“This is the first time they’ve come this close to Gothman, it is. I’ll not stand for their threats, though.”
“They’ve communicated with you?”
“I’ve received messages saying the Gothman have grown too large and are pushing against their borders.”
“That isn’t true. The Gothman borders run into the Freelands. Darius, have you never been out of Gothman?”
He narrowed his eyebrows and his gray eyes darkened. He wasn’t pleased that she questioned his knowledge or worldliness. “Are you saying I can’t rule this land because I’ve never been outside its borders?” He scowled. “My papa didn’t need the help of outsiders and neither do I.”
“Knowing your enemy helps to defeat them.”
“So now you are telling me how to rule.” He looked fierce, but then he smiled and stroked her cheek. He didn’t have time to get riled at her right now. “You worry about getting back here safely.”
* * * * *
Tara put her black leather jacket over the dress and folded the clothes she had on a minute ago. Grabbing the bag, now empty and ready for Hilda’s herbs, she headed for the door.
He followed her quickly and grabbed her arm. “I expect you home within the hour, I do.” He kissed her firmly on the lips.
“I’ll be fine.” She returned his kiss and looked into his eyes. “You’ll hear from me. You need me.”
She reached up and pulled a band off his leather jacket sleeve that bore the seal of the Gothman and shoved it in to her bag.
“I’ll represent two nations today.” She smiled and kissed him again.
“Tell your people the Gothman would appreciate it if the Runners would stand with them in battle against the Sea People.”
She looked at him with surprise before she pulled away and left the room. Her leather boots were silent as she ran down the stairs.
Hilda looked at Tara’s outfit as the girl reached the bottom step, but didn’t say anything. She saw her son standing at the top of the stairs with the large Runner gun in his hand. Her mouth opened, but she closed it and quietly handed the keys to her car and the herbs to Tara.
Hilda’s car moved a lot faster than Reena’s, but it still seemed to Tara that it took her forever to get through the town and up the hill toward Reena’s house. Two Runner motorcycles were parked in front of Reena’s house when she pulled up. Tara immediately recognized one of them to be Patha’s. She got out of the car and ran to the house.
There was no one in the living room area, and the house seemed very quiet. Instinctively, she pulled out the small laser and held it in front of her as she silently moved toward the hallway.
The door to Reena’s bedroom was open, and she pointed the gun at the empty room. She walked to the window opening to the backyard, but she didn’t see anyone. A group of five pictures on the dresser next to the window caught her eye.
The first picture she saw was of a small child picking flowers in a meadow. Others depicted the same girl at different ages.
The last picture was of a girl in her adolescence sitting on a small motorcycle. Tara cocked her head sideways in puzzlement. The motorcycle looked very familiar. She looked back at the other pictures again.
They were all of her!
Tara’s heart raced, and she wiped her suddenly damp palms down her hips while staring at the pictures. What in the name of all of the heavens was Reena doing with pictures of her at different ages? She hadn’t even known they had been taken.
“Tara?”
She jumped at the sound of her name coming from the other room. She heard the front door close, and it sounded like several people were entering the house. Tara walked to the doorway, gun in one hand and pictures in the other.
Reena called out again. “Tara?”
“I’m here.” Tara took in the scene greeting her.
Reena stood in the middle of the room while Patha and one of his guards struggled to help a Runner she didn’t recognize to the couch.
“Did you bring the herbs?” Reena asked.
Tara nodded and pointed to her bag on the edge of the couch as she ran to the large old man, setting the gun and pictures on the table beside her. “Patha! It’s so good to see you.”
After settling the Runner onto the couch, Patha reached his arms out as she literally jumped into them. He picked her up off the ground and hugged her so tightly she lost her breath. When he put her down, she felt dizzy for a moment and had to steady herself on the back of the couch before she could smile up at the man she called Papa.
“What brings you this far from home?” She looked from one Runner to the other and then at Patha.
