Do Or Die [Nuworld 4] (45 page)

pursued her so aggressively until last night and she wasn’t sure what his breaking point

was. But he’d brutally taken her once, and she didn’t want it to happen again.

“Now, are you ready to go?”

“I wondered when you were going to bring her to me.” Tara smiled pleasantly at

Meah as she walked into her tent. “Go see to your duties, Andru. I’ll talk to you later.”

Andru looked like he would protest as he stood in the doorway with his hand on

Meah’s neck. His grip tightened slightly and Meah sensed a definite animosity surge

between the two of them. Meah had an overwhelming amount of respect for the woman

sitting in front of them at her desk. This was a woman who helped unite two nations

and provided permanent land for the Blood Circle Clan. She ruled alongside one of the

most notorious Gothman and showed no sign of intimidation. The Runner leader was

powerful and relentless. Meah could only hope to be half of the great warrior as the one

who sat in front of her. Apparently, Andru also shared that respect for his mama. He let

go of Meah’s neck and without a word, turned and left the tent.

“Please, Meah, sit down.” Tara gave her a genuine smile. “Now, tell me about your

vision.”

And Meah did. Tara listened with keen interest, nodding or frowning occasionally.

She didn’t interrupt to ask any questions but sat silently and let Meah tell her

everything. When she’d finished, Tara leaned back in her chair and studied Meah. After

a moment’s silence, she finally spoke.

“Does it seem odd to you that entire armies are willing to move simply because you

had some sort of vision?” Tara asked.

“Oh yes.” Meah let the answer slip out without thinking. She hesitated then and her

eyes grew wide. “It really did happen, though. I swear it.”

“Oh, I believe you.” Tara laughed a laugh that reached her beautiful blue eyes. “I

just wondered because the same thing happened to me once. I mean, we based our

strategies in a war based on a vision I had.”

“You’re talking about the Lunian war, aren’t you? I read about that.”

“Hmm, I guess you would.” Tara was quiet again for a minute. “Meah, let me ask

you something. Is this what you want? I mean, are you happy being claimed by my

son?”

“It’s a great honor to have your son claim me, Tara.” Meah straightened and folded

her hands in her lap. She watched Tara watch her.

Tara’s expression was serious only for a moment then she laughed again, only this

time it was almost sad, or maybe contemplative.

“Meah, let’s forget formalities here. If you continue on as you are now, you and I

should get to be quite close. I want to know what’s in your heart. I’ve traveled your

path, you know.”

“Tara, could I? I mean, could I share with you my feelings about everything that

has happened to me since I’ve arrived at your clan?” Meah slid forward to the edge of

her seat and looked at the woman hopefully. She knew only too well how similar her

life right now was to Tara’s when she first came to Gothman. She knew that Tara was

claimed by Lord Darius and found out by overhearing women talking in the grocery

store. In fact, the love story of Tara and Darius was one of her favorite stories.

“I’d like very much to hear every detail.” Tara leaned forward as well. “And Meah,

please, don’t try to spare my feelings. I know how my son is, and I know Ana and

Gilroy equally as well. I want to know everything that’s happened to you since you

came to us. Don’t leave out a thing. Tell me your story.”

Okay, you asked for it.

Meah began the story when she had ten winters and went from there. She told Tara

how she’d learned everything she could about Andru and his family. As Meah spoke,

she undid the braid in her hair and re-braided it so that it was braided the way she liked

it. Tara watched Meah’s fingers work through her hair and as she listened.

Her smile faded when Meah told her about her first night at the clan site. She

hesitated, but somehow knew that Tara would be able to tell if she left out or altered

any detail.

Meah told Tara everything and she finished the factual story up with her own

feelings on all of it. “Tara, I hate and despise Andru for what he did to me. It was pure

evil. I don’t understand why Crator speaks to him. I’ve prayed and prayed about it. All

of this would be so much easier if I could feel for him what I did before. I admired him,

but now…”

“I can’t say that I blame you. I think it would help if you could believe there was a

valid reason for the way he treated you. Although I could probably make a real good

guess as to why he raped you, I don’t think you would find it to be a valid Runner

reason.”

“You mean there’s a valid Gothman reason for what he did?” Meah couldn’t

imagine what it would be.

“As far as they’re concerned, there is.” Tara leaned back and sighed. “That’s what

this is all about, Meah. I don’t expect you to see it, but it’s becoming quite clear to me.”

“I’m sorry, you’re right. I don’t see it. What are you talking about?”

“When Andru and Ana were quite young, the dog-woman started coming to

Andru. He always seemed to have the upper hand after that. And he took care of Ana.

