“Akin to a burn?” Joseph asked.
Clara nodded. “Not precisely, there was no pain... but a...”
Stephen said, “We do not need to discuss the possibilities of all this right now.” His face and stance gruff, legs apart and planted on the ground, his arms crossed on his chest.
Joseph's cheeks colored and he turned to the first and second in command. “I will address this potential with Clara later this evening.”
Matthew said, “Let us do it before much longer as she and Lillian wish to bathe at the springs.”
“Yes, a critical plan, that,” Joseph said, walking toward the building where they would dine on meat for the first time in Clara's life. She should have been sickened by the prospect of something that had been butchered and cooked for her. But hunger is a strange thing, a needy thing that does not have a conscience.
Her interaction with the guard obviously meant something to them that she was not aware of. She had certainly never felt that with the males of the sphere. This was a new thing entirely. Clara walked toward the dining hall.
Holding her elbow as if it were on fire.
****
Bracus slowed Briar Rose about one half mile away from the area where Evelyn's father had met his end, signaling with his high-pitched call to the Band.
They dismounted, Bracus leading his steed to the creek and letting her drink her fill, using an additional tether so she could reach the water should she thirst while he was gone and tied to one of the stout trees that stood near.
Jack approached sure-footed down the steep ravine to find Bracus tying secure knots.
Bracus looked at the big man, his massive arms stretched out, maintaining his balance as he reached him “Captain...”
Bracus raised his brows. There, a perfect knot, she would not escape it. He looked up. “Yes?”
“I cannot shake a feeling of unease about leaving the clan...”
Bracus frowned, it was usually not Jack Blythe that had intuitive leaps, it was he. However, his mate was with child, it was surely that which caused a greater need to be back at her side.
He told him so.
Jack shook his head stubbornly. “It is more than that. And, I must say, that I feel I have erred greatly in not telling you. I felt I could not share those things which I had been told in confidence.”
Bracus studied Jack, this was not helping his focus. It was bad enough that thoughts of Clara crowded his mind. He hoped there was not some other calamity that would wrest attention away from the coming turmoil of rescuing Evelyn from the fragment.
Bracus turned slowly to Jack, his face full of puzzlement. “And you tell me this now?
Jack sighed as Jacob and James joined them. “What say you, Jack?”
Jack looked back at the tall warriors, their expressions serious. For once, James was not making a joke at someone's expense. “It is Matthew. I fear that he is not of sound mind.”
Bracus' disquiet increased, his puzzlement deepening. Many things plagued his mind but that which stood out was the absolute absence of lack of propensity. When had Matthew ever given him pause?
“You remember when Matthew came to us?”
Bracus nodded, he would never forget. He had been rescued; starved and mistreated far from their clan by the fragment. It was only the clan's hunting such a distance away that allowed them to stumble upon him.
James steadied himself on the rough trunk of an evergreen. “What of it? He was ten and two years, it has been a decade since,” he said, shrugging it off.
“He is Band, that was clear when he was found,” Jacob said, indicating his throat slits with a casual wave of his hand, his bicep bunching with the movement.
“Out with it,” Bracus said, silencing the others with a look.
Bracus was acutely aware of the rushing stream at his right. Sunlight filtered through the canopy of the trees, the breeze rustling the branches.
He waited in the silence that was the forest.
“He does not like females,” Jack said quietly.
“What did you say?” Bracus stepped forward into Jack's space and he held his ground.
“We were reconnaissance for the acquisition of the Princess, you do remember?”
Bracus nodded.
“And he fell away from me, leaving to go closer to the sphere... to get a look at her.”
Bracus said low and with feeling, “And you did not tell me this?”
“I thought nothing of it. I stayed behind and he said he was just curious about what the importance of the female was.”
“That is ridiculous! Of course the importance is because we don't have enough females!” James said, stomping off to another tree.
Bracus looked after him for a moment then swung his gaze back to Jack.
“He went to the sphere and showed himself to Clara, saying nothing to the rest of us,” Bracus looked at James and Jacob, who shook their heads, they had known nothing. “He returns to your mutual post and he says...” Bracus held out his arms away from his body, what?
“That you did not deserve to have her. That all females needed to be brought to heel.”
“And we have left him at the clan with your mate and Clara?”
Jack shook his head. “I make too much of this, he meant it as a joke, I am certain. But his background, his mistreatment by the fragment...”
“He has never spoken of his time with the fragment,” Bracus said.
James, Jacob and Jack shook their heads.
“How do you know of his time there, he has not divulged it to us.”
“You but need to watch how he behaves around females,” Jack said.
A thousand kaleidoscope pieces came together at that moment. For all Matthew's skill in battle, he had shown nary an ounce of interest in the few females of the clan, making a wide berth.
Far more disturbing was the incidences of Clara looking frightened of the Band. But it had not been all the Band but Matthew.
He must return to her. If Matthew had ill intent she was but a lamb being led to slaughter.
