Warrior of the Ages (Warriors of the Ages) (45 page)

They were joined now! It felt so different, as tired as her body was, she felt his strength as though it coursed through her own frame, shoring her, and she smiled at him shyly. There was so much of him, so much she didn’t understand. One thing was obvious though.

“You’re not fifty-one.”

Smiling faintly he brushed something off her cheek and reached to pull her closer, dragging her through the grass. The buzz of cicadas filled the early morning air and no breeze stirred under the veil. Last night she’d been so disappointed to have been taken away from the Old Guard’s forest, but this morning all she felt was joy at being with Kahtar again. He stared at her as though memorizing every pore and she felt self-conscious knowing that he now knew her as well as she knew him, could sense her weaknesses. He didn’t look disappointed though, determined maybe. He leaned to her mouth and kissed her, really kissed her, lips and tongue, and her stomach dropped out again and again in a wonderfully new way. Stubble dug and slid over her face, Kahtar smelled like brack tea, tannin, and very faintly of the clean air on Orthrus. Breathing deep through her nose, she melted into him.

Then he stopped, pulled his lips away, took a deep breath of his own and told her cryptically. “I repeat.”

Beth’s mind now stayed half on that kiss, protesting the distance from his mouth. After a moment her brain caught up. “What? What did you repeat?”

“If someone were to slip through the veil right now and shoot me in the head, in a few years a little boy in a clan somewhere would be going about his day, and suddenly he’d remember this. Our joining last night, and us here in the grass together, even the gunshot. Then he’d start to remember more and more, like a tornado in his head memories would blow through him of all the times he had been alive before. I am that little boy. I am born to a clan. I become Warrior of ilu, sometimes even Warrior Chief, and I die. Then—I repeat. The same thing happens again and again.”

Now it was her turn to stare at him. She’d known he was different from the start, even among his kind he seemed other, but immortal? Human Beings were not immortal, even the Old Guard were finite, she was certain of it. Beth felt Kahtar’s heart surrounding hers. It was so big, not magnanimous but going on and on. Surely he had been doing this repeating a very long time. For the first time, as odd as his explanation was, she felt as though she understood him and his quiet reserve.

Kahtar looked sad, almost afraid of her and what she would think or say, and this truth suddenly made her sad too. Reaching to rub his cheek with the back of her fingers she whispered only, “I’m sorry.”

Lying side by side in the grass with Kahtar’s heart encompassing hers, Beth pressed her face against his chest, and Kahtar held her tightly. Then he tugged her back to his mouth and kissed her again. It shot through her, wiping questions away. He tasted so good, better than he smelled, and all she really wanted was to taste him some more. A horrible movement interrupted those kisses like she was swooping downwards, falling away from Kahtar. She snatched onto him, clutching his arm and a handful of shirt and held tightly, dizzy in a very unpleasant way. Bracing herself against it, she tried to keep her bearings as everything began to spin.

“Are you all right?”

“Yes. No. Kahtar? I’m so hungry I could eat Wolves right now. I mean, I hurt I’m so hungry.”

Those steely eyes widened in surprise, but he sat up and slowly tugged her to sit, before standing and helping her up too. In no time he hurried her into the house, where the floor looked very crooked and shifted with every step. She half noticed the weapons were already completely cleared from the walls of the front room, the hideous instruments of torture gone. In the kitchen Beth held onto the counters and staggered to the breadbox, but the loaves of bread were molded over and rock hard. Bending to the icebox, she found it warm and full of food that had wilted or dried, and the eggs smelled as bad as Wolves. The fruit that hung in baskets beneath the cabinet was rotted through, and a swarm of fruit flies hovered over what had been peaches.

Beth’s stomach made a horrible gurgling sound and the room pitched and yawed. Kahtar pushed her to sit and shoved a glass of water and a shriveled orange at her.

“Just eat it anyway,” he told her.

Grabbing it she bit into it like a starved woman, chewing savagely through the hard rind and finding relief in the bit of juice still inside. Kahtar dug through cabinets, searching for food while Beth impatiently gnawed through the tough rind of the orange. The brightly lit kitchen grew suddenly brighter as an Old Guard shimmered into being. Kahtar spun away from the cupboard, moving towards them. Beth flinched; afraid she would be taken away. Before Kahtar could even reach her the Old Guard dropped a wooden bowl on the table in front of her, pushed it close and vanished.

“Eat it.” Kahtar told her, and he didn’t have to repeat the command. It was a large bowl, filled with a dark sticky resinous substance, a thin wooden ladle jammed into the middle of the thick mess. Lifting as much as the narrow ladle could hold, Beth shoveled it in. It wasn’t until she was halfway through the bowl that she tasted the food. Nutty, bitter and cloyingly sweet, she was afraid to look too close, because though she was pretty sure it involved honey and seeds—she also thought she detected insects with wings and legs. Glancing up at her husband, who had taken a seat next to her, she jammed the ladle back inside the bowl, repulsed.

