by Linda Mooney
She hated sounding so vague, but it was the best answer she could give them. Yet, they understood and took their place at the front of the line. When Mistelle was finished and burped, Atty placed her snugly inside her carrier and drew the horse blanket around her shoulders. But not before she removed her own bow and quiver of arrows, and placed them in her lap for immediate access.
Insinuating herself in the middle of the group, directly behind her second, Atty gave the signal and they continued toward the compound.
Chapter 22
Ambush
They approached cautiously, trying to appear as unsuspecting as possible. They cleared the trees and advanced slowly toward the compound, waiting for the call to halt and identify. They were within hailing distance when it finally came from the ramparts.
“Ho! Who goes there?”
Paas urged her horse forward another couple of meters before answering. “I am Atrilan D’Jacques, Battle Lady of Alta Novis, Rocky Gorge, and New Bearinger, as well as Wallis and many other Mutah compounds. I request entry into your compound.”
There was some movement overhead, then a second voice responded, “Your request is denied. Move on!”
Their answer made Atty raise her eyebrows in surprise. Thankfully, neither Paas nor Paxton looked her way. Instead, the warrior woman retreated back to the second to exchange a few words. Nodding, Paas stood up in her stirrups and faced the wall.
“We are in need of food and shelter for the night. I call for the Three Laws of Equality!”
That demand seemed to spur the people guarding the walls. Atty detected more movement before the main gates were cranked open. But instead of opening wide enough to allow them to enter, the huge wooden doors parted only to allow a single figure to slip through. It was a woman dressed in the robes of a council member.
She marched up to Paas and stopped so close to the horse’s head, she could have reached out and touched it. After giving Paas a hard eye, she peered at Paxton, who urged his mount closer to the warrior woman in a clearly protective gesture.
“You heard us. We deny your request. Move on.” Although she spoke flatly, Atty detected nervousness. The feeling of gnats on her skin became spiders, crawling and tickling until she could barely tolerate it.
Paas lifted her chin in a regal fashion and looked down upon the woman. “I have never known a Mutah compound to deny entrance to one of their own.”
“We don’t fly your banner, Battle Lady. We don’t answer to you.”
Paas appeared nonplussed. “You’re right. You don’t fly my banner, and therefore you’re not obligated to allow me and my men entrance.” She leaned forward in her saddle. “Please, dear woman. Do not turn us away. I will accept any and all consequences for my men’s actions.”
“Atty.” Paxton addressed Paas without taking his eyes off the council woman. “How do you think the other Mutah compounds would react if they heard that Fullmont denied the Three Laws to a Mutah seeking asylum?”
The council woman gasped in shock and took a step back. Paas took advantage of her surprise.
“I believe Fullmont would find themselves denied all privileges, including trade with those compounds, and with Normal compounds. In addition, should this fortress find itself under attack, they cannot expect any help to arrive to defend it.”
“You wouldn’t dare place such bans against us!”
Paas’ expression remained stone-faced. “I didn’t say I would. But I cannot vouch for what the other compounds would do once word got out.”
The council woman was too flabbergasted to protest further. Jerking her arm upward, she signaled for their group to follow her and turned toward the gate.
They moved forward, citing agitation along to top of the walls. Atty immediately spotted the Bloods on the parapets, sending chills through her body. Beneath the blanket, her hands gripped her weapon, an arrow already nocked and ready. It was now clear to her why the woman had tried to turn them away. It was to save them. But for some reason, when the woman finally relented, Atty knew it wasn’t because of the veiled threat to denounce them.
As they reached the open gate, Paas entered first. Paxton moved aside as if to observe the rest of them entering. When his eyes met hers, Atty blinked twice. Seeing her signal, Paxton raised a fist to his mouth and coughed twice, alerting the others. Although they didn’t brandish their weapons, every man placed a hand on them in preparation.
The second took his place at the rear of the squad. Atty remained in the middle as she scoured the compound’s interior.
