The Battle Lord Saga 02 - Her Battle Lord's Desire (37 page)

such declarations do not make me look good in the eyes of my men.” He paused, then added,

“But it definitely got the point across. They dismissed themselves so I could obey.”

“Do they think you’re henpecked?” she asked, suddenly blanching. “I’m sorry, Yul. I

didn’t want to give them that impression.”

Yulen chuckled as he removed his boots and prepared to join her. “Henpecked? Not in

the least. In love? Oh, most definitely. Is the water still warm?”

Atty smiled, watching as he shed the rest of his clothes and stepped into the big brass tub.

He eased down opposite of her, and kept going down until he was completely immersed

underwater. Atty watched him slowly moving around and waited to see what he would do next.

Suddenly she shrieked with laughter as he grabbed her legs and pulled her under with him.

Berta would definitely have a mess to clean up tomorrow, but at the moment they didn’t

care.

“If I’m ever stricken with incontinence in my later years, you’ll know why,” MaGrath

dryly remarked as he took a seat across from the Battle Lord the following morning. An instant

later a plate of breakfast waffles was set before him, along with a cup of cold cider. “I don’t

think I’ve ever been so scared in my life than I was yesterday.” He glanced up over his plate.

“Please tell me you were just as scared.”

“Hell, yes, I was scared,” Yulen admitted. “I don’t think it sunk in, though, until I

watched the horde heading back into the forest, and saw how many of them there were. It was a

close call. Too damn close.” He took another bite of his waffle. “They found Palmyer’s body,

or what was left of it,” he told the physician. The soldier had been the lookout sentry and would

have challenged them when they’d gotten closer to the compound, but the Bloods had found him

first.

MaGrath nodded. It was then he glanced around. “Where’s Atty? Has she already

eaten?”

“She’ll be joining us soon. She said she had something to do first.”

The men continued to eat in companionable silence, until Yulen brought up the subject.

“Atty and I haven’t spoken any more on the topic since the other night,” he mentioned quietly.

“But last night she also told me she wanted to take on more responsibilities with regards to

running the compound.”

“More responsibilities? Like what?”

“Like overseeing the day-to-day activities. Taking care the people have what they need.

Resolving minor conflicts. All those things that take me away from managing the soldiers. In a

way, I’ll be glad to let her have the job. I need to concentrate on protecting the compound.”

“That’s quite a jump for our little blue-haired wood sprite,” MaGrath observed. “She’s

growing up.”

“We’ll see,” Yulen said. “She’s going to make a few mistakes, but she’s wise, and her

heart is in it. I’ll be excited to see how she manages.” He gave the older man a small smile.

“The only thing I really worry about is how Madigan is going to take the news that she’s going to

have to relinquish control.”

MaGrath waved a hand at him. “Don’t worry about Maddy. She’s been wanting to hand

over the job for quite a while. After all, she’s been slowly but surely turning it all over to you

these past couple of years.” He shook his head and chuckled. “Imagine it. Atty running the

compound. Don’t that just make the hairs on the back of your neck stand up?”

“Speak of the devil.” Yulen looked up and smiled as Atty descended the staircase and

began to approach them. MaGrath turned around to watch her approach, and both men

immediately saw the determined look on her face. Part anger, part feistiness, it was all Atty, and

it meant she would not accept argument or compromise, whatever the problem was.

“Atty, what is it?” Yulen asked her as she neared them.

Nearing the table, she didn’t stop until she’d reached them, and then she planted her feet

firmly on the floor, her back ramrod straight, and looked first at her husband before turning her

glittering gaze on the physician.

“Last night you asked me for the bottle,” she commented. “I promised you’d get it this

morning. Well, here it is. And there’ll be no further word about it.” She almost slammed the tiny

glass vial on the table between them, pivoted on her heel, and strode purposefully out the front

doors.

Stunned, MaGrath picked up the bottle, barely glancing at it as they watched her

departure. Until a second look made him swear softly under his breath. Yulen tore his eyes away

from her to see what had upset his friend.

Opening his hand, the physician showed the bottle to the Battle Lord. The tiny vial of

contraceptive he’d given her was full. The wax seal around the cork had never been broken.

MaGrath looked full into Yulen’s face to see if the man understood the impact of its

meaning. Atty was not taking any precautions to keep from getting pregnant. And she hadn’t

since they’d left for Alta Novis almost three weeks ago.

Yulen gave the man an understanding glance, then got to his feet and strode out of the

main lodge.

“Atty, we need more barbs!”

Giving a loud sigh, Atty walked over to the table where her archers were busy working on

making their new arrows according to her personal specifications. “Where’s the gross I ordered

before I left?”

One of the soldiers looked up from where he was sitting, tying on fletching. “They never

got here.”

“Then go
get
them!” she snapped with a smile.

Obediently, the man jumped to his feet and took off.

“Hey, Atty, are you sure you want us to use these feathers?” another called across the

way. She hurried over to check the quills laid across the board. Running an expert hand over

them, she picked a couple out of the lineup and tossed them onto the ground.

“These are good. Whoever gathered them did a good job.”

“Atty?”

She glanced over to where Mackenzie was stripping the bark off saplings. The man

motioned with his head toward the back of the tent where they were working. Turning around,

Atty was surprised to see Madigan standing in the door flap, calmly taking in the scene. Spotting

her daughter-in-law, the older woman walked into the narrow space in Atty’s direction.

“What is it, Madigan?” Atty began. “I’m a bit busy at the moment.”

To her complete shock, the woman never said a word as she stopped in front of her. Atty

searched the woman’s face for some clue as to why she had come to this part of the compound,

obviously seeking her out, but all she could see were the unshed tears shining in clear brown eyes.

