The Battle Lord's Lady (42 page)

A cold hand reached up to touch the long scar
on his face. Yulen kept her fully immersed except for her face. In
the water, her morning glory hair drifted like a deep blue
blanket.

“Yul...I’m dying, aren’t I?” Her voice was
barely audible. She was having trouble forming her words.

Tenderly he wiped her burning cheeks and
forehead with his wet hands. What could he tell her without lying
to her? How could he tell her the truth, without making her want to
give up her struggle?

Atty saw the fear and worry on his face. It
was the only answer she needed. “I want...to...live,” she managed.
She needed to reach up and touch him again, but her hand would no
longer obey her. “I want...to marry you. I want my p-...pomp and
pageantry. Yul...love...you.”

“I love you, my beautiful and brave Atrilan,”
he whispered as he watched her close her eyes. For a terrifying
moment he thought she had slipped away from him until he saw the
shallow rise of her breast. Shivering, he leaned over to kiss each
closed eyelid.

Paxton pounded into the bedroom, making his
way to the bath amid the crowd gathered there. Seeing the Battle
Lord kneeling over the tub, he froze at the sight of Atty floating
in the water.

“Sir! Thank the stars you managed to get her
back. What happened? What can I do?”

Yulen looked up at the man he’d left in
charge of the compound, a man he fully trusted, next to his
Seconds. “Atty was poisoned by someone in the company, Warren. They
should already be in the compound by now. I want every man confined
to their quarters until they can be questioned.”

“Yes, sir!”

“After they’re confined, I want you to
check every man’s horse and saddlebags. I want every man stripped
and have their clothing and personal objects checked. I want to
know if you find anything unusual. A note, an empty vial, an empty
pouch containing an unknown substance,
anything
.”

“Yes, sir.”

Yulen gave him a last dark look. “That
includes Mastin and his men. And my mother.”

Paxton paled. “Sir?”

“You heard me. The only person you are not to
put through this interrogation is MaGrath. Am I clear?”

“Yes, sir.”

“Now go. Tell Berta this water is warming. We
need more cool. And find out where the physician is!” he yelled at
the departing soldier.

At the doorway stood several servants staring
mutely at the tableau before them. Yulen had known many of them
since he was a child. One servant in particular, an elderly man by
the name of Petersen, softly came forward and asked what everyone
was wanting to ask.

“Sir...is she dying?”

Yulen started to answer when his throat
unexpectedly closed up on him. Clearing it, he tried again. “I’m
going to fight like hell so she doesn’t.”

“Is there anything we can do to help?” he
offered.

“Yeah,” he told them as the first of many
tears fell onto his cheek. “Pray.”

Chapter Forty-Four

War

“Yulen.”

At the sound of his name, the Battle Lord
jumped to his feet. MaGrath held up both hands to stay the man from
panicking. “Easy. There’s been no change.”

Yulen remained fixed on the figure lying on
his bed. Despite the cooling bath the fever still raged inside her
body. Already the sheet covering her was damp. Her hair fanning
over the pillow was soaked. She was unnaturally pale and looked as
though she had been carved out of stone. Only a slight lifting and
lowering of her chest gave proof she remained among the living.

“She hasn’t awakened?” he asked in a raspy
voice.

MaGrath shook his head. He watched the man
walk over to the side of the bed and sit in the chair the physician
had vacated not too long ago. Grimacing, MaGrath went to stand
beside him. “Yulen, something urgent’s come up.”

“Have Mastin deal with it,” the Battle Lord
said wearily.

“Yulen, look at me,” MaGrath urged him
softly. He flinched to see the dark hopelessness in the blue-gray
eyes. The man had not left Atty’s side since their return to the
compound the day before. In the meantime a massive search had been
made of every soldier’s possessions and clothing who had been in
the caravan to Bearinger. Nothing had been found. Paxton even
personally questioned each man, including Mastin, regarding what
had been in Atty’s water bag. It had been with a mixture of relief,
pride, and regret that the lieutenant reported to his leader that
every man had passed interrogation.

