heartofthebetrayed_195-8e3.htm

by Heart Of The Betrayed (lit)

  "But you left your son."

  "It’s obvious why, warrior. Would you willingly bring your son into slavery? If I brought him to Southland, what would happen to him if I died? He’d be sold on the slave block. The choice was for him as well."

  They rode in silence for several minutes, Dana debating how much to tell the woman by her side. But didn’t she have a right to know that the one she pined for, longed for her as well? It would be a small comfort before she met her possible death in the next hour or two.

  "Kal asked about you."

  Deidra’s head snapped around quickly. ‘What?"

  "He approached me in Northland, asking if I’d seen you."

  "He did?" Her eyes glowed. "Was our son with him?"

  "No, he was alone. But he said you were the mother of his son."

  Deidra closed her eyes and took a deep breath. When she opened them again, gratitude shone in their depths. "What did he look like?"

  "I didn’t take much notice, but he seemed all right."

  "Is his hair still dark, does he still have a beard?"

  "Dark hair, yes, but the beard’s gone."

  "I never liked it, you know." Deidra grinned suddenly. "Too prickly when we kissed. He always left a rash on me."

  "I actually prefer my man to have a clean-shaven face," Dana said without thought, then was appalled. Since when had she ever said anything like that?

  "Ah. Was it the brown-haired one?" Deidra winked. "Or the other?"

  Suddenly the embarrassment fled. Love was nothing to be ashamed of she decided. "It’s the first one, Garret."

  "Truly great specimens of manhood but nothing compared to mine." She shook her head. "What a waste."

  "So why join this war?"

  "For my daughter."

  "Where is she now?"

  "With the other girls in a hideaway, miles from Southland."

  "And the male children?"

  Deidra looked away. "In the slave cells. If the Northlanders win, the boys will be free."

  "And the girls will live as fugitives."

  "War leaves many casualties."

  There was nothing more to say.

  Nineteen

  "I can’t believe you’re here, safe," Cina whispered.

  Rominac’s arms tightened around her. "Now I am, thanks to Martal. It was she who found me in the woods and tended my injuries."

  "The boy was fortunate the old hunter’s trap didn’t cause his death." Martal frowned. "The stakes at the bottom were rusted badly. That was the main cause of the fever that lasted for so long."

  "The thought of you falling in..." Cina shuddered.

  "It wasn’t pleasant, but then I don’t remember much after that. Pain, mostly."

  "That would be me hauling you out." Martal sipped at the hot brew in the mug she held. "You were in and out of consciousness the whole time. A good thing, considering the way you came out, but there was no help for it. Anyway, here you are, recovered and well, and the hunters trap is filled in with dirt and rubble so no one else can fall in and get hurt."

  "You were fortunate in being so far away from Southland," Cina said. "If some of the Southlanders had found you instead of Martal..." She shuddered.

  "The slave cells." He nodded. "But now we have more important things to think of."

  "The war. It starts at midday if you don’t turn up."

  "So we must start out now. Come, time has passed already since you arrived."

  "We could leave now, while they’re occupied."

  Rominac cast her a shocked look. "You would leave our parents to die? Our friends?"

  "But how can we stop it? Zar and Diago are set on killing each other, on having this out between them--"

  "I can’t believe I’m hearing this."

  Under the reproving gaze, she hung her head. "I’m sorry. You are right. It’s just that I’m so tired of all this fighting and slavery." She looked up, tears glimmering in her wide eyes. "I just want to live peacefully with you. Why can’t we all live in peace?"

  Heart softening, he touched her cheek gently. "Because of the society in which we live. If we can try and get them to see that what they do is wrong, then we have a chance of realizing our dream. We must try, Cina. We have to show them the way."

  "I’m scared."

  "I am with you."

  "I’m scared of losing you."

  He regarded her steadily. "I would sooner die with you than live without you. We have friends who yearn for love, fathers for their daughters, sons for their mothers, lovers for lovers. They are being kept apart by bitterness and grudges of the past. Can we live happily knowing that we didn’t try and stop this senselessness?"