“Reena’s the best doctor in the area, and we needed her.” Patha squeezed her wrists with powerfully large hands. “Look at you, child. You look mighty sharp in that dress.” He held her hands out in front of her and took a good look. “I do believe she’s put on a little weight.” Patha looked at Reena for confirmation. “What do you think?”
“Maybe Gothman suits her.” Reena had mixed together a salve from the herbs and coated the Runner’s wounded leg. She finished by tying a bandage around it then stood and moved to stand by Patha. “Your man should be fine. Mind you, those wild boar lashes can get infected, but I’ve got him good and cleaned up, I do.”
“We’re closer to you than the clansite right now,” Patha said. “I knew you could take good care of him.”
“Tara, what have you brought here?” Reena picked up the pictures from the side table and flipped through them quickly.
“I found them on your dresser when I was looking for you. They’re pictures of me. What are you doing with them?” Tara watched Reena glance up at Patha and she studied both their faces. Her papa hid his thoughts well, but he was definitely concerned about something. Then, as if in silent communication, the two older adults turned their gazes to her. She narrowed her eyes. “What’s going on here?”
Reena looked at her patient, ignoring Tara’s question. “How does that bandage feel?”
“I’ll make it,” the Runner answered and reached for the other man, who helped him to his feet and allowed the Runner to use him as a crutch.
“Let’s put him in the bedroom on the right, yes,” Reena instructed. “I’ll watch him for a bit, I will, make sure no infection sets in.”
“Reena, you didn’t answer me,” Tara persisted, after the two men had entered the bedroom.
Reena kept her back to Tara as she stared at the hallway and the open bedroom door where the two Runners were. “Tara, I’m your mama.” Reena spoke the words barely above a whisper, and she didn’t turn to face Tara.
“What?” Tara gasped, certain she had misheard. “It sounded like you just said—”
“I did,” Reena interrupted and turned to face Tara. “I am your mama.”
Tara reached for the back of the couch to steady herself. Her mouth fell open without her noticing and the room suddenly began spinning. “My…mama?” She could barely utter the words.
“Come outside with us, child.” Patha pulled Tara to him and placed his other hand gently on Reena’s shoulder. “It’s time you knew the truth.”
The uninjured Runner appeared from the hallway, and Reena turned to him. “Slice some pie for you two,” she said, gesturing toward her kitchen.
Tara noticed Reena’s hand shaking and turned to the kitchen, thinking she could help make the Runner feel more at home.
“I can handle it.” The Runner smiled at Tara and waved the group toward the door. “Go share your stories. If there is pie in the kitchen, I will find it.”
Patha chuckled and again placed his hands on the two women, guiding them to the door.
Tara followed them onto the front porch in a dazed stupor. She settled on the steps while the two of them sat in the porch swing together, Patha’s large fingers around Reena’s small hand.
Her gaze strayed to their intertwined fingers. “I thought my mama died and that you never knew her name. I never guessed…I mean, I nev
er dreamed.” She shook her head, all the while keeping her gaze on their clasped hands.
“Child, I don’t know where to begin.” Reena’s eyes welled with tears. Oh, how she’d waited for this day. “Patha and I have known each other for a very long time. He would come see me from time to time, but staying for too long was not his way, it wasn’t. I’d been established as the doctor of these parts, and Lord Jovis would not permit me to leave.”
Reena took a deep breath.
Patha patted her hand. “Lord Jovis had a fine time looking the other way, when I continued to come see you,” Patha chuckled, and Reena nodded, both silent for a moment as they relived the memory.
“When I found out I was pregnant I was so happy. I had a part of Patha that would stay with me, and I was free of the claiming forever, I was. For a while, I entertained the thought of Patha settling down with me here, yes. Ah, but Lord Jovis would not hear of it, and Patha was not the settling down type. I kept you until you were about three, I did. Ah, you were beautiful even then.”