His guts churned with it, he had left her and there was no protection. His first in command was compromised and he had been unaware. But he must ask:
“Why does he think I am deserving or not?”
“We all know that you have feelings for the Princess, Captain. Whether or not it will come to pass... we do not know, but they are there.”
Philip exited the shadows, badly startling Bracus. That he would be so unaware of his surroundings spoke of how badly he had been shaken. “Yes, my brother, we all knew. But, we have bigger problems than his possible treason of the Band,” Phillip said.
“What could possibly be worse?” Bracus asked. His mind turned the facts and different reactions of a thousand days spent in the company of Matthew and found disturbing images start to connect like magnets to one another.
“I think that she is a select.”
The other Band member's faces fell and Bracus' throat slits opened fully when he gulped in a lungful of air and roared out, “No!” his bellow causing the birds to evacuate the tree cover in a noisy rush.
He wanted to collapse on his knees but that would not get him to her sooner.
“How do you know?” Bracus asked, his voice fierce, his mind in turmoil.
“She pricked her finger on the rose that grows outside Jack's dwelling. I went to assist her... I touched her hand...” he looked down, almost ashamed.
“Did you feel it?” Bracus asked.
He looked up suddenly, his eyes a glittering intensity in the darkness. “I did.”
A select. Only rumored about during his lifetime, the hope that a Band member would have a chance with a select. They had given up hope. There had been females which possessed the trait that appealed so much to the Band and was the promised freedom from the dwindling population. But if that were the case, Clara alone was much more than just a female. She was The Female.
“Why did you not tell me?” Bracus asked incredul
ously.
“I thought there time enough after we get the girl to explore this,” Philip said.
He walked toward Bracus and put his hand on his shoulder. “It does no good to talk of it. It is but a feeling on Jack's part. That Matthew would harm a female... is unthinkable. We have known our brother how long, ten years?”
“Besides, you know what the history of the Evil Ones say. That if a Band member chooses from the select... it is a biological imperative. There is no choice. The male would not harm her. He would be unable to,” Jacob said, lifting his hands up in placation.
But nothing said could make Bracus feel safer but having her near him. Maybe it was nothing but Jack felt it odd enough to mention and Matthew had revealed himself to her. And now she was a select.
It was a horrible set of circumstances. He was honor-bound to rescue Evelyn. Of course he wished to, but a rare female of the select lay in possible danger and he could do nothing. His teeth clenched in frustration.
Jacob said, “Joseph and Stephen are there as well. They will not let harm befall the Princess.”
“I should have said nothing. My mate is there, and with child. If I had felt there was a present danger, I would have not come on this errand,” Jack said.
Bracus cursed. “I wish you had said something earlier. We will rescue Evelyn, then make haste to the clan. And Clara had better be in pristine condition,” he said, staring Jack in the eye.
****
Clara pushed the heavy crockery plate away and was so full she could not take another bite. In her bones she knew that after a bath in the hot springs and another night's sleep she would feel human once again.
She chanced a look at the guard which had inadvertently touched her but his eyes eluded hers. He had been strained since the incident and the whole group was treating her differently. She was not sure that she liked the new treatment. It felt a little like when everyone in the sphere were keenly aware that she was royal. She had enjoyed being just Clara to these people. Now, because of the odd reaction, they were all looking at her and at each other in the strangest way. Later, when she and Lillian had privacy, she would ask her what it all was.
They stood in an awkward pool of silence and finally Clara broke it. “I do not know what is wrong, presently, but tomorrow, when I am better rested, I do wish to be advised of this strange occurrence.”
She could feel his eyes on her and that strange heat she had felt earlier flared up. Her eyes met his and he stared at her and she could think of nothing else but him. That she had been nervous or scared of him earlier now struck her as odd. What was happening? What were the Band to her?
Matthew looked at her and was angry. She had done something to him and he knew not what. It did not alter his plans in the slightest. It did not matter that she was a select, as all the others must be thinking now. It was a myth that he did not ascribe to. No female had power over men unless they told themselves thus. It was ridiculous, an excuse for weakness. He thought on his earliest memories with the fragment:
*
He groveled at her feet touching her skirt, his belly burning with acute hunger. If she would but give him some of the delicious food that she prepared, even a small amount he would be so grateful.
Instead, with a leather-clad foot she kicked at him and he moved swiftly before her foot found purchase. He knew he was different amongst these people: faster, stronger. He had strange airways which caused a constant onslaught of teasing. But he persevered, he would escape this terrible place with these people that hated him. The males around him beat the females. All the females hated all the males, save one. There was one small female that showed him mercy, sneaking food to him when no one was aware. Margaret alone kept him alive. And he had been too young to save her when she was savaged by one of the males, but they had forced him to watch. Yes, indeed they had. He could never erase it from his mind.
Her screams pierced his ears as they beat her, did things to her. His twelve-year-old mind tried to shut out her pleading but he could still hear her wretched wailing, “Matthew, save me!”
The males holding him said, “This is what happens to females that lie with monsters like you.”
