Feral Fever

by Feral Fever (lit)

  "We couldn't fly our shuttle craft through the portal. How can Slakens fly through it?"

  "We never see them fly through the doorway. All we know is that they arrive."

  Aisling grew quiet.

  I finished my futile search for evidence and found my exasperated mate sitting on a boulder next to Lehd. The Sunrise Royal Guard stood as watchful as the rising sun, back to her, in a constant vigil to assess the distance.

  Yes, Lehd was the best choice for her personal guard, both physically and mentally. She'd realize that soon. Even though he couldn't replace me. None of them could because of the blood bond. But Lehd would always be there for Aisling. In my absence, she'd probably turn to him for comfort before she did the other guards.

  A presence pushed into my mind. "Any sign, Borun?"

  I pushed my thoughts out to all of them. "No sign. Does anyone have a suggestion as to how we should investigate this further?"

  "Why kill a queen? That's the question at hand."

  "And how did they manage it? Who did this? Slakens? Probably not. So now we should turn to the clans. Who had reason for attacking the Smoking Lands?"

  "I can't hear a word of your discussion," Aisling announced. Her petulant gaze only noted she wasn't thrilled at her exclusion. "You know, anyone listening in the forest could hear what you aren't sharing with me in mindspeak. Or am I just the thorn in your side now? The female you have to guard. You know, I have a brain. That's why I'm a Marshal." She leaned back onto her hands and smacked her lips. "Yep. Just a pain in your ass."

  She didn't stare anyone down specifically. She just scanned the entire group, her legs crossed, swinging one black boot.

  "I'm just not used to speaking to the guards without mindspeak, Aisling." Hopefully, she would believe me. I hadn't meant to leave her out of the conversation.

  "Well, you don't seem to have found anything. We should head back and see if the cook's prepared more delicacies. Unless you think the Queen was poisoned." She shook the toe of her boot as if she meant to knock them all in the jaw with her words. "After all, that would be the easiest way to kill a noble without anyone noticing."

  Of all the blessed falling stars. Leave it to the one omitted from the discussions to point out the obvious nobody ever dealt with because Queens were never attacked. "Mount up," I ordered in mindspeak.

  Lehd stepped for his war mount as if Aisling's words were beyond revelatory.

  Movement shot from the left at Aisling's back.

  ?

  Chapter Fifteen

  "Lehd!" Borun yelled in mindspeak at Aisling's guard who stepped one step away from Borun's unaware mate perched on the boulder.

  No. I jumped into a full run.

  Lehd leapt, beating me to the orange striped warrior working at snatching up Aisling beneath her arms. Her gaze widened to the point of popping. But Lehd ripped off the intruder's mask and clawed into the intruder's eyes. A gruesome growl rolled from the attacker. He mindlessly reached for his unprotected face and dropped Aisling.

  She darted to me.

  The mask hit the boulder and rolled toward me, falling with clan marking side up.

  Thunder clan. Kruk was behind the attack. I pulled Aisling under my arm and waited to learn how the Thunder warrior would die. Who was he? The black straight hair. Deep orange stripes. A good hand shorter than Lehd. He was either Siv or Vol. His palm color would determine his identity. Siv's white palms were purer than Vol's black palms.

  The Thunder warrior produced a glinting knife.

  Probably to replace his lost sight. A deadly edge could protect a warrior when cornered.

  Lehd hadn't seen the blade.

  The warrior swung the gleaming edge over his shoulder, toward the meat of Lehd's shoulder.

  "Lehd!" I reached out in mindspeak with all the other guards.

  "Look out for the knife," Aisling shouted where she stood beneath my arm.

  The knife slipped out of sight. But Lehd roared, reaching for the missing weapon, yanking it forward, and jabbing it into the Thunder clansman's neck.

  The intruder crumpled in two breaths.

  Lehd stood over the body.

  Undoubtedly waiting to see if the attacker rose.

  Aisling jolted into a run toward Lehd. "Lehd's bleeding."

  "Stop!" I commanded with my mind. Accidentally. "Wait, Aisling."