“Why didn’t you keep me?” Tara pulled her knees to her chest, forgetting the Gothman dress she wore. She turned on the porch steps, so she sat facing her Mama.
“Lord Jovis wanted to have you claimed to his son, his first-born son that is, with you both being just children, yes. Tara, it wasn’t the life I wanted for you. I wanted you educated, free to make your own choices, I did. It wasn’t the life you would have in Gothman. The next time Patha came through we talked about it, and he agreed to take you with him and make you part of his clan.” Reena wiped a tear off her cheek. Another one immediately replaced it. “My dear child, it was the hardest thing I ever done in my whole life, it was. I just about couldn’t hold my emotions when you told me who you were the night you arrived here. Oh dear girl, you’re everything I hoped you’d be, you are.” Several streams of tears traced paths down her cheeks now, and Tara moved over quickly and sat at her feet.
“I had no idea.” Tara was completely overwhelmed. Her throat felt thick, and she realized she was shaking. “Patha, why didn’t you tell me? You really are my papa? I wish you would have told me.”
“Reena didn’t want you to feel any obligation to visit her. She was afraid you’d be claimed once Lord Jovis knew you were back. He wanted you for his son almost before you were born. The man felt you came from good blood, I guess.” Patha chuckled and wrapped his arm around Reena. “As you grew and became more beautiful, we both knew the second you were on Gothman territory, the first man who saw you would have you. When you told me you were leaving to do some exploring, it didn’t surprise me when I got word you were here. I knew no man would mess with you if you didn’t want it. You are a trained warrior now, not the helpless child you once were.” Patha shook his head at his daughter. “I would actually pity the man who would take you on. You’ve two very stubborn parents, child. And you are an incredible warrior.”
“Thank you, Patha. It’s an honor to hear that from you.” Tara couldn’t stop the tears any longer. She let them fall as she absorbed this incredible news. She sniffed loudly and wiped her teary face on her sleeve.
“So, suddenly I’m no longer an orphan. This is too much to have in my head right now. I need to focus on other things.” Tara took a deep breath and turned to look at the tall pines surrounding the house.
Patha had told Tara that her mama’s dying wish was that he raise her as his own. Well, her mama wasn’t dead, the woman had sent her away. Tara figured she should feel abandoned, but had to admit she was grateful to be the person she was and not a Gothman female, living in ignorant suppression.
Tara realized she would be able to know her mama better if she stayed here. She would be a Runner in Gothman territory, which was exactly as it should be.
She shook her head to clear it, then stood, and stared at the watery-eyed woman who looked up at her. Tara saw concern suddenly cross Reena’s face. The woman worried Tara would hate her for the choice she had made. Maybe she’d lived with that worry for winters. She’d made an incredible sacrifice so that Tara could have a life of opportunity. And now Tara stood before her mama, heir to the leader of all Runner clans. Tara straightened and smiled.
“Hello, Mama.” Tara couldn’t keep her voice from cracking as she held her arms out to Reena.
“Oh, Tara,” Reena cried, and fresh tears streamed down her face as she got up and hugged her daughter.
“I have so much I want to talk to you about,” Tara said. “But now isn’t the time.”
Tara looked over Reena’s shoulder at Patha, who smiled at the two women in front of him. “Patha, there is about to be war, I fear.”
“You refer to the Sea People.” Patha’s smile disappeared.
“I’ll join the Gothman and fight. Lord Darius will have the Runners stand with him if they’re willing. Patha, he needs us. That man has no knowledge of the world outside of his kingdom. He doesn’t even know what he’s fighting. I gave him an Eliminator, but he’ll need much more than that.”
A look of surprise came over Patha’s face, and he looked at Reena. “So, the son of Lord Jovis is not narrow-minded and full of hatred?”
