"My nohma thought you young to carry the burden of being an Arm, and you thought yourself too young to be bonded."
Something within him seemed to be battling his instincts. Finally, one side won over the other.
"Sweet Deities." He fell against her, pulling her so close she felt his heart, the length of his thighs, the muscles trembling against her. Then he was kissing her neck; his hands were rough as they searched her hair, pressed against her neck, washed down her shoulders. His mouth commanded hers, and she returned his kiss with the same hunger. She couldn't feel enough of him against her body, couldn't taste enough of his tongue, feel enough beneath her hands.
She didn't care that the trees had eyes or if they cared to look; she only cared that he touch her, enflame her, take her and erase all the doubts she had, the fears of his betrayal. She wanted him and more, she wanted to trust him. She'd give herself over if she could let the bond have its way.
When the earth shook this time, it was enough to break them apart and for Alaysha to scan the ground, fearing it would crack and pull them in. She clung to Yenic's elbow as it moved like a giant groaning awake, then shuddering itself back to sleep. This time, when it quieted, the earth felt different to her feet. The tremors ran through her like her blood did, making a cycle that she could swear hummed beneath her skin. Then it was over, and the earth felt as though it relaxed into submission.
They stared at each other, breathless. The life had crept back into his eyes.
"It's been happening all during my journey here," he said. "It was worse before."
She looked at her toes, wiggling them to test the current in case it wasn't over. She wanted to process how it felt, consider the possibilities that it had to do with Thera, who most undoubtedly was Theron's clay witch, and question why she would make the ground tremble so if she wanted to keep a low profile. It was bewildering.
"Does my mother live?"
It hit her like a slap.
"You can't truly be asking that of me."
"I have to. I know nothing more of that day; only the things after Bodicca took me. Sweet Deities, the things they did to her." He shuddered.
It was obvious his mind was racing as much as hers. She worked to remember that he'd had no contact, knew nothing of what had happened after he'd been taken. He must be starved for information. Alaysha chose to ignore the first question and instead spoke to the statement. "We saw what they did."
"We?"
"Yes, Theron and Aedus have her in the burnt lands. She saved us."
Yenic eased his eyes closed. "She was in no shape to save anyone last I saw her."
"No, and yet she did." She told him about how Bodicca led them to the well, and how Theron and Aedus stayed behind to look after her until she was well enough to travel, hoping to heal her. Alaysha spoke of the battle, how she'd unleashed her power, the breaking of it to bring rain. By the time she'd expanded on the whole story, they were sitting together on the grass, their hands clasped. She had the feeling things could be all right. Then she remembered Aislin.
"What's wrong?" he asked. She wasn't sure how long they'd sat together, but there were shadows beneath his eyes.
"No matter how I run through it, Yenic, I can't understand why you chose to deceive me. You hid Edulph, letting us think he was still out there somewhere when all along you were feeding him, keeping him for your mother; you knew Aislin had Saxon while we searched for him. You let me think we—that you –"
"I do love you, Alaysha. I never lied about that."
"But you lied about other things. Too many things. Our bond isn't enough for me to forgive that."
"Yet you forgave your father many things worse."
"He was my father." It pained her to say it, but she still loved Yuri, no matter what he'd done. That she couldn't help that love.
"And Aislin is my mother."
"Who is both cruel and greedy."
"As was Yuri."
"The difference is that Yuri never wanted me dead."
"You don't understand the power of the bond, Alaysha."
"What of our bond? Doesn't it matter to you?"
He didn't answer for a long time. "You wouldn't ask me that if you had an Arm."
"Then explain it. Tell me how you can betray the woman you love for the sake of a woman who would murder hundreds of innocent people."
He grinned wryly. ""And you've not killed an innocent." His voice took on a nasty tone.
"I was different then. I'm not the same thoughtless weapon I once was."
He shrugged. "She's my mother, Alaysha. And I'm her Arm. I'm bound to protect her. Past my life if need be."
"Past even me?"
He looked down, ashamed. "I don't want to have to test it. Please don't ask it of me. When I thought you were dead, I couldn't stand it."
"But you watched as I died and did nothing to stop Aislin."
He plucked at a blade of grass. "It wasn't you."
"But you thought it was."
"Again. You don't have an Arm. You can't know."
"And if I did. If I had a bond with someone else so strong I chose him over you—how would you feel about that?"
"Don't." His expression grew hard, hurt.
"Why not? It's what you're telling me."
"I'm telling you it's not the same, Alaysha. I love you. I don't want you to have to suffer the agony of choice. It's too horrible."
"So I should go without the same protection you offer your mother—the woman who would see me dead."
"Please. It's not that simple."
"It is that simple, Yenic. Am I to do all this alone? I don't even understand my own power, where I came from, what I'm meant to do—and the man I love won't work with me." She was breaking down, she knew she was.
"I didn't say that. I can work with you. I can teach you the things I know. Please, Alaysha." He reached out to touch her and for a heartbeat she wanted nothing more than to let him. She wanted to forget everything and just be the woman he could love without the added pains of the machinations of power: hers, Yuri's, his mother's.