  She couldn't publicly heal Lehd. Not out here where anyone could see. Kruk would become even more determined to possess a healer.

  Aisling stopped beside Lehd and studied the bloodied gash coloring his upper arm. She didn't touch him though.

  What was she thinking? Had she heard my command?

  She lifted a finger.

  "No, Aisling. We must talk." Before she exacerbated our problems.

  She turned a questioning mask to me. "He's bleeding."

  Say no more. "Quiet! Who knows who is lurking in the forest."

  Her gaze froze, then her eyes slid right as if it occurred to her she was under constant observation. "He's bleeding because of me, Borun." She almost whined.

  "You do not need to inform me of how often Royal Guards bleed. But you have to allow me to handle this for now."

  She shot Lehd a desperate silent plea, begging for forgiveness from her guardian.

  Lehd nodded toward me. "It's just a cut. Listen to Borun. He leads."

  * * * *

  Lehd wasn't about to argue with his leader. Especially after walking away from the Marshal and leaving her unprotected. A foolish mistake, he admitted to himself. I'd have to take more care and just suffer with a flesh wound, Lehd thought. But Aisling seemed so determined to do something about my injury. What could she do?

  Touch me?

  Brand me insanely with those delicate fingers?

  Borun was right. Leave the touching for later. Now was the time to protect her like I should have been doing when the Thunder clansman got his knife in my shoulder.

  "Mount up, Aisling," I shot her a stern gaze.

  She stared into my eyes as if searching for pain.

  "I'll be fine until we reach Ishan's palace. We need to return and speak with the Queens." I waved toward Borun's war beast where Borun sat, waiting.

  Her brow furrowed and her gaze fell away, sliding back to her First Mate.

  I couldn't be held accountable for Borun's right over her. She had to learn Breeder's Rights set the tone for every interaction between a queen and her consorts. Borun's word was law. And wise Royal Guards followed the law.

  She stepped through the whispering meadow grass toward Jonner.

  The war mount hissed a warning at me.

  Not her. She was magic. Or something as powerful in the way the world seemed to bend at her feet.

  Borun watched us.

  Or me. I wouldn't give him another reason to dismiss me from his mate's service though. I grabbed her slender waist, hefted her up to straddle the war mount, and stepped back a step.

  She slid her arms around Borun's chest and latched onto the straps of his harness.

  The way we all wished she clung to us. One day. Given the grace of the rising sun or the stars above, she would pity us and take each of us to her bed.

  * * * *

  Lehd stood there looking tough and indestructible next to Aisling where she leaned against her mate's solid back. Slightly higher than eye to eye with the height of these warriors, she thought. It was difficult to read Lehd's emotions because of that damned mask. But Lehd's mask couldn't hide everything in his heart. He was just human like the rest of us humanoids, even a weak woman like myself.

  Blood and sweat. Emotion.

  A tenderness swirled in his golden eyes no one could block from the rest of the world using a mask without creating an invalid. And these people needed warriors like Lehd. Not invalids. So, everyone could read his eyes.

  He'd saved me from whoever tried to capture me. And he waited. For what? I couldn't tell him about my healing powers. "Take care, Lehd. I'll tend to your wound when we rea
ch the lodge."

  Lehd sucked in a deep breath.

  Was that a sound of pain or agreement?

  "Return to the palace," Borun boomed.

  Lehd turned to his mount.

  Jonner hopped into a trot.

  We set back the way we'd come.

  Somehow, I had managed to walk away from my bleeding charge. How? He was placed in my care. That's right. My care. I hadn't chosen him. So, how did Borun get off telling me I couldn't heal Lehd? We were going to have a discussion once we locked our lodge doors. I'm just as significant as he is. He'd better learn we're equal.

  * * * *

  Not long after dark, Aisling sat with the others on war beasts before a waterfall glistening in soft silver moonlight. The men had said the swath of hissing water hid a cave. Not a small crack of a cave but an enormous cavern with water trickling through it, she sighed her relief. So, we entered to find stalactites and stalagmites glistening with enchanting green and yellow illumination throughout the space. Anything was better than a tight crack. I followed a pair of bowed legs and a bare striped back through the murky place.

