The Battle Lord's Lady (35 page)

“Gotten bloodthirsty, now that you’ve learned
to kill a few men?” MaGrath asked her. His tone neither rebuked nor
condemned.

Atty halted in mid-stride to face him. “The
only difference between a warrior and a hunter is the prey. And the
only difference between your enemy and your prey is how badly you
want it dead.” She continued to stare down the physician, who
finally acquiesced.

“Then Bearinger is leaderless. Now’s the time
to strike, Yulen,” MaGrath told him.

“I agree, but first we have to get to the
road and alert my troops who are waiting on the other side of the
valley,” Yulen agreed. “Atty, can you lead us there?”

“I can’t. Collaunt’s men are between us and
the road.” Another sound alerted them, and she gave each man a
little shove. “Go!”

They continued to run, following her and her
unerring sense of direction. When they reached a strand of big oak,
they stopped again for breath.

“Damn, they’re relentless,” she griped.

Yulen gingerly rubbed his fingertips around
the burn. “Any suggestions?”

They watched as she squatted, examining the
underbrush. When she started to follow an almost invisible trail,
they tagged along silently. Presently she stopped, and a smile
slowly lit her face. She rooted among the leaves and twigs
littering the ground until she found a piece of bark.

“Okay, guys. Up into the trees with you.”

“What?”

She answered Yulen with a playful swat on the
backside. “I said up. Surely you used to climb trees when you were
a boy. Liam?”

“Have pity on an old man, Atty.”

“Old, my ass. Get up there. Now.”

She watched as both men steadily climbed the
oaks until she was certain they were high enough not to be
detected. One more glance around reassured her, and she began to
rub the piece of bark against a smooth rock. The result was a soft
grunting noise.

Atty continued to rub the two pieces
together, pausing every so often to listen. Suddenly, she dropped
the wood and scurried up the tree moments before a crashing sound
came thundering in their direction.

“Amazing,” MaGrath said quietly from where he
crouched one branch over.

Yulen glanced at him. “What do you mean?”

“To think, with all the climbing and running
and everything she’s done while growing up, that she’d managed to
keep her maidenhead intact,” the physician noted.

“Shut up, Liam,” Yulen threatened softly. He
was answered with a soft chuckle.

Atty finally reached them, hoisting herself
up and swinging her legs over until she straddled the large limb
Yulen sat upon. A flash of discomfort passed over her face, but not
before Yulen noticed it. Seeing her straddling the branch, he
remembered Liam’s comment, and a flush of heat came over him. It
had been years since he’d had the grace to blush, he realized.
Oddly, it felt good.

They listened as the crashing sound got
louder and closer. By the time it neared the tree, they could hear
the grunts and squeals before the herd of wild boar emerged into
the small clearing directly below them.

“Okay, we have the weapon,” Atty told them.
“Now we have to aim it.”

Yulen raised an eyebrow at her.

“That’s what’s wrong with men,” she told him
with a playful smirk. “They think that the only weapon worth using
is the one they can forge or hold in their hand. Trust me, Yulen, I
promise to teach you all my tricks.”

In the distance, they could hear another
sound. This time it was more distinct.

“Collaunt’s men,” MaGrath said what they were
all thinking.

“You’re going to set the wild pigs on them,”
Yulen stated. “The boars will rip the men and horses apart with
their tusks.”

Atty nodded. “I wish there was another way,
but it’s the only thing I can think of right now to clear us a path
to the road.”

“You said they were the weapon, and all you
had to do was aim it. How are you going to do that?” Yulen
asked.

She gave him a look he couldn’t fathom as she
reached inside the waistband of her pants and pulled out a
bloodstained rag. Yulen started, recognizing it as the piece of
material he’d used in the cell to clean the blood off of them after
he’d taken her virginity. Silently he watched as she dug out the
smooth rock from where she’d stuffed it down the inside of her
boot, then tied the rag around it. MaGrath saw the rag but made no
comment, not realizing its significance.

As the soldiers drew closer, the wild pigs
became more restless. They could smell the blood. It kept them
excited and circling the trees. It was quickly evident the soldiers
had no idea a herd of almost a dozen feral hogs were milling
nearby.

