

“Atrilan, have you been on starvation watch before?”

She gave a little nod. “Twice. It was during the second one when I decided to hell with

the Council, and I went out by myself to bag something to eat.”

“How old were you?”

She paused. Yulen felt her nuzzle his neckline where his shirt lay open at the collar. After

another minute, she softly answered him. “Last year.”

Involuntarily his hands pressed her closer. “What put you on starvation watch? Another

attack by Bloods?”

“No. Wolfen. A whole pack of them.”

Yulen felt himself shiver. He knew for a fact that in the past more than one compound

had been totally devastated by the roaming packs of mutated animals. Especially in the winter

when food was scarcer. “What happened?”

“I got a small buck and barely made it back to the compound with it before the pack

descended. That was when the caste decided I could join them if I went out and killed one of

them.”

She saw her husband’s eyes widen with shock. She nodded at his unanswered question.

“If that was what it took to gain entry, I wasn’t going to back down. I might not have gotten

another chance.”

“
Damn
them!” he whispered heatedly.

“But I got one!” she reminded him, grabbing the neck of his shirt and giving it a little tug.

“And because I took just the head and left the rest behind, it seemed to satisfy the rest of the

pack. The next day they were gone, and the watch was over.”

“But how many of your people had to die first?”

“Just three.” She paused, reflecting over the past. “Three that might have been saved if

I’d gone out earlier to hunt.”

She gasped in pain as his fingers dug into her upper arms. Yulen shook her, forcing her to

look him in the eye as he tried to suppress the anger that had suddenly swept over him. “No,

Atrilan. Don’t you ever,
ever
assume the blame for their deaths because your so-called high and

mighty caste forbade you entry into their elite little group. Those three deaths were never your

fault, do you hear me?
Not yours!
The blame falls on them and their damnable ideal that women

had no place in their company. Your skills have outshone them all. Your bravery is more than all

of theirs combined.

“I can recall like it was yesterday when you told us you were the only shooter on that

roof. That all the other hunters were gone, and there was no one else to defend your compound.

Do you understand what kind of bravery that took? Can I even begin to make you realize how

innocent you are? And yet they consistently refuse to accept any responsibility of their own. For

their own actions.”

He pulled her against his chest where she could hear the rapid beating of his heart. “We’re

going back to Wallis,” he stated flatly.

“Even if I say no?” she reminded him gently. “You said—”

“I know what I said. I take it back. We’re going, and when we get there, we’ll show them

how wrong they were to deny you. To deny us. We will show them, and then we’ll beat back the

Bloods while we’re at it. And then, maybe then you’ll be given the respect you deserve.”

“Screw them,” she said.

“Good choice of words, Atrilan. Screw them,” Yulen echoed hotly.

The room grew quiet as they lay in each other’s embrace. Without warning, Atty was

beset with a fit of the giggles. Unable to stop himself, Yulen burst into laughter as well.

Rolling over on his back, he pulled Atty onto his chest where she rested her head in the

hollow of his shoulder as they continued to chuckle. After another minute or two, they managed

to wipe the tears from their eyes and catch their breaths.

“Want me to go downstairs and break the news?” he asked her.

“No. Let me do it. By now they’re probably so down in the dumps they’ll agree to any

terms. Besides...” She lifted her face to smile down at him. “Don’t you have to start getting

everything ready for us to leave?”

Yulen agreed. “If we’re going to present a full guard of honor, it’s going to take some

preparation. But we can’t take too much time if Wallis is already on starvation watch. I don’t

want any more of your people’s deaths on my conscience because we were tardy in replying.”

She watched as he bit his lower lip in thought. “Come on, Yul. Why not delegate some

of that work? I can help. And I betcha Madigan will, too.”

He nodded. “Isn’t Liam supposed to be back from Bearinger sometime tonight?” Atty

nodded. “Good. Well, then, best we got started.”

In one smooth move he got up from the bed, lifting her with him.

“After I tell them we’re going, what do you want me to do next?”

“It’s going to be a long night, my love. Which will make for an even longer day

tomorrow. I’ll leave you in charge of getting together two wagonloads of provisions for your

people, since you know better what they can use.”

“Two wagons, including the one Fortune and Bertrand brought?”