  Borun kept a firm grip on my hand, leading me into the eerie darkness full of strange almost phallic forms glowing as if we were the intruders and this their refuge.

  "Var, light a fire," Borun commanded. "Aisling cannot see in here."

  A fire wasn't going to make walking across the slippery cave any easier. Nor would arguing with Borun. But the fact he protected me was more important than anything else. All but healing Lehd's wound. Was Borun angry or jealous of the attention I'd give to Lehd in helping him? Why couldn't I touch Lehd to help him? These taboos were seriously ludicrous.

  Borun stopped. "Sit here, Aisling. Var will build you a fire. We're going to leave the war beasts guarding the cave entrance before going to sleep."

  Fine. Like I could be of any help without night vision. I descended to feel for a dry spot and planted my butt on slick stone.

  Var's shadowy form hustled a few steps from me, fiddling with something on the cave floor in the darkness. The other warriors disappeared beyond the lustrous rock columns.

  Sparks flew nearby. Flames flickered to life before Var.

  A fire burned from rounded material. I had no idea what the flammable substance was. "Great job." I could see now.

  Var shot me a glinting glance and a nod but rose and departed where the other warriors began leading in their fussy unsaddled dog-horses. One by one, the war beasts were left to snort into a sleeping lump upon the damp rock around the cave entrance.

  Guard dogs. What an excellent multi-purpose animal. The creature could haul people and possessions, defend its rider during daily activities, and guard its owner at night.

  Borun stepped into the firelight with his saddle and sleeping skin. He shoved off his mask and squatted beside me. "You may heal Lehd now, little one. We are six strong. Add the war beasts and that makes twelve."

  All my disgust and tension flew out the proverbial window. I could have hugged my mate. And since we'd exchanged blood last night and stopped for a little sex to curb our blood lust at noon today, I could pass out for a few hours and not have to worry about either of us and the stress of blood lust. I smiled and nodded at Borun. "It's good to see you care about them as much as I do."

  He raised his knuckles to gently rub against my cheek. "Oh, little one, they are as important as the blood bond."

  For some reason, his point simply made sense on the violent world of Luvk.

  Mart's black and white chest emerged into the firelight as he dragged in his saddle. Lehd followed him.

  Neither looked at me. They probably feared Borun's wrath.

  Lehd laid out his sleeping skin and stretched out along the length of it, his back propped up against his saddle.

  Here we go. I covered the four steps between us and knelt.

  His golden gaze locked on mine. "You should sleep, Aisling."

  "Men." I sighed to ignore the comment and focused on the scab on the front side of his shoulder.

  Mart leaned over the other side of Lehd's chest. "I've seen worse."

  "It doesn't hurt," Lehd growled.

  Apparently, his pride was under attack. "Well, I will fix this now."

  "No, Aisling. Borun said to leave it alone," Lehd snapped.

  I studied his short black and orange striped beard and his glowing eyes, glowing with a warning of danger. But he was the big puppy I'd learn to accept. I should have chuckled. But I doubted he would care for the gesture. So, I placed a palm over his wound. "Borun told me to heal you." I closed my eyes, focused all my thoughts into the center of my being, and drummed up the vibrations.

  The energy shot up my arm and out my palm.

  Blackness spun everywhere until I felt so dizzy I couldn't breathe.

  ?

  Chapter Sixteen

  Lehd almost choked as his Marshal fell across his chest like a limp rag. What happened? Borun is going to kill me, he thought.

  "Blessed stars! She's a healer," Mart blurted in mindspeak. "You should have told us, Borun."

  Borun quickly appeared, knelt beside Aisling, and placed a palm on her back. "I wanted to keep everything a secret until it became important. We don't need the Thunder clan hearing about this."

  Mart nodded. "Gods no! They're insane in trying to possess her. Throw in healing and there will never be peace."

  Borun slid his gaze to mine. "She was very angry when I wouldn't let her help you earlier. I meant nothing by it other than protecting her from those who might wish to use her."

  As any of us would have done the same, Lehd thought. "That need not be said, Borun."

  "No hard feelings between us then?"

