Fantasyland 02 The Golden Dynasty (26 page)

The activity was intense, the hustle and
bustle all around and I watched with distraction six young men who
were likely around fourteen or fifteen, clearly Horde warriors in
training considering they were all tall, fit and muscular, pulling
down Lahn and my cham.

They were good at it. They were strong, fast
and clearly had some practice.

Then I felt it before I saw him round the
tent. That raw, brutal energy.

Lahn was coming.

I braced and then I saw him move toward me
wearing nothing but his hides, his boots, his hair still in the
braid I’d plaited in it the day before.

He moved well, I noticed. He’d been trained
since he was a little boy to know what his body could do and
command every inch of it and that was exactly how he looked when he
moved.

All that power was at his complete
command.

And now I knew in a way I never wished to
know just how much power he wielded.

His eyes were on me the second I was in his
line of sight and in that same instant I caught his flinch.

He’d marked me. I knew it. I didn’t have a
mirror and I didn’t need to see his reaction to be made aware of
it. The skin on my cheekbone was tender to the point that even the
lightest touch caused significant pain and it was swollen so badly
the skin felt stretched to the breaking point. But even if I
couldn’t feel it, I saw it in the eyes of my girls the minute they
saw me that morning and then, all day, the eyes of those moving
around me. Or, more to the point, those eyes in faces not smiling
at me, heads not nodding but avoiding my gaze and, after seeing my
husband’s mark, looking swiftly away.

I noticed even with the flinch his gait
didn’t stutter as he made his way to me. And I tipped my head way
back to watch him as he didn’t hesitate to bend, his hand finding
mine, engulfing it and without a word to me he pulled me gently to
my feet.

He started moving us, his hand in mine and
he still said nothing to me but he barked, “Teetru, Ghost,” and in
two short words gave the order to his busy slave to take time out
from her important tasks to look after my pet.

He strode around our now fallen tent and
into the disappearing pathway that was fast becoming a clearing and
I hurried to keep up. Not, this time, protesting his pace. Not,
this time, speaking a word.

But I knew his head turned because I felt
his eyes on me then his hand squeezed mine and his gait slowed so I
didn’t have to half run to keep up.

I didn’t even look at him. I slowed my step
and kept my eyes to my sandals.

We entered an area where there were no chams
or belongings to pack away but the activity seemed more extreme so
I looked up to see we were at the outskirts of the disappearing
Daxshee. There were lines of wagons being loaded and there was also
a line of horses standing in wait.

I immediately saw Lahn’s firstly because it
was at least one hand higher than all the rest, a visibly powerful
beast, huge, regal, absolutely perfect for him. Secondly, I saw
Lahn’s steed because beside it was a blinding white horse the
beauty of which I’d never beheld in my life and I’d spent some time
around horses.

My father had scraped and saved to give me
horseback riding lessons from the time I was eleven to the time I
was fourteen. He did this because he loved me and he did this
because he had a daughter who lost her mother and he wanted her to
have what she most wanted in the world. I wanted my Mom back but
since that was utterly impossible, horseback riding lessons were
going to have to do. When I realized how much it was costing my
Pop, and how little he could afford it, I asked him to quit paying
for them. But I bought time on the back of a horse every weekend
for the next two years and I bought it by mucking out six horse
stalls for free in order to get it.

And lastly, I knew Lahn’s horse because
Diandra and Seerim were standing in front of it.

I searched her face and body for hints that
Seerim had taken his hand to her too in what appeared to be his
anger last night but she had none. However, the minute her eyes
could see my face clearly, her face got soft, her shoulders drooped
slightly and even over the distance, I saw her eyes get moist.

Yep, definitely, absolutely and truly, I
liked Diandra and if I ever made it out of this godforsaken world,
I would miss her.

Lahn walked us right up to Diandra and
Seerim then stopped us. Dropping my hand, his arm curled around my
shoulders and he turned me so my front was held against his side.
On display to his people and with no choice, I slid my arms around
his waist and looked at Diandra whose eyes were on me as Lahn
spoke.

