After Patha reviewed the tests, he would name those who qualified to compete in the confrontation. This part of the test was no longer a fight to the death. That law had been changed over one hundred winters ago because too many good warriors had been killed. The fight would last until the surrender of one of the competitors. Nevertheless, this still resulted in a fight to the death all too often, at least according to the stories. There’d never been a Test of Wills called as long as Tara had been alive.
Her fingers ached, and her back was sore. Over an hour passed. Tara clicked on submit and leaned back in the chair.
It was done.
Whether this would cut her throat or lead her to victory was undetermined. Tara knew if the test with her logon number was identified before she got to Gothman, Runners she didn’t know would arrest her, and she would be delayed. But if she made it to Gothman before her test submission was discovered, she would be able to convince Patha of her need for the test to continue, even though, strictly speaking, it was unnecessary. She imagined Patha would be outraged that she’d enter the Test of Wills instead of simply acknowledging she’d returned.
She stared at the blank monitor for a minute, wondering who would first notice a written test had been submitted with her logon number. Would they think it a fraud, or would they suspect it was her?
Tara leaned back and smiled. Could she actually win the Test of Wills and be heir to Patha twice over? If so, she would rule the clans completely. Her authority would be unquestioned. And then there was Darius. She wanted him to see her earn her way to victory, conquering each hurdle every step of the way.
The winner of the Test of Wills wore the title of Head Warrior. It was the highest honor a Runner could receive and always fell upon the ruler of a clan. Not as many women won as men did, but Tara knew she hadn’t lost a competition in winters. She didn’t know of a warrior she couldn’t defeat. If Darius witnessed her taking the title of Head Warrior, he, as well as all of Gothman, would see that a person’s sex had nothing to do with what skills they possessed. Taking the title would be one more step toward earning the respect Tara needed from Darius, and from his people.
Her heart ached and her blood warmed as she thought of battle. Her pregnancy might have stopped her from participating in the last war, but nothing would stop her from using her warrior skills for the test. She was free to soar to her highest potential.
Who would the other contenders be? Would they be allowed to use weapons on a field, or would it be in an arena with hand-to-hand combat? How many finalists would there be? Tara had studied a few Tests of Wills before her Age of Searching, and knew the leader of Runners had complete control over how the test would be conducted. Tara hoped for an arena. More people would witness the victories that way.
Questions continued to swarm in her head as Tara stared across the trailer. The sounds of starting motors brought her back to the moment, and she jumped up. Turning off the landlink, she hurried outside to her bike.
By the middle of the afternoon, Tara began to recognize the countryside.
They were coming up on the southern tip of the Gothman nation. The ground was hard, and the dark gray clouds hung very low. Her eyelids burned from the cold wind that had slapped her face for the past few hours, and she guessed snow would fall before they arrived on the western side of Gothman where the clan site was located.
She suspected her logon number had been discovered by now. It wouldn’t be difficult for the authorities to determine its source. It was quite possible Rolko would be notified that one of his landlinks had transmitted using her logon number. Then, they would search for the one who had used the number.
Tara wondered how much information Patha would give the clan leader. Would Patha tell Rolko that an illegal number had been used? Or would he specifically say that Tara’s number had been used? She continued hoping they arrived at their destination before Rolko was contacted.
Over the next hour, snow began to fall, drastically limiting visibility. Tara was forced to slow down, as was the rest of the clan. She strained to see the passing countryside, trying to determine how far into Gothman territory they’d come.
The wind picked up. For a brief minute, she thought she saw something in the distance, but then it was gone. She focused on the ground immediately in front of her. Several riders ahead yelled, and she looked up. One of the Runners was pointing to something, and Rolko pulled up alongside him.
Tara looked in the direction they indicated and made out several brown figures ahead. She squinted and refocused, watching through the snow as the figures drew nearer.
Four Gothman approached. Rolko, with the surrounding Runners, slowed to a stop. Her heart pounded against her leather coat as she watched the men talk to Rolko. It was impossible to tell who the Gothman were.
The one speaking to Rolko was long-legged and broadshouldered. Through the blowing snow, she wasn’t able to determine his hair color. He turned his head to scan the Runners scattered across the meadow. Rolko gestured for the Gothman to follow him. They rode on their loud Gothman bikes through the hundreds of parked Runners.
Tara watched the four Gothman approached. One of them was Darius!
He passed within a few feet of her motorcycle, head held high in the blowing wind. Blond curls stuck out from underneath a black hat.
His hair was longer. Everything inside her reached to him like a magnet, yet he never glanced her way as he drove by.
The Gothman and Rolko drove back to where the trailers were parked with the Runners congregating in their wake. Tara was near three Runners, and several others joined them to discuss the possible reasons for the Gothman’s arrival.
“They said something about a wrong logon number being used.”
“That doesn’t seem like a reason to stop us in this bitter cold.”
“The Gothman are looking for an excuse to search our clan.”
“Why would Lord Darius come himself?”
The chatter continued. Tara quit listening. Rolko would figure out what landlink transmitted the illegal number, and when the transmission had occurred. Once he had that information, he would know either his daughter, or she, had sent the transmission using the illegal number.
