Nuworld: Claiming Tara (15 page)

Hilda’s
groundmobile moved a lot faster than Reena’s,
but it still took too long to get through the town and up the
hill to Reena’s house. Two Runner motorcycles were parked
in front of Reena’s house when she pulled up. Tara
immediately recognized Patha’s. She got out of the
groundmobile and ran to the house.

There was no one in the living room, and the house was
too quiet. Tara pulled out her laser and aimed it in front of
her as she moved toward the hallway.

The door to Reena’s bedroom was open, and she pointe
d
the gun at the empty room. Tara walked to the window and
looked out at backyard. She didn’t see anyone. A group of
five framed images on the dresser next to the window
caught her eye. The first image she saw was of a small
child picking flowers in a meadow. Others depicted the
same girl at different ages.

The last image was of a girl in her adolescence sitting on
a small motorcycle. Tara cocked her head sideways in
puzzlement.
The
motorcycle
looked
very
familiar.
She
looked back at the other images again.

They were all of her!
Tara’s heart tightened in her chest. She wiped her
suddenly damp palms down her hips while staring at the
images. For the sake of Nuworld! What was Reena doing
with pictures of her at different ages? She hadn’t even
known the images had been taken.
“Tara?”
She spun around and aimed her laser at the open
bedroom doorway. The front door closed. It sounded like
several people had just entered the house. Tara grabbed
the framed images and walked down the hallway, laser in
one hand and images in the other.
Reena called out again. “Tara?”
“I’m here.” Tara stopped at the end of the hallway.
Reena stood in the middle of the room while Patha and
one of his guards struggled to help a Runner she didn’t
recognize to the couch.
“Did you bring the herbs?” Reena asked.
Tara nodded and pointed to her bag on the edge of the
couch. She then hurried to the large old man, setting her
laser and the images on the table beside her. “Patha! It’s so
good to see you.”
Patha turned to greet her and she jumped into his arms.
Patha lifted her up off the ground and hugged her tight
enough she lost her breath.
“What brings you this far from home?” No matter how
many winters she had, she would never tire of Patha’s
hugs. “What happened?” she asked, nodding to the injured
Runner.
“Reena’s the best doctor in the area, and we needed her.
We aren’t with the clan right now.” Patha squeezed her
wrists with powerfully large hands. “Look at you, Tara-girl,
all dressed up like a Gothman.” He held her hands out in
front of her and took a good look. “I do believe she’s put on
a little weight.” Patha looked at Reena for confirmation.
“What do you think?”
“Maybe Gothman suits her.” Reena finished
mixing
together a salve from the herbs Tara had brought and knelt
to coat the Runner’s wounded leg. She finished by tying a
bandage around it then stood and moved to stand by
Patha. “Your man should be fine. Mind you, those wild
boar lashes can get infected, but I’ve got him good and
cleaned up.”
“We’re closer to you than the clansite right now,” Patha
explained. “I knew you could take good care of him.”
“I’ll be fine,” the Runner on the couch promised.
“Unlike that wild boar who threw you off your bike.”
Duru, who was five winters older than Tara and had
returned
from his
Age Of
Searching
before she’d left,
laughed and slapped the man on the shoulder.
The two men joked about what had happened but Tara
turned to Patha. “I’ve really missed you. I can’t wait to tell
you what has happened.”
“I look forward to your stories around the fire.” Patha
beamed and looked over her. “Gothman won’t know what’s
hit it.”
“Tara, what have you here?” Reena interrupted, and
picked the images off the side table.
“I found them on your dresser when I was looking for
you. They’re images of me. What are you doing with them?”
Tara watched Reena glance up at Patha. Patha looked at
the images. He then looked at Reena and the two of them
were silent for too long.
Tara narrowed her eyes at both of
them. “What’s going on here?”
Reena turned away from Tara. “How does that bandage
feel?” She asked her patient.
“I’ll be fine.” The Runner started to stand and Duru
helped him to his feet and allowed himself to be used as a
crutch.
“Let’s put him in the bedroom on the right,” Reena
instructed. “I’ll watch him for a bit just to make sure no
infection sets in.”
“Reena, you didn’t answer me,” Tara persisted, after
watching the two men disappear into the bedroom.
Reena didn’t turn around but stared at the hallway and
the open bedroom door where the two Runners were. “Tara,
I’m your mama,” she said, her voice barely a whisper.
“What?” Tara gasped, and grabbed Reena’s arm to spin
her around. “It sounded like you just said—”
Patha reached for Reena. “Tara,” he said in that soft
