Honor Bound (2 page)

Fenal walked away
from the battle with naught but scratches. All spoke of the fire and passion
that burned within as he fought for the bride who’d been stolen from him. Fenal
reigned victorious that day and lived to witness the birth of three children
with his bride. Children that upheld the name of Galip with honor and pride.
Vaan struggled to focus on his uncle. It amazed him to share kinship with such
a deceitful creature.

Dakar smiled at
Vaan. The smile spoke of victory. Vaan turned and his knees buckled. He hit the
stone floor hard, his knees taking the brunt. “I.did.not.attack.Anane. Not
under Fenal and not under a clear head. I gave no such order.” His men began to
fall to the floor around him. Their large frames dropped with loud crashes.

Dakar sucked in a
breath. “If you continue to lie, it is no wonder that the Council decided on
our course of action.”

His uncle’s words,
combined with his lack of concern for their visible suffering, convinced Vaan.
As much as he wanted to refute the answer in his mind, the evidence made it
clear. “Poison,” Vaan spat.

Shocked cries
filled the room.
Treachery.
Vaan struggled to his feet. He would not
meet his judgment on his knees. “What do you plan, Uncle?” For surely Dakar had
one. Vaan just needed an opening. One opportunity to reach Thenl’s weapon and
then he’d destroy his father’s brother. He’d use the weapon and cleave the man
in half for his actions this day.

Vaan glimpsed the
budding excitement on Thenl’s face. Hapfe dung. Vaan would send Thenl back to
the dung pile his mother birthed him in. The insult did nothing to relieve
Vaan’s anger. The way the council members avoided his eyes gave Vaan the answer
he sought before the words were spoken.

“Death to you for
your actions.”

  Vaan expected
prevarication.

“Death to the
Warlords who stand at your side.”

His brethren. Men
who’d bled for him, stood for him and never once gave him cause to doubt. “You
are a fool, Uncle.” The words stumbled from his numb lips.

Dakar’s face paled
and his uncle took a step back. His hands pressed deeply in the pockets of his
robe. Thenl and his uncle stood side by side. A warrior and a man representing
the mouth of the Kaban people. United, they presented an evil front.

“You know I did
not do this, yet you stand in judgment. My Warlords are honorable men.”

The crowd got
louder. Some not so sure of today’s events. They believed in Vaan and what he
stood for. A vein throbbed at Dakar’s temple. “Too much power for one is
dangerous.” Spittle fell from his Uncle’s lips when he made the claim. Thenl
placed a calming hand on Dakar’s robe covered shoulders. Vaan mouth twisted in
disgust. A muscle in his jaw ticked, seeing them standing together.

Galip were
warriors not men that mouthed words with double meaning. If Vaan had his way,
he’d replace each of the council men with men of his choosing. Wise men who did
not cower behind the safety of their robes, the distinctive color telling all
of their position and power. Power, which gave them a false sense of command
over the Overlord, though Vaan often failed to heed their words and warnings.
He’d never blindly listen to them when they feared every action and would keep
Kaban fighting for many years more with nary a sight of peace ahead.

Vaan nodded even
as the action made the floor sway beneath his feet. “So that is the reason for
your final act of betrayal. You fear the depth of my power. I control half of
the Kaban territory. My Warlords enforce my law by word and actions. After
months of talks, the Desani are interested in an alliance. If I get King Tarik
Sabarn to agree, it brings peace and all will hail my efforts.”

Dakar pointed a
shaking finger in his direction. “Witness, his words! Overlord Vaan Galip, my
brother’s son, is bloated with his power.”

“I seek peace,”
Vaan grit out, losing his composure. Blood pulsed through his veins and his
heart picked up its beat to match his emotions. “We have been at war for
centuries and at last, a cool head rules the Desani. The king who sits on the
throne is reasonable. He’d have peace among us.”

No more warring.
No more battles to fight and finally a chance for Vaan to settle down and find
a woman to birth his younglings. He was unwilling to take on such a family
commitment when times were still turbulent and an enemy could easily use them
against him. He would not be like Fenal and risk a woman’s life because of his
constant battles.

