“Who might you be, lass?” The man’s voice was softer now. He studied her, as if memorizing her features, or perhaps trying to remember if he had seen her before.
“I’m Reena’s niece. My name’s Tara.” A bit too late, she remembered to lower her eyes. For some reason, she didn’t want to act submissive toward this man.
“Come here.”
Tara’s gaze shot to his. She bit her lip to stop herself from telling him no. Slowly, she walked the distance between the two of them. If she’d researched the crests of the different Gothman families she might have an idea of whom she was dealing with. Instead, she stared into the most unique shade of charcoal gray eyes she’d ever seen. There was a hardness there. This man gave orders and seldom took them. She saw it in the calm, sure way he sat, straddled on his bike, and watched her approach him.
“Reena’s niece, Tara, what are you doing here?” He had a beautiful Gothman accent. Which was odd because the mixture of slur and guttural in the dialogue wasn’t something she’d normally call beautiful.
“Waiting on my aunt.”
“In the merchants’ lane?”
Since she didn’t have an answer Tara decided it was a good time to appear submissive. But the moment she lowered her gaze, the man grabbed her chin. She flinched. At least she prayed that was how this trained warrior read her body language. In truth, it took tightening every muscle in her body not to knock the pompous man off his bike. “I haven’t seen you before.”
“I’ve just arrived and came into town with her today for the first time.”
“I see. Well, Tara, Reena’s niece, I’ll be thanking you for breaking up the fight for my younger brother’s sake.”
Tara looked him in the eye, forgetting about submission. Younger brother, not claimed?
“You’re welcome,” she said and focused on how the loose fitting offwhite shirt under his brown leather jacket didn’t prevent her from seeing how well built he was.
His expression didn’t change nor did he bother to say who he was. He also gave no indication if he thought it odd that a Gothman woman prevented a fight. Maybe the women here stopped boys from fighting. They spent their lives raising children, after all. Tara tried relaxing but the overwhelming urge to back away from his grip prevented her from doing so.
“You’re quite beautiful.” He turned her head, his grip tightening along her chin and neck. “You’ve been brought here to be claimed.”
The man didn’t make it a question. Tara quit looking at his chest and shot her attention to his face. He wasn’t looking at her but tilted her head to the side so that her hair fell over his hand. His gaze was directed lower on her body. The man took his time, moving her head as he gave her a serious once over.
There was only a moment but Tara saw it as an opportunity to learn about male Gothman. Her initial reaction wasn’t good. Never in her life had she been man- handled as if she were a product that might be purchased at will. It unnerved her. Her gut told her to fight back, force his release, demand he treat her with respect.
“That should be a successful endeavour,” he murmured and released her.
Tara stepped back involuntarily and caught herself adjusting her clothes. It seemed he still gripped her neck and her fingers fluttered to where he’d held her before looking at him.
“I’m not sure that—“ She broke off, hesitating on how to respond without giving herself away. How was she supposed to answer him? Although, it dawned on her, he hadn’t asked a question so maybe silence was best.
He looked at her a minute longer, then left her standing there and drove down the street.
Tara exhaled slowly, willing her heart to stop pounding as she walked to the sidewalk and stared after him. Her skin tingled where he’d held her chin and neck and she didn’t like the sensation. It shouldn’t matter what he said about a claiming. That wouldn’t happen. She was here to observe and that was it. But had he said thank you for breaking up the fight? Had he seen her shoot the trashcan?
Reena hurried toward Tara, the older woman’s attention moving from the departing man to her niece. “Well child, your first day in town, and you’ve the honor of meeting Lord Darius himself.” Reena sounded absolutely delighted.
“That was Lord Darius?” Tara stole another glance at the gorgeous man disappearing down the stone road.
“Yes, my dear. What did he say to you?” Reena handed the bags of yarn to Tara and started walking to the groundmobile. “Come now, tell an old lady everything. He hasn’t claimed anyone yet, although I daresay the rumors are that he’s been with every girl in town. Now he’s seen you. Maybe that will change. It’s plain to see you are prettier than any other girl this town has to offer.”
“He said, ‘thank you’.” There was no way she was sharing the entire conversation she’d had with the man— with the Lord of Gothman. Hell be doomed! Did he figure out she was a Runner?
Reena turned to Tara, a puzzled look on her face. “A bit strange, but then he always has been odd from the gossip I hear.”
Reena didn’t ask anymore questions, apparently content simply that Tara had met Lord Darius. Which was fine with her. She mulled over the encounter, replaying every moment while rubbing where he’d held her and trying to understand what he might have seen in her.
The two reached the groundmobile, and Tara put the bags on the floor behind the two seats. Her mind raced. What should she do if the ruler of this land had seen her with a laser more sophisticated than any Gothman had ever created? Lord Darius would have instigated the search for a Runner the night before. He might put two and two together and realize where the Runner was hiding, which was in plain sight. Tara had better make sure her next move in this community was carefully thought out if she were to stay alive.
CHAPTER THREE
“THERE WERE some children fighting in the alley. One
of them was hurt and I was helping the child when Lord Darius showed up and told him to go back to school,” Tara explained when Reena started questioning her while they drove through the remainder of downtown. “I didn’t know it was Lord Darius.”
