“Tyla, please,” she answered. Then her look softened and she managed a tired smile. “I would love a sponge bath.”
Maelee returned the smile. “Come inside,” she motioned, then called over her shoulder. “Lander, bring me some potatoes from the cold storage, would you? And show the men where they can wash up.”
Lander started wandering toward the paddock, but he circled around the side of it. On the back of the stable stood a wooden table with a hole cut out of the middle of it. Inside the hole was a tin bowl and draped over a ring nailed to the table was a rough towel made of sacking. Right beside it was a metal dish that had been hammered onto the top of an iron stake. A cake of yellow soap lay in the dish.
Earon let out another groan when he saw the set up for the men. Jarrett bumped him with his shoulder as he made his way toward the table and bowl. “Why don’t you go wash up with the women?” he commented. He had to admit he’d rather wash with the women himself, but he couldn’t let an opportunity to goad Earon slip by him.
* * *
Tyla watched Parish push a stick through the outdoor fire. Pulling her jacket tighter around herself, she moved to his side and took a seat in the camp chair Lander had placed outside the fire ring.
Patches of snow littered the ground in front of the cabin, but the sky was clear and glittered with a million stars. She studied them a moment, but she felt Parish’s gaze on her. “Can’t sleep?” he asked.
She shrugged and hugged her arms around herself to keep out the chill. “Not yet. I think I’m actually too tired.” She lowered her head and met his eye. As she’d seen so often, his look became contemplative. She forced a smile. “You knew my father, didn’t you?”
He leaned back in surprise and then returned to pushing the stick through the fire. “You read minds too?”
“Yes,” she answered, stretching out her legs, “but not with you. It’s there in your face every time you look at me. I can see that you knew him.”
Parish tapped the stick against the rocks and his eyes crinkled in amusement. He looked at her over his shoulder. “You look so much like him. Every time I see you, it takes my breath away. But your eyes… your eyes…”
“…are my mother’s,” she finished wistfully.
“…are your mother’s.”
Tyla extended her hands to the flames. “You knew her too?”
“Not as well as your father, but I knew her. She was a beautiful woman.”
Tyla brought her knees in against her chest and curled her arms around them. “What was he like, Parish? Did he love her?”
Parish gave a bark of laughter. “He adored her. She was the world to him. When she died, he couldn’t live without her.”
Tyla studied his face, but he looked away, staring into the fire. The pain in his words ached within her breast. Such a love. Someone so devoted to another? Did such a thing exist? “Tell me about him. How did you meet?”
Parish laughed. “Now that’s a story. Your father sure was something, Your Highness.”
“Tyla, please.”
He glanced over his shoulder and his eyes seemed to shine. “Tyla,” he amended.
“What was he like?”
“He was like sunlight, fleeting and ethereal. He seemed to glow with an inner light.” He paused and studied her. “Like you do.” He shook himself. “People were dawn to him. They couldn’t help it. And sometimes they weren’t drawn to him for the right reasons.”
“I think I know something of that,” she replied.
He nodded. “I guess you do.”
“Did you grow up together?”
“In a way. He was a number of years younger than I was.” He laughed in memory. “Actually, I met him when he was getting the spit beat out of him by some bigger, older boys.”
“You intervened?”
“I didn’t have much choice. I didn’t like the boys who were after him and the odds weren’t even. Always hated that.” He shook his head. “Boy, could your father fight. He was such a scrapper. And he always fought dirty.”
Tyla shared Parish’s smile. It was these little bits of information she wanted to know.
“How old was he?”
“I’m not sure. Maybe ten or so. It wasn’t long after his foster father died. He was living with this school teacher, while she taught him the language. Before he met her, he’d been on the streets. He couldn’t even speak Nevaisser. Soren wouldn’t let him speak anything but Nazarien. When the school teacher died a few years later, your father was on the streets again.” Parish’s expression sobered.
“What did he do then?”