His fingers trailed down her arm, then found place at the small of her back. She felt herself arch into him even as he pulled her gently forward. His mouth found hers, but only for a breath, then it was roaming freely over her throat, down to the cleft between her breasts where he grew impatient with the tunic covering too much of her skin.
"I've dreamt of this for so many nights," he said, pulling her shift to one side, exposing her nipple to the air and to his fingers. "I thought I'd never see you again. Never feel your skin, hear your voice."
She gasped as he pinched a little too hard and he smiled up at her, the honey shifted in his eyes like it was moving in heated waves. "If this is a dream, it's the best yet."
His fingers moved from her breast to her waist, and finally, easing over the skin of her thighs, rose up under the tunic and joined with her in a way that made her breath move fast, faster as his did until she clung to him, tight against his body, her heart racing.
"A good dream for you, too, Alaysha?"
She didn't trust her voice to speak for her and he smiled at her silent nod.
"The bond is strong," he said. "Never doubt it."
She eased her eyes closed, all the better to catch her breath and find her voice.
"So what do we do now, Yenic?"
"You tread carefully, Alaysha. Trust me, but only so far. Question me. Doubt me where you need to. I won't lie to you, I swear."
"But you won't endanger your mother."
"I can't. I'm joined to her through her magic. But I'm also joined to you through yours." He kissed her fingers.
"And so you must balance as if on a knife's edge." Alaysha heard the frustration in her own voice, but could do nothing to offer him any comfort.
"Your nohma knew that, Alaysha. She understood that to protect you, she needed to find a way to join you to Aislin." Her strengths can be yours that way."
"And that strength is you."
>
"It's me."
Alaysha thought for a moment. She suspected he knew more but could only say so much. She had to ask him the right questions, so he could balance the knife edge. "But Aislin should have known what that connection would mean."
"I suppose she thought it would be worth it."
"How so?"
"That connection should work both ways, should it not? It would be a price worth paying, to let me love you so she can have that visceral connection to you. Have you never felt that, Alaysha?"
"A connection to Aislin? No."
"Never? Not once? She would have used it, I know she would have. Fire and water. So opposite but so connected to each other. If it existed –"
It took a moment for the realization to strike, but when it did, it took Alaysha's breath. "The desert. The flood. She came to me in the flames."
"Pyromancy," he said thoughtfully. "The same as she's used on me all these days" he broke off in a choke and regained his composure when she looked confused. "It's a form of scrying, of seeing past your own state to another's." His amber eyes turned to hers excitedly. "Surely if she initiated the connection, Alaysha, then so can you."
Yenic took her hand and pulled her to her feet. "They keep me at night in a lodge past the village. Now I have you, I don't want to let you go."
"Keep you?"
He rubbed his biceps absently. "I'm not a prisoner, but they watch me." I imagine we're being watched now."
She felt her face flush. "Please say that's not true."
He shrugged playfully. "Maybe not that closely, but someone is near. They're always near."
"So how will I come to you?"
"You'll find a way."
There was no sound to warn them someone was near, but Alaysha knew it when her skin crawled up her back. She swung around to see Enud.
"Thera calls for you, witch," Enud said. "She wants to ask you a question about your large man."
Yenic's face went from surprise to sullenness and Alaysha glowered at the Enyalian in thanks.
"Gael is here," he said.
Alaysha reached for the hand he'd let drop from hers. "Yes. And Edulph will be very soon. At least, I hope so."
"Edulph? You hope?" He didn't sound convinced.
She shrugged. "They captured us in the burnt lands. It's a long story."
He sighed almost unhappily. "Then I suppose you can tell me later. It seems Gael has need of you." He tried to wink but she noticed his eye made more of a furrowed glare than playful wink and an obvious sense of victory fleeted across Enud's face. She wondered what the woman would care if Alaysha had to defend herself. She put on an implacable expression and turned to the warrior.
"Can you take us to him?" She asked, then turned her attention to Yenic. "He's terribly hurt. He's with the bone witch." She put emphasis on her next words. "The witch's name is Thera. Have you seen her?"
Yenic gave a short nod. "When I first arrived. She –" he sent a look at Enud. "She was with the other who drove Bodicca out."
"The other?"
"A long tale of my own," he said with a sad half smile.
Alaysha sighed. "We'll swap then. But first: Gael." She stepped closer to Enud, expecting the woman to show them back to Thera's dwelling. Enud didn't move.
"The man may not go."
"That's ludicrous. He is—he is mine as is the large one. I need him with me."
"He was yours. He belongs to Enyalia now. He can wander, if he so desires, but in view of my sword sisters only."
"I want him with me," Alaysha demanded.
"You don't matter silly witch. You are not Enyalia."
It stung, especially after being called as good as one just a short while ago by the komandiri of this awful outpost. It stung, and Alaysha wanted to retaliate. She glared at the woman, taking in her height, her brutish width and muscled thighs. She sneered at the bracelets around the woman's thigh.
"Your komandiri thinks otherwise. She as much as gave this man back to me until your quarter solstice. He goes where I go. You have no authority over him. None of you do."
The woman was unaffected. She merely quirked a blonde eyebrow. "Is that true, witch? And do you know about our quarter solstice and what happens to the brood men?"
