Sword Masters (42 page)

"Easy for you to say," Elise groaned out.

Jena looked at the wound. The arrow was in, but unfortunately not through.

"Where is Harris?" Elise asked.

"He went with Tarius. I'm sorry, Elise, if he had known . . . " Jena was glad she hadn't gone now.

"No. I'm glad he went. Last thing I need is his screaming and crying. I'd be sure I was dying, and it's just not that bad, is it, Jena?"

She needed reassuring, and Jena nodded. "It's not bad at all."

Jena got up and helped Elise to her feet. She half carried her to the medics gathered around the fire pit.

A Katabull medic in full beast mood ran over, took one look at the wound, and without warning reached down and forced the arrow through.

Elise passed out cold.

Jena helped hold her up as he snapped the shaft on the arrow and pulled it out.

"Is she Katabull?" he asked as he irrigated the wound.

"No," Jena said.

"Then she'll heal quickly," he said. He grabbed a fresh iron from the fire and cauterized the wound on both sides. "Can you dress it?"

Jena nodded, and he handed her the equipment. He started to walk away and then turned. "Tarak is dead," he told her.

"I'm very sorry. He was a very great leader," Jena said.

"Your mate, Tarius, she will be my choice to succeed him." He walked away and got back to work.

Jena only then recognized him as the leader of one of the other packs.

She tended to Elise's wounds, then tried to make her as comfortable as one could be when wounded and lying on a blanket on the ground. She covered Elise then went off to help with the other wounded. Katabull wounded and casualties were low, however several injuries were from spear or arrow, and the wounded were treated as best as they could be, loaded into wagons and shipped off to Montero which was only a half day's ride away.

The Katabull were not a stupid people. The springs helped their healing, so they picked a homeland close to the springs. The Amalites had picked them off when they lived in small packs across the countryside, so they had gathered in one place, making a huge army that the Amalites could not hope to conquer. Jena was sure that if the Amalites had attacked an unprepared Katabull encampment as they intended, the Katabull would have suffered only a few more casualties.

The Katabull were born warriors. In full beast mode, each one was as mighty as ten humans. Even when not catted out—she never
did
understand why the Jethriks called it that, they looked nothing like cats—they surpassed humans in every way. This was why she didn't worry about Tarius now. If Tarius could live through what Persius did to her, nothing a boat full of unsuspecting Amalites could do was going to even so much as scratch her.

* * *

"Keep your heads down," Tarius ordered the Katabull. "We don't want them to know what we are. "The humans will watch for us. Now row, row!"

"How did they get their horses ashore?" Harris asked.

"It was low tide," Tarius said in an exasperated tone. "They let the horses out, and they rode them to shore. They didn't have that many to begin with. The rest of the men came ashore in boats, then they pulled the boats above the high tide line."

"Guess maybe they're not so sure of their gods as they would have us think," one of the Katabull said.

"Why do you say that?" Harris asked.

"Because they left their boats above the high water mark in case they had to retreat at high tide. Are you all right, Harris?" Tarius asked.

He nodded, although his mind was obviously otherwise occupied.

They rowed up alongside the ships, and the Amalites helped the first couple of invaders aboard, wanting to know what had gone wrong before they realized that they were under attack. The Katabull and the Marching Night swarmed the ships, and in minutes the Amalites had been utterly annihilated.

Tarius and her boat had taken the biggest ship. She stood at the helm looking smug. She turned to Harris and smiled. "And now the Katabull have a fleet," she announced.

Harris grinned back.

* * *

When they arrived back at the camp they were met with cheers and hugs. Jena ran through them till she found Harris.

"Harris, Elise has been hit. She's OK, but she's in a lot of pain . . ." She didn't get to say more. Harris was gone, running past he and in the direction of . . . nothing.

He stopped and turned suddenly in mid-stride. "Where is she?" he yelled back at Jena.

"The wounded are in the main hall!" Jena yelled back.

"Is she really all right?" Tarius asked, putting an arm around Jena.

"She took an arrow in the shoulder. It's bad, but she'll definitely live, and it will probably heal well," Jena said. "So, tell me about the ships."

