"Oooh," I nodded.
"They'll take any excuse to go whack people with swords," Devin laughed. "Just so you know, we have tents of our own and your blades are there, with everybody else's."
"I don't recall having blades," I said.
"You do, now. Dragon got Shadow to ask Glendes to make them for you. Shadow put protection jewels in the hilts. They're ready to go."
"I'm still trying to figure out why I'm here," I grumped.
"Come on, baby, it'll be fun," Drew was grinning again. "We'll move out tomorrow. Don't you want to be with us?" He was doing his best impression of a pout.
"Hey, don't mess up that handsome face with a pout," I said, crossing my arms over my chest. "And I do want to be with you. You couldn't book us a nice hotel, somewhere?"
"You didn't leave the females at home?" A warrior elbowed his way past us, giving Devin and me a black look as he did so.
"Somebody needs an ass-whoopin'," I grumbled as soon as he was out of hearing. Devin snorted a laugh.
* * *
We went to register at the Warlord's tent later; there was a long line standing in front of us doing the same thing. "This is for the small companies and individuals coming from the hills and outlying villages," Drake whispered to me as we patiently waited our turn. The afternoon sun was hot as it bore down on us and my black leathers didn't help much with that. I wanted to fan myself, but it wasn't in the Stoic Falchani Warrior Manual to appear weak or uncomfortable. Therefore, I sweated and suffered in silence. The grass was dead and the ground was dry and dusty beneath our feet. It made me wonder when the last rain had come.
"Thirteen of you?" The captain at the table had already counted us as Dragon gave him our information. He said we were of the Wildcat tribe, whatever that meant.
Veykan's lending us his tribal affiliation; Dragon Taylor gave me mental details. If Dad used his, it might raise suspicions. Well, I could see how that might be a problem. Former Warlords who'd been dead to these people for thousands of years didn't just pop in on a normal day.
"Are the females sufficiently trained?" The captain asked Dragon, squinting critically at Devin and me.
"I'll match either against anybody here," Dragon replied, signing his name on the register. "They deserve the black they wear."
That sounded like a challenge to me, but then I wasn't Falchani, so what did I know?
* * *
"You did not say anything about riding a horse." I was giving the horse the same look the horse was giving me—if horses are capable of incredulity. Drake stood at my shoulder, trying to convince me to get on.
"Haven't you ridden a horse before? I thought you were from Oklahoma."
"I am from Oklahoma and believe me when I say that not all people in Oklahoma are experts on riding horses."
"You don't think you can stay on?" Drew walked over, grinning as usual.
"I can stay on. I just don't know what shape my ass is gonna be in when I get off." I slapped Drew lightly on the arm. He and Drake had dressed me that morning, showing me how to strap on my new blades, which were beautiful—the workmanship was amazing. I almost hated to use them; I didn't want to mess them up. I also had throwing knives—three of them—in side sheaths. I'd never thrown knives and I always had my claws if I needed to slice something.
"We'll take care of your ass," Drake's hand was now on said ass. They'd seen to it the night before, too. "Now, get on your horse."
"Fine." I jumped onto the horse without using stirrups. Drake cleared his throat at my inappropriate antics. "Hey, you didn't say how you wanted it done." I stuck my feet in the stirrups and nudged the horse with my boots, as I'd seen the others do. He moved off. Drake and Drew climbed into their saddles and came after me.
Dragon arranged us in neat rows of four each, riding behind him. Crane, Caylon, Devin and Pheran Tiger rode in the first row, Turtle, Veykan, Dragon Taylor and Crane Trevor were in the second row and Rik, Drake, Drew and I came last. We were a smaller army somewhere in the middle of the Warlord's much larger one, and rising dust became a problem quickly. All of us had kerchiefs over our nose and mouth before long and the horses didn't like it much either, I could tell. My horse was a gelding, a bay, Drake informed me as we rode along.
"We'll be stopping to water the horses in a little while," he added. A wagon pulled by oxen rumbled along behind us, and much of their burden was water barrels. "We won't get to a river for two days, so we won't get baths, either. Just a wet cloth to wipe ourselves off at the end of the day."