She couldn’t conveniently disappear—she was surrounded by clan members. Even if she slipped away, the snow was blowing hard enough to get lost. Not to mention the fact that they could easily track her with the landlink they’d assembled on her bike.
Tara was trapped.
She waited for the inevitable to happen. Within a short amount of time, it did. A motorcycle approached their group, and one of the Runners who’d been with Rolko gestured to her.
“Come with me.” He said nothing else.
She followed through the snow. Some of the Runners watched her pass, but for the most part they huddled together in small groups, preoccupied in conversation. No one was concerned that she’d been singled out.
Torgo sat in the corner of the living area sorting through incoming tests. They’d been arriving by the thousands. Earlier that quarter cycle the program that received and graded the tests had quit working. Patha was impressed by Torgo’s ability to save the submitted tests and fix the program. Now it worked twice as fast and sorted the tests, eliminating those with more than one mistake. This made the job of reviewing the tests much easier, and Patha praised Torgo’s landlink abilities.
“He’s a natural,” he told Darius with Torgo sitting right there. “What he can’t do on the battlefield, he makes up for on the landlink.”
That comment stung at Torgo’s pride, but he’d kept a straight face.
“I want an hourly report from you on all written tests,” Patha ordered. “Request any assistants you may need to help you.”
Torgo had immediately sought out Syra. The perfect tests, and those with one mistake, automatically printed out with the logon number at the top. For the first few days, only one or two tests were printed. But as the day of the Test of Wills approached, several mor
e tests printed out. Torgo had Syra manually check the answers before they were turned over to Patha.
“Here’s Kuro’s test,” Syra said as she leaned back in her chair. Torgo came up from behind her and rubbed his hands down the front of her shirt as he leaned over.
“Not now, silly,” she giggled and pushed him away.
“Perfectly answered, I assume.” Torgo didn’t like Kuro. It annoyed him the way Kuro was a bit too friendly around Darius.
“Of course,” Syra shrugged. “Looks like he’ll win the Test of Wills. I don’t know about the rest of these people, but Kuro’s quite the warrior.”
“Well, I guess I’ll take these reports to Patha for review. One of the clans reported a Runner who admitted coming up from Southland. She’s from the Blood Circle Clan. Her name’s Leetha.” Torgo grabbed the reports and stacked them. “I can take those tests to him while I’m at it.”
“Uh-huh.” Syra wasn’t listening to Torgo. She was busy looking at a test that had just printed. “Torgo, look at this.”
He studied it, then looked at her, confused.
She grabbed back the test. “Look! It’s Tara’s logon number. We forgot to delete it. Didn’t Darius ask you to do that a while back?”
“Hell be doomed! Yeah, he did. The transmission crashed and I forgot all about it. I don’t understand. How come it’s on this test?” Torgo reached around Syra and began tapping buttons on her keypad.
The images on Syra’s screen flashed. She tried to follow what he was doing, but his landlink skills were beyond hers.
“It was submitted from a landlink in the Four Circle clan.” He continued to type. “They’re just south of us.”
“What are you going to do?”
“Report it to Patha and Darius, I guess. Those are my orders.” Torgo took the tests from Syra and walked to the door.
Syra jumped up and followed him. This was the most excitement they’d had since they’d started gathering the tests.
Patha and Darius weren’t in the house. After discussing it, they decided to ride to the clan site and look for the two leaders. They rode together on Torgo’s bike, believing their information vital enough for it to be overlooked that they were together on the bike.
Balbo disapproved of the time Torgo and Syra spent together, considering his daughter too young for the physical relationship he was sure the Gothman boy would instigate. If her papa only knew how much she’d educated Torgo.
Torgo drove straight to Patha’s trailer, which was parked next to Balbo’s. Snow started to fall, and no one noticed the two of them climb off the bike. Darius and Patha’s bikes were parked outside the trailer. Torgo knocked on the door.
“Come,” Patha barked.
The two hurried inside, shutting the door behind them to prevent snow from blowing into the trailer.
Patha looked up at the young people questioningly. Torgo handed him the two separate stacks of tests. Darius sat at the landlink with his back to the two of them, not acknowledging their presence.
“You rode through the snow to give these to me?” Patha glanced at the papers. “I planned on getting them from you later today.”
“There’s something I wanted you to see,” Torgo spoke calmly. He was working on mastering the coolness of voice his brother possessed.
Patha leaned back in his chair. “Go ahead.”
“One of the written tests used Tara’s logon number.”
Lord Darius spun in his chair. “I told you to delete that number,” he bellowed.
Torgo hated how his brother always yelled. “When the transmission quit sending the tests, I spent so much time fixing it that I forgot to delete the number.”
“Let me see the test,” Patha said.
“The answers are almost identical to the answers you gave us to grade the tests,” Syra pointed out.
“There’s something else.” Torgo wished Syra would let him do the talking. “It’s probably just coincidence but I thought I’d—”
“What is it?” Darius snapped impatiently.
Darius was too mean since Tara had left. “The Four Circle clan reports a Runner has joined them from Southland.” Torgo held out the report to Patha. “Her name is Leetha, and she’s a member of the Blood Circle clan.”