The council woman strode to the center of town before turning around to face them. Her eyes shifted from side to side as her nervousness became more evident. At the same time, Atty felt the hairs on her head and arms start to rise. There wasn’t a single merchant evident in the area. Even though Atty knew everyone usually sought refuge in their homes or businesses in the event the newcomers might prove to be vicious, this total isolation went way beyond that.
Several men brandishing lances emerged from several of the stores ringing the square. Two of them went directly to Paas and, without warning, one grabbed her horse’s reins. With a hard jerk, he tried to yank them from her grasp as the other man reached for her quiver to pull it from the saddle. Paas’ reaction was automatic. Reaching for her sword, she drew it in one smooth move, arcing it overhead, and brought the blade down across the shoulders of the man clutching the reins. The sword sunk into the man’s arm, slicing through it. Dark brown blood spurted into the cold air.
Bloods burst from the stores as Atty threw off her blanket and raised her bow. Her men began beating them back, swords against pikes and spears, while keeping her pressed in the center. This gave her the freedom to begin firing at the creatures as her soldiers protected her from all sides.
Several Bloods tried to fire on them from the roofs of the buildings and from the trees. Atty picked them off one by one. When she ran out of arrows, more were passed to her from her fellow archers, and she made every one of them count.
The attack had been sudden, but it dissolved just as quickly. It became evident from the beginning that the Bloods were not skilled with their weapons. Neither did there appear to be any sort of tactical strategy. They attacked as a whole, expecting to overwhelm the soldiers with sheer numbers and force. And, as they had when they attacked Wallis, without the yells and screams Atty and the others were accustomed to hearing.
When the Bloods realized their surprise attack had failed, they scattered.
“Go after them!” Atty yelled and continued firing.
To her amazement, Mutah burst from their homes and businesses to go after the remaining Bloods. Mutah hunters and warriors appeared on the roofs to mow down those Bloods stationed up there, and target those running for the walls and exits.
With the first deluge beaten back, Atty dropped from her mare and went after the council woman who had disappeared inside a candle store. Bursting through the door, she kept her bow at-ready, but what she found made her hesitate. Paxton ran inside, following her, and skidded to a stop behind her. His sword dripped with dark gore.
Several people were literally huddling in fear behind a counter. The council woman crouched to one side, defeat written on her face. Everyone was terrified, but Atty couldn’t dismiss them all as Mutah. Not after what had happened. Pulling her Ballock from its sheath, she threw it on the floor. The knife skittered close to the council woman.
“Take it. Cut yourself. Now!”
The council woman slowly rose to her feet. “There’s no need for that, Battle Lady. We’re all Mutah here.”
Atty gave her a dark look and aimed the arrow directly at the woman’s face. “I said to cut yourself!”
After another moment’s hesitation, the woman bent down and retrieved the knife. Holding out her arm, she drew the blade across it. Bright red blood welled from the cut.
Atty nodded. “All right, but you stay there. Hand it over to the next person. Hurry! My arm’s getting tired.”
“How’s the situation outside?”
“So far, under control.”
“Go check to see if any Bloods managed to escape.”
Giving her a nod, Paxton left the store, leaving her alone with the others. But the buzzing in her head was gone. The creepy-crawly sensations on her skin were gone. The red flags had lowered, and she took a deep sigh of relief as she frowned at the survivors. Before she asked, she already knew the answer, but she had to hear it for herself. Taking a stance in front of the group, she gritted her teeth.
“Where is my husband? Where is Yulen D’Jacques?”
The council woman pointed over Atty’s shoulder, indicating east. “He’s not here. Mink took him and his men with her.”
“Took him where?”
“To Alta Novis.”
Chapter 23
Prisoners
Yulen loved to kiss Atty. He loved the surprise, the anticipation, and more than that, her reaction because he never knew what she would do next. Sometimes she’d initiate it, forceful and demanding. Plunging her tongue inside his mouth to taste him. Sometimes to playfully discover what he’d recently eaten or drank. At other times, she’d melt against him and let him take full control, letting the kiss lead to wherever he desired. And, more times than not, he desired her body as the kiss inevitably led to a hot surge of blood racing through the both of them.