"And you wanted to come," I shook my head in disbelief.
"Don't you want to know how your ancestors did things?" Drew chided.
"I think I could bend time a little, if I wanted to know that."
"Well, you're stuck here, now," Drake was grinning under his kerchief—I just knew it.
The horses were glad to get a drink at midday, as was I. I'd taken Kifirin's advice earlier—before breakfast, in fact, and turned to energy. I'd floated away, going here and there before coming back to Falchan and going off to the cooking tents. Devin drank the strong brew that Falchani called tea—I settled for water.
A thick layer of pale, brown dust covered all of us by the time we stopped for the night. I was wishing for a bath when I slid off my horse. My ride stood patiently while I learned how to groom him that night—he got cared for first and was eating while I brushed the dust off him and cleaned my tack. Crane came along and showed me how to check his hooves. I was stiff, too—just as I thought I'd be—but it could have been worse.
My grooming came next—I unbraided my hair and got as much dust out of it as I could with a brush and then wiped my face, arms and leathers off. I had two more sets of leathers in a small saddlebag that someone brought for me; they'd thought of everything, looked like. I also had underwear and several thin cotton tanks to wear under my leathers. I was grateful for the underwear and tanks—it kept the leather from sticking to important parts. After the horse was cared for and picketed, Drake and Drew showed me how to raise our small tent and that's where I sat to clean myself up. They did the same.
Dinner was simple—some sort of stew. Devin got vegetables and rice; there were a few vegetarians in the army, it seems. "We're going to spar after dinner," Dragon announced while we were eating. He lifted an eyebrow in my direction. Joy.
"Come on, baby, strap those blades back on," Drew hugged me inside our tent later. Honestly, I wanted to just flop down on my flat mattress and close my eyes for a while. I strapped on my blades.
"Come," Caylon Black was crooking his finger at me. Caylon wanted to take me on? He'd taught Dragon and Crane. I heaved a sigh and went toward him. I learned quickly where Dragon and Crane learned the tactics of rushing their opponent immediately—Caylon had taught them that. I was barely able to block his first blows.
Caylon was like a shredder, too, and we weren't playing around with wooden practice blades. Oh, no. This was the real thing and the metal rang out as we sparred. The others were standing there, watching Caylon push me around the little square he'd drawn out in the dust. I was going to have to wipe off again. For nearly half an hour, he whacked away at me. Eventually I wondered whether he was going to tire soon. I yawned.
"That's it," Caylon stepped back, holding his blades out to the side, indicating he was done.
"Thank goodness, I thought you were going to go all night," I said, lowering my blades. Now I was going to have to clean and oil them. I was already checking them over, making sure there weren't any nicks or scratches.
"It's not polite to yawn at your Sursee," Drake chuckled as he herded me toward our tent.
* * *
"We've never landed a blow either," Dragon hid his grin in a cup of tea. Devin wanted to elbow him but held off. Caylon was cleaning his blades around the campfire. Some of their neighbors had come to watch the bout and stayed to watch Dragon and Crane spar afterward. "It's the vampire in her, but Merrill says it's also the Queen in her."
"Do any of the o
ther female vampires fight like this?" Caylon asked.
"Merrill says no. He says he has seen Susila fight and she's better than most. Lissa was humoring us, tonight. She was tired."
"It's as if time moves differently for her," Crane added. She can see our blows coming and has time to correct her grip on the blade, even, if it isn't in the right position to take the hit on the flat of it."
"Has she ever gone on the offensive?" Caylon asked. Lissa had only blocked his blows earlier.
"Not often, unless I forced her to come after me," Dragon replied. "When she helped me three hundred years ago on Falchan, I convinced her to spar with me a few times after she cleaned the dojo. If I taunted her enough she'd come after me, but only long enough to beat me back and then she'd settle for blocking blows again."
"But you weren't the enemy," Crane observed, sipping his tea. "If you were, I think she'd have your head in a blink."
