Outlaw

by Angela Verdenius

  “I will walk.”

  “You’re hurt.”

  “Not for the first time. I’ll live.” She took a step forward, slow and careful.

  He didn’t miss the hitch in her voice nor the tightening of her lips. Narrow trickles of blood and dirt coated her leg, a dusty boot print clear on her side.

  Darvk shook his head, concern and exasperation combining with a strange warmth. He curled an arm around her waist. “You’re a troublesome wench, and I doubt you have the strength to continue fighting. Now still your tongue and save your energy for when we return to the ship.”

  She gripped his arm hard when he moved to pick her up. “Stop!”

  Afraid he’d hurt her, he stilled. Bent over her put them on eye-level, and now he could see the pleading in her eyes. Reluctant, true, but pleading nevertheless.

  “Please.” She swallowed. “Don’t.”

  “Tenia, you’re hurt.”

  “Please.”

  For several seconds they looked at each other before he said softly, “Your pride, lass, is something that has no place in this situation right now.”

  She didn’t reply.

  Darvk sighed. He should simply sweep aside her protests, pick her up, but if she struggled - and he had no doubt she would - he’d risk hurting her more. Another fight right now she didn’t need.

  Straightening, he shifted his arm, offering it to her. “Okay, lean on me.”

  In response she took a step away.

  He caught her wrist firmly. “It’s either lean on me or I’ll carry you. Those are your only two choices, Tenia.” When she opened her mouth to argue, he promised grimly, “Or I’ll make the choice for you.”

  Her jaw tightened.

  “Make no mistake, lass, I will make the decision for you.”

  Lips tight, she lightly rested her hand on his forearm.

  “More.”

  He could practically hear her teeth grinding as she put more of her weight on his arm.

  Glancing around, he nodded to his crew who were standing guard. “Let’s go.”

  Tenia would have kept up with their longer strides, but he kept their pace slower in deference to her injuries. Whether she liked it or not, he was taking care of her. She was his responsibility.

  He didn’t bother to scrutinize the little sliver of warmth that crept through him when, halfway through the settlement, she unconsciously moved closer, using him for support more than she realised.

  Chapter 4

  As antiseptic was dabbed on the grazes on her back, she winced involuntarily.

  “You’ll be sore for a while, but there’s no serious damage, mainly scratches, abrasions and bruises.” Darvk returned the antiseptic to the medipack. “How you didn’t have broken ribs from that kicking you were given I’ll never know. ”

  Gingerly she rolled her shoulders. “I’m tough.”

  He grew still then spun to face her, a scowl on his handsome face. “What the hell were you thinking, Tenia?”

  She glanced at him. “I’d have thought that was obvious.”

  “Don’t start being sassy now, wench. Your stupid stunt nearly ended in rape.”

  As if she didn’t know that.

  “If we hadn’t been concerned enough to search for you, you’d be a hell of a lot worse off now.”

  “Concerned?” She scowled right back at him. “You dare to say that when you were willing to send me to the gallows?”

  “The gallows? Me send you to the gallows?” He threw up his hands. “Now what are you going on about?”

  “As if you didn’t know. Do you deny talking to the Inka Empire?”

  “Shari? What’s he got to do with this?”

  “Oh, don’t pretend! You were going to sell me to him!”

  “Wait a minute.” Perplexed, he thrust his fingers through already dishevelled hair. “I never said I’d sell you.”

  “Is that so?” Tenia returned her attention to her palm, smoothing her thumb lightly over the dressing he’d placed on it. “I overheard some of the crew discussing it.”

  Holding up one hand, he strode over to the door. “Maverk!”

  “Aye?” The answer floated up the corridor.

  “Find out which of the crew were discussing my conversation with Shari, and ask them to repeat what was said. Quickly.” Turning around, he watched Tenia dab delicately at the corner of her swollen lip.

  Noticing his scrutiny, she raised her chin defiantly.

  He sighed, torn between the desire to shake some sense into the stubborn wench and giving her a comforting hug.

  Maverk appeared in the doorway. “’Twas Borga and Heddam. Heddam mentioned overhearing Shari’s offer to buy Tenia, but he never said you would.”

