The Illegitimate Claim (45 page)

stood to the side behind him. The two of them made an imposing pair.

“I’m sure you don’t, no,” Darius growled, and glared at his son. “I’m not an invalid,

Andru. I’ll live many more winters, I will.”

“That would make me very happy,” Andru said quietly, respectfully. “But you

have lost half of your sight. You can no longer lead in battle.”

“Ah, this is the moment you’ve been waiting for, isn’t it?” Darius walked casually

over to the large chair where he ruled Gothman from and sat back casually. He sneered

at his son and his tone was venomous. “I’ll not step down.”

“You must, Papa.” Andru was undaunted. “I’ve already started the process.”

Andru’s words caused everyone to tense and hold their breath. Lord Darius studied

his son’s face for a long moment. “What have you done?”

“End the leadership of Gothman as a great lord, Papa. Your mark in history is

made. Don’t go down as an old, disabled man. You’re too good for that.”

“Out, now.” Darius stood and pointed his finger toward the door, every muscle in

his warrior’s body tensing.

“Are you sending me to my room, my lord?” Andru simply raised a taunting

eyebrow, and Tara shot Syra a warning glance. Both women moved a step toward the

men.

“Would you rather me take you behind the shed?” Darius roared in anger.

“Just say the word, my lord,” Andru whispered and prepared for his papa’s attack.

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“No!” Tara shouted, and jumped in between her claim and son. “You will not fight

each other tonight.”

“Woman,” Darius warned.

“Don’t be a fool,” she hissed at him. She turned and stood inches from her son.

“Your papa asked you to leave this room. Do it now.”

Her tone was quiet, but her glare was harsh. She wasn’t injured and her skills were

superb. With one glance, she made it quite clear to Andru that she would attack him in

the next second if he didn’t comply. Andru saw, with little surprise, that she would

defend Darius to the end. Andru took a step backwards and nodded his head.

“As you wish, my lady.” He nodded to Torgo and Syra, before turning a forceful

look at Darius. Then he turned and walked out of the room with Gilroy following

silently.

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Chapter Twenty-Three

Meah walked across the damp field. The rains were starting and the sky was the

color of ashes. In between storms the humidity soared and Meah shed her leather jacket

that held her pins of valor as she marched across the open area. Runners were broken

down into small groups and were practicing hands-on maneuvers around her. She felt

she’d brought herself up to speed quickly and was thrilled Tara put her in charge of this

section.

A small group of squad leaders parted so she could join them, as one man shared a

funny story. The Runner was animated with his story, and Meah found herself laughing

along with the rest. It was a welcome change from the stress she’d felt around the house

lately. Tension was in the air, and she wasn’t privileged to know the details. Andru was

being very closemouthed.

As the squad leaders broke up to return to their duties, Meah continued to Tara’s

trailer where Meah needed to draw up her reports. She shed her headscarf as she

entered the cool room and lifted her braid off the back of her neck. She felt a cool breeze

on the back of her neck and turned around quickly.

Gilroy straightened but his mouth was still puckered from blowing on her neck.

“You looked hot.” His sky-blue eyes twinkled as a small smile crossed his face.

“What do you want, Gilroy?”

“I’m told you’re in charge of these troops now.” Gilroy’s eyes traveled down her

body and then back up again. His gaze scorched her worse than the humidity outside.

She leaned against the large desk in the middle of the living area and crossed her

arms while glaring at him. There was no need to respond to his obvious comment.

“I think it would be a good idea if we began swapping weekly reports. I’d like to

know what you’re doing, and I think it would help you to know what I’m doing.” As he

spoke he walked into the open kitchen area and soaked a cloth with cold water before

wringing it out. He then walked back over to her and lifted her braid before placing the

cold cloth on the back of her neck.

“What are you doing?” she cried and tried to jump away.

He grabbed her arm and held her in place, keeping the cloth where it was. “You’re

hot. This will help you cool down. Relax…I’m not hurting you, am I?”

“No.” She relaxed. In fact, it felt good.

He moved the cloth around to her face and wiped it carefully. She looked up at him

when he removed the cloth. He smiled, and she felt her body heat rise, but it wasn’t

from the heat outside.

“Feel better?”

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Suddenly there didn’t seem to be enough air in the trailer. She fought to pull her

gaze away from his, instead focusing on muscle that bulged against his shirt.

