Every Battle Lord's Nightmare (10 page)

            Without her asking for assistance, he turned and helped her up into her own saddle. Picking up the reins, she grinned at him. He hoisted himself onto the stallion, where he caught her silly smile.

            “What’s going through that head of yours?”

            “I bet you’re pretty proud of yourself right now,” she told him.

            “In what way?” He checked around them to see if the men were ready to head out. Seeing that they needed another couple of minutes, he turned back to her to wait for her answer.

            “You didn’t have to twist any arms to get Obrey to convince the council to sign the treaty.” For emphasis, she cast an eye at the half-blue, half-red banner now flying above the compound’s main gates.

            “Don’t give me any credit for that, Atty. I think they were already close to deciding. Twoson explained to me that word has been spreading throughout the entire hub of Mutah compounds ever since Wallis signed on. When West Crestin accepted my banner, that also seemed to change a lot of attitudes. I think North Crestin was ready to fall in line. All they needed was to meet with me personally and to hear my proposals.” He grinned. “Of course, having Twoson here with us may have been the deciding factor.”

            “Probably. I still don’t understand why they chose not to send someone with us to represent the compound.”

            Sighing deeply, Yulen adjusted his seat. “One battle at a time, my love. Be happy North Crestin has joined our ranks. Now that they’re on board, along with Wallis and West Crestin, I hope word will continue to spread farther north and west. Or that it’s at least reached Corado.”

            “Guess we’ll find out when we get there,” she told him. Kneeing her horse, she advanced to the front of the line and waited there for him to join her.

Chapter Fourteen

Directions

            As the caravan grew closer to Oka City, they realized the land was smoothing out. Becoming more of an open plain where the hills disappeared and trees were sparser. Not only was the greener vegetation less dense, but it had given way to scrub bushes and high grass. Which meant most of the larger wildlife like deer were gone. On the plus side, however, the rabbits and groundhogs appeared to be more prevalent.

            A couple of times, Atty joined Fortune, Paas, and a few of the soldiers on a hunt for game. Renken tagged what he called a dillo. The enormous beast had to have weighed in at sixty pounds once it was dressed. And the almost impenetrable shell it wore as body armor was too promising to throw away. Yulen had it stashed on the wagon with the armor.

            That night, when they set up camp by the roadside, they noticed a glow on the horizon. Atty stared at it in fascination. At the way it seemed to highlight the skies as if the sun had paused below-ground and refused to disappear entirely. She was aware of her husband coming up behind her, and commented before he had the chance.

            “It’s beautiful. It looks like some of the stars melted along the rim of the world.”

            “Yeah, it does.”

            “Is that Oka City?”

            “Yes, that’s it.”

            “Must be a big compound.”

            “Mmm, I’d say it’s about three times the size of Alta Novis. But that was long ago when I was a teenager, and my father and I came to see the battle lord there about buying some horses. There’s no telling how big the place is now. Or even if Don LeGreen is still running it.”

            He slid an arm about her shoulders and drew her close. The night air was cold. The wind blowing from the northwest was colder. Despite her coat, she shivered.

            “There’s a front blowing in. It’ll be here by morning.”

            “In that case, we need to go inside before you catch your death,” Yulen half-suggested, half-ordered. He immediately punctuated his remark with a sneeze.

            Atty giggled. “Preacher should practice what he preaches,” she teased him. She watched as he took a kerchief from his hip pocket and wiped his nose. Upon closer inspection, she noticed his nose was redder than usual. Lifting a hand, she placed it against his neck. “You’re warm. You might have a fever.”

            “I’m all right,” he muttered.

            “Does Fergus know you’re sick?”

            “I’m not sick. I simply caught a mild cold. Probably from that new council member back in Wallis.”

            “That’s not answering my question.”

            Yulen sniffed again, stuffing the kerchief into his pocket. “Or it could be allergies. I have problems breathing whenever I get around ragweed and some of the dry grasses.” He waved a hand at the landscape. “See anything out there that could be aggravating it?” He chuckled at his own lame joke.

            “Regardless, I’d feel better if Dr. Gus gave you a quick once-over to make sure it’s not something serious.”

            “Trust me, Atty. With this summit looming, if I begin to suspect I’m coming down with something a lot more serious, I won’t hesitate to let Fergus prescribe one of his crappy-tasting concoctions.”

            “How do you know how his concoctions taste if you’ve never taken one?”

            Yulen made a face. “He learned his craft from Manderly Saxon, who also taught Liam. Liam’s mixtures I’ve taken, and they taste like dried crap mixed with water. Why would I believe any differently about what Fergus would have me take?”

            Atty laughed. “Point taken.”

            They watched the orangey-yellow glow for another moment or two, until Yulen gave her shoulder a little squeeze. “The others are waiting for us.”

            Silently, they left the road and went to their tent. Inside, their close circle of confidants were scattered about, sitting on rugs or pillows. Atty took a seat on a cushion she and Yulen often shared at night, next to the small brazier that kept the encroaching cold at bay. The battle lord remained standing. As she warmed her hands over the open flame, she glanced up at him and saw the leather envelope in his hand.

            “Tomorrow we’ll ride into Oka City. I don’t know who runs it. I haven’t been here in over a decade.”

            Batuset raised his hand for the floor, but aimed his words at the others. “I was telling Yulen earlier that I haven’t been this way in quite some time, either. Last I heard, Don LeGreen was the battle lord. I don’t know if he still is. But one thing I do need to mention to you all is that LeGreen is strongly anti-Mutah. You’ve got to be aware of yourselves at all times.”

            Fortune raised a hand. “Then why are we going in if there’s a chance we could be accosted? Why not go around the compound?”

            Yulen pulled a piece of paper from the envelope. Atty noticed it was a different color than the one he’d previously shown her. The one with the invitation.