warming tone that used to make her jump to do as she was
told.
She wasn’t a child anymore. She stared at Reena, who
was holding Patha’s arm as if she might fall over if she let
go. “Reena, it sounded as if you just said ”
“I did,” Reena interrupted. Her face was white as a sheet.
“I am your mama.”
Tara reached for the back of the couch to steady herself.
The
room
started spinning. Reena wasn’t making any
sense. “My…mama?” She barely uttered the words. “I don’t
have a mama.”
“Come outside with us, child.” Patha pulled Tara to him
and placed his other hand gently on Reena’s shoulder. “It’s
time you knew the truth.”
Duru appeared from the hallway, and Reena turned to
him. “Slice some pie for you two,” she said, gesturing
toward her kitchen.
Tara noticed Reena’s hand shaking and turned to the
kitchen. “I should help him.” But she didn’t move. Her
brain wasn’t working.
“I can handle it.” Duru smiled at Tara and waved the
group toward the door. “Go share your stories. If there is
pie in the kitchen, I will find it.”
“You better save a slice for me.” Patha chuckled and
again placed his hands on the two women, guiding them to
the door.
Tara walked outside in a dazed stupor. She settled on
the steps and frowned when Patha and Reena sat on the
open room’s swing together. Patha’s large fingers wrapped
around Reena’s small hand and the two held hands.
She stared at their hands, interlocked. “You told me that
my mama died and that you never knew her name. You
said you found me when I was three winters old.” She
shook her head. None of this made any sense. “And what is
this?” she demanded, staring at their hands.
“Child, I don’t know where to begin.” Reena’s eyes welled
with tears. Now there seemed to be too much color on her
face. “Patha and I have known each other for a very long
time. He would come see me from time to time, but staying
for too long was not his way. Patha and I fell in love. He
wanted me to move to his clan but Lord Jovis would not
permit me to leave.”
Patha patted Reena’s hand. “Lord Jovis ordered me to
stay out of Gothman but I continued to come see you,”
Patha chuckled, and Reena nodded, both silent
for a
moment as they relived a memory. “I wasn’t too good at
following orders.”
“I do believe you threatened a war over me.” Reena
beamed at Patha.
“No.” He shook his head and smiled at Reena in a way
that Tara had never seen him smile before. “You’re
remembering wrong. I would never have done that.”
“You didn’t want any other man claiming me.”
Patha leaned over and kissed Reena’s forehead. “I still
don’t.”
“Hey, what about me?” Tara demanded. “None of this
makes any sense.”
Seeing Patha this happy made it hard to be angry, but
Tara was definitely confused.
“How are you my mama?” she demanded of Reena.
“When I found out I was pregnant I was so happy. I had
a part of Patha that would stay with me, and I was free of
the claiming forever. I had hoped, at first, that Patha would
settle down with me here. Lord Jovis wouldn’t hear of it,
and Patha was not the settling down type. I kept you until
you were about three. Oh child, you were beautiful even
then.”
“Why didn’t you keep me?” Tara pulled her knees to her
chest, forgetting the Gothman dress she wore. She turned
on the open room’s
steps
and faced
both of
them,
engrossed in the story of her past. Try as she would,
though, she didn’t remember Reena, or this home.
“When Lord Jovis learned
I
was pregnant
with a
Runner’s child he wanted to have you claimed to his son,”
Reena explained.
“In spite of hating me, he believed my child would give
way to great warriors if bred with his blood,” Patha
intervened, sounding proud. His eyes glowed as he stared
down at Tara.
“Now know that was his first-born son,” Reena
continued, nodding as she spoke. “With you and Juro both
being just children.” Now she began shaking her head as
her mouth flattened into a strong, disapproving line. “Tara,
it wasn’t the life I wanted for you. I wanted you educated,
free to make your own choices. You never would have had
that in Gothman. The next time Patha came through we
talked about it, and he agreed to take you with him and
make you part of his clan.” Reena began crying. At first she
wiped the tears that streamed down her flushed cheeks.
She gave up and smiled at Tara, letting the tears flow. “My
dear child, you don’t know what it’s like giving up your
daughter, especially one as perfect as you.” Her voice
cracked and she looked at her hands.
Patha put his arms around Reena and she relaxed
against his large barrel chest. “You never gave her up,” he
whispered into her hair, then kissed her forehead.
Reena nodded but then continued on as if Patha hadn’t
just said something. Her voice was muffled, but she turned
her head, resting it against Patha’s chest as she spoke. “It
was the hardest thing I’ve ever done in my life. I never saw
