LINDSEY Johanna - Heart of Warrior

by Heart of Warrior (lit)

  Dazed, breathless, still throbbing, she barely had a chance to notice his grin before he began anew. And thus it went for most of the night. She lost count of the many different pleasures she received. Her barbarian was inexhaustible. She wasn’t, but sleep wasn’t on the agenda. He had only to touch her again, to start the kissing again, and she was fully awake and in need.

  Overdosed on pleasure. Absolutely amazing. This was his way, she knew, of making up for all the harsh “realities” of his world that she didn’t like, by reminding her of the benefits‑the benefits of being a woman. What he should have said was the benefits of being his woman.

  She was hard pressed when she finally awoke the next day to get rid of the silly grin she was wearing. It was late. They’d slept the morning away, or at least she had. He was already awake and simply holding her next to him when her eyes opened. And he seemed no more inclined than she was to start up that depressing “this is how it is” conversation again.

  He fed her leftovers from the night before. He wanted to know about fishing, which she’d mentioned more than once. They apparently had fish in their lakes and streams, but no one had ever bothered to think of adding them to their list for daily consumption. She didn’t buy that, but had fun whittling a fishing pole with one of his daggers, borrowing some hataar tail hair to braid for a line, and showing him how to use the finished product in the stream nearby.

  He was impressed, but he concluded there was no challenge in hunting fish, as he put it. He preferred larger game that would provide more than just one meal. She’d already figured out that he would be doing some of that kind of hunting on this trip, and he left around midafternoon to take care of finding their dinner.

  She wasn’t sure why she’d thought she’d be allowed to go with him. Actually, it was probably because when she’d hunted with her brothers, they’d all done it together. But women here weren’t

  allowed to hunt whether they knew how to or not. Nor was it open to discussion. She was ordered to stay in the tent while he was gone, to not leave it under any circumstances, and that was that.

  He did pause long enough to explain that the tent was her only protection while he wasn’t with her. It would be considered her home, and as long as she was In It, any warriors who might come by wouldn’t intrude without Permission. It was also built sturdily enough to keep out any animals, so she’d be safe as long as she stayed in it.

  She’d had to agree to do that before he would leave. She felt he was making too much out of nothing. She’d been outside while he was there, down to the stream, around the edges of the clearing. It was a peaceful setting. She wasn’t worried about being left alone there, was more annoyed at being restricted to the tent than anything else.

  But he assured her he wouldn’t be gone long, gave her a parting kiss to give her something else to think about, and rode off. She paced about the tent for a bit‑prowled was more like it‑until she finally shrugged off her annoyance and decided to grab a short nap to pass the time.

  She’d no sooner laid down on the soft fur rug than she heard the hataar that had been grazing in the clearing run off. She didn’t think much of it. If it was anything at all like a horse, even a bird flying past could spook it. The animal should have been staked. Dalden would just have to go chase it down when he got back. But then she heard other noises closer by, the sound of clicking, of something dragging on the grass, a couple of thumps.

  She got slowly to her feet. She’d heard Dalden’s hataar leave. She would have heard it return. It wasn’t Dalden out there making noises around the tent edges. The sounds were too strange to be coming from a human anyway, so it was some animal investigating the tent. She still wasn’t that alarmed. If it was a predator, it would have chased after the hataar‑unless it counted the hataar as too big to handle.

  She had no weapon other than her fishing pole, which wouldn’t do her a bit of good against the two‑legged kind of predator, but might scare off the four‑legged kind. But she was more curious than anything else. This was an unplanned visit, so no illusions or costumes would be involved. She had a chance to see a perfectly normal‑looking animal from her world, a deer maybe, or a bear, something to reinforce her version of where they were.