When men had approached close enough, Atty
whispered, “The second the pigs go for them, drop and run in that
direction.” She pointed over their shoulders. Both men nodded their
understanding and prepared to jump.

Hefting the bloody rag and rock, she sat up,
placed two fingers in her mouth, and let out a piercing whistle. As
she’d hoped, the soldiers spotted her, but the dense foliage
prevented them from getting a good shot at her. That, however, was
not a problem for Atty. Rearing back, she hurled the rock with
precision, striking the nearest horse in the neck. The animal
screamed and rose on its hind legs. The soldier riding it was
thrown backwards, which, in turn, spooked the horses behind him,
and they shied in fear.

The pigs reacted to the noise and the scent
of blood now coming from a different direction. It was only a
matter of moments before they raced off to attack the
intruders.

As soon as the clearing was emptied, Yulen,
MaGrath, and Atty dropped from the trees and dashed for the road as
screams, squeals, and the yells of Collaunt’s men echoed in their
ears.

Chapter Thirty-Seven

Fault

“Halt and identify!”

Yulen stepped out of the forest to be
immediately surrounded by a half-dozen armed men. Their diligence
pleased him. “Stand down! Where’s my horse? Verris?”

His men backed away, exclaiming in surprise
to see him return. They were even more shocked when Atty followed
him from out of the brush, with MaGrath behind her.

“Yulen!” a cry came from the back of the
line. The Battle Lord reacted to the voice, but there was no time
for reunions.

“Verris! Mastin! Karv!” Yulen called again as
the reins to his horse were handed over to him. Deftly he swung
into the saddle.

“Yes, sir!” Mastin appeared, already mounted
and ready to lead his platoon of archers.

Glancing around, Yulen spotted Karv and
Verris. Both men had their troops at ready, and they signaled their
status.

“What is Madigan doing here?” Yulen asked
Mastin sharply. “Why didn’t she remain at the encampment?” His
throat still hurt like the devil, but at least he had some volume
back.

“She insisted, sir,” his Second replied. “You
know how she can be.”

Yulen nodded. Nothing short of being tied to
her chair could prevent his mother from following his troops if she
chose. And there had been times in the past when he could remember
his father doing just that prior to leaving on one of his
crusades.

Turning around, he finally caught sight of
MaGrath with Atty. They were mounting their own horses. The
physician was first to pull up next to him.

“Stay with her,” Yulen ordered, knowing the
man would have no doubt as to whom he meant.

MaGrath gave a quick nod. “Want me to bandage
that up first?” he indicated the rope burn.

“No. I want my men to see it. Have them
something to focus on.” He narrowed his eyes. “Give
me
something to remember him with,”
he added softly.

His attention was drawn back to the warrior
woman who had joined them. “You’re staying here.” It was as direct
an order as he could give her. When Atty opened her mouth to
protest, he pinned her with his eyes. “I won’t risk you going back
in there. Now it’s time for me to go in and clean up after. We
won’t be long. Be waiting for me when I return. Liam, make sure my
mother doesn’t embarrass herself while I’m gone.”

MaGrath nodded again. Furtively, he grabbed
Atty’s reins for good measure as they watched Yulen signal to his
men to accompany him over the rise and down into the valley toward
Bearinger.

They followed the departing soldiers on their
horses, stopping at the top of the rise so they could watch the men
descend on the compound. MaGrath was barely aware of Madigan
pulling up on the other side of Atty’s mount until the woman
commented, “It shouldn’t take him too long to restore order down
there.”

Atty made no comment. She remained looking
down in the valley, trying to catch a glimpse of red-gold hair. She
had no weapon. She couldn’t protect him or fight for him even if
she wanted. For the first time in her life she felt more naked and
more helpless than she ever could imagine.

“Before he went in to surrender, he told me
he’d found you,” Madigan continued, as if she was unaware of Atty’s
attempt to ignore her. The older woman bit her lower lip. “He told
me what he’d done...to save you. He was...he told me he
was...ashamed.”

Atty finally turned her head to give her a
questioning look. Madigan saw the confusion on the woman’s
face.

