A Battle Lord’s Heart (13 page)

           
“No.”
  

           
He reached for the woman, but she
resisted vehemently, scratching the back of his wrist for his effort. “
Atty!
Atty! It’s me! It’s Liam! Open your eyes, Atty! It was just a nightmare!
Atty!
”
He grabbed for her again, and this time he managed to snag one hand. Before she
could attack him with her other, Fortune snatched it. Holding her down,
together they advanced closer and tried to calm her.

           
“Atty! Wake up, Atty!”

           
She stopped the violent shaking of
her head, and sagged against the bed as she wept openly. Heartbreaking moans
accompanied by the shaking of her shoulders.

           
“Yul!”

           
The single word made their hearts
stop.

           
“Oh, God, what’s happened?”

           
MaGrath looked up to see his wife’s
terrified face peering at him from the foot of the bed. Vaguely he was aware of
the sound of more feet rushing in through the front door. They belonged to the
guards who had been alarmed by Fortune’s calling out for the physician. Calling
out the one word, the one name that had sent everyone into a total panic.

           
Taking a deep breath, he reached
over and cupped Atty’s face between the palms of his hand, lifting her head
until he could get a closer look. “Let her go,” he told Fortune, who released
her other hand. Bending closer, he whispered tenderly, “Atty. Open your eyes.
Look at me.”

           
She was breathing heavily, but she
heard him. Slowly, thick dark blue lashes lifted to where she could focus on
the face staring frightened but lovingly at her.
 
Without warning, she launched herself into the man’s arms and
grabbed the shoulders of his tunic where she shuddered in his embrace.

           
Several minutes passed as MaGrath
held her, allowing her time to calm down, until her violent trembling ceased.
He felt her lips pressed against his neck, her wet face buried in the collar of
his shirt. When she was able at last to gain control of herself, she pulled
away, releasing her vise-like grip on the physician’s clothes.’
     

           
“Fortune?” she murmured.

           
He inched a little closer. “Yes,
Atty?”

           
“Go get Cole Mastin for me, would
you, please?”

           
“He’s downstairs,” Madigan
interjected, having overheard her request.

           
Atty breathed, filling her lungs and
letting her breath out steadily to help further calm her shattered nerves.
“Cole?” she called out loudly, clearly.

           
“Here!”

           
“Come up here, please.”

           
“Atty, what’s going on?” MaGrath
asked her, keeping his grip on her arms. He was too apprehensive to let her go,
although he could see she was clearly back in control of herself.

           
The Second walked around the side of
the bed, pausing only a moment as he noticed the carved headboard. “Yes, Atty?”

           
“I’m calling a Code Four. Now.
Immediately. How many men can you spare?”

           
Both Mastin and MaGrath reacted
instantly and angrily to her order.

           
“
Atty!
”

           
“Code
Four?
For God’s sake,
why
,
Atty?” the physician cried, giving her a little shake.

           
“Wh-what’s a Code Four?” Fortune
hesitantly asked.

           
Shakily, Atty rose to her feet,
brushing off MaGrath’s hands, and began to walk around the bed, passing Madigan
and Mastin, and heading for the door leading to the bathroom and to the closet.
But instead of going through the door as they expected, she stopped at the
balcony railing and looked down at the sea of alarmed and worried faces staring
upward from the living area and doorway. In a voice careful to hide her
hysteria, and keep it from overwhelming her once more, she told them, “The
Bloods have breached Bearinger’s walls. The compound has fallen. We’re leaving
within the hour to bring back the survivors...and the dead.”

           
“Oh, God,
Yul!
” Madigan
screamed. She wavered on her feet, but MaGrath managed to reach her and pull
her tightly against him before she could collapse.

           
“Atty, are you
sure?
” the
physician called out to her.

           
She turned to give him a blank,
almost dead look. “I just...know.”

           
“What about the Battle Lord?” Mastin
demanded. He was still disoriented from the suddenness of being pulled out of
sleep. “What about Yulen? Is he...dead?”

           
Atty opened her mouth to answer, but
no sound would come out. She closed her lips, licked them, swallowed hard, and
tried again. “I can’t feel him,” she confessed in a wavering voice as her hand
convulsed around the carved railing. “I don’t know. I can’t feel him.” Her
knees shook. Her entire body felt strangely light and disconnected.

           
The ugly possibility no one could
imagine, much less voice, sat over them like a thick, suffocating cloud. In
every man’s mind, they could envision the terror. The Bloods had managed to
penetrate the compound’s defenses and were now pouring into the citadel. A
swarm of crazed, blood-hungry mutants were descending upon soldiers and
citizens alike. Men, women, and children were being mercilessly slaughtered at
that very moment. And somewhere in that morass of humanity and inhumanity was
Yulen.

           
Mastin hurried over and grabbed her
arm. “We’ll find him, Atty. I swear to God, we’ll bring him back.”

           
“Yes. We will,” she replied.

           
“
We
will? What are you
talking about? You’re not going,” MaGrath began to argue.

           
Before anyone could comprehend her
swiftness or her anger, Atty snatched up her longbow from where she kept it
propped against the wall on her side of the bed. Two arrows were nocked on the
string. Standing before them, and looking every bit like an avenging angel, the
Battle Lady drew back and took deliberate aim at the small group of people in
her bedroom. Her lips were drawn over her teeth. Her eyes glittered with the
fire of her determination as she hissed, “I am going to Bearinger. I will find
my husband, and I will bring him back to Alta Novis. Anyone who tells me no
will find an arrow in them. Don’t try to stop me, because I swear on the life
of my and Yulen’s son I will shoot every one of you if I must. Cole? I am the
Battle Lady.
 
