The Pearl Savage (21 page)

Bracus kept his arm around Clara,
pulling her against his chest as he felt her stiffen. “There is a
problem, and I need my hands free but I need you protected,” he
spoke quietly against her ear, “if I let you down, would you stay
by my side?”

Clara nodded, she was not interested
in another problem and she was ill-prepared for it, her mind fuzzy.
She was tired and hungry and wished to get out of her royal garb, an
absurd thing to be wearing while riding upon a horse.

Bracus held her arms as she slid
down the horse’s side. Her feet hovered above the ground and she
lighted upon it. Craning her neck back to look up at him. The
bruising of her face was better today, but it made his guts clench to
see it, he would never become accustomed to the sight.

Oliver came around the side of the
horse to approach Clara, but Bracus said, “No, attend the gate, I
will have someone from the Band assigned to the Princess.”

Joseph said, “Captain… I
need…” he began

Anna,
good
Lord,
the females
.
If the young girl was taken, who else?

“Yes, go to her now.”

Joseph galloped headlong to the
gate, people scurrying out of his way.

Philip was the only one left, “Stay
with Clara.” Bracus ordered tersely. He must see what had happened
to Evelyn… how it happened.

He and Philip looked at each other
for a swollen moment then Philip nodded. They needed their watch-care
now more than ever.

Bracus kicked Briar Rose’s sides,
and she galloped to the gate.

To the answers.

****

Bracus all but threw his reins at
Jonathan, who caught them deftly, his face grave.

“Captain,” he said, nodding.

He was the first person on the
inside he had seen and should know more than Oliver, who had been in
no position to leave the gate.

“What has happened to Evelyn?”
Then, “what of the other females.” Bracus barked out.

“All are here, sir… it is only
Evelyn.” Jonathan said, shifting his weight from one foot to the
other .

“How could this happen?” Bracus
said, somewhat more gently.

“She went to pick the berries…”

“By herself?”

He shook his head, “Nay, her
father accompanied her.”

Bracus closed his eyes for a moment.
Opening them, he grasped Jonathan’s shoulder, giving it a small
shake. “Speak.” and dropped his hand.

Jonathan
looked down, a tremor in his voice, “I told her not to go this day.
I told her it was safer to pick a day the Band was
all
here,” Bracus nodded encouragement and he continued, “but she
insisted, you know how she is, stubborn
.
”

He knew.

“
Then,
she argued that her father would be with her.” His eyes betrayed
his frustration, narrowing, “and I told her it was not
enough.
That the
fragment
was
about, that they could be overwhelmed. She would not
listen.
She never listens. I could have protected her!” he shouted out, his
fists clenched, the knuckles bleeding to white.

Bracus shook his head. “Did her
father protect her?”

“He tried.”

“What of him?”

“Massacred.”

Bracus
groaned, rubbing a hand over the front of his face, a male dead, and
a precious female gone. Were the
fragment
so
desperate that they would take a female that was not yet ready? He
shuddered. They must reclaim her.

He
looked down at the angry boy, “You could have done nothing. Do not
assume the guilt of this. Her own father died at the hands of the
fragment
.
We will retrieve her.”

He nodded, “When?”

Bracus’
thoughts shifted…
Clara.

“Today, as soon as we can restore
our energy and pack our supplies.”

Clara and Philip approached, he a
head and a half taller than she, his huge hands holding his mount’s
reins, the beast’s sides glistening from the travel.

Philip cocked an eyebrow.

“
The
girl that works the well,
Evelyn
,
has been taken,” Bracus said.

“The wee one?” he asked, using
his palm to indicate a height very close to Clara’s own.

Bracus nodded.

Philip growled out his displeasure
and Clara backed away from him. He sobered, turning to her. “She is
but a child…only ten and one years.”

It
sounded horrible, Clara knew, but she looked at them in confusion,
taken by whom?

Bracus
knew from her expression her unspoken question, “It is the
fragment.
They take unprotected females.”

“
Who
are the
fragment
and
why
do they take your women?” Clara asked.

Philip and Bracus looked at each
other.

“What?” Clara asked, putting her
hands on her hips. She did not wish to be ignorant of danger. Her
days of being unprepared were over.

“They belong to no one. They are
separate,” Bracus began.

“From whom?”

“The clans,” Philip responded.
“All the clans.”

Those answers made more questions
than they answered
, Clara thought.

Bracus sighed, he did not have
sufficient time to answer. And he did not know that enlightening
Clara about the shortage of females at this juncture would help him
with her. In fact, seeing the burning intelligence in her eyes… he
thought not.

“We must retrieve the girl
immediately.” He looked at Bracus, “I will assign Joseph, Stephen
and Matthew here. The others will accompany us.

Bracus nodded, “Good choice.”

“Joseph will not be worth anything
if his mind is upon Anna’s welfare.”

“That was my opinion.” Bracus
agreed.

Bracus was most comfortable with
Matthew and Stephen, his first and second in command. They would
guard Clara and be sufficient protection for the clan while the girl
was rescued. No one took their people…their females. His gaze
wandered to Clara, her battered face healing, and his heart beat
painfully in his breastbone. Duty tore at him, his feelings for her
beat upon him like the wings of a great bird, soft yet insistent.

He looked at her a moment more,
“Philip, stay with her…I need to be about discussions with
Matthew and Stephen,” he said, stalking off.

Clara looked at Philip, “What have
I done?” She knew that her escape had made him dislike her but he
had tended to her closely afterward. She determined he was a man of
duty and did not subscribe to feelings of mercy.