Bowing to his great friend’s request, Yulen
had allowed the physician to be the one to question Madigan. Deep
in his heart he could not see his own mother doing such a heinous
act, but he couldn’t forget her initial reaction to the warrior
woman, nor the way she had treated her in the past. But he wasn’t
surprised when the physician finally came to him to report she was
just as devastated as they were by the turn of events.

Which could only mean that the guilty was
someone somewhere else. Someone who was still out there. Out there
and waiting for the news to reach them of Atty’s passing.

“The poison is a plant derivative I’m
not familiar with,” MaGrath had announced that morning after
spending most of the night studying the inside of the water bag.
“All I can tell is that there are traces of a small red blossom and
some leafy material, but there’s not enough for me to identify what
the plant is or where it could have come from. I
can
tell you it gave the water a
salty taste, which is why she found it brackish.”

After another hour immersed in the tub, Atty
had been moved to the big bed and kept cool with wet rags and
compresses. Yulen personally took over that chore, turning away
anyone who offered to spell him.

It was now nearly noon, and MaGrath knew the
man had not taken any food since their return. With the exception
of changing out of his dirty clothes from the day before, the
Battle Lord hadn’t even slept. He was terrified she would slip away
if he did, and begged the physician for the powders he knew the man
had that would help keep him awake.

Meanwhile Atty’s condition slowly but surely
deteriorated. It was just a matter of days, perhaps hours, when she
would take her last breath. MaGrath swallowed dryly, fighting the
squeezing pressure in his chest, and grabbed Yulen’s arm. “Yulen,
we have an emergency outside the compound.”

“I’m not leaving her side,” the man argued
heatedly.

“The compound is surrounded,” the physician
hissed. “You better drag yourself away from her, or you’ll forever
regret the consequences.”

Giving him a venomous look, Yulen relented
and followed him outside the bedroom where Mastin and Paxton were
waiting for him.

“Sir, there’s a representative and his
entourage waiting to see you down in the main hall,” Mastin
announced in a tight voice. Seeing the Battle Lord lift an eyebrow,
he explained, “They’re Mutah, sir. From the Battle Lady’s
compound.”

MaGrath saw Yulen’s reaction to the
nomenclature, and knew it was the first time the man had heard Atty
referred to as such.

“From Wallis?” Yulen asked.

“Yes, sir. They’re requesting to see you
immediately.”

“Or?” It hadn’t been difficult to see there
was more going on that what he was being told.

“Or they’re going to declare war on us,”
Paxton finished.

Yulen glanced from the Second to his
lieutenant and back. “All right, let me have the rest of it.
They’re going to declare war on us...and?”

Mastin clenched his jaw. “That’s it, sir.
They’re prepared to go to war with us. Now.”

“Now?”

It was Paxton who nodded and dropped the
other shoe.

“They’ve already surrounded the compound,
sir. There has to be at least a thousand or more of them. Mutah,
sir. Armed and ready to swarm Alta Novis.”

Yulen pivoted on his heel and reentered the
bedroom to grab his weapons belt where it hung on the chair beside
the bed. Leaning over Atty, he gave her a tender kiss on her sweaty
forehead, then followed his men out of the room and down the
stairs, into the main hall.

The entourage of representatives numbered
five. The Mutah at the head was a man Yulen didn’t recognize,
although one of the other four looked familiar. It wasn’t hard to
remember a man with foot-long fingers.

The leader stepped forward, an elderly man
wearing a short robe over leather pants. He had slits in his
cheeks, which opened and closed as he breathed, since he had no
nose. Yulen felt the tension in the room as his men stood at their
stations. They were prepared, but would make no move toward the
group unless Yulen signaled to them, or he himself went down.

“You are Yulen D’Jacques,” the elderly man
stated for verification.

Yulen nodded. “I am. Who do I address?”

“My name’s Piron George. I’m the head of the
Council of Elders at Wallis. I’m accompanied by my fellow
councilmen Twoson Pike, Session Bond, Collier Vogel, and Atty’s
elected guardian, Fortune Kalich.”

