How The Warrior Fell (Falling Warriors series Book 1) (21 page)

Xavier and Deydrey burst into the village. He held a motionless Leawyn close to his chest.

“Get the healer immediately,” Xavier ordered.

“She’s already waiting inside,” Tristan assured Xavier, glancing down at the beaten body of his sister.

“Lady Chief!” a small voice cried out, running up to Xavier. Garnette slipped out of Tyronian’s grasp when he tried to grab her to stop her.

“Lady Chief! I’m so sorry!” Garnette cried when she looked up to see how hurt Leawyn was.

Xavier stopped and looked down at the child, a bit surprised at her reaction, but more annoyed she was slowing him down to take Leawyn to the healer.

“Garnette, let go,” Castic said, his voice calm, even though it was clear he was trying his best not to cry at the sight of his lady chief, too. The young boy gently pulled Garnette way from Leawyn before picking the small girl up as she cried into his chest.

Xavier gave the boy a nod as he quickly resumed his pace to his hut.

“Lay her down here,” the old healer ordered when Xavier, Tristan, and Tyronian walked in. She pushed them aside impatiently, bending down to examine Leawyn, frowning in concentration.

“Her head is badly cut,” the healer murmured.

“Namoriee, bring me my mixing bowl.” Namoriee quickly did as the healer bid, handing the bowl and herbs to her. She gasped when she saw Leawyn’s face, her eyes pooling with tears.Her face was much more swollen than when Xavier first found her. Her left eye was a dark blue and purple, looking close to swelling shut, and her split lip was puffy.

The healer ordered Namoriee to take care of her lip and eye, and Xavier noticed the slight tremble in Namoriee’s small hand as she spread different kind of pastes on his wife’s face.It was killing Xavier to simply watch as both the tribe healer and Namoriee worked on his wife. He was having trouble keeping his face stoic and keeping a grip on his emotions. He didn’t know how to deal with this feeling of helplessness and rage.

The rustling of herbs and the quiet directions the healer gave Namoriee were the only sounds inside the hut. Tristan, Tyronian and Xavier stayed out of the healer’s way, all three of them staring down at Leawyn’s prone form with the need to seek vengeance.

Finally, the healer stood with a sigh. She looked to Xavier. “The bruises will heal. Her head had a deep cut in the back of it, which I had to sew shut. You will have to administer her medicine to try and fight infection. But she should be fine.”

“Thank you,” Xavier said gruffly, and the healer nodded before taking her leave.

Xavier noticed Namoriee standing off to the side, shifting nervously. She seemed to want to say something but was hesitant to do so. Finally, her spine straightened, a look of determination on her face. The girl finally walked up to Xavier.

“I gave her a s-s-leeping draught. She will need rest in order to heal.” Namoriee paused, faltering slightly, before she continued. “Sh-she does not need more done to her than what she has a-a-already endured. She needs gentle caring for, and it would be wise to r-r-remember that.”

Xavier raised his brow at the slight girl. It was a politely spoken threat.

Namoriee bowed to her chief and scurried out of the room. The three men followed her with their eyes, in shock and grudging respect. It didn’t slip Xavier’s notice how Tyronian’s eyes lingered on her and the door she slipped out of with a different kind of emotion altogether.

“T
ELL ME AGAIN,
Asten,” Leawyn whispered, turning her head slightly to look up at her best friend, who lay beside her. “Tell me again about the fallen warriors and their horses.”

Asten chuckled, shaking his head. He turned his attention away from the stars and down into Leawyn’s blue eyes. “You’ve heard this legend many times. I imagine you know it by heart by now. You tell me!”

Leawyn smiled up at him sweetly. “But I like the way you tell it. I could never tell the tale like you can.”

Asten smirked.“Well, that’s because these aren’t tales, Lea. It’s our history.” Asten heaved a big sigh, pretending to be annoyed. “But very well. I will tell you since you seem to need another history lesson.”

Leawyn smiled and rested her head back on his arm. Her attention turned to the stars. They were both lyingatop the horses’ blankets on the sand as they star-gazed.Once Lea stopped fidgeting and made herself comfortable, he began. “There was once a great warrior who protected all the land, before it was divided into tribes . . .”

He told her how the goddess, Ianna, had tricked and turned her human lover, Saviero, into a great warhorse when he fell in love with a mortal woman. He told her how Saviero, who was then the horse Izayges, many years later saved his entire tribe by giving up his life to fight against an enemy who attacked his village.

“And that is why, any warrior who possess the heart, courage, and strength Saviero showed, will be reborn into that of a great war horse to protect the land, and any who deserve it. Thus began the Samaritan people, who divided and took the names of the war horses that saved them, and whose warriors were protected by their fallen kin, as war horses. The end.”Asten finished, glancing down to Leawyn, whose eyes were closed.

“Thank you for telling me,” Leawyn whispered sleepily. Asten brushed a lock of hair away from her face.

“You’re welcome, Lea. Go to sleep now,” Asten whispered. He moved his hands so one was under her knees and the other under her head. He stood, cradling her against his chest, and started to walk.

“Asten?” Leawyn asked, her voice muffled by both his chest and in sleep.