"We killed all the Amalites, and we now have six ships. We cut down the sails and the flags so the Kartik wouldn't see them and think we were under siege. I will have a report made out about what happened and have it sent to Queen Hestia. She must be made aware of what the Amalites are up to," Tarius said. "I have a plan to rid the Kartik of the Amalites forever, and it has to do with those six ships we just captured."

Suddenly, the cheers and yelling became so loud she could no longer hear herself think. It took her a second to realize that they were screaming her name. She blushed a little and waved to them all to be silent.

"The victory belongs to us all," Tarius said. They just started chanting her name again. She looked at Jena and shrugged. She was tired, and she wanted out of the stinking Amalite armor and into the lake. She told Jena as much, and together they walked out of the crowd and towards the water.

* * *

Harris fell on his knees beside Elise. "Oh, Elise! Can you ever forgive me? It was only after I had boarded that boat, and we were rowing out to the ship that I realized I hadn't seen you after the battle. That I hadn't even
looked
for you! I am a worm who doesn't deserve you. I am . . ."

"Long winded," Elise said, mustering a smile. "I appreciate the sentiment, my love. But we are warriors, and this is what we do. Had the tables been turned and Tarius had called for me to go with her, I would have gone. I wouldn't have noticed whether you were wounded or not. In battle if you hesitate you lose. It's our way of life; a way we have both chosen."

"If I had lost you, I don't know what I'd do without you, Elise! I feel like you are part of me. The best part. Your love has made me whole," Harris said.

"In that case, stop talking all that mushy stuff and take me home. I want my own bed," Elise said.

Harris smiled, gathered her up in his arms and headed back for their house.

* * *

Following the death of Tarak and the defeat of the Amalites, the leaders of the forty-six packs gathered outside the main hall. Outside, not inside, because the wounded needed the shelter.

"Jerrad is Tarak's son; he should be leader in his place," one of the Katabull pack leaders threw out.

Tarius was bored by the whole procedure and was only here because they made her come. She was lying on the ground thinking of nothing more important than making love to Jena. Battle always made her feel randy, and she wanted to get this whole thing over with and go home.

"What think you, Tarius?" Herek asked.

"Yeah, fine," Tarius said with a shrug.

"I think Tarius should be leader in Tarak's place," Herek said.

Tarius's head snapped up. "Oh, now I
don't
think that's such a great idea."

"Why not?" Farel asked. "There is no greater leader among the Katabull."

"Because I'm a warrior, a mercenary, my pack is not even pure, my own wife is of a different race. Because I don't understand anything but battle, and you definitely don't want someone like me to lead the Katabull people."

"It's precisely for those reasons that we need you," Sharel a female pack leader commented. "The Marching Night is the tightest pack in our nation. Only your pack among all the others never goes to the council to settle disputes, and yet your pack should have more trouble than all the others because you
aren't
all the same."

"Besides, if there is to be a time of war, who better to lead the Katabull than a proven warlord? One who has beaten the Amalites before. The one who brought us this great victory today." This time it was Jerrad that spoke.

"Your father was a great leader, Jerrad. You, too, will be a good leader, after all, he set you an excellent example," Tarius said.

"But I don't
want
to lead. I am happy to lead my own pack at my father's death. I am unworthy of such an honor," Jerrad said.

"You're unworthy? Then what am I? I am a killer of men. A single-minded warrior. Just now when the meeting started I was not thinking of the people or of who would best fill the position. I was thinking of having sex with my mate. Is that the sort of person you want to lead the Katabull people? I certainly don't want the position. It will take up too much of my time."

"We have two worthy candidates," Sharel said. "For who is more worthy to lead than the person that doesn't want the power?"

"I'm telling you," Tarius started in disbelief. "I would rather be having sex right now than wasting time in this meeting."

"So would we all," Herek said with a grin. "I say we put it to the vote. All in favor of Jerrad . . . "

"There has not been enough discussion," Tarius interrupted.

He ignored her. "All in favor of Jerrad."

"Me," Tarius said holding her hand high. Only two other people voted for Jerrad. Tarius glared at Jerrad, who just smiled back. "You might have at least voted for yourself," she mumbled to him.