In addition to the loving kisses, there were the playful kisses. And the nearly chaste kisses given in public. And the quick but soft pecks when greeting or departing. All of them mattered. But when he missed her the most, his thoughts always centered on taking her mouth the first moment they reunited. He recalled many times when MaGrath would make a teasing remark about Atty’s fuller than normal lips after a passionate moment. “You might as well hang a sign around her neck,” the old physician dryly remarked.
Atty. Yulen could see her face, her smile, floating before him. The love in her eyes was enough to make his heart do somersaults. Not a day passed that he didn’t wonder at the miracle that had brought her into his life. Not an hour passed that his thoughts didn’t, however briefly, touch upon where she might be at that moment, or what she was doing. “I swear to God, Yulen, one of these days you won’t act like a smitten schoolboy,” the doctor also commented. Most of the time, Yulen answered with a snort and pretended not to hear the man. But he couldn’t deny that the physician was right.
How many times had he summoned his wife, or she him, in order to have a little clandestine meeting? For them to enjoy a brief but enjoyable few minutes of sex? Because they knew they were often too exhausted to do anything other than fall into bed and sleep at the end of a long and arduous day.
He clenched a hand, recalling the feel of her warm breast. The way her nipples hardened against his palm. During her pregnancy, her breasts grew more sensitive as they became rounder and fuller. During that first trimester, he and Atty had happily fumbled their way through that pheromone-induced fog of desire twice now, and their need for each other never wavered. Never lessened until she reach the magical second trimester when it all vanished until after the birth of their children.
He felt a stumble. Sharp pain lanced across his back, jolting him into the present and knocking the breath out of him. He moaned as something warm trickled down his legs and across his ribs. As he gradually realized his current situation, Yulen struggled not to vomit. He was lying face-down over a saddle. His head dangled downward, blood rushing into his head and causing an intensive headache. His wrists were bound, joined to the ropes running under the horse and tied to his ankles. He was still naked, but it felt like a blanket or something had been draped over him.
Curling his fingers again, he tried to get a sense of what was happening, of where he was. Several things were obviously clear. He was no longer in Fullmont. He was on the road, but he had no idea where they were headed. And he was still a prisoner. The sound of other horses surrounded him. He wished he could see around him, but the blanket limited his range of sight to the ground and his stallion’s legs. Were the other men with him? Were they still alive, or had Mink had them killed?
Yulen closed his eyes, thankful he wasn’t gagged in the event he heaved. Atty, I would love to be with you right now. Not for sex, but for your comforting nature. For your insight and wisdom. Being with you always cleared my head and allowed me to think more clearly.
He tried to seek her out, concentrating without success. Between his awkward position over the saddle and the knife-like pain coming from his back and buttocks, he was unable to manage any sort of communication with her.
Where are you, my love? I know you were coming after me. I pray you haven’t fallen under Mink’s hands.
After what seemed like an eternity, his mount halted. There was movement around him. Finally, the blanket was dragged off of him, ripping the barely-healed scabs from his wounds where the blood had congealed, sealing flesh to material. The action sent fresh waves of agony through him. The rope binding his arms to his ankles was undone, and he was shoved off the horse. Yulen managed to tuck his head inward in time to land on his shoulders and back. The pain that deluged him made his body go rigid until it finally lessened. Fortunately, he wasn’t grabbed again until after he regained some clarity.
Two Bloods took him over to a small clearing at the side of the road and dumped him amid a pile of dead leaves. A biting wind washed over him, the cold taking his mind off the damage done to his body. But he couldn’t remain out here for long, naked and exposed to the weather.
He heard footsteps approaching and turned his head to the side to see his friends and soldiers being brought over to where he lay. Fortune spotted him first.