Yenic stepped closer to Alaysha, putting his arm around her waist, reassuring her. Unconsciously, she moved closer to him.
"I know they are—cast for." She had a hard time with that, with knowing the two—yes two—men she loved would be given to another woman, be expected to procreate. But if it was necessary to get them set free of this place, then so be it.
Enud crossed her massive arms across her chest and chuckled. "Yes. Indeed they will service our warriors quite well for a short time."
"But that time is not now." Alaysha pulled Yenic with her and as she picked her way across the clearing, Enud's cold voice stopped her.
"So did Komandiri Cai fail to tell you what happens to the men when the quarter is over, when their deeds are done and their seeds are sown?" She looked at Yenic and pursed her lips. "Did you fail to tell her?"
Alaysha spun on her heel, feeling a pebble lodge itself in her arch. "And what would your komandiri fail to reveal when this young witch can drain the entire village dry."
A quirked, but pleased, brow in answer. "Enyalia would welcome the battle, little woman."
"Believe me when I say there will be no battle."
"Have you not noticed our village? Such poor powers for a witch, to ignore the fact that over half our tribe is populated by the stronger sex only. A few male children, like pups scurrying about."
Two men in the village, Cai had said. Two. And it hadn't occurred to her to ask why only those two. Only to ask whether the second could truly be Yenic.
"You have no men, I know this," she heard herself say and the Enyalian grinned nastily in answer.
"Only at the quarter solstice."
"And then?" Alaysha's stomach began to hurt.
"And then we grind their bones to make our blades." Enud chortled and started past them, slapping Yenic on the shoulder as she passed. "We rid our land of them as we would any vermin."
Chapter 10
Enud disappeared through the trees leaving Alaysha gaping after her. She swung on Yenic.
"Did you know?"
He looked sheepish.
"Yenic, you knew they'd require you to, to—and then they'd kill you?"
"They can try to kill me," he said, his sheepish grin leapt to light his eyes. "Bodicca told me there could be but one chance for me, and that was the solstice." He shrugged. "We talked of lots of things, really. You have to admit these women would squash any enemy who thought to enter."
"Even your mother?"
"My mother will send men first; she won't try to cross the burnt lands; only a fool would." He toed the moss and gave her a teasing look that melted her resolve to scold him. "Lucky for me, you're a fool."
She chuckled. "So says so many of these Enyalia."
"I had no idea the price she'd pay for bringing me here."
Alaysha thought of the state of the warrior's back and shuddered. "And yet she paid it."
"I owe her," Yenic said.
"I think we all do," Alaysha murmured but something else ran through her mind besides the debt she owed the woman and Yenic caught her hesitation.
"What's wrong?"
"Nothing."
"Now who's keeping secrets?"
"It's not a secret; it's just, I don't understand why she did this. Would she place herself in such harm's way for a vow she made my father, to keep Saxon safe?"
"A vow can be a powerful thing." He took her hand and let his fingers roam hers. "You have to trust someone sometime."
She chewed her cheek. "Trust has proven a bad companion for me. Everyone I've trusted has betrayed me in some way."
"Surely not everyone." He looked hurt.
"Gael. Aedus." She took in his face and the way the names sent a shiver of pain through it. "I'm sorry, Yenic.
But those two only. And it's only a matter of time before they do too." She hated the sound of disappointment in her own voice and she forced herself to brighten.
She tugged at his hand, taking steps from the glade. "Come," she said. "This Thera asks for me and I don't care what Enud says. What would they do to you—kill you?" She smiled uneasily.
"Why didn't you tell me Gael and Edulph were with you?"
"I don't really care about Edulph," she said to him. "Not really. He hurt Aedus. He threatened me. He nearly had the whole of Sarum murdered."
"But you care about Gael."
She couldn't lie. "Yes. Of course I do. He has—" she was about to go through each of Gael's virtues but remembered how much the men hated each other. Yenic would never care why Gael should be saved.
They had left the clearing, were out of sight of the young girls training to hurt each other; all the better to hunt others when time came for them to be true Enyalia. Still, they were far enough from the village proper that Alaysha felt she could speak.
"If Thera is asking for me, she might want to reveal herself. I need to make use of the opportunity."
"You think she's the witch of clay?"
She nodded. "Theron must have brought her here. It would explain why he knows of this place."
"You heard Enud. Men don't leave Enyalia."
"But what if he did?"
Yenic squeezed her fingers. "But Alaysha, you would have—removed Theron's clay witch. In the village."
She stopped short. "Oh." She turned to him, deflated. "Of course. I killed her. Didn't I?"
His face seemed to be trying to settle into something between agreement and encouragement. "I'm afraid that witch is long gone."
"But she would have had a daughter."
He blinked. "Yes. Yes, she would. And maybe Theron's part was to travel her here where she'd be safe."
"So, it's possible. You think so?"
"I do."
She grew excited again. "Then the path is clear. We need to get her and you and Gael out of here before these brutish women do something I'll regret." She glowered at the ground, trying to think of some way to accomplish it all but all she could think about was what was going to happen to Yenic and Gael if she didn't succeed. "To think they're healing Gael just to –"
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