Fractured Earth Saga 1: Apocalypse Orphan (35 page)

Wolf abruptly asked, “Can you take me to meet your mother in secret?”

“By now, she knows we no longer serve Jonar, so we are considered outlaws,” Skylla replied. “The only way to see her is to be captured and taken to her. It must be you and me—I will not risk my warriors’ lives. They would be killed on sight. But I would be taken before my mother as a royal captive. Even so, it is risky.”

“It can be done, though? Take me to her,” Wolf insisted.

“When do we leave?” Skylla asked, frowning as she realized that she had just agreed to what was probably a suicide mission.

“Tonight. The sooner, the better,” Wolf replied.

“I must agree. If we can acquire your mother’s warriors, we may win. I will order a small amount of supplies readied for the journey,” Onel said.

“Commander, this is a bad idea,” Syn hissed in Wolf’s ear. He coughed and placed a hand over his mouth, whispering, “Why?”

“I do not trust that trollop with you. You are mine, Commander. No sampling the natives, no matter how accommodating they are.”

Part 5

Love’s Triangle

Chapter 24

W
hen Haakon awoke from the heavy sedation that Syn had administered to immobilize him and allow his body to heal, Nala was sitting by his bedside. Her children were seated in chairs nearby. Haakon turned away and refused to speak with them, spurning Nala’s repeated attempts at conversation. Finally, he launched into a hateful tirade against her that ended with him calling her a bitch and a whore.

“How dare you disrespect Nala,” Syn snapped as she walked into the tent. “That woman is in love with you. She sat by your bed day and night for a week, hardly sleeping, waiting for your eyes to open. This is how you thank her? You are an ungrateful ass!”

Nala broke into tears and ran out of the tent, followed by her children. Reon and Leesa were crying; Trulane’s face reflected the despair one might see in a first son who had failed to live up to his father’s expectations; and Brithee’s eyes were cold and unforgiving.

“Thank you for saving me,” Haakon said.

“I saved you because of Nala. If you were any other man other than Wolf, I would have let you die. Nala killed a dozen men to reach your side and save your life, yet all you can do is insult and reject her? I should put you to sleep permanently for treating her so badly.” Syn slammed a monitor down on the table, cracking the screen, and stormed out of the tent.

Wolf stepped into the tent a minute later with a look of concern and asked, “What did you say to her, Haakon?”

“I have severed my ties with Nala and my children as the law requires. Nannas are not permitted to marry or raise children. They are outcasts and must be spurned by all. They are an abomination, and their children must be put to death. I disown them all!” Haakon muttered in disgust. “You should have let me die.”

“What the hell is wrong with you, man?” Wolf erupted in anger. “You have a wife who loves you and adoring kids who call you father. Yet here you lie, clinging to life and hating the people who sat by your side praying for you.”

“Nanna scum raided my village and killed my parents. I was just a child and witnessed it all. By marrying that bitch, I have committed a mortal sin. I have slept with the murderers of my parents and shared my seed with death. I have perpetuated their evil and become a father to abominations,” Haakon said with a fanatical gleam in his eyes. He turned away from Wolf and refused to speak further.

“I thought better of you,” Wolf said in disgust as he turned and left Haakon alone in the room.

* * *

Outside the tent, Skylla was speaking harshly with Nala, urging her to stop acting like a weak, desperate woman. Several high-ranking Nanna warriors had turned their backs on Nala and were laughing at her grief. Others glared at her contemptuously, while a few made hurtful remarks, speaking loud enough to be heard.

“You are losing respect, my sister. Stop acting like a whipped Fenrir! You are a Nanna and the daughter of a queen,” Skylla admonished.

“Fine,” Nala said, wiping tears from her eyes. “If that’s the way he feels, I will send my girls home…to Mother. Trulane and Reon can stay here at the castle, and the girls will become Nannas, as their fate and heritage call to them. Haakon and I are through forever.”

“We welcome your daughters to the sisterhood of Fenris,” Skylla said, delighted, but then her face clouded. “We still must deal with our defection from Jonar’s army. Mother remains loyal to Jonar. Wolf and I are traveling to her camp so he can speak with her about this war.”

“I will take him to Mother,” Nala said quietly. “My reappearance after being missing for so many years will guarantee an audience with her.”

“Yes, that’s true, my sister, but it is my duty to Wolf. I will take him.”

“Do not argue with me, Skylla. I am the oldest and your master in combat. Besides, I am an outcast now, or do you invoke the challenge?”

“No, my sister, I submit to your authority. Take Wolf to meet with Mother. I will assume responsibility for your female children.” A tear ran down Skylla’s face as she added, “Goodbye, my sister.” She turned her back on Nala as the other Nanna warriors had done.

Nala looked up as Wolf emerged from the tent. They locked eyes for a moment, and then she said, “I have discussed it with Skylla. I will take you to our mother. We must leave now. It may take several days to find her.”

Wolf was tempted to argue with Nala about the dangerous journey and her duty to her children, but when he saw the determination on her face, he nodded a reluctant assent. They walked through the castle in silence. Wolf said goodbye to several men at arms, and then they crossed the bridge, proceeding down the narrow crevasse to the outer gate.

“What are our plans, Nala? Which direction shall we travel?” Wolf asked, breaking the uneasy silence.

“Southwest, my lord,” Nala replied in a monotone.

“My lord? Nala, you know who I am. Use my name!”

