The Illegitimate Claim (5 page)

your heart.”

She looked up, but couldn’t meet his eyes. She instead turned to focus on Curi,

who’d begun to stir.

“Let me hold her for you.” Beel reached into the stroller and lifted the pudgy infant

to his broad chest. Her inky black curls shimmered against the individual gold curls.

“I don’t think I’ve ever seen anyone with hair this color. She is going to be quite the

beauty when she grows up.” Beel wrapped one of Curi’s locks around his finger as he

smiled down at the gray eyes that stared up at him.

“I’m going to look just like Papa,” Darien said, and straightened his long lean body.

“That you are, my lad,” Beel agreed, knowing damn good and well Darien would

be the spitting image of his Uncle Andru.

They walked until they passed every store on both sides of the street and Darien

started to complain he was hungry. Beel walked them back to Ana and Gilroy’s large

two-story home buried back in the evergreens.

“Take a ride with me, Ana,” Beel said when Poli, the large stout housekeeper, had

taken the children from Ana. “I have something to discuss with you.”

“I was beginning to wonder how come I earned so much of your valuable time this

morning,” she teased. “Where shall we go?”

“Follow me out to the cliffs.”

Ana landed her glider next to Beel’s and simply stared at him as her dome rose over

her head and disappeared behind the seat of the glider. “How come I get the impression

you’re about to tell me something I would probably be better off not knowing?” she

asked, and his gaze met hers.

“My lady, I know you’ll want to know what I’m about to say. You won’t like it,

though. I spent most of this morning determining whether or not to share this with

you.”

Ana got off her glider and then climbed up and sat on the rock ledge nearby. Beel

paced back and forth in front of her until he finally faced her with his arms crossed.

“Papa and Tara got an interesting proposition from Dorn Gowsky yesterday. He

wants to offer his daughter to Andru as a claim.” Beel wasn’t at all surprised by Ana’s

shocked expression.

“Andru has a claim,” she cried out unnecessarily.

“Who has been gone for a good five winters.”

“She’s on the age of searching.” Ana narrowed her eyes at Beel. “Andru has the right

to pick his own claim and he’s chosen Meah. Mama and Papa aren’t considering this

idea, are they? Why would they?”

20

The Illegitimate Claim

Beel didn’t answer right away, and Ana’s jaw fell. “Mama would have to declare

Meah dead and she isn’t dead.”

“Do you know that for a fact?” Beel raised an eyebrow.

“If she were dead we would know it for a fact. Her death would be reported and

that information would come to the Blood Circle clan.” Ana sounded angry.

“More than likely that’s true.” Beel began to pace again. “Papa has asked me to find

her.”

“I’ll help you.” Ana jumped off the rock and clapped her hands together.

Beel faced her and couldn’t help but smile at her enthusiasm. There was never any

doubt he would have her assistance. He forced his tone to remain calm, though. “Pray

tell, how would you help me?”

“I’m heir to all Runner clans. Don’t you talk down to me.” Ana shook her finger at

him, and Beel made a bowing gesture but she continued before he could speak. “I can

send a message to all clan sites asking for a report of anyone who has visited their clan

site, say, in the last six cycles. That shouldn’t be too complicated a request for any clan

site to deliver in less than a day.”

Beel reached out and wrapped one of Ana’s blond curls around his finger the way

he’d seen Andru do so many times. The gesture made her think of her brother, and she

sucked in her breath before she could stop herself.

“I see why Andru keeps you so close to him.” He spoke softly, but with a

mischievous grin. “Go take care of it then.”

Ana slapped his hand away from her, and glared at him before heading toward her

glider. Beel reached out and grabbed her arm and forced her around to him.

“You can’t let anyone know you’re doing this, Ana. This is very important now, do

you understand?”

“Of course. I’m not like those dumb Gothman women you love to indulge in,” she

snapped, and attempted to free her arm. His grip tightened on her and he pulled her

closer.

“This is serious, Ana,” he whispered. “Papa didn’t say this to me but I know how

he thinks. He doesn’t want to find Meah in order to decide on this Neurian claim. That’s

not his style. He wants that Neurian claim for his son. It would enable Gothman to

work its way into Neurian land. And, my dear lady, the Neurian land is loaded with oil.

He’ll force Andru into that claim or they’ll destroy each other with his trying.”

He paused and Ana simply stared up at him. The look of horror in her gray eyes

showed him he was getting his point across.