  I wagged my head. "No." It was good to hear his explanation though.

  Borun carefully rolled Aisling's body over and lifted her. "She doesn't know how to control the energy. Anytime she heals, she is knocked unconscious for hours. And you can't hide her in a cave on The Cliffs. She's claustrophobic. So, remember these things or you'll finding yourself hauling the weight of an unconscious female. Better still. Avoid being wounded."

  Insult understood. "I shouldn't have turned away from her."

  "One step is nothing, Lehd. None of us sensed the attacker's presence. You aren't to blame. We need to be more alert for Aisling's sake."

  Mart shifted his footing where he squatted. "What do you intend to do about Kruk?"

  Borun never blinked or hesitated. "Kill him."

  Any of us would.

  * * * *

  Borun snuggled against his sleeping mate's breast where he buried his nose deeper into the fistful of silken hair he clutched in his hand. Go back to sleep rising sun, he silently commanded. Spare a poor soul a few more moments with his mate. With two days left to travel, there'd be little time to bask in her essence. But everything about Aisling stirred my heart into beating a new song. Even the fear I felt when she was endangered offered strange sensations to dwell upon.

  Her hands slid around my shoulders and pulled me closer to her softness.

  The sound of her heart didn't change.

  She still slept. Clinging to me in the cave's strange glow.

  And on this trip to the portal, she bonded with the other Royal Guards. We hadn't learned much traveling on this journey. But she began to accept her position with the warriors. What else could her insistence to heal Lehd represent? As soon as my youngling's heart beat in her womb, she could take the others to her sleeping skins. Form unbreakable alliances with the most dangerous and protective males from the seven realms. One by one, she'd give them each a youngling. And the realms would be united under her roof. Would she accept the Marshal position as one of unification? Since the death of Grana, she'd have to.

  Grana's heir barely breathed twenty years and lacked any sort of diplomacy to deal with her rival Queens let alone manage her thirty-eight brothers, two lower-caste sisters, and Grana's surviving consorts. Or would the young Queen send her father and uncles bac
k to their homelands? Most heiresses were foolish enough to do so and garnered little respect in the action. But Queens often thought only of their pleasure. A pack of consulting widowers only irritated the younger matriarchs.

  Would Aisling prove any different as the months graded into years? Watching her proved her ideas from her home world were extremely dissimilar to Luvk ways. No Queen would worry about a warrior's wound. Aisling was the answer to Luvk disharmony. Her presence had to set the new standard for matriarch behavior.

  * * * *

  By the time Jonner trotted up to the door of Aisling's lodge, nothing but horror gripped her Royal Guards beneath the night sky. Two more Queens had been murdered, she learned. Var and Prory now were motherless. My arrival set off a wave of murders.

  Nausea rolled through me.

  Not because of the murders. The blood lust shook me. I wasn't due for another blood exchange for twenty-four hours though. So, gulping wholeheartedly would solve the problem until Borun took care of me. And I was so ready for a little care that I swung my leg over Jonner to jump the five bone-jarring feet to the ground on my own.

  Lehd materialized in the moonlight and grabbed my waist to help me off Jonner.

  The huge muscled killing machine was always helping me, lifting me, lowering me, touching me. He probably treasured the duty. Albeit, the drop off a dog-horse's back was pretty intimidating to an Earth girl. I appreciated the help for the most part. A descent in Lehd's gentle hands always made me take note of the glorious muscles rippling everywhere around me.

  Borun hopped off Jonner and set his gaze on our lodge's door and nodded for Proy and Var to enter first.

  Probably to check for lurking assassins. Yes, send in the menacing Royal Guards crowned in war masks with night vision to search for mercenaries. Borun had been right all along. I needed more than one Royal Guard on Luvk. I sidestepped into the security of Borun's python arm.

  "Give them a few moments, little one. Then you can rest." He slid his arm around me.

  My heart flopped.

  Between the brutal news of murder, the waiting for my guards to give my lodge a safe stamp of approval, and Borun's doting python arm, my heart had to be flopping like a fish out of water to those sensitive Luvk ears surrounding me.