“Well…I was living in this brothel, had been my whole life.” He gave her a sheepish look.
“Why?”
“My mother worked there.” He placed emphasis on the word worked and Tyla nodded in understanding. “She was killed one night by one of her clients. The ladies let me stay in the attic as long as I swept and ran errands for them. I brought your father to live there after the school teacher died.” He sighed. “What a mistake.”
“A mistake? What else could you do?”
“Like I said, your father had this thing that drew people to him. It sure drew the ladies. They wouldn’t leave him alone. It wasn’t a healthy place for a kid to be.”
“What happened after that?”
“He finally met this old man, a magician. He traveled with him for a while. I think the wanderlust got into him during those few years. Then the old man died and your father went to the Nazarien. His power had gotten so hard for him to control by then.” Parish shifted in the chair and looked at her closely. “The Nazarien changed him. I blame them for his death, for making him a hunted animal.”
Tyla frowned. “Why?”
“They wouldn’t do what he wanted them to do, they wouldn’t teach him to control his power. They wanted him to fit their mold, live like a Nazarien. Bringing him to the brothel didn’t help, but the Nazarien completed that transformation. After he ran away from them, it was like everyone wanted a piece of him, wanted to own him in some way. That’s what killed him. First it took your mother, then it took him. All he wanted was peace, but he never found it.”
Tyla stared into the fire, feeling the weight of her father’s legacy more than ever. She knew what it was like to want peace.
“You loved him, didn’t you?” she said.
“He was family,” he answered simply. “I was furious when the damn Lodenians just left and didn’t avenge his death. Sarkisian should have been leveled. We wouldn’t be in this predicament if they’d taken action.” He picked up his stick and poked the fire again. “If I wasn’t so old, I’d see you over the mountain myself. I owe your father that much, but I’m afraid I’d slow you down.”
Tyla gave him a smile. “You’re needed here, Parish. I can never repay you for what you’ve done for us.”
Parish’s eyes shifted beyond her to the porch of the cottage. Tyla glanced over her shoulder as well. Jarrett had come out onto the porch and was staring up at the stars. Behind him, Muzik and Kendrick were looking over the mules with Lander, trying to pick out two to help them carry their stores.
“The Terrian’s a hell of a fighter,” Parish offered. “Keep him close. He just might save your life. I’ve never seen a man move that fast before. Must be that damn Stravad blood.”
Tyla nodded and turned back to the older man. “He’s a good man too.”
Parish studied her, then gave a grunt of agreement. “Seems like that.” His eyes drifted to the paddock again. “Watch the Nazarien, Tyla. They don’t think like normal people. Something about that religion twists them, makes them strange – unnatural. Especially toward women.”
Tyla frowned. For some reason, Parish’s words bothered her. Kendrick wasn’t strange, he was just detached, and he’d certainly always treated her with respect. Even so, his words struck a chord and she couldn’t deny that she’d had some of the same feelings herself.
She shook it away and reached out to touch his ar
m. “I insisted on coming to Kazden despite everyone’s warning. They were right. I should never have taken the chance. It could have gotten everyone killed, but I couldn’t stop myself from coming.” She tightened her hold on his arm and he covered her fingers with his own. “I think you are the reason I had to go to Kazden. I had to meet you and hear your stories about my father. Thank you for giving me that.”
He picked up her hand and brought it to his lips, kissing the back of it. “Well, if that’s the case then I have some great stories to tell you, and you can be sure, these are stories your father would never want you to hear.”
She smiled and leaned back in her chair, soaking up any information that Parish was willing to give her.
* * *
Jarrett studied the stars, his hand resting on Kian’s broad head, stroking the dog between the ears. Kian leaned against him, closing his eyes in pleasure at Jarrett’s attention.
“It’s nice to see stars for a change,” came a feminine voice behind him. Jarrett looked over his shoulder and found Maelee standing in the doorway, framed by the light of the lantern. “It’s been snowing steadily for a week.”