Therefore I
order
you
to prepare the small wagon and have however many men we can spare to leave
within the hour.”

           
The Second bowed slightly and
hustled down the stairs to make ready.

           
Turning back to the others left in
the loft, she never took her eye off the upper arrow’s shaft. Her aim never
wavered. “Time is short. I want all of you to leave my home. Now. So I can
prepare.”

           
“Do you know what you’re doing?” MaGrath
asked her warily. She was distraught and extremely agitated, but he had no
doubt in his mind Atty would do exactly as she said if anyone tried to stop her
from going to Bearinger.

           
“Get out of my house, Liam. You,
too, Madigan.”

           
“Us, too?” Tory asked softly.

           
Atty paused only for a second. “You
and Fortune may stay, but, Fortune, I want you to go down that staircase right
now.
 
Tory doesn’t have the ability to
stop me, but you are one of my caste mates, and I cannot trust you not turning
on me.”

           
“No need for that. I’m going with
you,” Fortune informed her. Before she could respond, he started for the
staircase. Atty watched him go as Tory followed him.

           
“So must I,” MaGrath spoke.

           
Madigan clutched her husband, but
their eyes locked as the truth passed between them. He patted her hand that lay
curled against his chest. “I’ll bring him back, Maddy. I swear to you. One way
or another.”

           
Dead or alive.

           
“I love you, Liam,” she murmured
possessively. If he had ever doubted her true feelings before now, she had to
make certain he wouldn’t face his own possible death without knowing. Her
answer was a warm and heady kiss that seared definite emotions deep inside her.
For the hundredth time Madigan wondered why she had waited so long to accept
him.

           
“You can put the bow down, Atty,” he
finally spoke, turning to the desperate woman still standing by the railing.

           
A moment of apprehension came and
went. Then, unexpectedly, Atty lowered her weapon. Letting out a quick,
explosive breath, she sniffed. “I’ll be out in front as soon as I dress,” she
told them. Tossing her longbow on the bed, she walked quickly into the bathroom
and closed the door behind her.

Chapter
Ten

Razed
Compound

           
“It’ll be dawn in a little more than
two hours, sir,” Sorcher informed the Second.

           
“Good. That’ll give us a good head
start,” came a voice approaching the wagon. Atty stopped short of climbing
aboard to stare at the armed soldiers mounted and waiting for the signal to
head out.

           
Seeing her blink in astonishment,
Mastin reminded her, “You said as many as we could spare. Trust me, Atty, I’m
leaving as many here to defend Alta Novis as I believe we’ll need.”

           
She blinked again in disbelief at
the nearly one hundred men ready and willing. Had the compound grown so much?

           
Tossing her pillow into the back of
the wagon, she started to climb into the small, narrow seat when an unexpected
arm reached out to assist her up. She turned around to see a familiar, yet
unfamiliar face holding the reins. “I know you,” she announced, trying to place
him. “You’re the man who defeated Verdella at practice.”

           
The man gave her a little bow. “Yes,
Madam. Garet Renken. You also gave me a little welcoming demonstration in the
main hall a few weeks ago when I first arrived,” he reminded her.

           
Her eyes flew open wide, and a
mischievous grin lit her pale face. “Ah! Now I remember. You’re the Doubting
Thomas Yulen wanted me to convince.” At his surprised expression, Atty snorted.
“You didn’t think I heard you from way over on the other side of the room, did you?
 
I was looking for my husband, and he made a
signal for me to snag you.” She tilted her head at him. “You’re coming with
us?”

           
“Try to stop me.”

           
“You’re not one of the soldiers.
You’re not under any obligation.”

           
Renken shrugged and gave her a lazy grin.
“Regardless.”

           
“Thank you, Mr. Renken. You’re sword
is welcome. Mastin, let’s get moving!”

           
Atty snatched the reins from his
hands and slapped the leather across her mare’s back. The little wagon jerked
forward, and the rest of the forces closed around it, taking their respective
positions as they had always done, as they had been trained to do.

           
Swinging into his saddle, the
ex-mercenary hurried to catch up with the formation, and soon found himself
side-by-side with the Mutah hunter who was staying in the Battle Lord and
Lady’s new lodge. On the other side of the mutant rode the doctor. The three of
them instinctively took up the Battle Lady’s rear.

           
Mastin called for an increase in
speed before they were all out of the main gates, and for the next six hours
the caravan was unusually quiet. Unlike before, when the men would converse on
horseback to fill up the time, everyone seemed withdrawn into their own private
world of fear and trepidation. For those men who had not been at the lodge when
Atty had announced the downfall of Bearinger, word had spread quicker than a
flash flood. A least a dozen seasoned veterans who had retired from the
service, but who still maintained their agility and health, had volunteered to
accompany the hastily-gathered force.

           
Seeing this as his chance to redeem
himself from his dubious past in the eyes of the Battle Lady, Renken had been
among the first to approach the Second and offer his services. “With her
permission,” was all Mastin would say.
 
Renken grinned. Well, he’d gotten it.

           
When they stopped for a quick noon
meal, he found that by hanging around unobtrusively he could often glean
valuable information. It was a method that had repeatedly served him well in
the past, and hadn’t failed in the short time he’d been living in Alta
Novis.
 
Renken realized he was very
lucky to have ended up parked next to the Mutah hunter and the doctor. When
Mastin called for the stop, no one objected to him taking his meal along with
them.