Read Do Or Die [Nuworld 4] Online
Authors: Lorie O'Claire
promises they exchanged during the day, she would disappear. There was only so
much time to prove her argument to him. And she’d barely made it to Tara’s tent last
night. Obviously, Gilroy had been told of the cruelties she was administering to Andru,
because Meah noticed he seemed to watch her like a hawk. She knew what bothered
Andru more than the private torment she was putting him through. It was the not
knowing where she was sleeping at night.
So when she crawled out of the escape flap on the backside of Tara’s tent she was
very cautious not to be seen by any of the Gothman guards. Over the past few days
she’d crept to Tara’s tent successfully, and each morning managed to sneak back out
before dawn. Tara assured her that her tent, right in the middle of the Gothman
campsite, was the safest place for Meah to hide. Again, it seemed the woman might be
right. It was only the third day, though. Meah knew it would take a lot more than three
days to show Andru she would not be reckoned with. She would not be controlled. He
would not think for her. She would never let him own her.
Meah was actually glad to feel the gentle rain and see the heavy clouds when she
freed herself from the tent. She crept easily through the campsite in her black Runner
clothing and the thick blackness of the early morning. Once at the Runner camp, a mug
of coffee warmed over one of the large fire pits was just what she needed. The Runner
cooks were just starting to get up and move around, but someone managed to find a
thick slab of bread and spread honey butter on it for her before they continued with the
process of preparing food for the troops. There wasn’t much else for her to do at the
moment, so she jumped in to help. Although she desperately wanted to go climb into
her own bed and catch a few more hours of sleep, she knew if Andru found her there
she would have incredible difficulty turning him away.
In fact, this was another problem Meah hadn’t foreseen. She needed to talk to Tara
about this one. All of the flirting and public fondling she was participating in with
Andru was having an incredible impact on her. She wanted Andru—badly. Her old
feelings toward him were slowly taking over the feelings she’d developed after he
raped her.
Meah threw together a Gothman honey loaf, a popular Gothman breakfast. When
the breakfast was ready, she carried the steaming loaf back over to the Gothman
campsite. She had almost reached the center of the campsite where the Bryon tents
were, when her comm vibrated in her pocket.
“Meah, we’ve spotted one of the armies.” Gilroy didn’t bother with the formality of
introduction.
“Really? Where were they spotted?” She started walking quickly toward Andru’s
tent as she spoke on her comm.
“It’s about a two-hour flight from here. I’m assembling armies right now. You
should do the same.”
“Right. Where’s Andru…and Ana?”
“If you don’t know where your claim is then it’s not my place to tell you.”
Gilroy’s odd answer confused her but she disregarded it as she reached Andru’s
and Gilroy’s tents. Andru and Ana walked out of Gilroy and Ana’s tent as she walked
up.
“Gilroy, Andru and Ana are right here. They just came out of your tent.”
Gilroy said nothing. In fact, he was quiet for so long, Meah almost forgot their
transmission was still connected.
“I brought you breakfast.” Meah was glad Ana was there. It was getting more and
more difficult to be alone with Andru.
“Oh, Andru, look at this,” Ana squealed with delight. “Did you make this?”
“Yeah, I brought cream sauce too.” Meah smiled as Ana pulled off a chunk of the
honey bread, broke it in two, and handed half of it to Andru. He smiled at his sister as
he accepted the chunk of bread then took the bowl of cream from Meah.
“Let’s eat in my tent,” Andru said as he ate. Meah wrapped her arm into Ana’s and
headed toward the tent behind Andru. She wasn’t about to let Ana escape. Andru
wouldn’t cause any scenes in front of Ana—he was always very gentle around his
sister. That was the Andru of her dreams, the Andru her imagination had conjured up
as her perfect lover, a gentle yet powerful man.
“Meah, give your comm to Andru.” Gilroy’s voice in her ear almost made her jump.
“I need to go over a few things with him.”
“I almost forgot,” Meah said when they were in Andru’s tent. She’d noticed that he
hadn’t referred to it as their tent. Did that mean he’d told Ana that she was sneaking
away at night and leading everyone to believe otherwise during the day? If he had, that
would be an indication that her scheme was working. She needed to dissolve his pride
enough for him to see he wouldn’t rule both Gothman and Runners.
She pulled her comm off and handed it to Andru. “Gilroy wants to talk to you.”
Andru took the comm and wrapped it around his ear.
“They’ve spotted one of the armies.” Meah grabbed Ana’s arm and told her as
Andru spoke to Gilroy. “We need to prepare armies to head out. He says they are about
two hours away.”
