Warsworn (3 page)

I told Joden everything. How hard it was to sleep with people moving around outside the tent all the time. How much my body ached from riding the long hours day after day. How Firelanders talked about nothing but horses, horses, horses. Their coats, eyes, gaits, their withers, for hours. The food was—well, it wasn't up to Anna's standards, that was for sure.

My voice sounded whiny, even to me, but I didn't let that stop me. I poured out all of my unhappiness into Jo-den's ear, as the privacy bells chimed.

Finally, the worst of all, was that I was afraid that Keir had lost interest in me. Thankfully, I couldn't see Joden's face as I confessed my doubts. Keir wasn't around, constantly moving here and there, and he didn't always re-turn to our tent for the night. The Firelanders had very different ideas about things, and the women warriors were all tall, strong, confident, and…ample.

I lay my head down against his back. "I'm sorry, Joden. I've no right to talk like this. I sound like a fretful child. I mean, I did follow Keir, and I asked for this. It's just that…"

"It's not what you expected." I felt his voice rumble through his chest.

"My father used to tell me about his campaigning, and his travels. How hard it was. I just didn't realize that it was so hard and uncomfortable every single day!"

Joden laughed. I was offended at first, but couldn't help but laugh with him.

"So, you thought to become one of the Plains within the space of a few days? You, that have never ventured far from your home of stone." Joden chuckled.

"I guess I did expect that it would be easy."

"And it is not." Joden shifted a bit in the saddle and the leather creaked in response. "If Marcus has a flaw, it's that he believes that Keir can do no wrong. Have you talked to Keir, Lara?"

"No. I'm too embarrassed."

Joden fell silent at that, a silence that was all too much like Eln when he was trying to get me to think about what I had said. And when I did think about it, I flushed in shame. It was the truth, I didn't feel that I could talk to Keir about these things. He was so proud, so confident, so…perfect. How could I let him know that his Warprize wasn't? I heaved another sigh.

Joden turned his head slightly, as if to look at me. "This land of yours, this Xy, it is strange to us. Many have confided their unease to me."

"Really?" I looked around the valley, with its hills and trees. The sky above was a bright blue, and the air sweet with the scent of crushed grasses. "Why would they be uneasy?"

"On the Plains, one can see for miles and miles. A storm builds as one watches, and sweeps over the grasses with its rains." Joden looked up to where the mountains blocked our view.

"Here, one can see nothing, and the trees block the stars from sight. It is uncomfortable."

"The Plains sound so big, Joden."

"As wide as the skies themselves, Lara." Joden spoke with a smile I could hear. "They hold their own special beauty." His voice was filled with a quiet pride. "But life there is hard, make no mistake about that. We are of the Plains and we accept the harshness, for it is also a life of freedom, and its taste is sweet."

His tone changed. "Keir seeks to change our ways, to ease the harshness, to improve the lives of all. But change is also hard."

I absorbed his words as he took a deep breath to continue.

"We are returning to the Plains, Lara, and normally our hands would be filled with the spoils from raiding. But this time, this army, although victorious, returns with but a Warprize. In your own way, you have more value to us than any goods or foodstuffs. But warriors sometimes only see the prey in hand, or the lack thereof."

Joden took a breath and continued. "Keir is making his way up and down the line, seeing to the needs of his warriors. But he is also reminding them that the bounty from this raid will come in the future, once the snows have cleared. Others work against Keir, pointing to empty hands and sagging saddlebags."

"Iften?" The large, blond man with a scraggy beard who had challenged Keir and threatened me was not one of my favorites. He looked at me like I was some sort of vermin.

"Iften." Joden confirmed. "There are those that heed him, not enough to break their oaths to the Warlord, but enough that they will have second thoughts to his new ways." Joden shook his head. "There will be trouble when we reach the Heart of the Plains."

"Trouble?"

Joden nodded. "But know this, Warprize. Keir has claimed you, and he honors the claim."

"Joden, I don't know what that means."

"We have bonded couples, Lara. Isdra and Epor are an example."

"What does 'bonded' mean?" I craned my neck, looking to see if I could find either of them in the crowd.

"They are sworn to one another, and have been so for many years."

"I didn't know."