  Her shoulders straightened. "You speak wisely, like your sister. Come, let us go and stop this war. Let’s brave our parents wrath--"

  "And your possible deaths," Martal reminded them. "You could die in the battle if no one listens to you. Or you may be too late."

  "We have to try," they both said as one.

  ~ * ~

  The sun was high in the sky when the Southland army rode up the incline and topped the crest of the valley. The wide expanse at the bottom was lush and green--the border separating the Lands.

  A low rumble sounded and on the opposite crest appeared the Northland army, Diago in the lead, and beside him--Dana’s heartbeat picked up suddenly. Sitting tall in the saddle was Garret.

  "Spread out," Zar called.

  Within minutes the Southland army lined the crest, four rows deep. The army on the opposite side did the same, and in silence the women of Southland and the men of Northland faced each other across the valley.

  Dana looked at Zar, who was staring across the wide expanse at the smaller figure of Diago. His face was a pale blur.

  "Zar--" Dana began.

  "He is waiting to hear if you’ve found Rominac. Take him the message that he seeks."

  Grimly, Dana nudged the warhorse with her knees and started down the incline. She saw Garret break rank on the opposite side and walk his horse carefully down the side.

  Silence filled the air, tension and anticipation in the faces of the watchers from both sides.

  The horses hit the bottom of the valley at the same time, the lush green grass muffling the hoof beats.

  Dana searched Garret’s face and her heart fell at the grimness of his expression.

  He rode up beside her and they looked at each other.

  "I’m so sorry, lass. Rominac is nowhere to be found, and I can’t change Diago’s mind."

  Looking up at Diago, she sighed. Even though she couldn’t make out his features clearly, she knew that she’d failed. "So it’s war."

  "I tried."

  Her eyes dropped back to him, and she smiled sadly. "I know you did and I can never thank you enough for it. It seems the course Zar and Diago have chosen will go ahead."

  Leaning forward, he brushed a kiss across her lips, then straightened. "I suggest we get out of the line of battle to a safer position."

  With one last look at first Diago and Zar, she nodded and they turned their horses.

  Zar watched them ride away.

  At her side, Gera shifted impatiently. "Let’s go."

  "We wait until they are out of line."

  "You’re getting soft."

  Hard eyes cut to her. "They are no part of this. It’s our war."

  Gera scowled down at the departing figures.

  Diago watched his daughter ride away and wondered if he’d live to see her again. Probably not. Even if he survived this, he doubted she’d ever come back.

  Judging that they were at a safe distance, he raised his arm. "War!"

  The cry was taken up by both sides and warhorses started down the inclines. Four hundred and more swords were drawn and flashed in the sunlight.

  Garret and Dana wheeled their horses around and watched a war begin, feeling the hate in the air, seeing the bloodlust on over four hundred faces, male and female.

  Grudges long held would be paid bac
k this bloody day.

  "Garret, what is that?"

  "Where?"

  She pointed. "Two horses, coming fast."

  He frowned, narrowing his eyes. "Two people, a man and a wench."

  The riders drew nearer, running straight through the center of the valley toward them, while either side the armies thundered down upon them.

  "‘Tis Rominac and Cina!"

  "They’re going to get caught right in the middle of the fight!" Dana kicked her horse into a run.

  Even as he followed, Garret knew they wouldn’t make it in time. The armies would be on the couple before they could get safely through the valley. Rominac and Cina were riding to their deaths.

  As they themselves were in a mad, unattainable bid to save their lives.

  He knew when the same thought occurred to Dana, saw it in her eyes when she glanced at him. He didn’t hesitate. It was her brother, and Garret loved her too much to let her ride into the midst of battle by herself. They’d go together.

  His heartwarmingly, crooked smile melted her heart and time seemed to stand still for an instant as their eyes locked, and in that second she knew he’d follow her anywhere, even into the jaws of death. Because of his love for her.

  "Garret--"

  "Ride, lass."