“Oh, fantastic. I was getting really crazy in the head sitting through this waiting
period.” Ana squeezed Meah’s hand. “How many armies do you think we should
send?”
“We need to find out how many soldiers are in this army and we should send out at
least that many warriors of our own. Anything the Gothman send out will then be
ample reinforcement.”
Andru pulled the comm from his ear and handed it to Meah. He grabbed her hand
when she took the comm and didn’t let go but instead pulled her to him. “Ana, let’s
each send out five hundred warriors. We need to be ready to go within the hour.”
“Sounds good.” Ana grabbed another piece of the honey bread and dunked it in the
cream before turning to leave the tent. Meah frowned when she realized Ana didn’t ask
how big the army was. She allowed Andru to lead the show and simply implemented
his instructions. Tara was right.
“Meah will be with you in a few minutes.” Andru smiled warmly at his sister when
she turned to see if they were following her. Ana held her brother’s gaze for a moment
then smiled gently in return before leaving.
“Where did you sleep last night?” Andru turned her around quickly when they
were alone.
“You no longer care about the two nights before that?” She smiled innocently as he
held both her arms.
“Damn it, woman, what is this?” He shook her once and then relaxed his grip
somewhat. “Your little game is wearing on my patience.”
“And so what will you do about it?” Meah held her head up high and stood firm in
front of him even though the top of her head barely reached his shoulders.
His entire body tensed and she felt his grip on her arms tighten until the circulation
disappeared. Still, she remained undaunted.
“Obviously, there is an end to your madness.” He pulled her close to him and lifted
her mouth to his by cupping her chin in his large hand. “All I can do is hope that you
will get this little game out of your head before I’m forced to seek out a mistress.”
His arms tightened quickly and his mouth devoured hers. She gasped in spite of
herself when she felt his hard body from his legs standing on either side of hers to his
iron chest smashing her growing breasts. She struggled to catch her breath when he
slowly let go of her and then backed away.
“The passion is in you, my lady.” He smiled and rubbed her red lips with his rough
thumb. “I believe we will both be a lot happier when you submit to it.”
“I have no intention of submitting to anything or anyone.” She turned away from
him quickly and walked toward the tent flap. He was right behind her when she turned
on her heels quickly and poked a finger into his chest. “And if you start running to
another woman for sex, I’ll disappear and so will your child.”
Meah slipped through his fingers and was out in the moist air before he caught up
to her side.
“I’ll not be threatened,” he whispered as he slipped his hand casually around hers.
“And, my lord, neither I nor my race will be intimidated by the heir to Gothman.”
* * * * *
Over a thousand warriors once again lifted into the heavy, dark gray sky less than
an hour later. They flew at high speed to the spot indicated on their landlinks. Andru
didn’t like not knowing anything about his opponent. Hell, they didn’t even know what
race these people were, or more than likely, what races dominated their armies. He
couldn’t overcome the sensation of moving blindly, and he didn’t like that feeling.
Tara ordered Ana and Andru to stay behind and instruct their commanders from
landlinks in her tent. Andru protested heavily but Tara stood him down with the
authority of a seasoned warrior. She wasn’t in the mood for his bullheadedness. As
leaders they would serve best if they let their armies do the fighting and stayed out of
the heart of battle so they could think clearly. The tent was heavily guarded, and Tara
paced back and forth behind them as her twins sat together at a long table noting
incoming reports and communicating with Gilroy and Meah.
Tara knew there was no way an army with over a thousand warriors could attack
with the advantage of surprise. The unknown army would have scouts surveying
surrounding land as they moved. She hoped the army would be taken off guard enough
though that the Runners and Gothman would be able to attack and annihilate without
too much effort. Always the hope in battle.
A Runner scout confirmed sight of several troops approaching at the same time the
first explosion ripped through the air. Meah shouted orders into her comm and
immediately raced through her surrounding guards toward the source of attack. Gilroy
came through her comm and told her there were several small troops on the Gothman
end of their large army, each attacking at opposite ends of the large Runner and
Gothman wall of warriors that filled the air.
It started raining right before Meah got word that the two attacking armies were
eliminated. The dark clouds hung so low that when the rain hit, it became difficult to
see for a distance. Everyone began relying on their landlinks to guide them.
“I’m going down,” Meah told the leader of the scouts she was flying with.
“Continue toward our destination and keep me posted if there are any more attacks, no
matter how small.”
“Sounds good.” The Runner flying next to her looked over and gave her a thumbs-