She needed space that he didn’t consume and took a step backwards. “I’ll send you

a report at the end of the week.”

“Why do I make you so nervous?” He placed a loose strand of her hair behind her

ear.

“I don’t trust you.”

“Is it really me you don’t trust?” He let one finger trail down her cheek. “Or is it

you that you don’t trust?”

“I know what I’m thinking. It’s you I don’t trust.” She glared at him. Allowing her

anger to brew at the thought that he could get whatever he wanted through brute

strength and seduction, she ignored the sudden rapid beat of her heart. “I think you

have more of your papa’s blood in you than you care to believe.”

Her words stung, and for a brief second his expression sobered, but then his eyes

softened again and focused on her lips. “I can see how much of my papa’s blood is in

you by the look in your eyes, Meah.”

The trailer door opened and Meah jumped. Tara entered and looked at both of them

with surprise. Her expression turned wary when she saw Meah blush. “What’s going

on here?”

“Gilroy thinks we should give reports to each other at the end of each week. He just

showed up to suggest the idea.” Meah’s tone was relaxed and she met Tara’s eye as she

spoke.

Tara wondered if she’d just imagined she’d walked in on something. She smiled

and nodded. “Good idea. Meah, I want you at the clan site in thirty minutes. I want you

to participate in the fights today.”

“I’ll be right there.” Meah nodded.

Suddenly she had way too much energy to burn. Doing some scrapping might be

just the thing to clear her head.

Ropes were set up in a flat area of the clan site. They were tied around long poles

stabbed deeply into the ground. The poles were wrapped around each stick and then

strung to the next stick, forming a square. Inside the roped-off area, two Runners fought

each other while Tara sat on several bales of hay stacked to elevate her. She used a

cylindrical speaker to shout instructions or suggestions as the two sparred each other.

Meah found Ana in the group of spectators and the two greeted each other with

enthusiastic smiles. They both enjoyed the sparring that Runners used to develop their

warrior skills.

“Ana…Meah…in the ring now.” Tara’s voice came over her speaker.

The two women looked up, startled.

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“Why would we fight each other?” Meah wondered aloud, as she followed Ana

toward the entrance of the ring.

Ana shrugged her shoulders, and kept moving through the whispering onlookers.

“You won’t fight each other.” Tara heard the whispers in the group of Runners

surrounding her. “All right, Feebs…Jeenu…I want you in there too. You’ll spar against

the women. The focus is Ana. Meah, you defend.”

Two other Runners entered the ring, a tall thin woman with pale brown hair, and a

man younger than Meah and more stout than tall. The sparring began, and barely

twenty minutes later Ana and Meah knocked the other two Runners to the ground, and

the match was called. Tara sent two more in and watched with a shrewd eye as her

daughter and her first assistant quickly defeated these two as well. The next two

volunteered, two young men whom Tara had seen flirt with both women before. She

consented to the fight, and this one got a little more violent. Again, Tara watched every

move the two women made.

The crowd around the ring grew, and as Tara took her eyes from the women

briefly, she noticed Andru and Gilroy had joined the audience. A handful of their men

surrounded them. Perfect, she thought to herself.

“Andru.” She spoke into her comm. Her son looked across the ring at his mama,

surprised as he flipped on his comm. “I want you to send two of your men into the ring.

Instruct them to attack the second they’re in the ring. I don’t want them to wait for

introductions. Their focus is Ana.”

Andru nodded instead of commenting, since they were looking directly at each

other, and then Tara switched off her comm.

“Okay, you two out of there, now,” she shouted into her loudspeaker. The two

exhausted Runners could barely depart the ring when two Gothman guards bolted into

the ring and lunged for Ana. The two women were taken off guard by the Gothman

intrusion into a Runner activity, but Tara quickly cleared everyone’s confusion. “Meah,

defend your lady.”

Tara no sooner shouted the words than Meah attacked with a vengeance. The large

group surrounding the ring grew quiet as the battle raged within the ropes. The

Gothman were large men, dwarfing the two Runner women. Both men grew up with

Ana and were some of the soldiers her brother spent a fair bit of time with over the

winters. She had sparred with them before, but at the moment none of that mattered.

The men had their orders, and they jumped on Ana the second they were in the ring.

Meah heard Tara’s orders and jumped in the air, intercepting one of the Gothman