The Battle Lord Saga 02 - Her Battle Lord's Desire (17 page)

“Yes.” She nodded slightly. “Very. I have no regrets. None.”

“What kind of tent are they putting up?” Mendenall inquired. “Is it for council meetings?”

“No, it’s mine. It’s where we sleep when Yulen and I are away from Alta Novis. He gave

it to me as a wedding present.”

“You mean he
sleeps
in there with you?” Corianne’s eyes widened.

“No, silly,” Jenna Beth teased the girl. “He gets to sleep outside with the men. Of
course

he sleeps in there with Atty!”

“I’ll bet they do more than
sleep
in there,” Portia dryly hinted.

“Yuuu-len.” A couple of girls, Fiona and Gia, breathed the name together. It set off

several others in a fit of giggles.

A small tug on her skirt redirected Atty’s attention to the young girl who had somehow

managed to scoot up closer through the crowd. “Did you want to ask me something, Keedra?”

Seeing the little twelve-year-old who had been one of Keelor’s dearest friends, Atty felt the sting

of tears.

“Are you going to have a baby soon?” the child inquired. The question was totally

unexpected, but the rest of the crowd immediately became interested in the answer.

“I would have to get pregnant first,” Atty told her with a nervous laugh.

“But it’s sort of your duty, isn’t it?” Jenna Beth asked. “I mean, since he’s the Battle

Lord. Don’t you have to give him an heir or something like that?”

“I...I would guess so. We haven’t discussed it, to be honest.”

“Oh, gee, Atty, you almost sound like you don’t want to have a baby,” Corianne accused.

Again, Atty tried to hide her sudden shyness from their probing questions. “Look, we’ve

only been married a few months. We’re still getting to know each other. Learning each other’s

habits and all.”

“Tell us!”

“Tell you what?”

“About his habits. What does he do that drives you nuts?” Fiona asked.

“Oh, that’s not a hard one to answer. He won’t admit when he’s wrong, even if the

evident slaps him in the face,” Atty giggled. “At those times I could almost poke him with one of

my barbed points.”

“Okay. So what does he do to make you just
melt
,” Corianne whispered loudly.

Atty bit her lower lip as she thought. Looking down in her lap, she noticed she had been

absentmindedly twisting her wedding ring around her finger. “That’s easy. His kisses. Doesn’t

matter if I’m mad or sad or what. He makes my hands go numb. I can’t resist him, I can’t stay

angry, I can’t
think
when he starts to kiss me.”

There was another round of romantic sighs all around, followed by a chorus of gentle

laughter. They were interrupted by Memnon striding toward them with a purposeful set to his

demeanor. “Atty! Mom’s got dinner ready. She told me to come tell you so you could go get

your husband.”

Nodding, Atty rose to her feet and straightened her skirt. Privately she loved the feel of

the material against her skin, but she would be glad when she could get back into her familiar

pants and tunic. “Thanks, Memnon. Tell Tory we’ll be there shortly.”

“Tell us more later?” Jenna Beth asked as they also stood, ready to scatter to their own

homes. It was well into dark, and before long everyone would be taking to their own beds for the

night. Atty gave her a regretful grin.

“Sorry. I’m dragging. You have to remember we were on the road four days before we

arrived.”

“How about tomorrow?” insisted Corianne.

“Tomorrow morning I’m heading out with the caste to get some fresh meat.”

“Wow. That’s right! You’re still a hunter!” Memnon commented in astonishment.

“Damn right. And I intend to prove it to the rest of the Council.” Giving them a final

goodnight, Atty hurried to the center courtyard to fetch her husband for supper.

As expected, he was surrounded by half a dozen men, two from the Council, and the other

four she recognized as being important members of the compound. They were hunched over

some charts and papers that she saw bore Yulen’s handwriting. Deliberately she stepped onto the

platform and made her way over to his side where she placed one hand, palm down and fingers

spread, on top of the document they were busily discussing.

“King’s X!”

“Atty, what are you doing?” Yulen asked her, but not without a little relief. She could see

how his exhaustion was beginning to catch up to him.