“I told him it wasn’t his fault. That he
shouldn’t blame himself because the blame was also partially mine.
At least most of it. Because of all the nasty things I’d said. My
jealousy towards you. My hatred toward people like you that had
been bred in me since childhood. I didn’t want him to marry you. I
was determined never to see it happen. So when he came to me and
told me...” She bit her lips again, and now Atty could see the
tears filling the woman’s eyes.

“He’ll have to face this for the rest of his
life, how different his life will be because of you. You know that,
don’t you? How difficult and different it’ll be, always having to
defend you. Always having to bear the burden of explaining why he
took you to be his wife. I’m just terrified, thinking that at some
point...someday, someone else will come along and challenge him.
Challenge you. Perhaps take you away again. And he’ll be forced to
risk everything again for your sake.”

“It’s as much my fault as his,” Atty told her
softly, turning back to the scene below. “He nearly died because he
wanted to save me. If I had not been Collaunt’s prisoner, none of
this would have happened. You were trying to protect him as much as
he was trying to protect me, Madigan. And you’re right earlier. I
don’t belong here. I’m not of your people.”

Taking a deep breath, Atty turned her horse
around and began to lead it back toward the encampment. MaGrath
reached out to snag her arm. “What do you think you’re doing?” he
asked the warrior woman. At the same time, he tossed a harsh look
toward Madigan. “For God’s sake, Maddy.”

“She’s of her own mind,” the older woman
murmured.

“Damn you, Maddy. I’ve had
enough
of this!” He looked at Atty.
“Wait ‘til Yulen returns before you do anything.”

Atty refused to meet his eyes. “I
shouldn’t have come, Liam. I’m tired and I’m weak, and I...I just
can’t...
take
any more of this.
This is never going to end. All the hatred in the world for people
like me. I kept trying to tell myself differently, that they’ll
come to accept me, but Madigan’s right. Yulen deserves someone his
people can look up to without fear or loathing. He deserves healthy
sons, not little boys who might have an extra appendage or scales
for skin. Don’t you see? If I stay, I will always be Mutah. The
freak who can fire a bow. Yulen’s mutie conquest.”

Before he could stop her, she slapped the
reins over the horse’s neck and dug her heels into its ribs. The
animal spurted forward, and MaGrath lost his grip on her sleeve.
Without thinking, he rode over and grabbed the bridle on Madigan’s
horse.

“Liam, let go.”

“Not until you go after her.”

“Why? She’s made her choice.”

“Only because you’ve pounded your righteous
cause into her skull ever since she arrived. You’ve thrown every
ounce of guilt on her shoulders, and why? Because you want a Normal
for a daughter-in-law?” MaGrath gave a humorless laugh. “You are
still so full of self-pity and loathing, I wonder now why I ever
wanted to wait for you.”

At his confession, Madigan blanched. “Wait
for me?”

“Yeah, wait for you. Wait for you to
realize Rory was dead, and ghosts make for pretty poor lovers at
night. Unless you’ve come to enjoy not having any more laughter and
warmth in your life. I’ve loved you ever since we three were
children playing tag in the courtyard. I’ve loved you even after I
found out you’d married Rory. I’ve loved you through all these
years, and I’ve loved Yulen as if he’d been
our
son. After Rory was killed, I was there to
comfort you, but I held back and prayed that maybe,
maybe
, you’d wake up one day and take
off that damn black veil you wear inside around your heart, and see
that I’m still here...waiting for you.”

He looked down the road where he could no
longer make out Atty’s figure. A tightness hitched in his throat,
threatening to cut off his breath.

“My hatred for mutants was as great as
anyone’s, or so I believed until I met Atty. That’s what hurts the
most, I think. That you never took a single minute to sit and
listen to her. That you never watched her and Yulen together, and
never saw that incredible
power
that binds them. I can’t even call it love because it’s like
the two of them together is greater than the two of them apart.
Well,
I
saw it. I saw the
change that came over Yulen. I saw that black, bitter hole that he
had dug after his father’s death nearly swallow him, and I watched
Atty fill it with her smile and her sass and her naiveté and her
sincerity. And her love for your son. And I watched Yulen heal and
change because of her. Think back, Madigan. Think of the way Yulen
was before we left on that last crusade. Now think of these past
few days and tell me...I dare you to tell me Atty’s not responsible
for any of it.”