“It is not you, Princess. It is
the circumstance. He must protect the females; he is the Captain of
this clan.”

“
It
is his duty then? He must face this
fragment?
What if,” she was loathe to utter it but plunged forward, “he is
unable to overcome them?”
she
threw her hand out, indicating the forest which lay beyond the clan
perimeter.

Philip looked down at her
disdainfully and she struggled not to move away again. These men were
so physically intimidating. She stood her ground with an effort. “He
will not fail. We are the Band, we do not fail, we succeed.”

Indeed.
A small smile formed on her mouth and Philip looked down at her,
first at her lips then at her expression.
She
was beautiful
,
he decided. Even underneath the healing battering, her unkempt hair
and strange clothing, he saw a female worth having. But something
told him in his gut, that it was his brother that wanted her, and
that
he
would not stand in the way of.

“Come,” he took her by the
elbow. “Let us introduce you to Lillian and Anna.”

As
they walked away together, Clara’s thoughts were on Bracus, his
intent to leave her with the clan, a group of strangers who lived
Outside. But, she did not really know him either. It was he that
stopped the assault upon her by Prince Frederic. It was
he
that she owed a debt of gratitude to. She was ashamed by her attempt
at escape now. Clara knew that her heart and mind were conflicted.
This is not what she and Charles had conspired together, the fruition
of which was entirely not of their making.

They approached a small building
amongst several that were similar. Made of stone with thatched roofs
and thick wood doors that had circular windows at face level in odd,
convex configurations. Clara immediately loved the one they came
upon. The irregular stones they trod on led to one of the unusual
doors which was flanked by wild roses, their buds dripping of
delicious fragrance and shell pink blooms.

A woman lives here.

Clara was reminded of the great
hothouses inside the sphere which contained a vast amount of roses.
But without the constant presence of the steam to nurture them they
would be unable to survive.

Clara paused, caressing a delicate
bloom, and a thorn pricked her finger. She gasped, putting her finger
to her mouth.

Philip frowned, “Let me see,
Princess.” he said, holding his hand out.

“It is nothing, really,” she
said, moving away. He caught her hand, turning it over in his huge
one, her palm swallowed by his.

Philip felt a strange tingling when
he touched the Princess’s hand, it rushed up his arm in a hot surge
and he dropped it.

“What was that?” she whispered.

“I do not know,” he said,
rubbing his hand as if something remained there he wished to remove.

Just then, the door opened and
Lillian looked out.

“You should not open your door
first, without looking,” Philip said disapprovingly.

Lillian nodded, “Calm yourself,
warrior. I know that the Band has returned and Jack is within.” She
gestured behind her as Jack appeared.

Clara looked warily at another
member of the Band and noticed how they all looked so much alike. All
huge males with the strange gills. The other males looked like the
men of her sphere. The woman looked ordinary compared to him. Deep
brown hair grazed the swell of her collarbone, with sapphire eyes and
honey-colored skin. It was her ready smile that caused a great,
aching sadness in Clara, instantly reminding her of Sarah. She
controlled her expression. Her sadness was not something she wished
to reveal to anyone, nor her shameful circumstances.

She looked back at Philip, the odd
expression still riding his face from the strange touch of his hand
on hers. She remembered the tingling after he had touched her and
wondered at its significance. She put her hand to her chest and
looked at Lillian and Jack.

Lillian
contained her shock at seeing the condition of the Princess. Who had
done this to her face?
She
knew exactly what Jack must be thinking behind her. The poor waif.
She took in the disheveled hair, the ruined dress, her delicate face
in various stages of healing. To Lillian, it was obvious that she had
suffered beatings that were separate from one other. She would ask
Bracus later, he would know more on this.

Her
eyes met Philip and he shook his head, rubbing his arm in a most odd
fashion. She made a decision, she would take care of her while the
Band reconvened. She knew as she stood here and took breath they
would go after Evelyn. She closed her eyes briefly, she
hated
the
fragment
.
They were the only thing that kept the clan from true contentment.

She looked at Clara, “Please, let
me help you get settled. You need new clothing, rest and perhaps a
hot bath at the springs?”

Jack looked at her, narrowing his
eyes. “It is not safe, Lillian.”

“I can have Stephen or Matthew
accompany us,” she said coyly, stroking his arm. His anger melted
like candle wax at her feet.

He touched a strand of her hair.
“Mayhap, but it makes my guts twine to think of harm befalling
you.”

“You must go with us to find
Evelyn. Joseph, Stephen and Matthew must remain to guard the clan,”
Philip said to Jack, but his eyes were trained on Clara and she
lowered hers. She still felt like she had done something wrong and
could not shake the guilt of her presence. Had she not been here, the
girl would still be here with her clan.

She could not wonder overlong as
Lillian looped her arm through Clara’s hauling her inside the
cottage, telling Jack to take his leave with Philip, “I am quite
sure that the Band has much discussion and planning. And the Princess
needs food and rest.”

“President Bowen must meet with
her,” Philip said.

Her eyebrow swept up. “When?”

Jack looked at the sun’s position,
“One hour more…”

He looked at Philip, who nodded in
agreement.

Lillian sighed, “Be off then…”
she smiled to soften her remark and the men laughed, Jack swooping
down to land a soft kiss upon her lips and Lillian pressed her body
against his, mingling perfectly for the stolen moment. Clara looked
away, embarrassed. It was very different Outside. She thought she
might like it. They had an openness of expression that was sorely
lacking in her sphere.