Tara The Great [Nuworld 2] (7 page)

the thought of him with another woman. Wouldn’t have been so outraged with the

news that Tasha had borne Darius’ bastard child.

Tara was angry and hurt, he understood. But she had fought for his honor. For their

honor.

He sighed, wishing he and Patha had prevented her from learning the truth. Tara

wasn’t prepared for news like that. They’d tried to get her off the clan site as quickly as

possible.

But Tasha had intentionally sought out Tara. She couldn’t wait to tell her sister

about her son.

If Tara had been Gothman…no, if Tara had been any other woman…none of this

would be an issue, Darius rationalized. Most women—especially Gothman women—

understood that a man needed to prey on women, that he needed to fulfill sexual urges

that women simply didn’t have.

Darius guessed any woman might feel threatened with knowledge of a bastard.

Some Gothman preferred their bastard children to the children from their claim. But

Darius didn’t feel that way. He loved the twins as much as he loved Tara. No other

child would take away that love. Tara should know that.

What a stubborn woman she was. She challenged him and he liked it. In fact, he

loved it. He loved her. He loved to conquer, and he would spend the rest of his life

trying to conquer Tara.

But there was the child. And a baby boy at that. Tara’s concerns were valid, and

he’d lain awake many nights since he’d found out Tasha had birthed a boy. If anything

happened to Andru, Tasha’s baby would be next in line to rule his kingdom since, by

Gothman law, Ana could not rule. She was female. Also, the mother of the child had no

bearing. Only the order in which the man sired his children mattered. That was the law.

Oh yes, he could change the law, but now wasn’t the time. His people weren’t

ready for such a fundamental part of their culture to be changed. Maybe later, in five or

ten winters, he’d consider it. But…not now.

Maybe he’d have the boy taken from Tasha. Now there was a thought. He knew his

papa had taken similar action with his own bastards.

Darius could give the boy to some Gothman woman to raise; someone who didn’t

know the child’s heritage. Someone who would raise him as her own, thinking he was

an orphan. That might be his best bet, then he could keep an eye on the boy, watch how

he grew, and make any necessary decisions later. Just for insurance, he could ban the

caretaker from the claim as Lord Jovis had with Reena.

Darius thought about this for a while. He’d have to be careful. Patha could not

know. And, by all means, he’d have to convince Tara that the child was dead.

And Tasha?

Darius reached for a stick to poke the dwindling fire. Patha would protect her as

long as she remained in the Blood Circle Clan. Darius would have to see to it that she

somehow left that clan.

* * * * *

Voices. Where were they coming from? Tara’s thoughts were muddled and she felt

disoriented. The hard surface underneath her was damp, sending chills rushing

through her, and something poked at her side. At the same time she was too warm, yet

her face was cold. None of it made sense. Where was she? What had happened? She

fought to focus her thoughts and dug through her memory.

Slowly, visual flashes appeared before her eyelids. Again and again, the face of a

baby. Not her baby, but it looked like her baby. It was all wrong, an awful nightmare.

That baby couldn’t really exist. How could they allow it to happen?

The dog-woman entered her thoughts. “A child conceived from evil,” the old voice

whispered.

What can I do?

“The supplies you’ll need are in the trailer.”

Another voice, coming somewhere to the side of her, interrupted her vision.

Tara searched her thoughts for the dog-woman. Where was she? Who said that?

Consciousness crept through her. The voices became more audible.

“We’ll do just fine, we will.”

“When will you leave?”

“Right away.”

Tara struggled to open her eyes. Who was leaving? What was happening? The

voices were familiar. She fought to regain control of her mind.

“You know, you can’t keep her that way forever.”

“She’d be in a lot of pain without it.”

“Ahh, and she’d be raking you over the coals, too.” Patha chuckled. “Might as well

let her get it out of her system.”

Tara blinked. She focused on the two men standing by the fire. The bright flames

had burned down to smoldering logs. Patha held a portable light in his hand, which

lent a surreal atmosphere to the campsite. Fog surrounded her thoughts, but she tried

hard to understand the words they were saying.

“She does have quite the temper on her, doesn’t she? I’ll bring her around after we

get going, I will.”

Where were they going? Tara blinked again and noticed several others approaching

the campsite.

Torgo and two Gothman guards entered the circle of light. Torgo looked down

toward her and noticed she was staring at him.