Then Diandra did. “He has asked me here to
translate for him.”

“Ordered you, you mean,” I replied and she
pressed her lips together.

Then she whispered, “Yes, Dahksahna
Circe.”

She called me my title as she was now not
just my friend but in the presence of her king.

I nodded; she nodded to me then looked to
Lahn.

He turned me toward the white horse and
reached out a long arm to catch the horse’s bridle, doing this
without letting me go. He pulled the horse’s gleaming white nose, a
nose that was so white it seemed an aura of the coolest ice blue
shimmered from it, close to us and he spoke.

“
This is my gift to my tigress,” Diandra
said and my eyes flew to Lahn who was still talking. “When The
Horde rides, their queen rides.”

I stared at him without a word. Then slowly
my eyes moved to the beautiful beast in front of me.

Lahn spoke as did Diandra. “She has no name,
Circe.”

I nodded, my eyes still on the horse and I
lifted a hand cautiously to her nose. She allowed the touch so I
stroked her.

“Hey girl,” I said softly.

She jerked her head up slightly, the
movement controlled by Lahn’s hand still on her bridle but my hand
flew away then she came back and butted my hand with her nose so I
smiled at her and stroked again.

“You’re gorgeous,” I whispered, moving in
close, Lahn’s arm fell away from me, he let go of her bridle and
she butted the side of my head gently. “Seeing you, there is no
name to capture your beauty so why don’t we try to capture your
coat,” I told her. “How do you feel about Zephyr?”

She lifted her head again, shook it briefly
then I got three down and ups.

Assent.

I grinned at her, caught her nose with a
hand on either side and brought it down so we were eye to eye.

“Zephyr it is then,” I said, she snorted
what I hoped was her approval (alas, I could not understand this
beast in this world) and my grin turned to a smile.

“Lahnahsahna,” Lahn called and I closed my
eyes, gave Zephyr a last stroke then let her go and turned to my
husband, dropping my head back to catch his gaze.

He didn’t hesitate to pull me gently into
his arms. I placed my hands lightly on the warm skin of his chest
then he spoke as did Diandra.

“She pleases you?”

“Meena,” I replied in his language.

“Good,” he replied quietly in mine and I
felt my heart wrench.

Then his eyes moved over my face and caught
on my cheekbone. He studied it for long moments before they moved
back to mine and he spoke softly.

Diandra translated, “I do not like it when
my tigress weeps.”

Then you shouldn’t have made
her weep,
I thought but
made no verbal reply.

He waited for it but I didn’t give it to
him. He was a man who could have anything he wanted and if not, he
was a man who was strong enough to take it.

Except one thing.

Me.

He sighed. Then he lifted a hand to my jaw
and his thumb swept the skin under my bruise in a whisper soft
touch that still caused a hint of pain that made my brows draw
together in protest. He caught the movement and his jaw went
hard.

Then he spoke again and Diandra translated.
“I do not like it that my queen bears my mark.”

Then you shouldn’t have marked
her,
I thought but
remained silent.

He waited. I gave him nothing but my
gaze.

Then he spoke again, this time in a mutter
as if to himself but Diandra still translated, “She keeps even her
claws sheathed from me.”

Damn straight,
I thought but made not a
sound.

His eyes focused intently on mine then came
more. “I’ve no doubt I’ll very soon earn your claws again, my
tigress.”

Don’t hold your breath,
I silently advised.

He waited and so did I.

Then he spoke again and Diandra said, “Very
well, my Circe, I’ll allow you time to retreat and lick your
wounds.”

Well, thanks so much,
asshole,
I thought
sarcastically.

He watched my face, drew in breath and let
it out slowly. Then he pulled me closer, his arms going tighter, he
bent and whispered something in my ear I did not understand and
Diandra didn’t hear.

Then suddenly his body tensed, his head came
up and he looked over his shoulder. Then he let one arm drop and he
turned to my side.