  “That’s a lie,” Tenia said heatedly. “I heard him say he thought Darvk was considering it.”

  “Considering what?” Maverk raised an eyebrow. “Did he actually say ‘sell’?”

  “Well…no.” She hesitated, scowled. “I didn’t hear the rest but I know what I heard.”

  Darvk shook his head slowly. “You know nothing, lass, only what your overactive, suspicious little mind perceives. If you’d bothered to hear the rest, you’d know that what I considered doing was to investigate a little further into events.”

  “Investigate?”

  “Aye. But that is not the issue here. Why didn’t you just ask me outright?”

  She looked at him like he was an idiot. “Because I thought…”

  “You thought, but you didn’t know for certain. You’d better stop jumping to conclusions, lass, or you’ll break your neck one day.”

  Tenia stared at him for several seconds before dropping her gaze to her hand.

  At the slight slumping of her shoulders, Darvk’s anger simmered down. ‘Twas no wonder she was so suspicious, not with her background, not with what she’d been through and suffered. True, she was an outlaw, but she was also a wench alone, a prisoner with a man’s mark burned into her thigh. His mark. Nay, she’d not been hurt by he or his crew, but beneath her prickly attitude he’d seen glimpses of fear, the yearning for freedom.

  It had ceased to be funny, any humour in the situation disappearing with her foolhardy - yet understandable - escape attempt. Truth told, he hadn’t looked further than his amusement at her attitude and stubbornness. For the traders it had been entertaining. For Tenia, it had been an on-going nightmare, uncertainty, and imprisonment.

  The last of his anger faded.

  When he squatted down before her, disconcertment filled her eyes. He met her gaze steadily. “Didn’t I promise to never sell you, Tenia?”

  “Promises are broken,” she replied quietly.

  “Not a Daamen’s. Whatever races have hunted and killed your people, lass, we were never among them. We’re a race of traders.” Gently, he cupped her unmarked cheek. “If there is to be no bitterness between us, you must learn to trust me.”

  For several seconds she didn’t move, then she blinked and pulled away. “You bought me. I’m just a slave to you.”

  Resting one hand on the bunk, he said with a patience he never knew existed, “You’re not my slave and I’m not your master.”

  “Then let me go.”

  “To be captured and killed or resold? I can’t let that happen.”

  “Then you are my master,” she whispered with unexpected sadness.

  “Nay, lass.” Soothingly, he took her hands in his. “I’m your friend.”

  The beautiful violet-eyed gaze drifted over his face, lingered on his mouth, dropped to where he held her hands before she looked back into his eyes. The silence stretched without her speaking.

  Darvk had hoped for more than silence, but at least she hadn’t laughed in his face. That was something. He straightened up. “Get some rest, lass.”

  On impulse, he pressed his lips fleetingly to her temple before releasing her hands and leaving the cabin. He closed the door behind him but this time he didn’t lock it. Trust was a two-way path, and if he expected her tr
ust, he had to show some in return.

  That either made him an intelligent negotiator, or an idiot. He’d soon know.

  But he wasn’t that much of an idiot that he didn’t alert his crew that her door was unlocked. He wasn’t going to risk her leaving the ship without him again.

  ~ * ~

  “The leader of the Inka Empire requests your audience.”

  “What?” Lying in his cosy bunk, Darvk squinted up at his friend who’d so rudely woken him and then over to the timer on the wall. “‘Tis five in the morning.”

  “His excellence requests your audience.” Maverk’s words were laced with sarcasm. “He’s on the control cabin viscomm. Do you want him transferred in here?”

  “Aye, but I’d prefer to have my pants on before that little worm sees me.” Darvk sat up and swung his legs out of the bunk.

  “So you don’t like him either.”

  “I don’t trust him, if that’s what you mean.” Picking up his pants from the chair beside the bunk, he started tugging them on. “All right, transfer him.”

  Maverk walked back into the dim corridor while Darvk finished pulling on his pants and sat at the table in front of the viscomm. After a few minutes the screen flickered to life.

  Shari’s lined face appeared. “My greetings, Darvk. How are you?”