“Calling a time out so you can get something to eat,” she told him. Looking up, she gave

the men a little smile as she addressed them directly. “Excuse us, please, but we’ve had a long

journey, not counting a near-miss with a horde of Bloods, and frankly I’m hungry enough to eat a

moose, antlers and all. And since it’s supper time, I’d like to be able to look at my husband over

my plate. He’ll be back, I promise. But, in the meantime, I’d appreciate it if you could just spare

him for an hour or so.”

The men bade them a good evening and dispersed, leaving Atty to grab her husband’s

hand and almost haul him out of his chair. Chuckling, Yulen allowed her to guide him through

what to him was a maze of walkways to a small apartment-like home. As they traveled down the

side streets, he couldn’t help but notice the faces peering at them from behind curtained windows.

“Looks like we’re objects of curiosity,” he murmured to her with a smile.

Atty cut him a smug look. “It’s not me who’s the object,” she teased. “Hope you’re

hungry. Tory cooks for twice as many people as she sets.”

“Anything I need to be aware of before we get there? Any kind of protocol I need to

follow?”

“Oh, good heavens, Yulen. We’re just common folk. As long as you don’t lick your plate

clean, you’ll do okay.”

He laughed at her visual imagery and gave her hand a squeeze.

As they approached the Kalich family’s front door, it opened, and a tall, strikingly

beautiful woman stood in the doorway waiting for them. Seeing the couple, she held out her arms

in greeting.

“Atty! Oh, God, you make a mother’s heart proud!” She hugged her adopted daughter

with warmth before looking up at the man who accompanied her. Hoping to avoid any

awkwardness, Yulen took the woman’s hand and bent over it, placing a kiss on the work-

roughened knuckles. To all outward appearances Tory Kalich could pass for a Normal.

“Thank you for inviting us,” he told her sincerely.

Tory blushed. Unable to take her eyes away from Yulen’s golden-red appearance, she

stepped back and gestured for them to enter her home, shutting the door behind them.

Fortune emerged from a back room. “Glad you could make it, D’Jacques. Take a seat.

It’ll just be the four of us tonight. The rest of the household has run over to a friend’s house for

an all-night celebration.” He grunted. “This is one history-making visit you’re making. You

know that, right?”

“I can imagine,” Yulen admitted.

Tory interrupted to have them take their seats at the table as she began to serve them from

the pots sitting on the hearth by the fire. Waving off Atty’s offer of help, she quickly set full

trenchers before them. “Hope you like nutria...” She hesitated, unsure as to what to call the

Battle Lord.

“I believe at this point you should call me by my given name,” he grinned.

Tory smiled back. “Have you had nutria before, Yulen?”

“I believe so. Although I’ll be honest and admit that after eating Atty’s cooking these past

few months, I’ve found there’s very little that isn’t edible if it’s fixed properly.”

Tory nodded, taking her seat next to her husband. “Then you’ve probably had it. Can I

offer my thanks for coming back to Wallis?” She gave Fortune a quick but scathing glance.

“Sometimes our Council can be over-zealous in their decisions.”

“Understandable.” Looking to his wife, Yulen let Atty know where her tent had been

erected. “I may be a couple more hours before I can retire.”

“Just don’t be alarmed when you see me gone when you get up.”

“Going out?” he asked her.

“Yeah. The entire caste is heading out to see what can be rustled up for tomorrow night.”

Yulen paused. “Tomorrow night? What’s happening then?”

“We’re throwing a big party for you and your men,” Fortune told him. “Dancing, games

of chance, not to mention a feast.”

“Not to also mention a couple barrels of lemon verbossa,” Atty added with a snicker.

Chuckling, Yulen carved himself another piece of meat. “Okay. I’ll bite. What’s lemon

verbossa.” In his mind’s eye he could see the tiny grove of lemon trees that had come to

symbolize Wallis and its inhabitants to him.