“Well, now you know who he is and he most certainly knows who you are.” Reena seemed quite pleased. “Imagine the lord taking a fancy to you. And I might add, I saw the way you were looking at him.” She nudged Tara with her elbow and let out a low chuckle.
“You act as if you want me married, or claimed, as you call it.”
“Well my dear, you can’t very well experience our culture as a female if you’re not claimed. There’d be nothing else to do with you at your age but to show you off for a claiming.” Reena smiled at Tara. “I’m an old lady, my dear. I daresay you’ve brought excitement to my life.”
“I don’t want to be claimed.”
“You better keep thoughts like that to yourself. You’d be suspected as odd for sure if you say something like that out loud.” Reena clucked her tongue but glowed when she glanced at Tara.
The two were silent as Reena drove slowly through the town. Tara looked out the window at the community, watching the people on the streets. Young women worked in gardens with children running around them. The houses were clean and well kept. It was odd that people would want to raise children in the same place their entire life.
Tara had spent many cycles in one location before, but there was always a sense of excitement when it was time for her clan to move to a new location. These people would never experience that. The thought wasn’t too appealing.
“I daresay this must all seem so strange to you.” Reena seemed as if she’d been reading Tara’s thoughts.
“I was just imagining what it must be like to live in one spot all your life.”
“You’ll probably never know that feeling, sweet child. You’re a Runner. I can dress you like a Gothman and teach you how to act like a Gothman, but the Runner is in your blood. You must forgive an old lady. I’ve spent the morning going on about my niece come to stay with me. It’s a pleasant thought, and you’re quite the
young lady to be showing off. I guess I got a bit carried away. I wouldn’t know what to say if I weren’t talking about getting you claimed. That’s what we do with our young ladies.”
Reena had now driven through the town and was turning onto a paved road winding up a hill. Their next stop would be Lord Darius’ house.
Tara wondered if he would be there. The man was strong, not only physically, but he’d appeared more intelligent than she’d originally given him credit. He ruled all of Gothman and hadn’t been the designated heir. He had taken the right to rule. Tara guessed he would also be manipulative and shrewd.
There were also the facts that he believed women didn’t have the intelligence to do anything other than birth babies and raise them. He was not a fair man. And hadn’t she already determined that the warrior skills of his men were inferior to her own? Tara frowned and scolded herself for finding him appealing. Obviously he had a lot to learn.
The road ran past beautifully landscaped scenery. The grass on the ground was cut short and tall pine trees were scattered through the yard.
As they approached the house, Reena watched Tara. Tara had grown up living in trailers, never having a piece of land to call her own. Reena knew that Runners were proud of their nomadic existence. She wondered if the home they were about to visit might alter Tara’s perspective.
Perfectly nestled among the foliage, a large stone house stood proudly before them. A wide front open room wrapped around both sides of the front of the house. Wooden swings on chains hung from the flat roof on each end, and sharply carved stone stairs led down to a pebbled walkway that travelled out to greet the road. There were thick, square pillars made of stacked stones on either side of the stairs that led to the door. More pillars held the extended roof that covered the open room. It was the same kind of roof that was over the entire home. The house itself was several stories high with a large veranda off the third floor.
Tara studied the vantage point offered by the veranda, guessing that it enabled Lord Darius to survey his land and ensure its safety. Standing watch on that ledge probably gave him a great vantage point to see all of his town.
Two large men wearing brown leather pants and jackets stood in the front yard and walked to the groundmobile. Reena slowed to a stop.
“My apple pie as promised.” She smiled at the large man leaning over, peering through the groundmobile window.
Tara remembered seeing him at Reena’s home the night before. He had been one of the Lord Darius’ warriors looking for her.
“Who do you have here?” The man tossed a toothless smile at Tara. “I daresay his lord will like this much more than your apple pie.”
The other man stepped forward and leaned down to see in the groundmobile as well. He didn’t look familiar. He was younger, with an unshaved, round face. Both men were particularly ugly.
“She is my niece,” Reena said coolly. “Will you announce us? Or are you going to stand there with your jaws hanging?”
“How you’ve lived to be an old lady with that mouth of yours is a mystery to me,” the man Tara recognized snarled, and straightened. He spoke into a black box that he pulled from his waist.
Reena knew how she’d lived to be an old lady. She was protected. Her one and only love had seen to that. She wasn’t sure if Lord Darius knew the history behind why his papa had declared her unavailable for a claim. He’d upheld his papa’s wishes though, and for that she was grateful.
She looked at the beautiful young woman sitting next to her in the groundmobile, whose sapphire eyes made her appear too wise for her winters. Tara was watching the guard speak to the lord through his walkntalk. Reena doubted Tara had ever seen the Gothman communication device before. This was a young lady who digested and analyzed everything she saw, and Reena saw the qualities of a natural-born leader in Tara. Nothing she did to make her Gothman would hide that quality in the lass. Reena knew how strong it ran in Tara’s blood.