Without warning, the woman leaned over and gently kissed her, first on one cheek, then

on the other. Then she left as quietly as she’d appeared. Atty stared after her in stunned silence.

After another moment, she shrugged and went back to helping the men prepare their weapons.

It was nearly noon when the new arrows were finished to her satisfaction. A quick test

proved them to be strong and fast, and deadly. It had taken a lot of cajoling to get Yulen and his

men to switch to the longbows, but once they’d gotten a taste of what they were capable of, most

of the archers had refused to go back to their smaller versions.

Running through the compound, Atty hurried for the main lodge to let her husband know

her men were ready. She was also extremely hungry, having denied herself breakfast that morning

except for the mug of milk Berta had brought to her in the bedroom while she was dressing. A

tiny smile creased the edges of her lips as she recalled the woman tsk-tsking after viewing the

water spilled on the bathroom floor.

Coming around the corner where the new lodge was being erected, she heard her name

being hailed. She stopped and looked up to see Yulen standing in one of the guard towers.

Quickly she climbed the ladder to join him.

“The new arrows are ready,” she told him breathlessly as she stepped onto the narrow

platform. To her surprise, he pulled her into his arms to give her a kiss that momentarily erased

all thought from her mind. When he finally released her, she gave him a wide-eyed look. “What

was
that
all about?”

“No reason,” he smiled.

“Oh, yeah? Well, that makes twice now this morning that I’ve been kissed for ‘no

reason’.”

“Oh?” A red-gold eyebrow went up. “And what other lucky gentleman has been kissing

my wife this morning?”

“Not a man, Yulen. You know better. I meant your mother.”

The news made him rear back a bit. “Madigan?”

“You have another mother besides her?”

“She kissed you this morning? Why?”

“I thought you might be able to tell me,” Atty replied. Her eyes narrowed. “You haven’t

seen her today, have you?”

“No, but I can lay good odds on who might have,” he grinned. “Did you eat breakfast

this morning?”

“No, and I’m starved. I was just on my way over to the lodge to look for you.”

“I figured as much. After you, my love.”

Atty turned to retreat down the ladder when she realized they were being watched by at

least a hundred pairs of eyes. Not only were the soldiers along the wall eyeing them, but people

in the courtyard below were quietly observing. She paused briefly and glanced back at her

husband.

“What?” he asked, seeing her hesitation.

“I don’t think I’ll ever get over being the object of intense scrutiny,” she grimaced. Yulen

chucked at her discomfort.

“If it’s any consolation, I didn’t have to worry about it until after my father’s death. And

then it was like everyone was criticizing me for every decision I made. Watching and waiting to

catch me make a mistake. About that same time, Mother moved out of the upstairs bedroom and

left it for me. To be honest, I went a bit power-crazy. But thanks to Liam, he helped me keep my

head on straight. Being the center of attention takes some getting used to, Atty. Just be patient.”

They were slowly climbing down the steep ladder as they conversed. The eyes never left

them. “You still haven’t answered my question,” Atty reminded him.

“You mean, why Madigan kissed you? Think, my love. The answer is obvious.”

She glanced up at him and wrinkled her nose. “She’s glad we’re back in one piece?” She

reached the ground, and stood back to wait for him. Yulen jumped down past the last few rungs

and put an arm around her shoulders as they started for the lodge.

“I can probably tell you in one word. Vial.”

The one word was all she needed to begin blushing a bright crimson. Yulen looked down

at her and gave her shoulders a squeeze.

“Liam promised he wouldn’t tell anyone.”

“My love, don’t you think Madigan knows what the vial is for? She’s a very cunning and

intelligent woman. All she would have to see is the unbroken cork to know everything.” He

stopped and turned her around to face him. “At some point we’re going to have to talk about

what you did,” he said in a low voice.

“There’s nothing to talk about, Yul,” she whispered.

“Atrilan.”

“Nothing,” she emphasized. Her eyes lingered on his lips and wished she could lose

herself in his kisses. At that moment she want nothing more than his approval. And his love.

“Thank you, my beloved,” he murmured in a voice so soft she almost didn’t hear him.

Before she had a chance to respond, he took her hand and continued them on toward the lodge.

As MaGrath had predicted, the first snow of the winter struck with a vengeance two

weeks later. However, on the bright side, the heavy powder seemed to deter the Blood army

from any further attacks. When another week went by without any sign of them, Yulen sent a

small party out to see if they could find any evidence.

Knowing the men wouldn’t see any sign of Bloods if the creatures sat on them, Atty went

out on her own in the middle of the day to check things out. Once she returned to face Yulen’s

wrath, she announced the mass had moved on, and from the looks of things, just recently. Maybe

in the last two days.

Still fuming, Yulen had work on the outer wall resumed, but he wasn’t going to let his

wife forget how thoroughly justified he was to be angry at her for leaving the protection of the

compound with nothing more than a bow and dagger, and behind his back, against direct orders,

at that.

That night she tried to entice him in bed with one of the tricks she’d learned from Tory,

but her husband was unresponsive for the first time in their marriage, turning his back to her. It

was as if he was trying to show her how terrified he had been to discover her gone by shutting her

out, albeit temporarily.

The following day, while Atty was instructing her archers on the finer points of testing a

bow for tensile strength, she heard a sharp whistle. She glanced up to see Yulen standing on the

other side of the courtyard, gesturing for her to join him.

Atty sighed as her heart skipped a beat. He hadn’t spoken more than a handful of words

to her since his self-imposed silence, and his cold shoulder attitude was devastating. He had never

treated her this way, but then again she knew that if she had pulled the same stunt back when her