“No, that’s not why he agreed to let me find Meah. He doesn’t think she’s dead. But

if I let him know where she is, he’ll have her killed, I guarantee it.” He released her arm

and rested his hands on her shoulders. “Sister of mine, we need to find Meah and bring

her back here.”

21

Lorie O’Clare

“I’ll send the message out to the clans right away.” Ana matched the almost

whisper that Beel used when he spoke to her. “Once Andru and Gilroy get back we

should be able to resolve this quickly.”

“That’s another thing, Ana. You can’t let Andru find out until you tell Gilroy first. I

want you to tell Gilroy what I’ve said to you quietly and then the three of us will tell

Andru together.”

“That won’t be easy. All he has to do is walk into the room and he’ll know if I’m

keeping something from him. And if he sees me in the same room as Papa…”

“It would get ugly really fast.” Beel nodded. He thought for a minute then turned

her around and walked her to her glider. “Go to the Runner site. Send your message

then go home. The troops will probably be here in a couple of hours, but you can

confirm that when you get to the site. Make sure you’re at home when they arrive, that

way Andru will have to come to you to say hello, which he will do. I’ll greet them when

they arrive and pull Gilroy to the side and let him know you need to speak with him

privately. Explain our plan to him, and then I’ll show up with Andru.”

“You might have to work to detain Andru,” Ana pointed out as she climbed onto

her glider. “If he believes I’m sharing something with Gilroy behind his back he won’t

allow us any privacy.”

“Not to worry, I’ll haul him and some of his men down to the tavern. We’ll arrange

for some of the women from the brothel to be there. I’ll keep him distracted.” Beel

patted her back with confidence.

“Don’t you dare!” Ana’s reaction came out before she could stop herself and Beel

laughed out loud.

She scowled at him and then took off while he continued to laugh at her blatant

jealousy.

Ana prepared herself mentally as she flew into the clan site. She couldn’t let Mama

detect that she knew anything. Papa could read Mama almost as well as Andru could

read her. She planted a friendly smile on her face as she walked into the trailer at the

Blood Circle clan and greeted her mama and Jolee, her mama’s first assistant.

“Our troops are just an hour away,” Tara answered one of Ana’s questions as she

greeted her daughter.

“Really? Oh, I can’t wait to see them.” Ana felt her insides tighten in anticipation.

“Your papa has arranged for a celebration in the streets of Bryton. The troops have

instructions to fly straight to the town. We’ll be there to greet them when they land,”

Tara explained with a broad smile.

“Oh, that sounds perfect.” Ana managed to sound enthusiastic although mentally

she wondered how she’d be able to get out of this one.

Andru would seek her out the second they landed and he’d know the second after

that what was foremost on her mind.

22

The Illegitimate Claim

* * * * *

“Where’s Ana?” Darius asked, when Tara climbed onto the elevated platform

reserved for the Bryon family.

The streets were full of Gothman and Runner alike—a complete transformation

from the quiet downtown Beel and Ana had strolled along earlier that morning.

“I thought she’d be here by now.” Tara moved next to the lord and searched the

crowd for her daughter.

“I’ll find her,” Beel offered as he stood on the other side of his papa. He pulled his

comm out and spoke his half-sister’s name into it. “My lady, you are beautiful enough.

Quit trying to improve on perfection and get your little body down here.”

Tara shot Beel a dirty look and Darius stifled a grin at his son’s candid way of

addressing his half-sister. Beel looked indifferently at both of them as he pulled his

comm away from his ear. “She’ll be here shortly,” was all he said.

The crowd roared as the armies’ gliders came into view. The majority of the troops

landed on the outskirts of town and would walk into Bryton for the celebration. The

leaders of the different squads landed in procession behind Andru and Gilroy and

drove slowly down the street toward the platform where the Lord of Gothman and

Lady Tara, leader of all Runner clans, stood at attention waiting for them.

Gothman and Runner warriors alike stood at attention next to their gliders as

Darius praised their warrior skills and how they were responsible for making the two

nations even greater in the eyes of Nuworld. The crowd listened attentively as the

handsome lord praised his son’s abilities and assured them that under his leadership

Gothman would certainly grow to be greater than anyone here could possibly imagine.

Beel stood off the platform and watched his older half-brother as his papa spoke.

Andru’s expression was like stone and unreadable. He looked fearsome in his full

leather military garb and Beel noticed more than one woman turn her attention toward

him.

As soon as the speech ended, Beel took advantage of the crowd’s explosive cheers

and chants and pushed his way to Gilroy. He was grateful for the large group of people