Jarrett forced a smile. “I’m a little worried about what that might mean for the passes.”
She came to the rail and leaned against it. “It’ll be tough going, even in snowshoes, but the mules are bred for the winter trail.” She leaned around him and looked at the paddock. “The captain knows good animal flesh when he sees it. He’s picked out our two best mules.” She reached down and ran her hand over Kian’s ear, giving it a good scratch. Kian gave a grunt and dropped, rolling to his side and stretching out on the decking.
“I’ll make sure you’re compensated once we reached Temeron.”
“The Baron will make good. He always does. I’m not worrying about it.”
“Is this the first time you’ve met him?”
“Yep, he rarely leaves Kazden. We have more contact with Lago, but we know all orders come through the Baron. He’s a good man.”
Jarrett nodded. “He saved our lives.”
She clasped her hand on the top of the railing. “You leaving early tomorrow?”
“As early as we can. I’m worried about staying ahead of the Front Guard.”
“Reasonable worry. I’ve got another quiver or two I can give you for that bow the Baron found.” She gave him an amused look. Jarrett returned it. Her eyes fixed on his own and she seemed to search him for something. Jarrett wasn’t sure what she was looking for, until she spoke. “Who’s the Nazarien? Father or mother?”
Jarrett shifted weight. “Father. You?”
“Same,” she answered.
“You ever meet him?”
She chewed on her inner lip. “Once. He offered to let me become a Nazarien breeder back in Chernow.” She laughed. “Turned him down.”
Jarrett shifted and leaned on the rail beside her.
“You ever meet your father?” she asked.
“Not that I know of. It wasn’t a very pleasant topic in my household.”
Maelee’s brows rose. “I would imagine.”
“Can you tell me something?” he asked. She nodded in encouragement. “Are mixed blood children always like us?”
“You mean Nazarien fathers and Human mothers?”
“Yeah.”
“I’ve never seen it the other way around.”
Jarrett scratched at the stubble on his chin. “Why? Why would Nazarien men seek out Human women to have their children?”
“I have two theories,” answered Maelee. “One, there aren’t many Nazarien women. They tend to run away first chance they get. The Nazarien are so worried about preserving their lines, they’ll even agree to mate with Humans to do so.”
Jarrett frowned. “You think that’s likely?”
Maelee laughed. “Not really. My second theory is the one I believe. You know all that celibacy crap?”
Jarrett nodded.
“Well, I think it’s pretty hard to live by, especially for a man…no offense.”
Jarrett gave a wry shrug. “None taken.”
“They don’t want to show their brethren they’re weak, so they seek Human women for a tryst, believing it will be kept secret. Inevitably some pregnancies occur.”
“But with married women?” asked Jarrett, then realized he might have said too much.
Maelee studied him for a long time and her expression was sympathetic. “You’ve got to remember that the Nazarien never believed in marriage before Talar Eldralin. They certainly wouldn’t have any qualms about violating a Human marriage. I think the Nazarien believe Humans are a subspecies anyway.”
“But Nazarien marry now themselves.”
Her look grew serious. “You understand about those marriages, right? It isn’t the same marriage Talar Eldralin had, it’s still a Nazarien marriage with all of the Nazarien psychopathic trappings.”
“What do you mean?”
“The women are chattel. The Nazarien husband is so afraid something might befall her, she isn’t allowed out of the house, she can’t talk to other men, and she’s never allowed to undertake any risk of any kind. I don’t know why any woman would agree to something like that.”
Jarrett’s eyes fixed on Tyla and a lump moved into his throat. “I thought it was the most sacred of bonds.”
“Bond is right. That’s all it is for the women. Where before she might have been chained to the whole Nazarien faith, a Nazarien wife is the sole property of her husband and completely controlled by his will.” She nodded at Kendrick. “Be careful of him and never forget that under all of that polite exterior is a Nazarien, born and bred, and that means that you’ll never truly understand what goes on in his head.”