Thenl interrupted
by laughing. No humor filled the braying sound. Thenl sauntered closer. Brave
in the face of Vaan’s bound hands and absent sword. “The Desani are known for
trickery. They can not be trusted.”

Those around
nodded, the warriors of his home as well. They listened to the lies and
believed because they could not see, as Vaan could, that a better way existed.
A time of peace could be had.

Vaan took a deep
cleansing breath and pulled his shoulders back despite the unnatural fatigue taxing
his muscles. “Then they’d make good allies as it seems I can not trust my
blood-kin or a newly appointed Warlord.” There was no mistaking Vaan’s meaning.
Dakar and Thenl flushed red.

“Enough,” Dakar
declared. “You have been sentenced. For the good of Kaban, we ask your warriors
to surrender their coccar.”

Vaan felt a smile
stretch across his face.
Ahal.
So be it. His uncle would love to get his
hands on the insects that created the skin induced armor formed by the coccar
beetle. The small blue green insect could only be found in the desert nestled
beneath the sinking sands. A single sting from the coccar could kill a full
grown man in less than an hour.

Vaan did not
understand why the Blessed One let him survive its killing sting. He fully
prepared to die the night he’d felt the bitter sting in the heel of his left
foot. A small tear in the sole allowed the insect to penetrate Vaan’s skin. But
death did not greet him with open arms.

The ancestors
spoke of a bond with the deadly insects for those who survived the sting. While
Vaan lay on his death bed, strange dreams came to him. In his dream, the beady
red eyes of the coccar stared at him for endless moments and spoke to Vaan mind
to mind.

The coccar
promised protection for him and all the Warlords unlike any had witnessed
before in exchange for Vaan’s assistance in rescuing the insects nest mates.
Vaan rose from his death bed stronger than ever to the astonishment of his
Warlords who’d started the mourning process.

Vaan traveled back
to the spot of his injury, careful to not let the sinking sands swallow him
whole. The coccar guided him to where twenty other insects hid in a shallow
spot in the sand. Using an empty leather water pouch, Vaan placed the other
coccar inside. The first coccar, who’d stung Vaan, referred to himself as
Primary.

Primary showed
Vaan the true gift of his promise that day. The insect crawled up Vaan’s neck
and used its sharp tail to puncture his flesh and burrow beneath the skin of
Vaan’s collarbone. After a moment of discomfort, Primary once again spoke to
Vaan mind to mind. “Call forth my protection, Overlord.”

Unsure how he
knew, the words fell from Vaan’s lips without prompting. “Armor up.”

Within seconds, a
scale like armor spread over Vaan’s body. It covered him from his throat,
across his chest and down his torso. The bluish green armor resembled the shell
of the coccar and flowed along the body with its square shaped pattern. The
armor proved stronger than any weapon forged by man. No blade could penetrate
its protective covering. It served Vaan and his men well in battle.

“The coccar can
not be removed.” The lie fell easily from Vaan’s lips. “It is a bond to the
death.” In truth, Primary had never disclosed to Vaan if it were possible to
transfer the coccar to another. The insects burrowed beneath the skin of the
chosen and never surfaced.

Thenl’s lips
thinned upon hearing this news. “Tell us how to create the bond.”

Vaan licked his
dry lips. He knew many traveled to the desert to catch coccar in attempts to
recreate the human body armor Vaan and his men enjoyed. The few warriors who
discovered the insects and attempted to capture them, died from the poison of
their wicked stings.

What Primary
offered Vaan could not be recreated by force. With the symbiotic bug imbedded
beneath their skin, Vaan’s men admitted to sharper instincts.

“Not possible.”
The words sounded slurred to Vaan’s ears. Hapfe dung. He’d really consumed
poison. He closed his eyes briefly.
Ahal
, so be it. He preferred a
warrior’s death in battle but if this was his end, he’d accept it. His men,
however, would pay the price for his misplaced trust.

“It is foolish to
take the advantage of the armor to your death,” Dakar chimed in while Thenl’s
lips flattened further and his eyes glowered. The warrior begged Vaan on numerous
occasions to take him to the desert in search of his own coccar but Vaan
refused. Vaan was glad of that now.