"As I'm sure you would vote for yourself," he mumbled back.

"I've changed my mind," Tarius said quickly. "There is nothing I want more than to be Great Leader. Power—give me
power
!"

They looked at her as if she'd gone crazy.

"And for Tarius?"

Jerrad was the first to hold his hand up, followed swiftly by all but three hands of the pack leaders. "Long live Tarius, great leader of the Katabull!" Jerrad screamed.

"You'll all be sorry," Tarius said standing up and addressing the group with a glare. "You'll see I'll do a horrible job. Now since I'm leader I'm closing this meeting so I can go have sex." She stomped away from them, and they all looked at each other and smiled.

"Oh, she really hates the position," Farel said rubbing his hands together.

"Far more than I would have hated it," Jerrad said. "We couldn't have made a better choice."

* * *

Tarius hit the front door of the hut mumbling and flopped down in a chair. Jena handed her a cup of hot soup she had just finished making. Tarius took it from her still mumbling.

"What's wrong?" Jena asked with a smile.

"Oh, nothing. They've just gone and made me leader!" Tarius said hotly. "I should have
demanded
they choose me from the beginning and I would have been safe. As it was they knew just exactly what I was doing and they all laughed at me. I spent too much time away from my own people, I forgot how the Katabull mind works. Stupid! Stupid! Stupid!"

"You'll be a good leader, Tarius," Jena said gently, sitting down across from Tarius.

"You're supposed to be on my side," Tarius grumbled. She sipped at the soup. "It's good."

There was a knock on the door.

Jena opened it and two men walked in carrying the throne of the Katabull.

Tarius sighed and slapped a hand to her head.

"The leader must always sit on the throne," one announced.

"Oh, for craps sake!" Tarius said standing up. "I don't want that in my house. I don't want to be leader. I don't want that throne." They took her chair and carried it outside, and then put the throne in its place. It was a plain wooden chair that was way too big for any one person, and it was draped in rare animal skins. She looked at it and sighed. It took up too much room.

"Thanks a lot," Tarius said facetiously.

"The council wishes to know what to do with the bodies of the Amalites," one man asked, and Tarius realized with a pain in her stomach that he was the equivalent of a king's herald.

"Tell them I said they can stick them up their . . ."

"Tarius," Jena scolded with a laugh.

"I don't want to lead," Tarius told her, "and it's not fair for them to make me do it."

"No one would be as good at it as you will." Jena said. "It's a done deal, so you might as well make the best of it."

"Oh, all right. In the morning we will strip the bodies of anything of use. Then we will haul them up to the ridge where the hurricane took out all those trees a season ago. There should be enough deadfall there to burn the bodies and keep the stench from bringing in flies and disease," Tarius said.

"Very good plan, Great Leader," the herald said grinning.

"Don't rub it in, just go away," Tarius said.

They had taken her chair away, so she moved to sit in the throne. It was actually quite comfortable, and she found that she liked sitting in it. She looked up at Jena, smiled, scooted over and patted the chair beside her. There was plenty of room, so Jena came and sat beside her on the throne. Tarius finished her soup and set the cup on the arm of the throne.

"So, you know what I've been thinking all evening?" Tarius asked with a wicked grin.

Jena smiled back and moved to crawl into Tarius's lap. "If I didn't, I wouldn't know you at all."

They found a new use for the Katabull throne.

Hestia looked from the report the Katabull had sent to the report she had just received from the tradesmen's guild.

"The Amalites have become too aggressive," Hestia said. "We must put an end to them now before it is too late. Bring me Tarius the Black, the leader of the Marching Night and the Katabull Nation."

"At once, my Queen," the chancellor said. "But what if the Katabull should decline your invitation?"

"It's not an invitation, Colin, it's an order. The Katabull still come under Kartik rule," Hestia said.

"My Queen . . . The Katabull are celebrated among our people and no Katabull more so than Tarius the Black. Do not, I implore you,
order
the Katabull or their leader to do anything. Instead, prepare a feast in honor of this woman who has killed so many of the queen's enemies, and who is now leader of the queen's mightiest subjects," Colin said.