The Battle Lord's Lady (9 page)

Compromise

He had to give his Second credit for his
quickness.

“Sir! The Mutah! She escaped her ropes!” Karv
came hurrying up, worry and anger like twin sentries framing his
already sweaty face.

Yulen casually glanced at him. He made the
man wait while he finished tightening the girth on his horse before
turning around to listen to more of his tirade. “The Mutah didn’t
escape. I released the ropes myself.”

“
What?
”

“They were biting into her wrists and making
them bleed. So I cut them off of her and had MaGrath medicate them
to keep them from becoming infected. Are the men ready to
mount?”

He watched as his Second slowly regained
control of his temper and his nerves. “I didn’t believe the little
Mutah bitch when she told me,” he began with a caustic edge to his
voice.

That same acid note raised red flags in
Yulen’s mind. He lowered his brows at the man. “Karv, did you do
anything to hurt her?”

The expression in the man’s eyes answered
him, even before his words. Yulen hurried toward the shop with his
Second in tow.

“I thought she was lying to me. You would
never risk any of us by letting a dangerous enemy just roam
free...”

The rest of Karv’s excuse fell on deaf ears
as the Battle Lord threw open the door to the little shop. MaGrath
said nothing as he glanced up from his patient, but the dark look
he threw at Karv was enough to make the little man step back. It
was one thing to anger the Battle Lord, but when one’s life
depended on the skills of the physician, no one dared to anger
MaGrath.

“How is she?” Yulen demanded. It was hard to
tell from the doorway. In three long steps he was at the counter
where he could see a fine spray of blood on the wall where he knew
none had existed an hour ago.

She seemed so small, curled up in a
protective fetal ball.

“How is she?” Yulen repeated.

“She’ll be lucky if she isn’t permanently
disfigured,” MaGrath spat.

Without thinking, the Battle Lord turned on
his Second and buried his fist in the shorter man’s stomach. The
gut punch doubled the soldier over, knocking all the air out of
him. The second punch to the side of the man’s head sent him over
the edge of consciousness. Yulen watched as the Second dropped like
a rock to the hard-packed floor.

“Mastin!”

“Sir!” One of the sentries standing nearby
stepped forward.

“Have Karv taken out to his horse and tie him
across the saddle. And tell the rest of the men that if anyone
touches the prisoner, I will personally bind and gag them with
their own entrails.”

Mastin’s face turned white. “Yes, Sir!” he
replied, ordering two more men to help him with the heavy
weight.

Yulen waited for the room to clear, then
turned back to MaGrath. “What did he do?” he asked the physician,
this time in a softer tone of voice.

“I think he may have caused some permanent
damage. The cheekbone appears broken. Her nose definitely is.”

“Is she in a lot of pain?”

MaGrath’s eyes narrowed. Yulen knew this
wasn’t like him, this show of concern. In the past, if the enemy
got hurt, that was to be expected. Life was cruel, harsh, and
unforgiving. People got injured. But this... For the first time he
began to wonder if MaGrath believed his interest extended beyond
the excuse he was using to cover up his true motive.

“I’ve given her some drops of sedative, but
when she wakes up she’ll be in agony. What provoked Karv to do
this? Do you know?”

“He questioned her as to why she was no
longer bound, and she told him the truth. He didn’t believe her and
struck her.”

MaGrath’s expression darkened even further.
“Then he’s lying,” he hissed. “Karv saw me coming out of the shop
after I had wrapped her wrists like you ordered. He asked me what
I’d been doing and I told him. I told him she was free of her
bonds, by your orders. I went to fetch her something to keep her
warm when I heard the scream, and Paxton came to get me.” The
physician watched as Yulen felt the blood-red cloud descended over
his face. “What are you going to do?” he asked.

“On our journey back I want her kept by your
side or mine. Day and night. I don’t want another chance of someone
venting his hatred on her. Liam...I’m trusting you with this like
no other.”

“But what are you going to do about Karv?”
MaGrath insisted.

Yulen stepped back and glanced out the
window where he could finally make out the inner compound. “He’ll
be punished,” he finally said, his voice cold with finality. “This
isn’t over until
I’ve
settled
it.”

Then, to MaGrath’s utter astonishment, Yulen
laid a gentle hand on the Mutah’s exposed shoulder. “Let me know
when she awakes. Until then, she’ll ride with you.”

“You can’t seat her by herself on a horse
when she’s like this.”

“I know,” Yulen nodded. “Tie her to you if
you have to so she won’t fall off.”

He turned quickly on his heel and left the
store, calling out to his men as the sun slowly rose over the tops
of the trees. With his Second no longer able to perform his job,
the Battle Lord hurried to assign two of his most trusted men to
the task of seeing that all would be ready to leave within the
hour.

As preparations were being made, he walked
into the compound and stood in its center, surveying the area with
a new eye. A different eye, now slanted to see things with a
completely unbiased perspective.

This time he could see the rows of houses
with their tiny window boxes and the intricate decorations painted
on the doors. To his left began the line of shops he’d never
noticed, and probably wouldn’t have, except for the fact that one
lone warrior girl had managed to tilt his personal axis within the
span of a single night.

To his right lay the open meeting area. Small
stalls and carts still sat, unoccupied since the invasion. A small
breeze flowed over him, sending him a final scent of roasted
meat.

She had killed a badger five times her own
weight.

I slew a wolfen, as
instructed, and I brought its head back to the
compound
.

A shiver ran cold fingers down his
back, and Yulen suddenly realized what she had told him last night.
A wolfen! She had killed a
wolfen
! He could count on two hands the number of
warriors he personally knew who had gone out to slay one of the
many huge predators that lived in the forests just beyond their
encampment, only to have none of them return. Yet she had killed
one with just a bow. She, a mere slip of a girl, and not even a
seasoned soldier.