Tara met his eyes and saw the look of a boy who was almost a man. She winked at

him.

He quickly looked toward his brother. “The bikes are loaded, they are, my lord.”

Torgo stood tall and at attention in front of his brother.

“You’re the man of the house in my absence, you are.” Darius patted his brother’s

shoulder. “You’re barely a man, though. All decisions shall be cleared through Patha,

yes.”

“Yes, my lord.” Torgo’s face was stone just like his brother. “Everything’s ready, it

is.”

“Remember to chart your course in the computer as you go. I’ve entered the route

my sources have suggested. There are clothes for the two of you in the trailer that

should help you assimilate into their culture. I want a daily report.” Patha nodded

toward Tara. “From both of you.”

Tara had successfully pulled herself into a sitting position before anyone noticed

she’d moved.

“Ah, you’ve joined the living.” Patha smiled at his daughter. “Very well then, we’ll

meet you up at the trailer. Come on, boy.” Patha grabbed hold of Torgo’s arm,

appearing to need it more for support than anything else, and started walking up the

slight incline.

Tara pulled off the covers and slowly rose to her feet. Her head was spinning still.

Darius was at her side in a second.

“Don’t touch me.” She watched him warily as she tested her balance. “Where are

we going?”

“North. Can you walk?”

Tara didn’t answer, but instead started moving slowly in the direction of Patha and

Torgo. Her arm ached with a dull throb, but other than that, she felt no pain.

Darius left the two guards to clean up the camp and followed Tara.

She stopped when she reached an open area among the trees. A small group of

motorcycles were parked next to a mobile home, prepared for travel. What the hell was

going on here?

Chapter Five

Patha insisted Dr. Digo examine Tara. She’d managed to walk unassisted to the

open meadow and up to the area that was readied for a trip; Tara and Darius’ bikes

were secured to a flatbed trailer behind the mobile home.

Darius’ personal assistant walked out the door as Tara and Dr. Digo entered. The

doctor offered his hand.

Tara held his strong fingers tightly as she climbed the two stairs into the living

room. She didn’t smile as she shut the door on Darius and Patha, leaving them standing

outside the trailer.

Turning slowly, she looked at Dr. Digo. “I need something to get this opium out of

my system. He gave it to me in a tea.”

“Opium, huh?” The doctor chuckled to himself. “Even the great Lord Darius is

scared of your temper. How long ago were you drugged?”

“I don’t know. It was still light out.”

“Unless he’s drugged you while you slept, you’re probably just groggy from

waking up. Let’s take a look.” The doctor determined her ribs weren’t broken but

bruised. He removed the bandage from her arm and scrutinized the amateur stitches

Darius had applied.

Tara had no memory of Darius giving her stitches, and concluded he must have

done it while she was unconscious.

“You’ll have a scar, but I see no infection,” Dr. Digo said as he applied a salve to the

cut above her eye. She squirmed from his touch when the antiseptic’s sharp sting hit

her. “Hold still, girl. We don’t want those infected. You’re way too beautiful to have

ugly scars left on your face. If you’d had on your headscarf, these wouldn’t be here.”

“No lectures, Doc. Please.” She groaned, but held still as he massaged the gritty

green salve over the wounds.

He wiped off the excess with a cloth. “There now…I’m satisfied. You’ll live.”

“Doctor?” Tara watched as Dr. Digo washed his hands at the sink. “Tasha, is

she…?”

“She’ll live. You two have had your fights before, but not like this. I’ve always been

able to patch up both of you so you can do it again, and I didn’t fail this time.”

“I don’t care that she’s alive.” Her tone caused the doctor to turn and give her his

attention. “Has she left the clan yet?”

“Tara, she’s in no condition to travel.”

“So you told Patha you wanted her to stay?”

“That wasn’t discussed, but she’s still in my care. Tara, it was all she could do to

birth—”

“I don’t want to hear it.” She felt drugged, sluggish, either from opium or having

just awakened from a long sleep. And she was frustrated that Patha had overruled her

orders to ban Tasha. She descended from the trailer and glared at the patient expression

on her papa’s face.

“You and Darius will leave here in a few minutes. You’re headed north toward the

mountain range. The land is uncharted, and I expect you to chart it. We have reason to

believe the cave people live in these mountains, as well as the range of mountains to the

west. You’ll confirm if it’s true.”

“I think it would be best if you found someone else to go.” Tara’s tone was cold.