  Facing forward, torn between stopping him from going onwards and trying to save her brother, she suddenly pulled up the horse in surprise. Garret reined in beside her. Either side of the valley horses were rearing and snorting, pulled up hard by their riders, milling in confusion. At the head of either side were Zar and Diago, both staring in mingled astonishment and anger at their children, who halted their horses directly in the path of the armies.

  "Forward!" Gera snarled.

  "No!" Zar shouted. "Hold!"

  "Stand your ground!" Diago snapped his arm up in the air.

  Uneasy, emotions running high, adrenaline surging through their veins, the men and women eyed each other over the distance, close enough now to see every expression crossing each other’s faces.

  Sadness, hate, bloodlust, regret and fear.

  Recognition on the faces of many.

  "Cina, come here!"

  "No, Mother, I can’t."

  "Damn it, I left you in safety!"

  "What you chose for me, I didn’t want!"

  Zar glared across at Diago. "Here is your son, Northlander. As you can see, I didn’t have him."

  "Rominac, move out of the way before you get yourself killed or captured. Get over onto this side."

  Rominac sat straighter in the saddle, reaching to take Cina’s hand. "My side is on hers."

  Diago’s face reddened. "You choose the Southlanders over me, your own father?"

  "I choose neither side, Southland nor Northland."

  "Then why did you bother to come here?"

  "To stop this war. I was originally coming to get Cina but an injury prevented it over two weeks ago. An old woman in the forest was caring for me. It was the same woman Zar left Cina with. When Cina told me what had happened, we came straight here. This is not the way to deal with hatred and grudges."

  "It’s the only way!"

  Zar’s face darkened. "Move, Cina."

  "No, Mother. Rominac and I love each other. How can we live a life together with such hatred between our people? My mother and his father trying to kill each other, our people trying to enslave each other. Families separated. It’s not right!"

  "They are men," Gera broke in angrily. "They started the enslavement."

  "Then it’s time we finished it."

  Deidra looked across the expanse of grass and into the eyes of Kal. Pain was reflected identically--pain and resolution. For their children they would fight. For their love, they’d die.

  Diago and Zar looked at each other.

  "What is going to happen, I wonder?" Dana whispered.

  "I don’t know, lass. I can’t see what will stop this now."

  Both leaders spoke as one. "War commences."

  "Very well." Cina straightened slender shoulders. "Then hear our decision."

  "What is that?" Diago snapped.

  Rominac looked him in the eyes without flinching. "We’ll die together in battle."

  "You’ll fight with me or against me?"

  "Neither. We’ll simply stay here and see who kills us first. If we can’t live happily together, then we have chosen to die together. We’ll have the peace in death that you and Zar have denied us in this life."

  "This is preposterous!"

  "That is our decision."

  "I’ll drag you away if I have to, Cina," Zar threatened.

  "An act of war, Mother. It’ll ignite the flames of battle in seconds and we’ll still die."

  Helpless, furious, Zar gazed at Diago to see her own feelings reflected in his face. Tension filled the air.

  Gera rode forward. "What’s your order?"

  "She’s my daughter, what do you think?"

  "You can’t mean to surrender!"

  Pale eyes flashed to Diago. "No surrender but a stand-off. What do you say?’

  "For how long?"

  "Until the next problem, no doubt, Northlander."

  Diago’s gaze flickered from her to his son. He couldn’t risk Rominac’s life, he meant too much to him. Slowly he started to back his horse away. "Agreed."

  "Are you insane?" A man shouted. "These bitches can’t win! They must be taken!"

  "I say the battle continues!" another yelled.

  A grizzle-haired man cut his horse in front of the speaker. "I don’t want to fight if we don’t have to, so shut your trap!"

  "What the hell’s your problem? Those--"

  "My daughter rides in the first row, third from the left. Do you think I want to kill her? See her die at our hands? No!" He swung his horse around and glared at Diago. "I say we go while we can!"

  Stunned, the Northland leader stared at him.