“There’s no Leetha in my clan.” Patha rubbed his head, then looked up at Syra. “Is there?”
“No, there isn’t.” Syra came out from behind Torgo. “I checked before we came.”
Patha handed the papers to Darius to study.
Darius glanced at them but then looked at Torgo. “So what are you saying?” He handed the papers back to Patha.
“We’re saying it’s a mighty strange coincidence,” Syra spoke before Torgo did. Lord Darius made her mad with his continual grouchiness. Once, she’d thought he was cute, but not anymore. He had done something unforgivable, and she wished he’d just get over trying to make everyone miserable because he was an idiot.
She kept talking while she had everyone’s attention. “A Runner joins the Four Circle clan from Southland. The report shows she didn’t have a landlink on her bike so they weren’t able to verify her identity, but she says she’s Leetha with the Blood Circle clan. The leader of the clan reports she’s staying with his daughter. The next day, a written test is submitted from that clan on the daughter’s landlink, using Tara’s logon number. And the test answers match your answers almost perfectly. It just seems odd, and we thought you should know.”
Syra glared at Lord Darius and then gave the same look to Patha. “Come on, Torgo, let’s get back to work.” She turned to leave.
“Wait a minute.” Lord Darius growled.
Syra turned and crossed her arms, waiting for him to speak.
“Are you saying this is Tara?”
“If it’s her, then why is she trying to sneak back up here?” Patha thought out loud and all three people turned their heads to look at him. Patha looked at the test answers more thoroughly and all three stood quietly, watching him.
The answers were almost verbatim to his. He could almost hear her vocal inflection in the writing style. It was a mighty odd coincidence. He glanced over at Darius, nearly forgetting the others in the room. “It’s always bothered me that the Neurians were never able to produce a body.” He stood. “I want you to check this out.”
Darius quickly grabbed his coat.
“Find out who used that number. If it’s Tara—” but Darius was already out the door.
“Did you submit a written test for the Test of Wills after I told you not to?” Rolko barked as Tara got off her bike.
“Identify yourself, Runner,” Darius spoke a fierce cruelty that made her heart pound.
All she could do was stare at Darius. Even though snow fell steadily, it was no longer cold. Her gloved palms grew damp from sweat. For a moment, she forgot the name she had created to conceal her identity.
Darius stood in front of her, and in spite of his obvious intention to intimidate her, all Tara saw was how incredibly sexy he looked. Six cycles had passed since she’d had sex, and her body screamed for him now. Physically, she no longer cared what he had done. It was the emotional side of her that was torn in two at the sight of him.
She wanted to hear how he had missed her. She wanted to hear how sorry he was that he made her leave. Tara wanted, more than anything, for everyone around them to disappear and leave her alone with the man she loved.
His presence almost overpowered her. Why did he make her feel like this? He had committed the ultimate of crimes and needed to beg for her forgiveness. She fought for words. “My name’s Leetha.”
Her voice hit him. Darius wasn’t able to conceal his reaction to the sound of her. He stood staring, completely shocked.
His guards gave him a questioning look.
“I’ll speak to her inside the trailer.” His scratchy whisper sounded cruel, even to him. Darius made certain his expression appeared as harsh as he sounded. In no way would anyone see how desperately he needed Tara.
Darius wanted to grab Tara and run. He wanted to leap and do anything to prevent her from moving an inch. He wanted to hold her and make sure she never left his side again. Darius didn’t do any of those things. The Lord of Gothman wouldn’t be seen at the mercy of a woman. He stared into those blue eyes behind her headscarf.
She never once looked away.
Rolko grunted and gestured to the trailer. “Be quick about it, we have a clan to get settled.”
Darius held out his hand for her to lead the way, and she obliged. He entered the trailer behind her and shut the door.
“There is no Leetha of the Blood Circle Clan. Who are you?” His growl was low as he watched the Runner walk ahead of him slowly into the trailer.
She walked farther into the room before turning and glancing up at him again once she’d reached the landlink. He watched her every move, waiting for her to speak again.
Was this Tara? Damn! He wanted this to be her body, her voice. She was in full Runner uniform wearing the Blood Circle clan emblem. What was she doing with this clan after all this time? And why was she entering the Test of Wills? “I asked you a question, Runner.”
She put her gloved hands into her leather jacket pocket. “Do you have Andru and Ana?” She asked.
Darius’ didn’t answer. There were no words for a response. Of course, he had their children. Tara would already know that. There were so many other things to say. He’d had so many thoughts about things he’d never thought about before. There wasn’t any way to put into words these thoughts that he wasn’t used to having. He was a warrior. The best in Gothman. He conquered, claimed what he wanted, and controlled all that was around him. Apologizing wasn’t part of his thought process. Nor were there words in his vocabulary to do so.
Not that he had apologizing on the mind. He had known nothing but pain for six cycles. It had corrupted the blood in his veins, turning it toxic, until every inch of him eternally burned with a longing for her. At first, he had lived with regret and anger due to a trivial act he may or may not have committed. He regretted putting himself in the position to decide. He had been angry that Tara had wrongfully taken that choice from him.
Nuworld: Claiming Tara Page 39