The Last Sundancer (21 page)

Already his mind had turned to other matters.   Kaichen did not feel disappointment or anger.  Antuk was his friend and he accepted him as he was, even with his limitations and brilliant flashes of inspiration. 

He did not expect to have one without the other.  It was simply not the way that Antuk was made.  Kaichen kept his mind upon Amara. 
He tried to understand what would make her flee from him even as Antuk’s voice pierced through his disjointed thoughts.

“She thinks you belong to the same band
as that of the warriors that she fears.  The leader of the raiders would have taken her as bounty.” Antuk’s words brought Kaichen to a halt, but only for a moment.

“Wh
y would she think that I am an enemy warrior? She knows me, she knows that I would have given my life to save her.” Kaichen stared at Antuk but his friend turned away.  Kaichen knew the answer to his own question. 

Amara had shown signs of fear from
the moment that Antuk talked about the need for someone to dance before the sun.  She had not been herself. 

When he touched her to help her down from his horse, she flinched.  He told himself that her ribs still pained her.  When he offered to tie the bindings tighter her face lost its deep golden color until he backed away.  

When he grabbed hold of her hand to keep her from stumbling she jerked as if his touch burned her.  He told himself that he welcomed her cold silence and disinterest.  He was thankful that she no longer cast hesitant smiles his way or tried to draw him into conversation.   Kaichen cursed himself for a fool. 

She had all but shouted to the heavens that she no longer trusted him and instead of questioning
her, he remained silent.  He did not want to crave the beauty of her smile or desire the feather soft feel of her fingers upon his hand or shoulder. 

Amara tempted him to break
away from the path set before him and he knew that he had ignored the signs of her obvious distress.

“Would it have
caused you harm to answer her questions with the truth?” Kaichen murmured the question to himself even as he shook his head in consternation. 

He had to find her.  She was alone, unarmed and vulnerable.  

“Never fight the desert, it is an unwinnable battle.” Kaichen whispered the words taught to him by Azin even as he hurried onward.  

All hunters understood the ways of the land around them.  The desert was not a place to run unfettered and free of all concern.  The land was breathtaking in its beauty, but it was a harsh pl
ace full of immeasurable danger.  

As long as Amara remained
unprotected, she challenged death to come and find her.  Kaichen threw caution to the wind and ran.   He could only hope that he would not be too late. 

“What have I done to call down such a dire fate upon myself?” Amara looked at the burning sky and wiped tears from her eyes.  

Betrayal and grief were hard daggers of pain in her heart. 

“I had already grown to trust him.” Amara spoke to herself, because the silence around her was overwhelming.  She had not noticed the overwhelming quiet when she had been with Kaichen.

“I will die in this place
, though I do not wish to die but to live.” Amara placed one foot in front of the other.  

She could not go back to her people and she could not return to Kaichen and Antuk.   She would be a fool to do so.  Kaichen was a warrior of the band of men that raided the land and murdered innocents.  It was hard to believe, but it must be so.  Why else would he refuse to talk to her about the
dance that Antuk had mentioned? 

The only thing that Amara could not understand was why Kaichen had killed the men that had first taken her captive.  Was he seeking a reward? Would he kill his own warrior brothers in order to grab hold of glory?  Amara did not want to believe it, but what other conclusion could she draw? Kaichen had betrayed her from the first day
that she had come to know him.  He was marching her ever onward to meet her fate. 

When the sun was directly overhead Amara stumbled to a halt and settled down to rest.  She knew that Kaichen would probably pursue her, but she hoped that she had gained time by running until she could run no longer. 
Amara closed her eyes for a moment as she silently gathered her strength for the rest of her journey.

“I do not want to die.” She whispered as she opened her eyes and took in her surroundings.  Fatigue weighed upon her and she took a small sip of water.   Her tongue remained dry and she reached down to find a small round rock suitable for staving off thirst just as Kaichen had taught her. 
Kaichen.

Amara’s heart called to him and she groaned in misery.  Only as she let her thoughts run free did she realize that the truth of the matter was that she was heartbroken as well as betrayed. 

She had found herself plagued with a growing affection for Kaichen that had been difficult to contain.  Even as she looked at the blazing sun, she realized that she could have loved Kaichen and made a life with him if not for his betrayal. 

“I must have done something to deserve this fate.” Amara knew that she was giving in to the temptation to wallow in her misery but she refused to turn away from it.   “I will grieve for my mother forever and now I will grieve for the
loss of what might have been.”

Amara stood and her eyes widened in dismay
, the sound that came from a nearby rock was terrifying and yet utterly familiar.   A rattling sound met her ears and she stood still while her eyes searched for the source of the threat.   A movement to her left caught her eye and she began to tremble.  A large snake was coiled upon a nearby rock, perfectly hidden by the brush and tall grass. 

She searched for an escape as she cast her eyes around only to hear
the rattle intensify.   Amara’s fist clenched until her nails bit into her palms.  Her blood turned cold in her veins as she stared at the newly discovered threat. 

Fear made sweat bead upon her furrowed brow and slide down the back of her neck to pool be
tween her shoulder blades.   Claws of icy trepidation closed around her heart. 

“No.” Amara’s
gasp of denial was almost silent.  The only sound came from the snake that looked directly at her while its tail made a sound that shook the world around her.  

Amara sensed her own death.  A calm certainty overcame her and she knew that she faced the end of her life.  