* * *
"Time to get up, baby." Drake's whisper was soft and warm against the skin of my collarbone as he planted a kiss there. I'd gotten up earlier to turn to energy, but had gone back to sleep once I returned. Now Drake and Drew wanted me to wake up. I wanted to sleep a little more.
"If you want breakfast, you need to wake up, pretty girl." That was Drew, and he was rubbing a thumb gently over my lower lip.
"What is it with you guys and early mornings?" I was grumbling and stretching at the same time.
"What is it always with guys and early mornings?" Drew bent down to kiss me.
"Okay, I'll get up," I forced my eyes open. Yeah, if both of them are leaning over me in the morning, I feel like I'm seeing double for a moment. My ass was sore and my thighs were worse. "Maybe I'll carry the horse today," I grumped as I pulled my leathers on.
"I hadn't thought about that," Drake grinned. "You could, couldn't you?"
"Yeah, but I saw the looks he was giving me yesterday. I don't think he'll sit still while I haul him around." I laced up my leather vest after slipping my cotton tank on over my bare breasts. I was herded off to breakfast, right behind Crane, Dragon and the others. We ate together on plank tables and Crane and Dragon were deep in some discussion with Pheran, Caylon and Turtle when we were approached by three female warriors.
"Warrior," the tallest of the three bowed respectfully to Dragon.
"Warrior," Dragon nodded to her.
"We wish to join your company," the woman said.
"Will your company not be offended?" Dragon wore the usual scowl on his face. At least it wasn't the deep frown—that could scare children and small animals.
"Our company will not care," the woman replied.
"Who leads your group? If he verifies your request, I will consider it," Dragon replied.
"As you say," the woman bowed again and walked off. She was nearly six feet in height and muscles rippled in her arms, which were bare. A white eagle with black-tipped feathers was tattooed on one arm, but I could see no other tattoos. The two women who followed her also had the same eagle on their arms. The eagle's black-tipped feathers made it different from any eagle I'd ever seen—except for one. That Eagle was a giant Eagle—a member of the Saa Thalarr.
We were almost finished with our breakfast and I was about to go clean my teeth when the three women came back, accompanied by a male. It was the same man who'd brushed past us on the first day, asking why the women hadn't stayed home. Now I knew why these three wanted to get away from him.
"If you're fool enough to allow these three into your company, you may take them with my blessing," the man grunted and stalked off. I realized then that I hadn't seen that many women among the Warlord's army, but then I hadn't seen much of it, yet. There had to be twenty thousand troops or so, divided into groups, each with an accompanying set of supply wagons. Our group was made up of the add-ins—the ones who weren't regular army, I guess. I figured that the Warlord had pulled in as many extras as he could, since the enemy was organized, now.
"Your names?" Dragon asked, as soon as the man was out of hearing.
"Tava," the tall one introduced herself. She had the black hair and Asian features of most of the Falchani I'd seen. The next one was five-eight or so, had dark-brown hair, didn't look completely Asian and gave her name as Hart. The third one was the shortest—perhaps five-five or five-six, also with black hair and dark eyes and identified herself as Nima. They'd brought their clothing with them, plus a rolled up tent and a few other belongings. Their horses had been left outside the breakfast tent, already loaded and ready to go.
"Have you had breakfast?" Crane asked, first thing.
"We have," Tava nodded.
"We will expect you to keep in shape and spar with the others when we stop in the evenings," Crane went on.
"We would welcome that," Tava bowed slightly, as did the other two.
Dragon lined us up in three rows of five after that and Crane, Caylon, Devin, Pheran Tiger and Turtle now rode in the first row behind him, then Veykan, Dragon Taylor, Crane Trevor, Rik and Drake followed in the second row, leaving Drew, Tava, Hart, Nima and me in the last row. I rode next to Drew; the other three women were riding at my side.
"How long have you been a warrior?" Tava, who rode next to me asked after a while. Crane had introduced all of us to the three women when we saddled up to continue our journey.
"That depends," I said. "If you're asking how long I've been fighting with blades, not long at all. I've fought before that, though."