That was when I saw Nahka, carrying her baby
daughter strapped to her chest, her hand holding onto her little
boy’s. He also had a hand in Narinda’s who was walking with Nahka,
the boy in between them. They seemed to be rushing but not having
an easy time of it with the boy slowing them.

In front of them at least five paces was a
warrior wearing a grave expression, carrying a long, squat box made
of gleaming wood, his eyes were on me and he seemed to be heading
our way.

What on earth?

My eyes went back to Narinda who was smiling
at me and I knew the minute she caught my mark because her lips
parted, her step stuttered then her eyes flashed to Lahn and her
face filled with fear.

But Nahka kept dragging her little boy and
Narinda had no choice but to keep on coming.

The man stopped in front of Lahn with
something obviously on his mind, he did not wait to say it and
Diandra immediately started translating.

“Dax Lahn, I’ll have a word with your wife,”
he stated.

“You’ll have a word with me first,” Lahn
replied, his meaning clear.

“Then you have not heard,” the man
declared.

“Heard what?” Lahn asked.

“Yesterday, in front of my wife and many
witnesses, our true golden queen saved the life of my son.”

Lahn’s arm around the middle of my back
tensed. Then Diandra translated his, “What?”

“He was not breathing. She executed some
maneuver she said she learned in her land and expelled a piece of
meat he was choking on. If she had not done that, my son would not
have lived to serve his Horde,” the man explained and I felt Lahn’s
eyes on me.

“Is this true?” he asked and I looked up at
him.

“It was nothing,” I said softly and Diandra
translated then kept doing it when words flew from the warrior’s
mouth.

“I do not agree, my queen, that it was
nothing for my son lives today instead of being prepared for his
pyre,” the man stated and I looked from Lahn to him.

“Uh –” I mumbled.

Diandra didn’t translate my mumble but did
translate his words.

“
I serve my king, I serve my Horde and
before yesterday, as was my duty, I served my new queen. Now, my
debt to you will never be paid. My family stands strong. My wife
does not peek from under the veil of mourning. We have our time
with him before he leaves us to take the paint. Gods willing, he
will live to gather his own bounty and spill his seed in his wife
to guarantee the future of The Horde, as I have done and my father
did before me. This is not nothing, this is everything, my queen,
and when you owe everything, it is a debt that cannot be
repaid.”

Um…” I whispered, “okay.”

“But, even so, with Dax Lahn’s consent, I
offer you a gift,” he stated then opened up the box and I blinked
as the sun flashed on the gleaming silver and jewels.

Then I stared with my mouth hanging
open.

It was a dagger made of perfect, shining
silver the hilt covered completely in jewels. These were not rough
hewn but perfectly crafted so their brilliance reflected
everywhere. There were emeralds and sapphires, in abundance, but
there were also diamonds and not a small amount of those either. It
was not small, it was not large but just the number and size of the
jewels made it obviously valuable and the craftsmanship, even from
someone like me who knew nothing about it, could not be denied. In
my world, the thing would be worth tens of thousands of dollars.
Maybe hundreds of thousands.

Holy crap!

I looked at him and started, “I can’t –” but
he (and thus Diandra) talked over me.

“The silver and jewels were pulled from deep
within Korwahk, but the artisan who created this is from your land.
It is Valearian and it signifies our queen, once of the Vale, now
Korwahk, forever bound together to create beauty.”

That was so beautiful (albeit untrue) that
tears sprang to my eyes and I whispered, “It was just the Heimlich
maneuver. Seriously. A lot of people from my, uh… land know how to
do it.”

“It is not just anything, my true golden
queen,” he retorted.

Lahn spoke softly on a squeeze of my back
and Diandra translated, “Quiet your protests, my doe, and take the
dagger. You do Bohtan a dishonor by hesitating.”

Quickly, my hands came up, Bohtan placed the
box in them and I blinked the tears away as I looked up at him.

“I… I don’t know what to say,” I whispered,
Diandra translated my words and his reply.

“Say nothing, my queen, except that you will
grace our cham in future, make my wife laugh and do it casually as
you did even just hours after you saved our son’s life.”