The Danu (5 page)

"Then what is it
about?"

 "She was different
than the rest."

He could feel Ragnar
waiting for more but he was done talking.  His oldest friend finally threw back
his head and laughed, making his horse fight against his light touch.  With no
effort, Khalon controlled the half-wild warhorse and shot his friend another
look of displeasure.

"That's it?" 
Ragnar asked making Khalon grit his teeth.  "You locked eyes with the one
female in all of the North who did not have that come hither look in her eyes
at the sight of the great conquering Prince and you decided she was
suspicious.  Do you plan on questioning her in your bed?"

"Ragnar,"
Khalon warned through his tightly clenched jaw.

The black gates of Haven
came into view before he could find a good threat for his oldest friend.  They
both saw a warrior was departing through the opened gates and stopped their
banter.

The guardsman that came
out looked to be carrying someone too small to be a man in his arms.  Worse, he
was headed for the wilds.  With a shared look with Ragnar, they both pulled
their weapons and dismounted.  Following on foot.  They were close enough to
see the horse spook, hear the warrior’s curses and watch as the ground beneath
the rearing horse shot roots to wrap around the small amber haired female. 
Then the ground swallowed her like a pebble in a pond.  The last thing they saw
before she was gone from their sight was the sudden glow from pale whipped
cream skin.

Ragnar pulled the
guardsman from his horse and crushed him to the ground beneath a massive boot. 
The warrior started to struggle until he got a good look at the war hammer
above him and the man who held it.  Recognition was fast.  He went still, only
his eyes following Khalon as he stepped around them.  One look at his Prince
whatever doubts the guardsman had about the pain in his future was gone and all
emotion left the man’s face.

Khalon moved around
Ragnar and the prone guardsman as if they didn't exist.  His eyes on the forest
floor where the woman had disappeared, his sword tight in his hand.  Only two
thoughts had room in his head with his rage.  There was indeed a Danu living in
hiding in the city of Haven, and it was the woman who had owned his thoughts
since he saw and then lost her in the crowds.

When he found the ground
as solid in that spot as the rest of the forest floor he growled his
displeasure.  For the second time he had a glimpse and then lost this woman. 
Danu or not, he vowed silently that it would not happen a third time.

He turned to the warrior
under Ragnar's boot.  "You will tell me everything you know of this woman
and anyone that shelters her."

Khalon watched the
thoughts slash across the guardsman's stoic face, and then the man looked
pained and then resigned.

"I will tell you
what I know."

An unpalatable thought
entered Khalon's mind and could not be shaken.  "First," he growled,
the rage boiling up behind his eyes.  "You will tell me who this woman is
to
you
."

Katrine lost track of all
time in the wild weave.  She absorbed energy and did her best to stay that last
small distance away from connecting wholly with the forest.  It was the hardest
thing she had ever done, ignoring that siren call.  When she finally felt
herself start to waver, she found the strength to push herself out of the weave
completely.  The wilds pushed her the rest of the way out of the cocoon it had
wrapped her in, and she opened her eyes above ground, still independent enough
of the weave to move on.

She gave no thought to
Dorn or what he might have been doing while she was in the Wild weave until she
opened her eyes and came face to face with Prince Khalon Morten crouching
comfortably at her side as if he was content to wait as long as it took for
her.  She recognized him immediately, even though she had only seen him at a
distance that one fateful day.  She was surprised to note, seeing his eyes that
close, that they were not black as she thought, but a navy blue, like dark
velvet. 

So that is what my death
looks like,
Katrine thought fleetingly, before she
forced herself to look away from those velvet eyes and really see what else was
happening around her.  Besides the Prince, there were two other Southern
Warriors present.  Dorn was on his knees beside a man that made even that tall
warrior look small.  Katrine remembered what Jaak had said about the man.  She
didn't remember what his true name was.  She did remember he was called ‘the
hammer’ for the frighteningly oversized weapon he favored.  A dangerous mountain
of a man he stood over Dorn with a threatening grip on his war hammer she could
not miss.  From the way his eyes focused on Katrine and his prince, he didn't
like their proximity any more than she did.

Katrine turned her eyes
back to the warrior at her side and sat up, crossing her legs and tucking her
feet, she gave him serene eyes, which was harder than she made it look.  She
had hoped if she was no longer prone on the ground he would look less daunting,
but he still looked big and hard.  Only now, he was even closer.  At least his
sword was sheathed.

Unexpectedly, he reached
forward and touched her hair.  All his attention on the curl he held while he
rubbed it between his thumb and finger before gently pushing it behind her ear
and out of her face. When he pulled his hand back the side of his hand brushed
against her cheek making her blink at the gentle touch from such a hard man. 
His eyes moved down her and Katrine could swear they generated heat everywhere
they touched.