"Crane will test you tonight," Drew got in on the conversation. "He will see what you have."
"Then we will thank him and offer to do for him," Tava nodded.
"He will not expect that," Drew replied while I sat there on my horse, wondering what do for meant. "He merely wants to know what your level is, so he can teach you if necessary."
"If he expects no more than that, then we are most relieved," Tava smiled. I think that was the first smile I'd seen on her face. That made me go Looking, although I didn't like doing that very much—it felt like prying. Those three women had been expected to prostitute themselves for whatever they could learn from the men of their company. I thought I might have a stroke when I got that information.
Lissa, calm yourself, Drew sent. Drake's mental voice wasn't far behind. I got mindspeech from Dragon, too, trying to calm me down. I was about to go give the ass-whoopin' to the man who deserved it.
We cannot interfere in that way, Dragon informed me. That is the Warlord's business and he is ignoring things of that nature at the moment. We cannot get involved.
Then maybe the Warlord needs the ass-whoopin', I snapped back mentally. Drew frowned at me. Yeah, I was being grumpy with dad-in-law.
We reached the river shortly after nightfall—the Warlord wanted to keep pushing until we reached it. I had no argument with that decision; I wanted a bath in the worst possible way. The horses were cared for first, the tents went up and then we all trooped down to the river, where a horde was already bathing communally.
At least the bathing was taking place past the point where the drinking water was dipped out and the horses drank. What freaked me out most was that everybody was naked and cleaning up and doing laundry at the same time. I backed up when we reached the riverbank—it was mostly men bathing and I'd never seen that many penises in my life.
"Come along, shy little flower," Drake laughed at me as he and Drew each grabbed an arm and hauled me along. Tava, Hart and Nima were already undressing to go into the water. Devin didn't like the circumstances either and was getting the same treatment from Dragon and Crane.
"You know those guys are farting in there, don't you," I hissed as Drew unlaced my leather vest.
"Or worse," Drew nodded as he worked on my laces.
"You could have kept that to yourself," I muttered.
"Come on, the current is carrying it away," Drake said in his best don’t be a wuss voice.
"Unbelievable," I said, as Drake pulled my leather pants off and hauled me over his shoulder. Yeah, the twins w
ere already naked. I noticed that we got space when Drake hauled me into the water. Well, hauled is the wrong word—it was a big leap off the bank, dunking us under as we went in. Drew jumped in right beside us. I learned why we got plenty of space, too. Anybody with a full complement of tattoos got respect. They didn't get the tattoos unless they'd earned them and most of the guys around us only had a few. I hadn't seen Devin's tattoo before, either—she had a red dragon tattooed on her back left shoulder. It was really nice and about eight or nine inches long.
"Want a tattoo?" Drake whispered in my ear.
"Nope. You guys have enough for several people," I smacked his chest. "Are we getting clean or what?" I tried to get the soap away from Drew, who grinned and held it over my head. I was scrubbed. By both of them. Of course, they expected help getting their hair washed and combed out.
"There," I finished braiding Drew's damp hair after we climbed out of the river. Drake's had already been done. I kissed Drew on the back of his neck, too. He grinned at me.
"Let's go find dinner," he said.
* * *
"Lissa, I'd pay if you'd make biscuits," Crane didn't like the flat bread he'd gotten with dinner. He, Devin and Dragon had beaten us to the cooking tents.
"Do they have anything to use as leavening?" I asked.
"They have baking powder," Crane said. "I just don't think they know how to use it."
"You think they'd mind if I used their portable kitchen?" I asked. "I made Gardevik biscuits in a skillet over a campfire."
"Come on," he stood and led the way. I found everything I needed in the camp kitchen and about forty-five minutes later, Crane had a skillet full of biscuits. I gave the cooks a few, since they'd let me use their supplies. Crane was more than happy and hauled the skillet out to our table, the handle wrapped in a thick pad.
"What are those?" Tava asked. She and the other two women were sitting at the end of our long table.
Blood Rebellion (Blood Destiny #7) Page 7