  “Good. What can I do for you?”

  “It’s not so much what you can do for me as the reverse. I heard you had a little trouble with Tenia.”

  Word travelled fast. “How did you manage to hear that from your side of the universe?”

  Shari laughed. “We always maintain an interest in the Reekas. Call it a little hobby of mine. So, did you recapture her?”

  “If you know what happened, you know the outcome.”

  “I hear she has already cost you. Two hundred dinnos for damages, wasn’t it?”

  “You’re well informed.”

  “Yes.”

  Silence filled the cabin while they studied each other.

  His instinctive dislike and distrust of the man making him even more cautious, Darvk let the silence stretch.

  On the screen, Shari shifted position slightly. “Have you thought further about turning the outlaw over to the Inka Empire?”

  “You have quite an interest in her.” Darvk thoughtfully ran the side of his thumb over his bottom lip while meeting the pale green gaze.

  He seemed so familiar, but he couldn’t put his finger on why.

  “It was a mistake to allow the captured Reekas to be sold.” Shari shook his head. “Those that live escaped, some murdered their masters.”

  “Tenia has never attempted to kill me.” Mostly because she hadn’t had the chance, though he wondered if she’d have done so given it.

  Now that he contemplated it, she’d never attempted to harm any of them. Well, apart from when she’d held them all at bay with a sword. And tried to stab his hand with a fork. Okay, twice, but both times hadn’t ended with anyone shedding blood apart from her.

  “It’s just a matter of time,” Shari said curtly. “Her mother killed my own son. She cut him down in cold blood and laughed in his face when he begged for mercy.”

  “That’s a lie!”

  Darvk saw Tenia in the doorway. “Tenia-”

  “She’s there?” Shari leaned forward in his chair eagerly. “Let me see her.”

  “I don’t think that’s necessary.” Darvk cast her a warning look.

  She didn’t move, but her lips were tight, her expression furious.

  “No, I guess it’s not.” Eyes becoming shuttered, Shari sat back slowly. “But be aware that what you have on your ship is a traitorous woman, one of a breed that hunts and kills men.”

  Her fists clenched. “Why are you lying?”

  Darvk looked at the blonde trader who appeared in the doorway behind Tenia. “Take the lass back to her cabin.”

  “What?” Her startled gaze cut to him.

  “’Tis better that you’re not here.”

  “We have things to discuss.” Shari’s gaze was searching the screen as he tried to catch a glimpse of Tenia.

  “Discuss?” A hint of desperation seeped through her tone. “No! Darvk, don’t listen to his lies!”

  “Come, lass.” Maverk took her arm.

  “Turn her over to us and we’ll take care of her,” Shari advised. “Otherwise you may regret keeping her. Three more of the Reeka warriors have already been killed while attempting to escape.”

  “You bastard!” Tenia lunged forward.

  Moving fast on her heels, Maverk quickly wrapped an arm around her waist, easily lifting her off her feet and back against his body. Even as she struggled in his hold, trying to pry his hands loose, he carried her out of the cabin.

  “No! He’s lying!” Her panicked voice was clear in the corridor. “Please, Darvk, don’t listen!”

  Darvk looked grimly at Shari, who met his gaze knowingly.

  “Shush, lass,” Maverk’s voice echoed after hers. “’Tis all right.”

  “Maverk-”

  “I promise.” More hushed words and the sound of a door shutting.

  Shari’s nostrils flared slightly. “It has been decreed that Reekas are to be shown no mercy.”

  “Turned into slaves or, if caught by bounty hunters, soldiers, and peacekeepers, executed. I don’t need reminding.”

  “Keep her on a short leash, trader, if you don’t wish to be murdered in your sleep.”

  Darvk’s eyes narrowed. “I believe our conversation is over.”

  The cold green eyes flashed, hatred on the lined face so quick to come and go as to make almost anyone doubt what they’d seen as he said almost apologetically, “I’m sorry if I’ve caused a problem.”

  Anyone but Darvk. “Really.”

  “Don’t trust the Reekas, Darvk. They’re a vicious, murdering lot.”