Yulen stared at the one referred to as Atty’s
guardian. He appeared to be a strong and formidable man. A
lion-like tail whipped nervously against the back of his legs.

“What are your dealings with me this day?”
Yulen asked, keeping his voice steady. If it weren’t for the
knowledge that over a thousand armed Mutah stood outside the huge
double doors of the compound, he wouldn’t be standing in the hall.
Even now Atty was slipping away from him.

“We’ve come prepared to do to your compound
what you and other Battle Lords like you have done to our kind for
generations,” George announced loudly and firmly.

“I understand,” Yulen nodded. “However, you
wouldn’t be here speaking with me unless you were willing to
negotiate a treaty of some sort. Otherwise you would have already
attacked us. Alta Novis has over three hundred civilians, and
slightly less than three hundred armed and trained soldiers to
protect her, which I’m guessing you are already aware of. My men
tell me your army numbers over a thousand troops.”

“Thirteen hundred,” the one called Vogel
whistled. The skin on his face and neck was leathery, and he
revealed sharply pointed teeth when he spoke.

“Then we are at your mercy,” Yulen conceded.
“What are your terms of surrender?”

George started. “You’re willing to surrender
so easily?” he asked in surprise.

Yulen gave a slight nod and kept his hands
away from his weapons. Although he was armed, he didn’t want to
give them the impression that he was a threat. “You are generally a
peaceful people. And, despite the fact that I am a Battle Lord, I
don’t go seeking bloodshed. My initial goal is first to protect
those I serve.”

“Then why have you repeatedly attacked our
compound?” Vogel growled.

“Because you have attacked us,
wait!
” He held up a hand to stay any
angry denials. “Let me clarify that. We have been attacked in the
past by those Mutah known as Bloods. But, regrettably, back then we
believed all Mutah were alike. We retaliated. I know differently
now, and I am in the process of trying to correct any wrongs I’ve
committed.”

George’s eyes narrowed. His cheek slits blew
wider. “Why this sudden change of heart, Cleaner?”

Yulen turned to him. “Why? Because
I
have
had a change of heart.
Because of Atty.”

“Atty!” Two of the representatives echoed her
name. George held up his hands to silence them.

“Go on,” the leader ordered.

The Battle Lord took a deep breath. “Atty has
taught me the difference between your people and mine is not as
vast as we’ve been taught. Our elders, our parents were wrong. You
didn’t ask to be made like you are, not any more than my people
asked to remain untouched. Ultimately, we both desire the same
things. We want to love and be loved. We want to have a long life
that holds more happiness than sorrow. We want to bear children
who’ll continue our legacy and, hopefully, keep our memories alive.
And we want to survive without the threat of war, extinction, or
annihilation. So, I ask you again, what are the terms of your
surrender? Because the sooner you let me know, the sooner I can
attempt to comply. Then you can go back to your compound in peace,
and I can keep my people protected, as I swore to do when I took my
father’s sword and accepted this position.”

“We’re here because of Atty,” the one
mentioned as her guardian announced.

“Kalich, right?” Yulen repeated.

“Fortune Kalich, that’s right.”

“You’re her, what? Elected guardian? What’s
that?”

“When she lost her mother and sister, she was
left orphaned. Our laws protect those left without any family, and
place them with others who are willing to shelter them. Atty’s
father and I were close friends, so my wife and I offered to become
her guardians and take her into our house.”

Yulen nodded, taking in this bit of news, and
forcing himself to accept the man’s compassion. There was so much
to re-learn and accept about the Mutah. Slowly, by degrees, the
differences between them and him were disappearing, vanishing,
until soon there would be nothing left but a small, if somewhat
noticeable, physical abnormality that would set them apart. Thanks
to Atty and her courage, her strength of conviction, and her
stubbornness in getting him to see her world through her eyes.

Thinking of her, Yulen unconsciously glanced
up to the top of the stairs where MaGrath was watching from the
doorway of the bedroom. When the physician waved a hand to let him
know her situation remained the same, he shivered with relief.

“Our terms are threefold and simple,” George
told him, noticing where the man’s attention had lingered. “And
Atty is the main reason we’re here.”