  She just wanted a quick look. Dalden wasn’t there to see her disobey his order, and she’d be back in the tent before he was. She unlatched the tent flap. The animal was on the left side of the tent. She stepped outside, moved slowly to that corner, and peeked around it‑and stared wide‑eyed at yet another oddity that defied belief

  It was a long, spiked tail that had been dragging on the ground. Her gasp drew slanted yellow eyes to her. She ducked back and dove back into the tent, but it used powerful legs to leap over the corner to try to stop her. It was so swift it had turned and landed in time to see where she went, and pushed its way in behind her. She didn’t know that until she turned to secure the flap and saw it squatting there Just inside the tent, staring at her.

  She had absolutely no idea what it was. The animals she’d seen so far, though weird, still bore some resemblance to animals she knew. Not this thing. It was big, about four and a half feet tall, and fat, at least on the bottom half of it. The top half tapered to thin shoulders and a round head with pointy ears, no visible nose, those slanted yellow eyes, and a jutting jaw with lots of teeth. Its arms were misshapen and seemed too short compared to the rest of it to do anything. It maneuvered and balanced itself with the long tail and powerful, squat legs, each with three clawed toes. It was gray and hairless, its skin wrinkly. If not for all those exposed teeth, it would simply look funny.

  She was nervous, but she didn’t think anything that looked that weird could be dangerous. It could have just followed her out of curiosity. A lot of animals were more afraid of humans than vice versa, and this one might just need reminding of that. With that in mind, she picked up the fishing pole at her feet and thrust it for

  ward like a sword, at the same time screeching really loudly. Nothing. It just stared at her.

  Annoyed now, she poked her whittled stick at it a few more times, growling, “Get the bell out of my house. Go on. Scot! Shoo! “

  One thrust actually touched it. It didn’t like that, started some growling of its own, and that clicking sound again. Its teeth? The claws on its stubby arms? She couldn’t tell, but decided one of them had to leave. And if it wouldn’t …

  She moved slowly to the front of the tent, forcing it to turn to keep its eyes on her. She hit her stick on the floor a few times, trying to get the thing to move back away from the opening that it was blocking. It did, but its growling increased. It was getting angry. It lowered its head nearly to the ground, raised it again.

  She was afraid it was getting ready to rush her. She would have liked to back it farther into the corner before she exited, her hope being that if she made enough noise on that side of the tent from the outside, it would turn in that direction rather than follow her, and trap itself in the tent long enough for her to get away.

  She ducked outside, screamed Dalden’s name, ran her stick along the side of the tent as she raced toward the back, then ran straight for the stream. Water. A scent masker. And she’d noticed a few pockets deep enough where she could submerge if necessary. She just had to reach it while that thing was still trying to find its way out of the tent.

  It landed in front of her. It had leapt an incredible distance to land right in front of her! And there was no stopping, as fast as she’d been running. She collided with it, tumbled over it, and rolled down the rest of the bank, coming to rest half in, half out of the stream.

  She was dazed, but too frightened now for that to stop her. She sat up. It was foremost in her mind that she had to get to the other side of the water. It might be afraid of the water, or at least wary enough not to cross it. That could be her only salvation.

  It landed on top of her, breaking half of her rib cage, crushing

  one lung. There was no breath left for screaming, no breath at all. She
fainted for a moment, and woke up to excruciating pain … wet, warm, bloody, She wasn’t dead yet, but wished she was. Its hands really were useless. it was dragging her out of the water with its teeth, feeling like it was ripping off half her leg in the process.

  Her last thought before the pain sent her back into blessed nothing was that Dalden had brought her across the universe to be eaten by a stupid beast. He wouldn’t be pleased.

  Chapter Forty‑nine

  ARE THEY REALLY THAT STUPID?” TEDRA DEMANDED OF the computer link in her hand. “To declare war on a League‑protected planet is to declare war on the entire Confederation.”

  “Not stupid,” was Martha’s placid reply. “Just too primitive to think that far ahead.”

  Tedra was furious, not over the audacity of the inhabitants of Century III who had arrived en masse, but because Challen was taking this seriously and looking for‑ward to a good old‑fashioned war. But there’d be nothing old‑fashioned about it. The Centurians weren’t planning on landing for any hands‑on fighting. They’d be bombarding from space.