“Yes, Lea?”

She titled her head up to meet Asten’s hazel gaze. She was always so fascinated with them and how they did not hold just one color in the iris. Sometimes they were a bluish-green, and other times they were a dewy green, with sparks of amber. She took in his face, and the slight beard that started to grow there. He was turning into a man. His eyes bore into hers, and Leawyn felt her heartbeat pick up. Asten was her best friend, her closest confident, but lately, Leawyn found that her heart did weird things in her chest when he smiled at her. Or when she heard his laugh. It scared Leawyn a bit because she knew those reactions were not just in a friendly manner.

She was afraid feelings of friendship were turning into feelings of her very first crush. Asten’s raised an eyebrow at her silence, which prompted her to finish her sentence.

“I think you’ll be a great war horse.”

Leawyn’s heart skipped again when he smiled down at her gently. His eyes grew serious, and he pulled her closer to him as he dipped his head down towards her.

“You know I’ll do anything for you, Lea, don’t you?”

She furrowed her brow, puzzled. “Yes . . . ?” She wasn’t sure where he was going with this.

“I’ll always protect you. I’d give my life for yours,” Asten said, his voice solemn. “There’s nothing I won’t do for you, because you’re mine, and I’m yours. Right?”

Leawyn nodded slowly. Was this his way of saying he’s starting to feel the same way she did? Her breath hitched when he pulled her closer, their lips mere inches apart. Was he going to kiss her?

“You’re the most important person in my life, Lea. You’re all I have left,” Asten whispered, a weird expression on his face.

He wasn’t making any sense.

“What do you mean?” Leawyn whispered back. She watched as the weird expression disappeared as his face smoothed out, the mischievous sparkle back in his eyes as he smiled down at her.

“Go to sleep, Lea,” he dismissed. His hand urged her head to rest against his chest again. “I’ll wake you when we’re back at your village.”

Having no choice but to comply, Leawyn closed her eyes and tried her best to let the gentle sway of his arms as he carried her back to her village lull her to sleep.

If only her heartbeat would slow down.

L
EAWYN WOKE INSIDE
her own hut. She blinked her eyes furiously to try and clear the haze of her deep sleep. She winced when she was greeted with a splitting headache and pain all throughout her body.

“Here, drink this.”

Xavier appeared, holding out a cup of bitter-smelling liquid. He held the back of her head gently to support her as he helped her sip the medicine. Leawyn gagged at the horrible taste. When she was done, she lay back down against the pillows with a sigh.

He reached behind him and placed the now empty cup on the ground before turning back around to face her. It was silent as they stared at each other.The silence was broken when Leawyn cupped her face with her hands and cried.She turned her face into the strong chest of her husband as he silently slipped into bed with her and wrapped his arms around her and held her until her sobs turned into silent tears.

“They hurt me,” Leawyn whispered, her voice thick with emotion. “They hurt me because I wouldn’t tell them where I came from.” She lifted her head, looking up at the stony-faced Xavier, who was staring down at her. “They hurt me because I wouldn’t tell them about you.”

Xavier stiffened.

“Each question they asked that I did not answer, they would beat me. It wasn’t until he was about to rape me that I realized something.”

Xavier whipped his head down, fury reflecting in his dark orbs. “What was it?”

Leawyn stared into his eyes, not answering right away. “I should be used to my body being taken,” she finally whispered, tilting her head away from his to stare blankly at the fire that was lit inside their tent to keep them warm from the winter. “You do it all the time.”

Xavier flinched.

“I realized today—” Her voice hitched. “I realized I didn’t want anyone else inside me . . . I only wanted you.” Leawyn turned her head to look at him. She sat up so she was level with his eyes. “Why?” she asked, a frenzied look on her face. “Why do I want you to be the only one inside me? To hurt me?”

Leawyn choked around a sob, even as she brought her face closer to his. Her lips brushed across his. Once, twice, three times, before Xavier grabbed her shoulders and pushed her away from him, breathing heavily.

“Leawyn—” Xavier started, his tone harsh as he scrambled for control.

“Please!” Leawyn cried, moving forward again to catch his lips again. “Please, Xavier, make me forget.” She spoke against his lips, continuing with her attack. “I can feel him. I feel his body on top of mine.” Leawyn groaned in despair. “I want you. Please, just make me feel something other than this. Make me forget.”

Xavier’s eyes clenched shut. His fingers dug into her shoulders as his arms shook with his restraint.

“You don’t know what you’re asking,” Xavier warned her harshly.

“Yes I do. I need you,” Leawyn whimpered, and Xavier’s control snapped.

He pulled her in for a rough kiss, his tongue pushing into her mouth forcefully as he yanked her up his body and pushed her dress up with one hand. Leawyn met his kiss just as hungrily as she bit his bottom lip with enough force to draw blood. He groaned low in his throat at the pain.

He sat up, his hands under her bottom as he tugged her to him. Leawyn’s nails bit into the skin on his shoulders when he surged upwards, and with a quick thrust he was inside her, filling her to the brim. Leawyn cried out against his lips at the sudden fullness, but she met his thrusts with her own.