you after that. We couldn’t risk you entering Gothman,
even for a short visit. It was almost impossible pretending I
didn’t know you the night you arrived here.”
“I had no idea.” Tara was already comparing features
between the two adults on the open room’s swing and
herself. She looked more like Reena, she decided, who was
her
mama. Her
throat was
thick, and she’d started
trembling. “Patha, why didn’t you tell me? You really are
my papa? I wish you would have told me. I’ve never had
real parents and now I have two.”
“Reena didn’t want you to feel any obligation to visit her.
She was afraid you’d be claimed once Lord Jovis knew you
were back. He wanted you for his son almost before you
were born. The man knew you came from good blood.”
Patha chuckled and reached for Tara. She scooted across
the open room and sat at their feet. Patha took her hand
and held it on his knees. “As you grew and became more
beautiful,
we
both
knew the
second you
returned
to
Gothman, the first man who saw you would have you.
When you left for the
Age Of Searching
, I knew you would
end up here. I also knew no man would be able to claim
you if you didn’t want it. You’re an incredible warrior now,
not the helpless child you once were.” Patha shook his
head at his daughter. “I almost pity the man who would
take you on. You’ve two very stubborn parents, child. And
you definitely inherited that trait.”
Tara didn’t try to stop the tears. She let them fall as she
absorbed this incredible news. Then sniffing, she wiped her
teary face on her sleeve.
“So, suddenly I’m no longer an orphan. I’ve never
thought to search for my parents because I thought they
were dead. I didn’t bother trying to ask questions about
them because they were from another clan. No one would
have known them. This is too much. I should be mad at
both of you.”
Tara swallowed a deep breath and turned to look at the
tall pines surrounding them. Patha had raised her as his
own. Her mama wasn’t dead. She had sent her away. She
searched her emotions and didn’t feel angry. Maybe she
should feel abandoned. But she was grateful for who she
was and
not
a Gothman
female,
living
in ignorant
suppression. Tara was educated, a warrior with knowledge
of Nuworld. She was on the
Age Of Searching
and had the
freedom to come and go as she pleased. She would make
her own decisions about her future. Patha and Reena had
suffered in silence to give her all of that.
Tara stood and stared at the watery-eyed woman who
looked up at her. She saw concern and worry in Reena’s
face. The woman feared Tara would hate her for the choice
she had made. Maybe she’d lived with that worry for
winters. She’d made a heart-breaking, selfless sacrifice and
had given Tara a life of opportunity. Tara was the heir to
the leader of all Runner clans.
“Hello, mama.” Tara couldn’t keep her voice from
cracking as she held her arms out to Reena.
“Oh Tara!” Reena cried, and fresh tears streamed down
her face as she leapt up and wrapped her thin arms
around her daughter.
“I guess there are many stories to share,” Tara mused.
She buried her face in Reena’s gray hair and breathed in
the smell of spices and soap. This was her mama—her very
much alive mama. “I hope we have time to do that very
soon,” she whispered.
Tara looked over Reena’s shoulder at Patha, who smiled
at the two women in front of him. Having only known her
mama for a few brief seconds possibly made it easier to put
stories of her to the side, at least for now. There was more
to discuss, and it proved more urgent.
She stepped out of Reena’s arms and cleared her throat.
She needed to know how much danger Darius might be in.
“Patha, I’m afraid there is about to be war.”
“You refer to the Sea People.” Patha’s smile disappeared.
“Darius rode with some of his men to his borders and
returned with stories that don’t sound good.”
The Patha she’d known all her life sat before her. The
almost soft, gentle side of him that had appeared while
sharing his story with Reena was gone. Tara straightened,
staring into his calculating gaze. She needed to know what
he knew.
“Patha, Lord Darius will have the Runners stand with
him if they’re willing. If there are battles coming, he needs
us. Darius has no knowledge of the world outside of
Gothman. He doesn’t even know who he’s fighting. I gave
him an Eliminator, but he’ll need much more than that.”
Patha’s eyes widened. He didn’t bother to hide being
surprised. “So, the son of Lord Jovis is not narrow-minded
and full of hatred? Did he say he would have Runners ride
alongside him into battle?”
“Yes. He’s not full of hatred at all, Patha. Darius is
cocky. And he’s arrogant,” she added. “But he’s intelligent.
He might never admit it, but he knows that there is much
he doesn’t know of Nuworld. Otherwise, he wouldn’t have
asked me to give his message to the leader of my people.”