"Yes," Joden's voice sounded like Eln's when I had missed something important. "Talk to Isdra, Lara. You must ask questions when you don't understand." He turned toward me again, and I leaned forward to hear him. "Keir has his reasons for the speed at which we travel. He is hoping to avoid some of the opposition if we can arrive quickly."

"Opposition? To me?"

"Yes. Messages were sent but the Plains are wide. He might be able to get you to the Heart of the Plains and confirmed before the major opposition can arrive. Talk to him, Lara. About your fears. This is something Keir must address. My reassurances will mean nothing to you."

I sighed, laid my head on his back and nodded. "As to the rest, you are doing very well, Lara.

For a woman of the city. Have no fear. All will be well."

"Why such a long face, Warprize?" Isdra took over for Jo-den, and had me on her saddle in a moment.

"Isdra, if one more person pats me on the head like a child and tells me not to worry, I am going to scream."

Isdra laughed. "You can't blame them. For us, one who bears no weapons is as a babe, to be protected and coddled."

I paused, uncertain. Isdra seemed so confident, so sure of herself. I wasn't sure that my confidences would be welcome or tolerated. "Isdra, Marcus said that you and Epor are bonded."

"Marcus told you that?" Isdra's voice rose in surprise. Next thing I knew, Isdra had bells in her horse's mane, and we were being avoided by those around us. "Warprize, I must ask for your token."

I blinked, taken aback, but I fumbled in my pocket for a stone I had learned to carry. "Have I offended?"

"No." Isdra took the token over her shoulder and held it in her hand. "At least, you have not offended me. Lara, I would tell you something that is known, but not discussed. Do you understand?"

"Yes. I think so. Something that everyone knows, but it's not talked about." I groped for words. "Like the people in Xy avoid talking about my brother's death. For fear of my grief. Or anger."

"Aye. You have it." Isdra nodded, then took a deep breath. "Lara, Marcus was bonded."

"Really?" I jerked my head around, to spot Marcus be-hind us. His chin was on his chest, and he appeared to be sleeping in the saddle as his horse walked along. "But his ear—" I stopped myself. His left ear had been burned away in the accident that left him scarred.

Isdra nodded again. "Aye, his ear spiral melted away with his flesh. I do not know the details, Lara. Don't ask him, even with token in hand, bells all around, and the Warlord at your side.

Marcus is known to lash out when the topic is raised. Epor and I try to be considerate, but we know we cause him pain. I was surprised when the Warlord named us your guards, to be open to the skies."

"Oh, Goddess. Was she killed, Isdra?"

Isdra shook her head. "I will say no more, Lara. For lack of knowledge, and for courtesy. But if you wish to speak of bonding. I will chatter like the magpie I am." I could almost feel her grin as she handed back my token.

"Tell me about bonding."

"I'll say to you as I would teach a young one. Not to offend, but to inform." I could hear a rhythm in her voice, as if she were reciting it as she had been taught. She took my silence for assent, and continued. "Here is the way of the Plains. Once the required babes are birthed, and honor won through battle, one has the freedom to choose to enter a bond. Bonding binds two souls, and as with all bindings it can cause pain as well as pleasure. Where once one mind and body worked together, now so must two mesh. This is more of a challenge than the fiercest battle, for a battle lasts but hours, but the work of a bond is constant and never-ending.

Adjusting to each other, the bond grows or withers with every breath. Rare is a bonding, but when it is found, it is priceless in the joy it bestows."

"You can't bond until you have had children?"

"And served the tribes as a warrior, yes."

"So," I licked my lips. "Bonded couples don't sleep with others?"

Isdra was silent for a moment. "I have heard that Xyians have different customs than we do.

How do you mean, 'sleep'?"

My face grew hot, and I was just as glad that she couldn't see me. "For a man and a woman to he together. To touch in ways that bring pleasure to both of them."

"Ah. Then yes, bonded couples do not 'sleep' with others."

"How does that—" I fumbled my words, unsure of what I really wanted to ask. "How does that feel?"

Isdra seemed to understand what I was asking. "Ah, Lara, Epor is my heart's fire."

She turned her head and my eyes followed. Epor was off to the side, riding about a horse-length in front of us. His blond braid was shining gold in the sun, and the light caught the beads and wire woven into his ear. One of the other riders said something, and Epor threw his head back and laughed. I felt Isdra sigh, as she looked ahead. "He's a fine-looking man, Isdra."