“Have you seen or remember a strand of lemon trees on the far side of the compound,

near the gate where you entered several months ago?” Fortune pointed out. The Battle Lord

nodded. “Those were planted there by Diad Murphy’s father when Diad was born. Every year

Ford would make a barrel of this juice from the lemons he cultivated. Potent stuff. It would put

hairs on your chest.”

“You’re talking about an alcoholic liquor?”

“Yeah,” Fortune said. “When Ford died a couple of years ago, Diad started making the

stuff. You could say he improved upon it. Now it’ll put hairs on your chest before giving you a

good swift kick in the butt.”

Yulen grinned. “What does this lemon verbossa taste like?”

“What you’d probably guessed. Tart. But sweet, too, at the same time. God knows what

the man puts in it. I’ll be very curious to see how well you take to it, D’Jacques.”

“Is that a challenge?” He glanced at Atty. “Have you ever had any of it, my love?”

“Once. Long ago. Pawpee said I could have just a couple of sips of it...” Her voice

trailed off and a cloud seemed to pass over her face. Quickly she waved a hand at him to let him

know she would be all right in a minute or two. Taking a deep breath, Atty managed a weak

smile. “I’m sorry.”

Leaning over the table, Tory grabbed one of her hands. “It’s okay, Atty. We all

understand.”

For the strangest reason, Yulen felt a sense of déjà vu come over him. Whether from the

circumstances, the memories, or what had been said, he couldn’t remember. Either way, he

managed to shake it off. “Atty? While we’re here in Wallis, sometime I’d like for you to show

me around. Show me where you grew up. Think you can find the time to do that?”

“Any place or thing in particular? You already know about my tree,” she asked warmly.

He shrugged. “I’ll leave it up to you. I just know there’s just so much paperwork I can

handle before I go stark raving. I’m going to need you to break me away from it every so often

so I can clear my head. How long do you think you’ll be on the hunt tomorrow?”

“There’s no telling,” she admitted.

“With the Bloods holding us prisoners in our own compound as long as they did, we have

no idea how badly they may have depleted the local resources,” Fortune added. “We abide by a

strict code when it comes to what we can kill and how often. That way we can insure there’ll be

enough game to sustain us for generations.”

“It won’t be long, hopefully. I heard the Bloods came from the west and tended to stay in

that area of the forest. So we’re going to concentrate on the north and east.” She held up a slice

of peach they were having for dessert and offered it to him. Yulen smiled and allowed her to pop

it into his mouth. His lips closed seductively over her fingers, and for a split second Atty felt a

tingle run through her entire body as his tongue teased her fingertips. She was riveted by the

playful look on his face when an urgent knock came at the door. Fortune rose to answer it. It

was MaGrath.

“Thank heavens you people know how to give good directions. Sorry to interrupt, Yulen,

but we’re about to lose Sands.”

Yulen got up to follow him. “I’ll see you later,” he promised Atty before giving her a

quick kiss goodbye. Bowing to Tory, he complimented her on supper and followed the physician

out the door. Fortune accompanied them.

As the door closed behind the men, Tory gave a little sound of exasperation. “What was

that all about?” She turned to Atty for an explanation.

“We had an encounter on the trip up here with a small group of Bloods a couple of days

ago. We lost one man, and two others were seriously injured. Sands was one of the men

injured.”

“Oh, I’m sorry,” Tory apologized.

“Here, let me help you clean up.” Atty got to her feet but the older woman stopped her

from going any further.

“Let me. You’ll get that pretty dress ruined, and I’ll never forgive myself if you do.” She

took the plates and started for the sink at the back of the room.

Atty watched her go back and forth from the table to the sink. The scenario brought back

memories of her own mother, and of countless times she’d make Atty perform the same chore as

the sisters argued over who would wash and who would dry. She was unaware of her tears until

Tory walked up to give her a comforting hug.

“There, there, Atty. Whatever it is, it’s going to be okay. Trust me.”

“I just...” Her breath hitched, making it hard to take a decent breath. “Mohmee and

Keelor.” Tory felt good in her arms. The woman had been her mother’s best friend. In some

ways, being held by her was almost like coming home.