The snake was riled and poised to strike.  She saw so many small details that she had missed when she chose this place to rest, half shaded by the red rocks that rose into the sky and partially exposed to the scorching sun.  She could not have chosen a more terrifying place for shelter.    

The
snake that she unknowingly threatened with her presence made itself known the moment that she tried to move away.  She stepped to the left and the rattle warned her that she trespassed at the risk of her own life.  Amara saw the snake raise itself up to regard her with dark, gleaming eyes.  

One bite would be enough to kill her
.   Amara’s limbs trembled as the snake watched her.  Her entire body quaked with the effort to move slowly.  She was not brave, she was not wise but she would try anything to delay the inevitable. 

There was no time for regret and there was no place left for fear.  Amara’s concentration was complete as she
backed away from the snake though she saw clearly that it was ready to strike.  If this was to be her last day of life, then she wanted to die secure in the knowledge that she had face death bravely and if given a choice, she would have chosen life. 

Kaichen called for Amara as he ran.  He shouted her name, hoping that she would hear him and return to the safety that he offered her, but a part of him knew that even if she did hear him, she would not reply.  

She
had run from him out of fear.  The leader of the raiders had sent warriors to her small band and they had killed her mother and perhaps many others.  They had taken Amara from everything that she had ever known.  She had every reason to fear those that had caused her harm and now she feared him just as she did the others.

“I will find you.” Kaichen made a solemn vow as he moved swiftly. 

Antuk was at his side, but his friend mumbled to himself in confusion.  The overwhelming feeling of anxiety that lived in Kaichen’s heart must also live within Antuk.  This was his friend’s way of dealing with that dire feeling.  

Kaichen lost sight of Amara’s trail.  It was there and then it ended.
He saw that she had taken one step onto the grass and away from the rocky places which were harder to traverse but much safer.  

A hunter did not walk in tall grass unless he was desperate.  Predators hid in tall grass
but Amara would not know that.  

Kaichen searched the area around him.  He studied the tall grass with growing despair.  If she had taken to the tall grass then it would only become more difficult to find her.  There was no sign of Amara.  It was almost as if she had simply vanished. 
With fast-paced steps, he outdistanced Antuk, leaving his friend to follow his trail.   

Kaichen could not remember the last time that he stumbled.  He was a warrior, trained in the ways of fighting and battle.  He was a hunter of great skill and steal
th, he would not allow himself to take a false step when he carried the fate of so many upon his shoulders.  Yet, as he stared at his wife, facing a poisonous snake with no hope of protecting herself, Kaichen stumbled. 

He immediately drew his bow and notched an arrow into place.  He took aim and let loose with
his first carefully aimed shot, following with a second and a third. 

It was only after the snake writhed in its death
throes that Kaichen realized  how close Amara had come to almost certain death. Kaichen felt his breath hitch in his throat when Amara took one step toward him.

“You are my enemy.” Amara blinked rapidly as she realized that Kaichen stood before her, not a desert dream as she had falsely imagined. 
She could barely comprehend the sight of the snake as it was pierced by Kaichen’s arrow, followed by two more in quick succession.  She had prayed fervently that he would come for her.  She felt shame flood through her body as she realized that even as she faced death, she had hoped that he would come and save her.   Now he stood before her and she felt only relief.

“I do not belong to the band of warr
iors that raided your village.”  Kaichen went on to tell Amara about his father.  He would have continued speaking but Amara pressed her trembling fingers to his lips. Amara no longer tried to break free of Kaichen’s hold. 

“I believe you.  Do not speak of memories that bring pain to your heart.
  I should have trusted you from the beginning.” Amara could see what Kaichen’s hastily spoken words had cost him.  

She sought only to take away the flare of pain
that she had brought to the strong man standing before her.  Without thinking, she reached up and stroked the side of his face. 

He willed her to believe him and she did.   She did not need to hear more to know that he spoke truth. 
She was surprised at the heat that flared between them and her eyes opened wide when he leaned into her touch. 

Kaichen’s hands felt to circle Amara’s waist and when she did not resist he gave in to the urge deep inside and touched his lips to hers.  Like a desert flower, newly born, she parted her lips under the burning heat of his kiss.

Kaichen forced his body to relax and he gentled his touch upon her.  When she melted against the hard plains of his body, he forced himself to retreat.  His lips trailed kisses over her cheek, caressing her jaw and neck like a bee searching for nectar. He found her taste sweeter than anything that he could have ever imagined.

His breath came in ragged gasps as his arms encircled her in a protective embrace.

“I almost lost you.” Kaichen’s voice was possessive but full of caring.

“I am sorry that I ran away.
I should have trusted you.” Unshed tears filled eyes and Kaichen told himself that he must look away.  

He was captivated by her beauty and by the aura of power that encircled her.  She stared past him to the place where she had stood, facing her own death without a weapon or even the faintest hope of escape.  

“You saved my life.” Amara bowed her head in thanks as Kaichen pressed his hand to her chin, forcing her to meet his eyes. Amara trembled now that the danger was over.

Kaichen lowered his gaze and then he did what he had
wanted to do from the moment that he had first touched Amara.  He pulled her to his chest and simply held on. 

“Are you going to press lips together
again?” Antuk’s question broke the silence. 

Amara laughed and stepped away from Kaichen’s thrilling embrace.  She did not dare look up and see the expression upon
his face, but she heard the word that he uttered and it made her freeze in place, before continuing to walk forward.