“She did not lay with me! We are but children. She fed me when I hungered!”
“Shut up abomination,” and Matthew's head rocked back as a blow from a male of the fragment split his lip like a ripe fruit, blood flowing out of it. His tears of anguish added salt to the pain of his injuries.
Finally, after what seemed an eternity, he could hear her no more. The males who assaulted her took her limp body and threw it at his feet, laughing derisively, “A lot of fight in that one!” Matthew told himself he would not look at her... but then he did. Her frail form lay broken and bleeding. The long, dark hair strewn about like black water mingling with the pool of her blood.
Matthew looked up at the males responsible for her death, memorizing each face and vowed he would kill them all one day.
“Look at his face, he is so strong...” they mocked him. One kicked him in the ribs almost playfully but they did not give. Matthew had a very strong constitution but as the night wore on, it was proven that even he could not take all the beating they had for him. Eventually he passed out from the pain.
When Matthew could move again and he was certain he could escape, he vowed to never love another female. The pain too great a price.
People were not to be trusted.
His vow intact, he fled. Leaving the fragment and a piece of his heart there forever.
Clara saw Matthew's fists clench and unclench while he looked at her. Surely he was not cross with her? But rage burned twin holes into her body and she stepped back, confused.
He gave a disgusted exhale and strode off, narrowly missing a young man who was walking by.
Joseph and Stephen looked at each other and walked off, following him.
Lillian took Clara's hand. “Do not mind him... he is not at all sociable. Mayhap the interaction surprised him.”
Indeed, if that was the case, Clara felt she was more in tune with shock, having left surprise behind some time ago.
She allowed herself to be led away and fervently wished for the streetlamps that would have been burning inside the sphere to light their way back to the cottage.
Even with Lillian by her side she had never felt so alone.
CHAPTER 30
Queen Ada stood before the guards, giving them the full measure of her gaze. “My daughter is gone, and her cohort, Charles, is also gone. And one of our own sentry guards has disappeared as well.”
She swayed over to the nearest guard, her hand lashing out to grasp his chin, eye-to-eye, .and those eyes were wide. No one wished to have the Queen's full attention. Her fingers bit into the tender flesh of his jaw. “Who is responsible for allowing those two traitors free access to the Outside... damaging the sphere-wall once more?” She threw his face away and he stumbled a little the crescents left by her nails filling with blood.
“It disgusts me that you would allow more damage. The sphere is the thickness of parchment now!” she raged, storming about the Gathering Room in a fit of temper as she threw up her hands in a jerky, chaotic dance. Bright, irregular spots of molted color appeared on her face and she whirled around, the royal guard stilling as one.
“You will find her and those two traitors and bring her back to this sphere! It is apparent to all that we might now survive Outside. No matter.” She waved away the uneasy shifting and murmurings from the guard, none of which wished to risk the Outside. Their whole lives warned against it.
“Your Majesty.” Her eyes narrowed on a guard brazen enough to address her directly.
“Mayhap you should accompany us so that you may address her captors directly. Obviously they should be punished for daring to take our Princess.”
The queen stopped her frenetic pacing, the wine goblet stem a constant thing she stroked.
What of her wine?
But it was King Otto who answered, “Gi
ven the circumstance Queen Ada, myself and Prince Frederic would be happy to assist by maintaining things here for your short journey. And,” he said, mustering up false sincerity like a sudden storm, “we would very much like to supply whatever you may need.”
The wine, she interpreted with tremendous relief.
Yes, she would like to go on this journey. That wretched girl had done it this time. She probably begged to go with the horrible savages. Anything to not fulfill her betrothal obligation. She had never been grateful for Ada's sacrifices for her, for that stupid man she married... Raymond. What a waste, a martyr like Clara. No matter, at least she was Queen, she smiled grimly. She had that and her wine.
“Very well,” she looked about her and caught sight of Elvira, “you-servant.” Elvira rushed over, her body and face cowed. “Get my reticule and everything that one needs for...”
She looked sharply at the guard with the big mouth.
“One week your majesty, methinks we need that much time.”
Queen Ada made an exasperated sound low in her throat.
Imbeciles.
Could no one get anything done with haste?
She looked back at Elvira. “Are you daft? You heard him, one week,” she enunciated slowly as if the girl could not hear.
Elvira scurried off, knowing the Queen would squish her like a noxious bug if she were to be afoot a moment longer.
Ada whirled around again, slightly unsteady, already loathing that she had sent that stupid girl away.
Her goblet was quite empty.
Prince Frederic looked at the guard and they gave him uneasy eyes back. “Why don't I take that from you, Queen Ada. Would you like to enjoy a brief respite with father, while I secure refreshments?” he inquired, never taking his eyes off Ada's.
He captured the goblet, plucking it from her limp fingers as she cast a benevolent smile upon him at the same time he was fantasizing about how close he had come to having her daughter in his grasp.
The SAVAGE Series, Books 1-3: The Pearl Savage, The Savage Blood and The Savage Principle Page 19