For winters, we all thought it was so precious. The damage, or at least the damage in

my opinion, was done winters before I realized anything had happened.”

“You see, Andru always wanted to rule Gothman and the Runners. Ana was heir to

the Runners, though, and so he pulled Ana under his wing. I’d say he has her right

where he wants her today. She adores him and he adores her. They are very close,

Meah, and Andru is trying to see to it that no one comes between him and his sister. He

handled it perfectly with Gilroy. I didn’t see that one coming at all. But Gilroy is more

loyal to Andru than Ana. I don’t think Ana cares because her loyalty to Andru will

always surpass her loyalty to Gilroy. So then all Andru had to do was find a nice

passive claim for himself who wouldn’t interfere with what he’d already established.”

“I have no intention of being some nice passive claim,” Meah spoke before she

could stop herself.

“Oh, I know you don’t.” Tara laughed easily. “You’re a lot like I was, I think. That’s

why I can’t help but think that something happened that made Andru decide he should

claim you. I think it might have been several things. First of all, Ana took to you right

away and I know she offered you first assistant and commander of the armies before

she discussed it with Andru. Then Andru saw you talking to the dog-woman. As long

as he can remember, I’m sure, no one has seen the dog-woman but him. That had to

terrify him, and he probably felt he needed to claim you right away.”

“That’s what he did. He told me that he was in the tavern when he saw me talking

to her and announced the claim to everyone there. He used that against me because I

was in Bryton and obliged to abide by Gothman law.”

“That doesn’t surprise me. But I think there is one more reason. You told me that

you slept with Gilroy, that it was the result of sparring and drunkenness, and both of

you have very vague memories of it today.”

“That’s right.” Meah already felt uneasy, exposed, about sharing so much with

Tara.

“Well, I know that Gilroy made a promise to Ana that he would never have any

bastards. His papa has quite a nasty reputation for the amount of bastards he has in

Bryton. I think that Gilroy sent Andru to take you and make it so memorable that even

in a drunken state you wouldn’t forget it. That way, if you ended up pregnant, you

would assume the papa was Andru and not Gilroy.”

“Do you think so? But Gilroy doesn’t tell Andru what to do. I could see Gilroy

doing that for Andru but not the other way around.” Meah pictured Gilroy ordering his

troops and knew he did it very well. But she couldn’t remember one time he’d given

Andru an order.

“Unless Andru owed Gilroy something. Possibly Andru had done something for

Gilroy…or something to Gilroy, and he owed Gilroy a favor or some type of

compensation.”

“If this is supposed to make me feel better about Andru, it isn’t working.”

“Good. Meah, here it is in a nutshell. I love my son as much as I love my claim, but

they are very much alike. They will take and manipulate to satisfy their own gain.

Andru wants to rule Gothman and the Runners. If he can make you submit then he will

have succeeded. Ana will always do what he says.” Tara never took her gaze from her

and Meah fought to return the eye contact.

“So how do I convince Andru that I will never submit? Do you want me to run?”

“Oh no. And I don’t think you want to run either.” Tara leaned back and crossed

her arms. “I want you to do exactly what I did when Lord Darius wronged me. You are

going to put Andru in his place and I will help you do it.”

Chapter Twenty-Five

As the scouts worked their way around the countryside searching for the two

armies, Meah implemented Tara’s plan. She turned friendly toward Andru, which in

actuality wasn’t hard to do. When he approached her, usually while other people were

around, she smiled, chatted easily, and even found she could flirt with him. If he

touched her, she nuzzled into him. When he spoke, she backed him up. She could see

how impressed he was by her new behavior, and once, when he stopped to kiss her in

the middle of the Runner campsite, she made no attempt to try and stop him.

But when nightfall came, he wouldn’t be able to find her. Meah would retire for the

night and walk toward his tent. Once, she made a point of him seeing her enter his tent,

but she wasn’t there when he came to bed. Pride prevented him from asking his guards

if they’d seen her. Tara assured her this would be the case, and she was right. Andru

wouldn’t want any of his guards to know that he didn’t have complete control over his

claim.

And his guards didn’t think that. In fact no one thought that. Over the following

days, word began traveling through the two campsites that the heir of Gothman and the

young Runner brought in by Ana were obviously very much in love.

By the third day of carrying out Tara’s plan, Meah began wondering how Tara kept

this up for two weeks. Maybe the story was exaggerated. Had Tara actually said she

stayed out of Darius’ bed for two weeks? She wasn’t sure she had what it took to fight

Andru like this. She was playing with fire when she allowed Andru so much freedom

with her outside in broad daylight, but then when the day ended, no matter what