Lord Darius would claim Tara instantly. In fact, he might already have done so. A man didn’t always tell a woman immediately when he claimed her. She would find out soon enough. Tara would fight it, but Reena knew it had to happen. They were meant to be together. Tara would help Lord Darius realize his potential. The lord would teach Tara a thing or two as well. Even as her heart tightened, Reena knew Patha had been right.
Tara struggled to hear what the guard said into his black box, wondering to whom he might be speaking, but the groundmobile’s motor made it impossible to hear. She watched with fascination as the man held the black box to his mouth, and his thumb moved to press a button on the side when he spoke.
A minute or two passed before the man returned to the groundmobile window. “Pull over to the side.” The guard pointed to an area off to the left of the large stone home.
“Of all things, I know where to park.” Reena waved the guard away and drove her groundmobile to the side of the house.
“Grab the basket out of the backseat, child,” Reena instructed Tara as she looked toward the door up those stairs in the open room. “You ever seen anything so magnificent?”
Tara reached for the basket then turned. “It looks so permanent.”
The front door opened and a lady about the same age as Reena walked out onto the open room. “Reena, I’ll be, it’s so good to see you again, my friend.” The woman reached out and hugged Reena. “I daresay it takes the scare of a Runner to bring you to my doors these days. What to think, I wonder.”
“I stay quite busy with the way this town is populating itself,” Reena said, and the two women laughed together and hugged again.
“Ah, so here she is.” The woman took Tara’s chin in her hand and turned her head from side to side. She glanced sideways at Reena and wrinkled her brow. “She’s the spitting image of you at her age. And she’s your niece, you say? Well now, you’re definitely related, that much is true.”
Tara smiled politely and glanced at Reena. She stared at the smooth, crushed pebble floor and no longer smiled. Tara wondered how a friend of Reena’s who’d apparently known her most of her life, wouldn’t know how sensitive she was about never having children.
“I’m Hilda Bryton.”
The lady didn’t notice the look on Reena’s face but focused on Tara. Hilda was a large woman, taller than Reena. She wore a long loose frock flowing below her knees. Her silver-gray hair was wrapped in a bun behind her head.
Tara pictured Hilda raising Darius, and Torgo, the young boy from the alley, and she had two more sons, one of which was dead. She wondered how much influence the Gothman woman had in their upbringing. Or had their papa controlled the way in which they were raised?
“My Lady,” Tara said quietly with her eyes lowered. She offered a slight curtsy.
“You know how the gossip flies through this town. I heard she was quite the beauty, but the words do her no justice. You’ll be mighty proud of this one, won’t you?” Hilda patted Reena’s arm.
“I hadn’t seen her myself since she was a baby. Until just last night. She is beautiful.”
“Ah, my manners, to entertain you in my open room. What am I thinking?” Hilda laughed and opened the front door wide. “Please, do come in for a visit. Reena, when have we last sat and had a good talk of the goings on. I’m sure I don’t remember.”
Tara followed the two old women into the house. She gasped when they walked through the door and she caught her first look at the magnificent home. At that moment, if someone were looking for a Runner in disguise they would have immediately suspected her. She had never been inside such a structure. The most shelter she’d had from the elements throughout her life were the trailers Runners lived in while with their clan. How could anyone ever be safe, or comfortable, when they had no way of hearing the sounds outside? They would never know if the weather changed, or if someone were approaching.
Tara wanted to run her hands along the walls. They looked so solid. This house had been built to stay right here on this land, never moving. Runners moved when t
he weather changed, when trade agreements improved in a different area, or when news of a dispute or challenge in another area came forth.
But not the people of Gothman. They ignored Nuworld and focused only on themselves. This house would be an excellent place to ignore the outside world. The arched ceilings allowed for a wide stairway to show all of its glory as it climbed in front of them to a second floor. Tara remembered seeing windows outside indicating more rooms on a third floor. She wondered where another staircase might be. Glancing at the ceiling gave no indication.
As they left the entryway and walked through two glass doors, Tara found herself in a large room with glossy wooden floors and a large area rug so thick that her feet sunk in it. She felt how soft it was through her thin cotton material shoes.
This room was as large as her entire trailer.
Beautifully carved wooden chairs had forest green cushions resting on them. There was a long sofa made out of the same dark green material. The wood on the tables on either side of the couch, as well as the oval one in front of it, were polished to the point that Tara saw her reflection in them. She almost did a double take at the strange-looking woman staring back. It wasn’t often she gazed at her own reflection, let alone without her headscarf.
“So, sit down and tell me all the goings on,” Hilda directed.
Reena made herself comfortable on the well-padded couch. “Be a dear, Tara, and set the pie on the dining room table.” Reena pointed to the room adjoining the one they were in.
Tara placed the pie on a long wooden table and walked over to one of the long glass windows. She stared out at a sprawling, well-groomed yard with gardens, and heard the muffled voices of two men working in the yard. They were pulling something off a trailer attached to a sturdy-looking, much more modern groundmobile than what Reena was driving. There was mud splattered on the sides, as well as caked to the wheels of the groundmobile and trailer, as if it had just come a distance to get here.
Nuworld: Claiming Tara Page 5