“Three, including theirs.” He gave her another tender kiss, but not before his eyes glanced

back over again at the tousled bed. There would be no more lovemaking that night, and already

he was bemoaning the fact. But he knew that once he revealed the secret he’d been keeping from

her for the past few months, she would be more than willing to help him make up for it.

Giving her a playful swat on her derriere, Yulen exited the bedroom. Atty was right

behind him. Together they descended the staircase as the soldiers who were still eating gave them

a wary glance. They were used to the Battle Lady’s quick temper, having seen it flare up several

times. This time it appeared D’Jacques had managed to soothe her ruffled feathers in record time.

Atty started toward their table where she’d left the two Mutah hunters when she noticed it

was empty. Hoping they were back in their room, she wove her way through the crowded floor

and paused at the closed door. Taking a deep breath, she knocked in the code used by the caste.

A second later the door flew open.

“We’re leaving tomorrow,” she told an astonished Bertrand. Having said that, she went in

search of Madigan to ask her what a full guard of honor entailed.

And would it mean she’d have to wear a dress?

“Welcome back, Doc!”

“Hey, MaGrath! Glad to have you back!” another soldier called down from the

battlements as the tall, lean physician passed through the main gates.

MaGrath waved at them as the mare lumbered down the main thoroughfare. Chalke and

Yinger, his two accompanying armed escorts, were just as happy to be back as he was. Verris

was going to need a lot more help with getting Bearinger’s state of affairs in order. Since the old

Battle Lord’s demise, and Yulen’s claiming the compound as part of his holdings, the place was

slowly going to hell in a hand basket. While admittedly Verris was more than capable of running

the small city, it needed a ton of work just to get it to that point where it was once again self-

sufficient. After five months of rule, there was just as much work to do in Bearinger now as

there had been in April. It would take years before normalcy could reign again.

MaGrath shook his head, weary beyond words. Where would he begin to explain to

Yulen how bad a shape the place was in? There wasn’t a portion or area that wasn’t in dire need

of repair or replacement in one way or another. Collaunt’s tyranny had dragged the compound as

far down into ruin as it possibly could. If there was any good news to impart, it was the fact that

the two hundred or so inhabitants were extremely grateful not to be under Syrus Collaunt’s

maniacal thumb any longer. They were free of the man who’d bled them dry, and they were more

than willing to embrace their new Battle Lord.

And after two months of backbreaking work, and tending to the injured and infirmed, as

well as getting the almost nonexistent clinic back up and running, he was eager to return home.

To his own bed. To Madigan’s arms.

“Ho, MaGrath! Made it back just in time!”

MaGrath’s head jerked up. Through his exhausted daze he finally began to notice the

beehive of activity within the compound. He pulled up his mare and dismounted, throwing the

reins to the stable boy who’d emerged to take his horse. “What’s going on?” he asked a soldier

rushing by with a small barrel full of arrows.

“The Battle Lord gave word for you to see him the instant you returned!” the man

answered instead, and hurried on his way.

Oh, God, what’s Yulen gone and done now?
he mused to himself. It was long past ten

p.m. Normally at this time the compound would be winding down from the day. Evening shift

would have just gone on duty. People would be preparing for bed.

None of that was happening.

Reaching the main hall, he saw where the front doors had been propped open. A stream

of people were coming and going like an overactive ant bed. He stepped into the room and

stared wide-eyed at the frenetic flurry. After some moments he spotted Yulen at the far end of

the room, at the table by the fireplace. He had four men with him. MaGrath recognized them as

some of the Battle Lord’s older guard, men who had fought under his father’s command before

D’Jacques’ death. Even at this distance he could tell there was a tremendous amount of

excitement going on. He could feel it in the air like an enormous static electrical current from a

passing thunderstorm.

For a split second he felt his stomach tightening up with dread, until he clearly noticed no

sign of a frown or grimace. Unbelievably, these people were working like busy beavers with

smiles of anticipation. “What the hell?” he murmured to himself.

“Liam!” Across the hall, Yulen was gesturing for him to join them. He, too, wore a big

grin on his face, and that set MaGrath’s teeth on edge.

“‘Scuse me, Sir!” Young master Owens somehow managed not to knock him down on