  Refusing to comment further, Darvk just continued to watch him.

  “Ah well.” Shari sighed. “I will go, but if you ever need me-”

  “I won’t.”

  Shari nodded and the screen went blank.

  Uncaring what the other man thought of him, Darvk shoved upright and strode from the cabin to find Maverk leaning against the wall opposite the closed door to Tenia’s cabin. His friend didn’t look happy.

  Darvk glanced questioningly at her cabin door.

  “I think,” Maverk informed him grimly, “that the lass is crying.”

  “Crying?”

  “Aye.”

  “Damn Shari and his big mouth.” Darvk reached for the door.

  “Want me to come in with you?”

  “Nay. I’ll tend to her.”

  Maverk nodded and walked back towards the lifts at the end of the corridor.

  Taking a deep breath, Darvk opened the door and stepped into the cabin, his gaze falling immediately on the slender figure sitting on the bunk with her back against the wall. He felt a tug on his heart at the open vulnerability on the normally rebellious face, the tears that spilled over to sparkle on her smooth cheeks, but it was the despair that tore at him. “Ah, lass, don’t cry.”

  Swiftly he strode over to sit on the bunk, his arms reaching out for her. For several seconds she resisted, but he tugged her against him and suddenly, with a sob, she leaned into him.

  Darvk rested his chin atop her head. “Easy, lass, easy.”

  Her breath shuddered slightly. “Did he - did he say who the warriors were?”

  “Nay.”

  “One of them could have been Reya.” Her voice was thick with tears.

  “Your blood sister? Tenia, you don’t know that. When was the last time you saw her?”

  “Two years ago.” She shivered and his arms tightened around her comfortingly. “Inka soldiers attacked our settlement, and we were separated. Those I was with escaped in the darkness to the caves. We returned later. Everything was razed to the ground and…”

  “And what?”

  “The bodies were turning in the wind.” Her voice
dropped to a whisper. “Soldiers had hung four of my sister warriors, and two of them were only ten years old. Twins. They’d been raped first.”

  He cringed inwardly at the terrible image her words conjured.

  “We cut them down and buried them. Their faces - oh God, I can’t forget their faces.” She started crying. “They strangled, died slowly.”

  “Bastards.” Helpless rage deepened his voice. He rested his cheek on her golden head, rubbing her back soothingly.

  “It was all lies.” One of her hands gripped his forearm as she took a shuddering breath. “We never killed our men folk, but no one would listen. I remember my mother nursing my father while he lay dying, and the mourning of my sister warriors as they held their dying sons in their arms.”

  “Lass, ‘tis over now,” he sought to calm her. “You’re safe.”

  “It isn’t over. It won’t be over until the Inka Empire destroys us all. Oh God, I wish I was with my sisters!”

  “You’d be even less safe,” Darvk said grimly. “Freedom is death for you and your race, you know that.”

  “So I’m never to feel the sun on my face or the grass beneath my feet whenever I want to? Death is preferable.” The words were bleak.

  “Don’t say that.” He shook her gently. “While you’re with us, you are safe. You’ll feel the sun on your face, the grass beneath your feet, all you have to do is ask.”

  “Ask. I have to ask.”

  At the words, he expected her to shove him away, so it took him by surprise when instead she just relaxed against him with a sad sigh.

  The scent of jasmine drifted from her, and suddenly, unexpectedly, he was aware of the soft breasts pressing against his chest, the cotton nightgown and his pants the only barrier between their bodies.

  He was only to offer her comfort, he told himself sternly, nothing else, yet it felt so right to hold her in his arms. Yet there was no mistaking the spark of desire in his loins as she shifted and those soft breasts rubbed so sweetly and enticingly against his chest.

  Oh, ‘twasn’t right. He was here to comfort her, not have lustful thoughts. Darvk cleared his throat. “Tenia, I…”

  She glanced up, cheeks flushing. “Sorry, I don’t usually cry.”

  “You have every right to cry.”

  “I’m a Reeka, remember? I have no feelings.” The tartness was returning, but the sadness lingered in her eyes. “I can’t be weak or I won’t survive.”