  Jorran had apparently done a lot of crying and complaining when he got home. That he hadn’t been in the best condition, left somewhat deformed by his mended injuries, had obviously enraged his relatives enough to want revenge on his behalf You simply didn’t treat a High King that way and expect to live to tell about it.

  The highest High King of the lot, Cayden, head of their royal family, had confiscated every visiting ship in their star system, for a total of twenty‑three ships, from common traders and swift privateers to battleships. An impressive flotilla, which was probably why Cayden had sounded so confident. He thought he had the upper hand.

  Martha disagreed. “Rust buckets,” she called his entire fleet, every one of them so ancient, they hadn’t been converted to crysillium, much less gaali power. Which was why she wasn’t the least bit concerned about this invasion. Still aboard the Androvia, she was just waiting for permission to blast the Centurians back to where they came from.

  Challen was refusing to give that permission, which was probably a good thing. The Centura League strived to avoid war, to exercise any and all peaceful options first, resorting to war only as an absolute last measure. They expected planets under their protection to follow suit. Tedra knew that and would have been pointing it out, if she weren’t taking this personally. Challen was also taking it personally, but for different reasons.

  Demands had been made. If not met, war would be declared. So far they had stalled the Centurians, who were asking for Dalden’s head, and his woman. Dalden wasn’t around to offer it, had taken his lifemate off for some prime time alone. Even if they knew where he’d gone, it would take time to reach him. Not that Tedra had any intention of letting him know that his head was on the table for negotiation, when Dalden was known to make sacrifices in the name of honor.

  It wasn’t that Dalden’s death and his lifemate delivered into Jorran’s hands was the restitution the Centurians wanted for the insult dealt to Jorran. This wasn’t even considered by Challen. No, he was seeing this from a warrior’s viewpoint, not a father’s.

  The Centurians dared to make war on Sha‑Ka’an. And there

  wasn’t a warrior on the planet who wouldn’t be insulted by this and rise up joyfully to the occasion

  rise ion. The planet as a whole didn’t know about it yet, however. The demands had come through the Visitors’

  Center and were relayed directly to Challen through his link to the director of the Center. One of the Centurian ships

  had managed to fool the Center into gaining entry before the rest arrived. The

  director was in their hands, the global shield already turned off.

  A lot of damage‑and deaths‑could result if the Centurians started laser‑blasting the planet. Which was why Challen was stalling. He wanted time to get his warriors to the Center.

  Tedra just wanted a little extra time to think of all the ramifications before she mentioned that it wasn’t necessary to go to the Centurians, that those who had taken control of the Center could be brought to them instead, instantly Transferred, just as Cayden could be. But when Challen became warriorish, he seemed to overlook what Mock Ils in super‑high‑tech warships were capable of Or perhaps he didn’t overlook it, he’d just rather do it his way.

  And he was about to do just that, to leave with his warriors, who had been summoned to the castle. Tedra moved quickly to block his way.

  He had only to look at her stubborn expression to warn, “Do not interfere, woman.”

  Which meant that if she did now, she’d be in trouble. He hadn’t told her to be quiet, though, and she wasn’t.

  “Which would be more satisfying, to have Cayden laying in a pool of blood or to have him eat crow and beg your forgiveness for coming here?”

  “The man is a leader of his people,” Challen replied. “I would not belittle him with humiliation, but offer him honorable death.”

  “But which would be more satisfying?” Tedra persisted.

  He gave her a chagrined look. She took advantage of his moment of indecision to add, “And he’s not at the Center. Only Jorran and his crew are. High King Cayden is up on the biggest of their ships, calling the shots in what he thinks is complete safety”

  “Jorran isn’t at the Center, either,” Martha suddenly put in to

  Challen. “You might want to hold off doing anything, big guy. I’ve just been contacted by Jorran to perform an emergency Transfer to a meditech.”

  “For him?” Tedra asked in surprise.