  "The man I love is before me." Deidra broke rank and brought her horse several feet closer to the borderline. "I don’t want to kill him, but for the sake of our children, we may have to kill each other. For the sake of the children we made together in love. How twisted does that sound to all of us? And we all face doing the same thing!"

  "I don’t believe this," Dana whispered. "Have Rominac and Cina gotten through to some of them?"

  "Huh!" Gera snarled. "Love? I was raped by several of these men! I worked from dawn to dusk and my back bears the whiplash marks. I say we kill them all now!"

  "My sister was also raped," another woman said bitterly. "Her child was taken from her and sold on the slave block. How can we trust these bastards?"

  A young man stepped forward. "My mother was taken from me and sold. I cried for her, I’m not ashamed to admit. My sister stayed but I take care of her. No one touches her--ever."

  "You would rule her as a slave, though." Gera’s lips curled in disgust. "You haven’t lost."

  "My brother was hung by a group of Southlanders." The man stated flatly.

  "He was a man--"

  "He was fourteen."

  Silence filled the valley.

  "We have all lost someone we love," Cina stated. "How many more are we going to lose in this pointless battle?"

  Rominac held her hand tightly. "I don’t know what the answer is to all this--"

  "Then stay out of it!" Diago snarled.

  "Stay out of it? Father, if all those who didn’t want to risk killing a possible blood kin didn’t fight, how many would you really have left for your war?"

  "You impudent pup! What do you know of losing those you love? What do you--"

  "Is it your intent to show me, Father? Do you want me to feel the pain and hurt that so many of you already know? Is this to be my lesson?"

  Garret wanted to add his own words, but fear of breaking the temporary, fragile moment of peace made him stay silent. Everything was in the balance here, one wrong move could start the war. One right move could stop it. But one thing was certain, the move, either w
ay, had to be made by the people of Orkra.

  "And what of your reasons, Mother?" Cina asked challengingly, drawing courage from her lover. "Are they for our freedom? Or something more personal? Are all of you," she gazed around beseechingly, "Fighting for the right reasons?"

  "Cina!" Zar barked. "Enough!"

  "When is it enough? When we all die? When the children left behind must fend for themselves? Be enslaved and start this all over again, a legacy of hate? It wasn’t always like this, Mother! Can’t any of you remember a time when we lived together?"

  Older men and women looked at each other.

  "I remember," a grey-haired woman said. "I can’t say they were always happy times."

  "They were until we were enslaved," another said.

  "I never wanted it," a middle-aged man with a bushy beard stated. "But it became law."

  "Whatever did you do to try and stop it, Ecan?" the woman spat.

  "I was beaten for my views. All I could do was protect what was mine and that included my wife."

  "You’re a coward!"

  "I don’t deny it. I wish I’d done more, but it’s pointless to wish now."

  "So you follow your leader."

  "As you do yours."

  Dana watched the muttering amongst the men and women, the covert glances, and uncertainty. There was still hatred, still distrust, but some were looking hopeful. How many had lived these past years wishing for a better life?

  "Men have never done anything for us," Zar snapped. "Diago, it seems our people are at an impasse over this whole business."

  "For once, I have to agree," he replied. "A truce for now, Southlander. Another day."

  "I look forward to it." Zar raised her arm. "We go back."

  Diago nodded and raised his own fist. "Northland--back!"

  The armies retreated slowly, some reluctantly.

  Cina and Rominac smiled in relief.

  Suddenly a crackle rang out, a bright burst aimed at Diago from Gera’s laser.

  "Diago! No!" Before any of the stunned armies could register what was happening, Zar lunged her horse forward, placing herself in his path, and the blast hit her, throwing her back off her horse.

  "Mother!"

  "You’re weak!" Gera snarled, swinging her laser in the direction of Cina. "And so is your spawn!"

  Before she could squeeze the trigger, a sword blade exploded through her chest, piercing her heart, and with a shocked expression, she fell forward onto the grass. Behind her stood an older Southlander, calmly wiping the bloody blade on her silver pants.