Thenl and Dakar
cast furtive looks at one another. The other councilors glanced anxiously
about, as they should. What these evil men sought to do would ruin all Vaan and
his men fought for. Without Vaan and his top Warlords, who knew what would
befall Kaban.

Vaan’s remaining
Warlords shuffled closer to him. More fell to their knees until only Argan
remained at his side. If Vaan was as pale as his friend looked, the poison
acted quickly. Was there a way for them to escape this unscathed? Many times in
the past when all seemed lost, Primary had given Vaan direction in battle that
turned the tide but the coccar remained silent.

Vaan grunted in frustration.
He’d led his men to their death with his pride and belief that no one could
defeat them. Argan slumped to the floor beside him. Vaan refused the emotions
crashing through his chest at the sight. He faced all those present, but his
words were for his uncle and Thenl. “I sought peace. I fought for it and my men
fought for it. We protected Kaban and her people. You will destroy all of it
for your greed.” He allowed a moment for his words to sink in. “I will die with
honor and the stain will mark you and your sons for years to come. Poison is a
woman’s treachery. Your actions speak of the man within who is not a warrior.”

Their expressions
blanched. Then the world faded to black and his body tilted to the side. May
the Blessed One welcome me to the Hills, he thought.

***

Thenl controlled
his pleasure as the mighty Warlords fell to the floor one by one. Vaan, the
tough bastard, lasted until all the others passed out before crumbling himself.
The Councilors immediately began talking amongst themselves. The stench of
their fear laden talk filled Thenl with disgust. Dakar alone stayed firm on the
plan they’d hatched.

“The poison worked
quickly as you promised. Let us take them to the courtyard and burn their
bodies. It will warn others to the fact that brutality will not be tolerated.”

Yes, Dakar
remained committed to the plan, though it burned Thenl’s gut not to attain the
secret of the coccar. No need trying to pry it from the bodies of the dead men.
That had happened once when one of Vaan’s warriors passed on to the Hills to
join the Blessed One. Instead of the insect emerging to connect with another,
it chose to die. The armored shell turned to dust upon the warrior’s body
within hours.

“I claim last
rites.” The shouted request came from the back.

Thenl gazed over
the small crowd present for judgment. A cloaked figure made its way to the
front. Men and women stepped aside, clearing a path to the front. Dakar gasped
when the figure pushed back the heavy brown hood upon reaching him. Murmurs
rumbled through the crowd.

“Ashaya.”

She nodded but
spared no glance for Dakar.
Ashaya.
Thenl knew of her but this was his
first time seeing her face to face. Even with years upon her, she posed a
beautiful physique with dark lush hair falling about a smooth unlined face.

“Last rites,”
Thenl stalled. He hadn’t thought of this.

“Yes, Vaan is my
son. An honored warrior for years. His men escorted me to my sister’s home upon
my husband’s death.” Her black eyes glittered but her posture remained demure.
She waited patiently for Thenl to speak. The crowd began to murmur. Chatter
rose and spread until all knew who stood before him. Ashaya’s husband had been
an honored Warlord who met his death in battle. None understood why she’d left
her home immediately after and not taken her oldest son. Instead, she’d left
Vaan behind in warrior training under his uncle’s care while she took Vaan’s
younger brother and moved in with her sister.

Thenl had two
choices. He could strike her request down where she stood and ruin the hard
work he’d put in to destroy Vaan’s reputation among the Kabanian people. Months
spent planning how he’d take down the Overlord and his Warlords would be
wasted. His other option required he at least look sympathetic. Last rites
granted the family member a day of mourning with the body of their loved one.
He could spare his vengeance a day to add to his look as the sympathetic
Warlord. When the fervor calmed, they’d all name Thenl the new Overlord.

“It shall be
granted, honored Ashaya.”

She straightened
her shoulders and Vaan’s black eyes stared back at Thenl. “I would honor his
Warlords as well. They have no family present to fulfill the obligation.”

Curse her, Thenl
thought.

Dakar spoke before
Thenl. Ever the eager fool. “Granted. We will load the bodies in a wagon and
put them in the courtyard. Come morning when you are done grieving, we will set
them ablaze. An end fit for their actions.”

Her face paled. At
last a reaction crossed her bland features, Thenl observed.