“I am shamed thrice before your eyes and unworthy to call my lord by his name,” Nala answered, looking at the ground. “Did you not see my sister turn her back on me? I am dead to her. As soon as my people learn that Haakon has rejected me, I will be dead to them. My sister must consider the sisterhood before blood. She knows I am now an outcast.”

“Stop it, Nala!” Wolf snapped, unable to decide whether the woman’s defeated attitude made him angry or profoundly sad.

“It is our custom. Haakon has insulted me three times in public before witnesses. If I survive the war, my people will disfigure my face and mark me as outcast. Being spurned by a man and told to leave his company like a cheap whore after a night of pleasure is a grave insult, and Haakon has done it three times, proving to all that I am undesirable. Most Nanna women who have been spurned become whores at the taverns. Others cut their own throats to end the shame. No Nanna will respect me now, no matter how great my skills are in battle. Nala the warrior is no more. It does not matter, for I shall die soon and welcome death’s embrace.”

Wolf looked at Nala with overwhelming sadness and asked, “What have they done to you, my sweet Nala? Is there no way to retrieve your honor?”

“Yes, there are two,” Nala said in a choked whisper, “But only one will happen.”

“Tell me,” Wolf said, looking hopeful.

“One is to die gloriously in battle.”

“And the other?”

* * *

Syn checked the holo-emitters and then looked in on Waylan. After assessing the king’s condition and adjusting one of his IVs, she left the tent and spotted Skylla sitting alone on the roof. The view of the village below and the mountains in the distance was breathtaking. The Nanna leader sobbed quietly, and Syn approached with a look of concern.

“Why do you cry, Skylla?”

“I cry for Nala, not myself,” Skylla answered, rubbing tears from her eyes with the back of her hand.

“Nala is with Wolf. Nothing can harm her while he lives. She will be safe, I promise you. Even if the meeting goes bad, they will be fine,” Syn said with a reassuring smile.

“You are unfamiliar with our customs, so you do not understand the tragedy that has happened here. Nala has been shunned three times by Haakon before witnesses. We are a female kingdom. Men do not shun women in our society. For a man to reject a woman and call her a bitch or whore in the same breath is the worst insult imaginable. By not killing him on the spot, she has betrayed our ways, and this adds to her shame. She has shown weakness and the Nanna saw it. Haakon’s insults give a common whore more honor than my sister. So I cry because I found Nala after believing she was dead for many years. I love her dearly, and now, I lose her again because of a man’s vile actions.”

“Is there no way we can help Nala regain her honor?”

“In our culture, there are only two ways,” Skylla replied. “One is to die in battle.”

“That is not acceptable! What is the other?”

* * *

Nala stared at the ground with a look of humiliation and defeat. In a barely audible voice, she said, “The other way is for a new man to possess me. He must take me in public and confirm my desirability to all who would witness it. It is the only way for a Nanna to regain her honor.”

“What the hell? Is there no other way?” Wolf asked, flushing red.

“What the hell?” Syn echoed in Wolf’s ear at the same moment because Skylla had given her the same answer.

After a long silence, Wolf and Nala resumed their journey deeper into the woods. Wolf pondered Nala’s words, and his thoughts drifted to the possibility of her dying in battle. As he watched her from the corner of his eye, her expression told him she had already decided dying in battle would be a better fate than living as an outcast. If she had the misfortune of surviving, her beautiful face would be disfigured, and she would never see her children again.

An hour or so later, Syn announced in Wolf’s ear, “You’ll have to make love to Nala.”

“What?” he yelled, startling Nala, who spun around with her whip and dagger drawn.

“You’ll have to make love to Nala…in front of her people or whatever ridiculous custom is required,” Syn repeated, sounding perturbed at having to speak the unpleasant words again.

“Sorry, Nala, I didn’t mean to yell,” Wolf apologized. “I need a few minutes to myself. Would you mind giving me some privacy?”

Nala slumped as if all hope had drained from her. “I don’t mind, my lord. I will be alone and dead soon anyway. I will leave you to your thoughts,” she said as she resumed walking.

When Nala was out of earshot, Wolf whispered angrily, “What is wrong with you, Syn? You know that can’t happen. Nala is my friend.”

“Don’t you find her attractive, Commander?”

“It doesn’t matter. I could injure her, Syn. Or I could expose her to viruses from our past and unleash havoc on the people of this world. What you ask is wrong. I do care for Nala, but I can’t do it.”

“Would you prefer to see her disfigured and shunned, Commander? Do you want her to step in front of a knife and die in the first battle you fight…or would you rather she become a common prostitute, used by any filthy drunk who comes along? I love Nala, and I will not let that happen. You will do as I say, and you will do it in front of everyone, or whatever this silly custom requires,” Syn said with an intensity Wolf had never heard in her voice.

“What you ask of me is wrong in every way, Syn. Besides, I have been waiting for you.”

“I appreciate the thought, Commander, but I am still just a hologram. Even if we do make love, it will not be real. You will be having sex with light and energy fields. I love you too much to see you suffer or make you wait for something that is not real.”

Wolf was stunned by Syn’s clinical tone. After thinking for a moment, he said, “We don’t have to do anything now. Let’s wait and see if Haakon will change his mind. He may come to his senses and take Nala back. He’s a fool if he doesn’t.”

“I agree, Commander. The man is a stubborn, superstitious ass. However, you must tell Nala you will possess her if Haakon does not take her back. Give her some hope.”

“All right,” Wolf agreed reluctantly. “You are much more to me than light and energy fields, Syn. Do not ever say again that you are not real. Do you understand?”