CHAPTER 19
Jarrett reached under the mule’s round belly, grabbed the cinch, and gave it a tug. The animal swung her head around and eyed him critically. He immediately felt contrite. No need to take his foul mood out on her.
“Sorry,” he muttered, loosening it a bit. He patted her shoulder, then adjusted the packs on her back.
“You’re up early,” came Tyla’s voice.
The mule sidestepped and threw up her head in alarm. Jarrett grabbed her bridle and looked over at the fence. Tyla was leaning against it, Kian at her side, his paws braced on the lower rail, his mouth open and his tongue lolling in amusement.
“We need to get on the trail. I’m worried about how fast the Front Guard might be able to move. If they get ahead of us, we’ll have some trouble.”
“I understand,” she said. “I’ll go wake the others.”
Jarrett gave the mule a final pat, then released her. She moved toward the back of the paddock, away from the dog. “Tyla, I want to talk with you about that.” He rested his hands on the rail beside hers. “I want to leave Earon here.”
Her expression shut down. She dropped her arms to her sides. “I thought we’d settled that in Kazden.”
“You thought you’d settled it, but it wasn’t settled for me. He’s a hindrance. He adds nothing to our group and he eats up all of our stores.”
“I’m not Queen anymore, Jarrett. I don’t have the power to command him. Besides, I owe him compensation for the horses he lost.”
“Tell him you’ll send it once you reach Temeron. He doesn’t have to come with us to get his compensation.”
“He wants to see Temeron.”
Jarrett closed his eyes in frustration and exhaled. “I don’t care what he wants. My only concern is getting you to Temeron safely.”
Her eyes narrowed in anger. “What you mean is you can’t wait to dispose of me in Temeron and be done with your obligation. Whatever you do, don’t spare me your real feelings, Jarrett.”
He frowned at her. “You don’t want my real feelings, Tyla. You’ve told me that before. It might make it difficult for you to marry a man you don’t love.”
She took a step back and Kian moved to her side. The dog could feel the tension between them.
“You’r
e certainly in a foul mood,” she said.
“Because you won’t listen. You insist on letting that worthless puppy follow us around, and you won’t even consider what a mistake you made when you agreed to marry a Nazarien. I found out a few things last night, things that might make you change your mind.”
“I’m not going to change my mind. Why do you have to make this harder?”
“Did you know that Nazarien women are less than slaves in a Nazarien marriage? Did you know you’d be forbidden to talk to another man? You’d be forbidden to leave the house without escort, you’d be forbidden to do anything unless your husband approved of it? Is that the sort of power you want someone like Kendrick to have over you?”
She glared at him. “Stop it! You don’t know what you’re talking about.”
“I know more than you do.”
“You know only what promotes you and tears down Kendrick.”
“I know I love you, Tyla and…”
Her eyes glowed suddenly and Jarrett’s voice choked off. He’d been on the receiving end before when he hadn’t known when to shut up. He didn’t need the lesson twice.
“I made a promise…to both Tarnow and Kendrick, and I’m going to see it through. Just as I can’t command Earon, I won’t command you. You can leave whenever you feel it’s too much for you to handle, but I won’t have you question me again.”
She turned to leave, but Jarrett couldn’t let her go. Not like this. He reached over the fence for her and caught her arm. She hesitated and gave him a withering look, then she wrenched her arm away. Jarrett’s eyes lifted and came to rest on Muzik where he was standing in the walk, arms cross over his barrel chest, his eyes savage. Tyla barely acknowledged him as she and Kian stormed past.
Muzik continued to glare at him.
Jarrett watched Tyla until she disappeared from view, then he turned his gaze on the giant. “If you’re going to kill me, go right ahead. I’m not going to fight you.”
Muzik exhaled. “I’m not going to kill you…well, not yet at any rate. I think you’ve punished yourself enough for one day.”
The World of Samar Box Set 3 Page 31