When his eyes finally returned
to hers and locked in, Katrine wondered if hers were as wide open and surprised
as they felt.  So much for serenity.

"Your name?" he
asked it at the same time he presented his hand to her.

Not seeing any other
choice Katrine placed her hand in his hard warm one and allowed him to pull him
up when he stood.  Standing beside him she realized just how much bigger than
her he was.  The Danu tended toward small and slender with dexterity and speed
being more important in the trees than brute strength, and she was a typical
Danu, made along small lithe lines.  Prince Khalon Morten was a big man, and
beyond that every muscle in his body was defined to a knifes edge.  There did
not seem to be a hint of softness anywhere on the man.

   For some reason the
rough calluses against her hands were making her shiver.  She was a weaver,
worked in the dirt whenever possible, and was a climber by inclination, not to
mention she spent a good deal of her time practicing with her knives besides. 
His touch should not make her feel soft when she knew she had her share of
calluses, but they did.  When she tried to pull her hand away his tightened
showing her without a doubt he was as strong as he looked.  Though he was
careful not to hurt her, she was not getting free unless he allowed it.  Seeing
the determination in his face Katrine realized that was the point he was trying
to make.  Message received.

Katrine firmed her lips
and raised her chin giving him her own version of warrior poise that she hoped
sent the message back that she would not be intimidated.

His face hardened, and a
look came into those blue velvet eyes that made her rethink leaving the safety
of the wild weave.  It was the first time she understood there might be things
besides the wilds that could trap her just as deep.

"Your name little
witch," he repeated with a lower, rougher voice than he had used before.
It was not the first time Katrine had been labeled witch, but it was the first
time it didn't sound like a curse.

"Katrine."  Her
answer pleased him for some reason she could not fathom.

"And your reason for
coming to Haven?"

Katrine looked from
Prince Khalon over to Dorn and realized he was asking questions he already knew
the answer to.  Which meant he was bound to know about Amelia and Jaak.  How
much had Dorn shared about his sister by marriage and his nephew?  She met the
Prince's eyes firmly and told as much of the truth as she dared.  "I came
to Haven looking for work as a weaver."

"And you worked
there for two cycles, is that correct?"

"Yes."

"I was not aware the
Danu could survive outside the wilds.  How is it that you managed it?" 
She could hear the suspicion in his voice and it angered her.

"Perhaps you do not
know as much about my people as you think you do."

His eyes narrowed on her
face.  "I was with my father when we first came south and learned of the
magic forest folk.  I make it a point to know my enemies."

At the reminder of her
peoples fate, Katrine felt a fresh surge of anger fire her blood.  It was this
man and his armies that had destroyed the Danu.  "Superstition and
heresy," She bit out between clenched teeth.  "The only truth you
know about my people is how to kill them."

The warrior prince jerked
her into the hard planes of his chest by the hand he still held.  His other arm
wrapped around her waist when she would have pushed back.  Just that fast she
was plastered against a leather covered chest and he was leaning over her, his
face close enough she could see the hard working of his jaw beneath sun kissed
skin.  "Perhaps you should keep that in mind and be smart little witch,
and watch your tone."

Seemed the gentle touches
and soft looks were over.  With a short prayer that this would not be the one
time too many that trapped her in the local weave, Katrine opened herself up to
the wilds.  Vines grew up the Prince's leg and tightened; a threat of her own. 
Katrine smiled right into those angry blue velvet eyes.  "Be smart?  I am
not the one threatening a Danu in the green."

***

Khalon cursed his own
distraction when he felt the vines shoot up his leg and threaten his manhood,
in more ways than one.  He heard a struggle and Ragnar painting the air blue
with his own curses behind him.   He turned to see both the big man and the
guardsman Dorn, in worse shape than him, strung up in the trees and wrapped
tight in wild vines.  It had all happened so fast he knew without a doubt that
the woman could kill them all before they could fight back, and no one would
ever find the bodies.

"My men have gone to
collect your friends," he said almost mildly.  "If we do not return
it will go badly for them."

The Danu Katrine sucked
in a breath and her eyes went to where Ragnar and the guardsman were strung
up.  With a firming of her mouth and a narrowing of her eyes, the two men were
released back to the ground.  Quickly.  Khalon winced when they both his the
ground with a few more curses.  He could spare them no more thought because the
Danu was looking at him, and he was still wrapped to the waist in wild vines. 
They were pulsing as if she was trying to decide whether to tighten or let go.