For winters, Patha despised Jovis for keeping him from the woman he loved. Tara never had a whole family to love her because of the man. Patha could have taken Reena from Gothman, but Jovis would have viewed it as an act of aggression. Patha couldn’t risk an attack on the Runners because of his personal feelings. He and Reena had suffered their loss quietly. But now Jovis was gone, and the son wanted his daughter. Patha wouldn’t put Tara through the pain he’d lived with if she wanted this man. “Do you love him?”
“Yes, Patha, I believe I do. He’s a good man. He claimed me, but I told him I wouldn’t be claimed until I was ready. He knew I was a Runner; he could have arrested me, but he didn’t.” Tara realized she’d officially stated her love for Darius and that declaration made her feel very warm inside. Tara still had her arms wrapped around Reena, and gave the woman a slight squeeze.
Reena returned the affection and hugged her daughter.
“And are you ready to accept his claim?” Patha searched her eyes for more of an answer than she could give him with words.
“Gothman don’t feel a need for their women to accept a claim,” Tara said. “But yes, I think I am ready to accept it.”
“Does he know this?”
“I haven’t told him yet.”
A small smile appeared on Patha’s face, and then he quickly grew serious. “I’ll have a thousand Runners here in a couple of days. Right now we have about fifty, but don’t worry, the rest will come.” Patha nodded authoritatively. “Where’s his army?”
“I believe the Gothman armies are preparing to head south.”
“Why are they heading in that direction?” Patha looked surprised.
“He told me his scouts saw the Sea People heading in from the south.”
“There are no Sea People there. We’ve been south of here within the past few days when we traded with the River People. It was when we came around the edges of Gothman territory to the west and then to the north that the Sea People became more abundant. They are traveling with tanks and heavy artillery from the reports I’ve received. For the most part, we were able to avoid them. Some of the clans coming down from the north to meet us weren’t as successful. I’ve heard through our landlink transmissions that there have been many deaths.”
“Patha, this doesn’t make sense.” Tara’s stomach fisted into worried knots. If Darius took his army to the south, Gothman would be very vulnerable from the north and an easy target. She distinctly remembered he’d told her his scouts said they saw Sea People to the South. “Patha, somehow Darius has some bad information. I need to warn him!”
Tara released Reena, and before the old man could say anything further, she ran into the house and grabbed her bag. She pulled out the flat landlink and punched keys with a vengeance. The tracer she’d put on Darius’ neck quickly told her he’d left his home and was headed sout
h.
“Patha, Darius has already left.” Tara looked at Reena, noticing the worried expression on her face. Her mama had entered the house with Patha behind her, and now Reena moved to the stove and reached for the kettle. “Reena, I’d like to send Hilda and Torgo to stay with you for the time being. I believe they’d be safer here. If the Sea People target the area, they would go after Darius’ home. This place is isolated, and we could post guards to protect you. Will you have them?”
Patha gestured to the Runner who sat on the couch with a landlink on his lap. “I can leave Glib here with you for the time being. He can monitor the area.”
“Of course, child, they can stay here.” Reena walked around the counter and put her hands on Tara’s waist. “I know you will go to battle with Lord Darius, yes.”
“Oh yes,” Tara said. “I’d be of no help staying in hiding with the women.”
Reena smiled but looked serious, almost sad. “My daughter finally knows me, and she could be going to war.”
“Reena, don’t worry. I’ll be back.”
“Tara, you’re with child. Did you know that?”
Tara and Patha both looked at her with amazement.
“How could I be?” Tara was ready to disagree.
“There’s only one way.” Reena smiled.
Tara looked down quickly.
“I’d say four or five weeks. I know the look and I’ve never been wrong, no. You take very good care of yourself and my grandchild, you hear?”
Tara stared at Patha and Reena but didn’t say anything. Instead she grabbed her bag, turned slowly, and left the cottage. That last bit of information was one piece of news too much. She was too bewildered to form her thoughts.
* * * * *
Reena watched as Tara drove down the hill in Hilda’s car. “Tell me all of this is a good thing.” She looked up into Patha’s face for reassurance.
Nuworld: The Saga Begins Page 13