“Try not to think about it. Have you had enough?”

Nodding she pushed the bowl away. She felt better, much better, if she didn’t think about what was stuck between her teeth, surprised that what she’d eaten was staying down. Maybe it was too sticky to come back up.

Turning to look at the kitchen counter she eyed the swarm of fruit flies hovering over the peaches, she’d helped pick them herself just a couple days ago. They’d eaten so many she’d gotten a stomach ache, and even Kahtar had regretted indulging so much.

“I was gone longer than a few hours, wasn’t I?”

“Beth, you were gone over three weeks.” Lovingly he ran a big hand over hers, soft and caressing.

“Three weeks! How on earth? We just stood there talking. I could have sworn it was a few hours, tops. How is that possible?”

Kahtar rose, went to the sink and got her more water. For awhile he stood with his back to her, and she could see that his hand was shaking. He spoke in a hoarse whisper. “I think that the air there hydrates the body, it probably even provides nutrients. Otherwise you’d die of thirst in no time.”

He’d thought she was dead. For weeks now.

“Oh, Kahtar, I’m so sorry for what you’ve gone through—if I ever thought something happened to you....”

Stalking to her side he yanked her out of the chair to hug her so hard he spilled half the water.

“You’re alive, nothing else matters.” He slammed the glass on the table.

Reaching up she ran both hands over his hair, it was longer than she’d ever seen, thick, the dark blond color detectable for the first time. He squeezed her tightly, and she fit neatly against his body, aberrations of the same ilk, imperfectly matched, just as she’d told the Old Guard. She was home. She wrapped her arms around Kahtar and tried to return his hug. He smelled so good, and her mind went immediately to those kisses. He tasted so good. Then she yawned so widely her jaw cracked and she sagged against him.

“You need to sleep. Shades of Mercy, thank ilu you survived. I doubt the Old Guard ever considered how lack of sleep would affect you.”

Then Kahtar scooped her up, all six feet and one hundred forty pounds. Her mind started to swim, remembering when she was a little girl with her Daddy. For a moment she fought her exhaustion, trying to swim towards the thought of her Dad. He must be so worried…three weeks! Then the hugeness of Kahtar’s heart, surrounding hers so deliciously, numbed all else, and she remembered something about tasty kisses, and gave in and slept.

MORNING LIGHT STUNG Kahtar’s eyes when they opened. The world was different, and it wasn’t just because this was the latest he’d ever slept. The brutally honest heart resting inside his heart changed everything. With one finger he traced the curve of Beth’s ear, waking her as she lay spooned against him still wearing her sundress and shoes. She was his wife, and there could be no awkwardness in claiming her in every way now. It was time. The thought that they were one made his heart soar.

Then a new realization took his heart to an even higher height, he could barely conceive that Beth hadn’t even asked a single question about his odd repeating existence. She hadn’t seemed fearful or even curious, just sorry for him. Of course she had been weak with hunger, but even now she rested beside him and her heart percolated within his, content and happy.

Stretching, Beth’s bare tanned arms and legs caressed the sheets. She rolled onto her back and sighed, a delightful contented sound. The blue eyes opened, clear and alert and the exact same color as the flowers in her little dress. That summer blonde hair spread silky smooth and neat against the pillow. They smiled at each other, hearts entwined and comfortable as though they woke together every morning. Beth bit her lip and slid a hand under his shirt, resting it enticingly against his bare stomach.

Then Beth’s eyes widened in horror and she moved away, sitting up and looking around.

“Is Wolves in here?”

“Of course not.”

“Are you sure? I smell him.” Trying to politely put a hand over her nose, she gagged. “My gosh! It’s my breath!”

“Oh.” The smell wafted to Kahtar’s nose, he forced himself not to laugh. “Whew. It’s the worms in the mash. Worms really reek when they start to decay….”

One of Beth’s hands went to her belly, and she gagged. Pointing towards the door, he tried to hide his amusement.

“Just go to the bath house and brush your teeth. Don’t worry, you won’t be sick.”

Feet still clad in the same yellow heels she’d technically been wearing for weeks now, she dashed through the bedroom door. Kahtar grinned as Beth clumped down the stairs. Life couldn’t possibly get any better than this. Well, at least not until she brushed her teeth. He swung his legs over the edge of the bed. Today was going to be a really, really, good day.

“I KNOW YOU were laughing at me this morning.” Beth scooted to the edge of the pond, tugged off her low-heeled pumps, hitched up her long skirt and stuck her feet into the cool water.

Kahtar stepped out of his running shoes, he wasn’t wearing socks. He rolled up his khakis and plopped down beside her. Tossing a curious look in her direction, his big feet sank beneath the surface of the water. Beth suspected he’d all but forgotten their morning. She knew she’d ruined his grand plans by dragging him to visit her parents, but a phone call wasn’t going to cut it. Not after her three week absence!