He knew she spoke the truth. No man, or
woman, would dare make such a claim unless it could backed up with
proof.

The Battle Lord drew a deep, shaky breath.
Thinking back on what Karv had done, Yulen felt his anger begin to
boil inside himself. He knew how much the Second hated Mutah. The
little man had lost two of his own family members to a rogue band
of Mutah scavengers. But that didn’t excuse the man from the
viciousness of his attacks on—

Atty

—the prisoner. Especially in light of the
fact that he had made a deal with her, and offered her his
protection once she had silently agreed.

He watched as his men continued to gather the
rest of the Mutah community together, dragging many of them from
their abodes. Again, with an eye directed toward that which he’d
always ignored until now, Yulen saw the little things which showed
these savages were more than three levels above the mutated
animals, the way he’d been taught to believe.

There was the ruffle of hand-crocheted lace
around the neckline of one Mutah’s blouse. There was the older
female bending over her young son to help him re-button his coat
when he’d missed one buttonhole in his haste to dress. There was
the male holding a smaller version of himself in his arms, bouncing
the child upon his hip and tenderly shushing the boy so as not to
draw any undue attention to themselves.

And at their feet, the blood of those who his
men had slaughtered still pooled in dark congealed splotches in the
dirt.

Turver came to let him know they’d gathered
all they could find, although the number looked less than it had
the night before. Without a doubt some remained in hiding, hoping
to survive until the Cleaners had left. Never mind. There were
enough here to heed his message.

Walking into the middle of the clearing,
Yulen looked fully into their faces and gave them a few moments to
see the still-healing wound that would mark him forever. When he
was certain they would never forget him, he spoke.

“My name is Yulen D’Jacques. I am the Battle
Lord of the compound city called Alta Novis. Novis is five days’
ride from here, to the south.

“I have taken prisoner the girl you call
Atty. She has bought your lives with her own. She has agreed to go
back to Alta Novis with me, and in exchange, we will leave this
compound as it stands. We are leaving you without further
bloodshed, but I am also leaving behind two emissaries to help you
with refortification, in the event another Battle Lord from another
compound discovers you.

“You see, I own you now. Your compound...” He
paused for a second, then pointed a finger at a nearby Mutah, an
older man with gray-green hair as long on his arms as it was on his
head. “You. Old man. Does this compound have a name?”

The man nodded. “We call it Wallis.”

“Your compound,” Yulen continued, “is now
mine. My banner will fly over it. And because I now own it, you are
now under my protection.”

“Your
protection?
” a voice sarcastically called from
the crowd.

“That is part of the deal I made with your
warrior girl,” Yulen told them.

“No Cleaner makes a deal!” another voice
argued from the safety of the gathered villagers. The others
surrounding him nodded and murmured in agreement.

“Hear me out!” Yulen hollered. “You can
either accept my generosity, or I can have you wiped out with a
simple wave of my hand.”

To demonstrate, he raised his left arm, fist
clenched. Instantly every soldier within view raised their weapons
at ready. The entire action had taken less than a heartbeat. Yulen
gave the crowd another minute to digest his threat.

“In a month I will send two more of my
men to replace the two I’m leaving behind. If they return with the
news that you have killed my emissaries, or if none of my men
return at all, I will come back and see that every timber of Wallis
is burned to the ground, and the head of every man, woman, and
child is perched on the blackened poles.
Am
I clear?
”

His threat, or promise, was extremely clear,
as revealed in the paled faces and wide eyes of the villagers.
After another silent minute had slid by, Yulen turned and left the
clearing, leaving the villagers behind virtually unguarded.

He called two of his more trusted men over to
where he kept his horse tethered and gave them curt but explicit
directives about working with the Mutah, including fortifying the
compound against further attacks. When that was done, he mounted
and signaled for the rest of his men to begin leaving. He would
catch up with them later, to take the lead.

Near the middle he found Karv hog-tied across
the back of his steed. The man was still unconscious.

MaGrath was having another soldier help him
adjust the prisoner across his lap, tying her carefully but
securely around him, so that the swaying of the saddle wouldn’t jar
her loose. She, too, remained unresponsive.

“We’ll stop at noon to rest the horses,”
Yulen informed the physician. “There’s no rush to get back. If we
take it at a normal pace, the men won’t be exhausted, and the
prisoner will have more of a chance to heal by the time we reach
Alta Novis. I’ll check back on her when we stop. But if she takes a
turn for the worse before then...”

“I’ll let you know,” MaGrath promised.

Yulen nodded. “Stay near the head of the
line, close to me. I know how deeply most of the men hate Mutah. I
don’t want to take any chances.” Kneeing his horse, he proceeded
out of the compound, toward the head of the line that already was
snaking into the dense forest beyond the high walls.

* * * *

Watching him go, MaGrath was suddenly struck
with the realization that the Battle Lord no longer referred to the
woman as a Mutah, but as their prisoner. As surely as he knew
himself, he knew it wouldn’t be long before the man called her by
her given name. But until that came about, this small concession
was a start.

Chapter Ten

Ferals

Despite making their way back to Alta Novis
at a slower speed, Yulen was surprised to discover how much ground
they’d covered before calling for a temporary halt a little past
noon. Everyone was allowed to dismount, and small fire pits were
dug for a quick meal.

Karv was coming to when the Battle Lord
checked on him. As the smaller man stared up at his leader with
glazed eyes, Yulen made it very clear how he still felt about the
unprovoked attack on the warrior girl.

“MaGrath says he told you the girl was
unbound. If you ever lie to me again, Karv, I don’t care how long
we’ve fought together side by side. Lie to me again, and I will
have you stripped of your armor. If you hurt the girl again, I will
send you outside the compound without a weapon. Are we
understanding each other?”