  “No, for your daughter‑in‑law.”

  Tedra paled. “Was it in time?”

  “Undetermined yet,” Martha was forced to reply. “She’s lost a lot of blood, is barely hanging on by a thread.” It was eight suspenseful seconds before Martha was able to add, “Okay, Transfer was in time; she’s out of immediate danger. I hate to say it, but Jorran saved her life by contacting me. You are now officially indebted to the jerk.”

  Tedra swore a blue streak. Challen came to put his arms around her.

  “It is doubtful his act was without self‑interest,” he said. “Was it, Martha?”

  94 No indeed. He wanted Brittany saved so he could take her home with him. Those idiots lucked out getting Transfer this time on one of their ships, but there’s still not a meditech among them. He managed to find Brittany by scanning for her language. He Transferred to her location, killed the sa’abo that was ripping her to shreds, and knew that the only thing that could save her at that point was a meditech. And the only way for him to get her to one was through me.”

  “Where the hell is Dalden?”

  “Scanning the surrounding area for him now,” Martha answered. “But with him not talking, I’m not likely to get a fix on him. And he’s guaranteed to go berserk if he shows up and finds all that blood at his camp but no Brittany. I had visual and it wasn’t pretty. So I’ve sent Corth II there to await his return with explanations.

  “Are you sure Jorran didn’t Transfer him somewhere?” Tedra asked.

  “He swears Dalden wasn’t there when he arrived. I’m inclined to believe him. He’s pretty shaken up.”

  Challen. “You might want to hold off doing anything, big guy. I’ve just been contacted by Jorran to perform an emergency Transfer to a meditech.”

  “For him?” Tedra asked in surprise.

  “No, for your daughter‑in‑law.”

  Tedra paled. “Was it in time?”

  “Undetermined yet,” Martha was forced to reply. “She’s lost a lot of blood, is barely hanging on by a thread.” It was eight suspenseful seconds before Martha was able to add, “Okay, Transfer was in time; she’s out of immediate danger. I hate to say it, but Jorran saved her life by contacting me. You are now officially indebted to the jerk.”

  Tedra swore a blue streak. Challen came to put his arms around her.

  “It is doubtful his act was without self‑interest,” he said. “Was it, Martha?”

&n
bsp; 94 No indeed. He wanted Brittany saved so he could take her home with him. Those idiots lucked out getting Transfer this time on one of their ships, but there’s still not a meditech among them. He managed to find Brittany by scanning for her language. He Transferred to her location, killed the sa’abo that was ripping her to shreds, and knew that the only thing that could save her at that point was a meditech. And the only way for him to get her to one was through me.”

  “Where the hell is Dalden?”

  “Scanning the surrounding area for him now,” Martha answered. “But with him not talking, I’m not likely to get a fix on him. And he’s guaranteed to go berserk if he shows up and finds all that blood at his camp but no Brittany. I had visual and it wasn’t pretty. So I’ve sent Corth II there to await his return with explanations.

  “Are you sure Jorran didn’t Transfer him somewhere?” Tedra asked.

  “He swears Dalden wasn’t there when he arrived. I’m inclined to believe him. He’s pretty shaken up.”

  “That critter is too stupid to find its way inside a secured tent. Need I say more?”

  “No, but near death‑I’d say she’s already suffered enough.”

  “Since when do warriors take previous suffering into account when lessons need to be taught? That only reinforces their need to assure the situation will never happen again, and we know the name of that tune.”

  That got Challen a glare from Tedra just on general principle. That he chuckled at his lifemate confirmed that Martha had called it right.

  Chapter Fifty

  IT WAS FORTUNATE THAT THE LID OF THE MEDITECH opened before Brittany’s eyes did, or she would have thought she’d been sealed in a coffin. Not a thought far off the mark, since she had known that she was going to die. But she wasn’t dead, or if she was, at least the pain that had surrounded her was now gone. Yet with Tedra standing there offering her a hand to help her up, she had to conclude she wasn’t in Heaven, either.