"They have done
nothing to warrant that," she said tightly.  "Would you punish a
widow of one of your own troops for giving another widow a job?"

"If I am not there
it won't matter what I would or would not do," he said mildly.  "My
men will assume the worst and your widow will pay the price."

She blew out a breath and
he wondered if she knew her eyes gave away her worry.  "I have no
intention of hurting you or your men.  I never have," she said. "I
just want to move on."

Her chin jutted at him
again.  All it made him want to do is tame that stubborn streak.  "Your
actions speak differently."

"You are the one who
threatened me,” she gritted the words out between her teeth.  Shaking the hand
he still held.  He tightened the grip he had on her waist and refused to
release her hand.  "I never caused a single problem to you or your men in
the two cycles I have lived among you."

"I'm not letting you
go," he said tightly.  "If you want me to treat your friends with
compassion you will accompany me out of the wilds."

Khalon felt a certain
satisfaction in the angry helplessness that came into her eyes even before the
vines retracted from around him and disappeared back into the ground at their
feet.

"If you give me your
word my friends will be spared I will go with you," she finally agreed. 
She looked him right in the eye and he could see how much the next words cost
her.  "If you intend for me to leave the area I suggest you get on with it
quickly."  She took a deep breath that he could feel against his own
chest, and he liked that, what he did not like was what she said next. 
"If I stay too long in these wilds I will be unable to leave short of
death."

He studied her set face
with a frown.  "You are telling the truth."

"Regardless of what you
may think, I have not lied to you or anyone else since I came to Haven."

Her wording distracted
him momentarily.  "And before that?"

Her lips firmed and her
chin jutted in that stubborn way she had.  "I lied every day of my married
life."

"Among the
outcasts?"

She eyes blanked, she
looked away from him briefly, her eyes going to the guardsman and then back,
and she was exactly right, the man Dorn was the one who told him her Outcast
story.  "Yes," she said.  The bright green of her eyes seemed to dull
minutely with her memories. 

Khalon had assumed it was
a lie; Outcasts were notoriously insular.  From her reaction, it was indeed a
true telling.  Also from her reaction, not a happy time for her.  "And if
we went looking for these outcasts, what would they say about you?"

The woman Katrine
snorted, the color of her eyes went from dulled to bright with anger in an
instant.  "Nothing I care to hear," she grumbled, as if she was
talking more to herself than him.  It would have made him smile but for the
look behind the anger.  Hurt.

"They hurt
you?"  The words were out before he could call them back, and the anger
behind them gave far too much away.

It had her looking at him
again, rather than whatever past event had called her back.  She studied him
with a dawning confusion that said she knew he was angry on her behalf, as
ridiculous as that sounded.  She was the enemy, and a stranger besides.  Her
eyes searching his she finally answered.  "My husband was good to me, but
Outcast society is not kind to women, or strangers, and I was both.  If I had
not owed Deni so much I would have left long before.  After...well, staying
would have gone very bad for me."  Then her eyes narrowed.  Her attention
once again on something in her past that was unpleasant.  Her words when she
spoke them had more than a bite of threat behind them.  "And for
them." 

It was the name that
caught his attention.  "Deni is the husband that was good to you?" He
did not like that and again his anger was misplaced.  Khalon did not know what
angered him more, that she was in danger with the outcasts, or that she
obviously loved this man Deni, who had been her husband.

He felt her withdrawal as
much as saw it on her face.  "None of that matters now.  My time with the
outcasts is done.  If you are determined to see me back to Haven then I still
need your word that the widow Amelia, her son Jaak…" she gestured with one
hand to the guardsman still on his knees besides a very angry Ragnar who looked
much the worse for wear after being attacked and then released by the trees
around him.  "And the warrior Dorn will not suffer in any way."

Khalon narrowed his eyes
and looked again at the warrior Dorn.  "You include him in your
friends?"  He did not like that at all.

"He is Amelia's
family, and though I know he intended that I would be turned over to his
superiors after he kept his word and brought me to the wilds, I am still
grateful for the assistance he afforded me in the past."  She looked at
the man in question and Khalon could detect no lie or softer emotions from the
woman, and he looked for it.  "If he had not sent me to Amelia when I
first came to the city I do not think I would have fared as well as I
did."  She looked back at Khalon, and there went that jutting chin. 
"If you cannot promise to spare them we will have this out here, in the
wilds, and Amelia and Jaak will take their chances with whoever detains them in
Haven."

Khalon smiled a half
smile at her implied threat, and heard Ragnar curse even as he was giving his
word.  "I give you my word that if you give yourself into my keeping, they
will face no consequences."