“Thank God! Yulen!”
The Bloods released them, allowing the men to run over to where Yulen lay. As they had in the hunters’ lodge, the creatures made a defensive ring around the group.
None of the men had a jacket to offer the Battle Lord. Instead, they crowded next to him, keeping their backs to him and giving him their body heat to help ward off the wind and cold. Yulen managed to turn onto his side to take advantage of their offer. “Bring me up to date,” he whispered.
“About an hour after they brought you back, they rounded us up and took us out of the lodge,” Mastin whispered.
“They tied us behind our horses,” Fortune continued. “We left the compound, and we’ve been heading east without stopping until now.”
Yulen saw Renken lay a hand on his hip. “How are you doing?” the man asked.
“Just peachy. Is Mink with us?”
“Yeah. Her and about twenty or so of her men.”
“She left the rest in Fullmont to keep the Mutah villagers under guard,” Del Ray informed him.
“So Atty doesn’t know if she goes to Fullmont that she’s walking into a trap,” Yulen finished.
Fortune glanced over at him. “Are you getting any vibes from her?”
“No, but I’ve been out of it.”
“Do you at least know if she’s coming after you?”
Yulen tensed. They were openly discussing in front of the Blood guards, and he expected the creatures to react one way or another. When the guards didn’t move from their positions, he allowed himself to relax, but not completely. There was always the possibility they would still come after him or one of the others.
“Yeah,” he finally admitted. “You said we’re heading east?”
Mastin grunted. “If I had a map, I’d say we’re making a beeline to Alta Novis.”
“It doesn’t make sense,” Batuset spoke up.
Renken looked to the Battle Lord. “What doesn’t? Going directly to Alta Novis?”
Batuset slowly nodded. “Think about it. Think about what
we know about Bloods. They like drama. Even though they’ve adopted using spears and swords instead of their usual tree limbs and rocks, their overall method of attack hasn’t changed.”
“What does that have to do with us bypassing the other compounds?” Mastin asked.
The Battle Lord of Foster City snorted. “Think about it. She has Yulen D’Jacques as her prisoner. And you gotta admit, Yulen, you look pretty beaten. So why isn’t she showing you off? Why isn’t she hitting every Mutah compound between Fullmont and Alta Novis to hold you up like a prized catch and brag about how she’s going to take control of those compounds?”
The man made a legitimate point.
“I got a better question for you,” Renken drawled. “If she’s got Yulen as her blue ribbon prize, and she’s got all those moles planted inside every compound like she claims she does, why isn’t she taking advantage of it? What’s holding her back? Why isn’t she taking advantage of the moment and going ahead and taking control of those compounds now? Like you said, she can hold up Yulen to instill fear in those compounds, and make them think twice about fighting back. She can hold him up and say, ‘I got your great battle lord. Kneel to me and turn your compound over to me now, or you’ll suffer the same fate as him.’ So, why isn’t she? Why bypass those compounds and head straight for Alta Novis?”
“Because of Atty,” Yulen whispered. “She’s afraid of Atty. She knows Atty’s coming for me, so she wants to get to Alta Novis and assume command of it before Atty reaches me.”
“Unless she’s got a huge-ass army waiting for her there, she won’t succeed,” Batuset remarked.
“Who says she won’t?” Del Ray countered.
“Even if she does, Yulen won’t turn the compound over to her,” Mastin noted.
“It doesn’t matter. It’ll never come to that,” Yulen told them.
“What do you mean?”
“Mink loves to grandstand, and she’s going to take advantage of it. No, she’s not going to force me to give her control because it’ll never come to that. When we get to Alta Novis, she’s going to surround the compound with her Blood army. Then she’ll parade me in front of my men and the entire population as her moles take their positions inside. And then she’ll kill me to create complete chaos. That’s the only reason I’m alive now. And that’s the only reason why you all are still alive. You’re leverage. If I don’t do as she says between now and then, she’ll kill you.”