"Oh, yes."

"Was there a ceremony?" I asked.

"There can be. Depends on the bonded pairs." Isdra laughed. "I walked up to Epor at a dance and announced my intention. The look on his face…"

"Do bonded have children?"

Isdra laughed again. "Well, this bonded will not. My moon cycles dried up long ago." Isdra tilted her head to the side. "All bonded are older, Lara. They have served then-people in the required ways, and are free to follow what paths they will." She paused. "This is our last campaign."

"Really? What will you do next?"

"Epor wishes to work with the herds. I'd thought of being thea to little ones." She twisted about in the saddle to give me a sly look. "Perhaps thea to your babes."

My face flushed again. "I'm not pregnant, Isdra."

She chuckled. "You're young, Lara. Keir is virile. There'll be babes."

I bit my lip, suddenly angry. Had she slept with Keir? I tried to push that little thought out of my head. Their ways were different, and I knew that Keir had probably been… active. But the thought of him with another woman burned in the back of my head.

"As to that," Isdra continued. "We need to make sure you understand our language completely, lest there be errors made. There are many words for 'sleeping' in our language.

Let us go through them, starting with—" she broke off her words and looked to her right.

I turned as well, to see Keir riding off to the side. Dressed in his armor, his two sword hilts jutting over his shoulders, he looked every inch the Warlord. It lifted my heart to see his dark hair and those bright blue eyes that had captured my love the first time I saw him. Even covered in dust, and with a fine sheen of sweat on his forehead, he looked wonderful.

Keir rode a bit closer, with an apologetic expression. "If I can break the bells, I'd ask for the Warprize, Isdra."

She nodded, and removed the bells from the horse's mane. My rescuer rode closer, and swept me into his saddle, much to my great relief.

Keir took me in front of him, sideways across the saddle. As I settled in place, he claimed a kiss, a kiss that spoke of hunger, desire and our separation. Any fears that I had of his feelings for me were swept away by the heat that flashed through my body. I understood exactly what Isdra meant by 'fire of my heart'.

He broke the kiss off, and smiled ruefully at my flushed face. "Hold on, Warprize."

As I put my arm around his neck, he urged the horse into a trot, away from the main body of the army. When my normal bodyguards made as if to follow, he waved them off. As he guided the horse, it gave me a chance to study the face of the man who had my heart. It hadn't taken me long to learn that the Warlord of the Plains, the feared Cat, Ravager and Destroyer had an odd sense of the ridiculous. Sometimes when Keir was being stern, he was laughing deep within. This was one of those times, for he had the oddest look on his face, the look he gets when he finds something funny but doesn't want to show it. I looked at him closely. "What amuses you so?"

"Look behind us."

Puzzled, I pulled myself up, looked over his shoulder, and gaped in surprise. Every warrior had a clump of bloodmoss somewhere on his or her person, their hair, their cloaks, their horses.

Gils had spread the word well. They had all gathered bloodmoss. I choked back a laugh.

"Now why do I think that you might have something to do with that." Keir's voice was solemn, but humor danced in his eyes. I couldn't help it. I laughed right out loud.

Keir held me tight, allowing his grin to escape. "Care to tell me why all my warriors have weeds adorning their persons?"

"It's bloodmoss. An herb."

"I gathered that." Keir replied, this time in Xyian.

I rolled my eyes and laughed again. Keir's command of my language was much better than my understanding of his.

Keir continued, mock growling at me. "It's hard for my ravening hordes to strike terror in the hearts of the enemy when they are adorned in weeds."

"It's very useful."

"How so?"

I explained, talking about its usage and offering to cut myself to show him how it worked. That brought a bellow of laughter from him, even as he declined my offer. I didn't pay much attention to our direction until Keir brought the horse to a stop. "Let's hope that you don't need that much bloodmoss anytime soon."

We'd ridden a ways off from the army, to a large clump of alders, their branches thick with small leaves just starting to turn yellow. A warrior held Keir's horse as he dismounted. Keir looked up at me, smiling with anticipation. I look down into twinkling blue eyes. "What mischief are you planning, Warlord?"