            “The directions I received on how to reach Rocky Gorge state that a squad of armed soldiers will meet each arriving battle lord at Oka City. From there, they will escort him and his entourage to Corado.”

            “A squad of armed soldiers?” Renken spoke up. Almost as an afterthought, he raised a hand for attention. “Armed to protect us? Or to keep us in line?”

            “That’s an excellent question,” Yulen noted. “That’s what I was wondering, as well.”

            “If the answer is the former, I fully trust our armed battalion can keep us safe,” Fortune continued. “But if the answer is the latter, I still say we try to go it alone.”

            “Yes, but how do we know where this Rocky Gorge compound is?” Mastin brought up. He looked directly at Atty. “Let’s say we go into Oka City. Won’t your Mutah instincts warn us if there’s anything potentially dangerous?” The second finished his question with a quick glance over at where Fortune and Twoson sat together.

            Twoson gave a slight nod. “Most likely. But if they have us surrounded, what good would it do?”

            “If we sense it, and can’t do anything at the moment, we stay mum,” Atty answered. “It seems pretty clear to me that someone’s planned this summit to include keeping the compound’s location secret, or very difficult to reach if the traveler isn’t sure how to get there.”

            “Why?” Paxton asked the one word on everyone’s mind. “Why go to all the trouble? Is life out there that dangerous?”

            “It doesn’t matter,” Yulen replied. “We have no choice but to go into Oka City. Fortune, Twoson, if either of you get any negative vibes, let me know, either directly or passed through the lines. But whatever you do, don’t let the outsiders know you’re aware. Don’t give anything away. Like Atty said, stay mum. Let them think it’s business as usual, but keep your eyes and ears open. If we appear to be unaware of anything, chances are they’ll give us just enough slack that could give us the upper hand.”

            “I agree,” Fortune said. “They think we’re here for the summit. They expect us to have our minds on that, and not on what’s going on around us.” He waved toward the paper in Yulen’s hand. “Most battle lords would follow those instructions without question. So would you, Yulen. And you would, too, Batuset. Three, four years ago, neither of you would have questioned them, or suspect that LeGreen had any ulterior motive. But that was then. Since then, you’ve both changed. You found out that, despite outward appearances, there’s very little difference between Normals and Mutah, and you’ve accepted that.”

            “What’s your point?” Renken challenged.

            “My point is, you’ve gotten protective of Mutah. That’s why you’re not approaching this summit with blinders on.” Fortune pointed a forefinger at Yulen. “When you held that summit last year at Alta Novis, you called all the shots. It was your compound, your men, your rules. But I take it you don’t think LeGreen’s had the same kind of epiphany as you did. It’s his compound, his men, and
his
rules. And because you don’t know if the man has changed, we have to assume the worst, right? Am I right?”

            “D’Jacques?”

            Yulen turned his attention to the Mutah council member.

            “How far are we going to go before you determine it’s too dangerous to pursue this any further?” Twoson questioned.

            “I don’t know. That depends.”

            “On what?”

            “On what your instincts tell you. On what you, Fortune, and Atty feel as we go in. Until you give me a good reason not to continue, I’m hoping to make a difference at this summit. If I can change one battle lord’s mind, just one, that’s one less yearly cleaning mission, and God knows how many lives saved. One,” Yulen repeated. “One battle lord at a time. One compound at a time. It may not seem like a lot to most of you, or worth the effort, but I’ll accept any advancement I can get. As long as it puts another mark in the win column.”

            The tent grew quiet as everyone mulled over the battle lord’s comment. It was Paxton who broke the silence.

            “So…we’re going in using the isolation formation?”

            “What’s that?” Renken asked.

            Yulen grinned. “Don’t worry. You’re a smart man. You’ll catch on quickly. Yes. The isolation formation. All right, people. Let’s try to get a good night’s sleep because we may need the energy tomorrow.”

            The tent quickly emptied as everyone exited to their own and bedrolls. Atty remained sitting on the cushions and watched as her husband placed a spare sword and dagger next to the pallet where they would rest. Once he undressed, he would add his weapons belt. He caught her perusal and smiled.

            “You want to comment about something that was said tonight?”

            “No.”

            “Then why the intent look?”

            She gave him a loving smile. “Have you always been this hardheaded and determined to get your way, regardless of the odds?”

            “I thought Mother already filled you in on my younger years.”

            “Oh, she has. You still manage to surprise me.”

            An unexpected twinge of pain in her belly made her clutch her abdomen. Yulen moved to go over to her, but she held up a hand to show she was all right.

            “I think our daughter is a bit more rambunctious than Mattox ever was.”

            “
More
rambunctious. Heaven help us.” He chuckled, then grew serious. “Are you sure you’re okay? This is a long, rough ride.”

            “I’ll be fine. If I need to rest, I’ll go take a nap on the armory wagon. If you don’t believe me, ask Renken. Speaking of needing…” She got to her feet and headed for the rear of the tent where the chamber pot was located.

            Yulen snickered. “I’m going to check on the men and take one last look around. I expect to find you in bed when I return.”

            “All right,” she called from the rear enclosure. “But I can’t promise I’ll be awake.”

            She never saw his smile as the battle lord left the tent, nor the fact that as soon as he stepped out of the enclosure, his expression changed.

            Hardened.

And darkened.

Chapter Fifteen

Fog

            A cold morning mist blanketed the ground, making it difficult to see the road more than a dozen feet ahead of them. Atty lifted the hood on her coat, but her face remained exposed to the biting chill. Her breath was a thick white cloud in front of her mouth, and her skin felt numb from the exposure. She sniffed, but didn’t smell any impending snow or sleet, which was good. There was no telling how close they were to the compound, or to the outer boundary where the battle lord’s sentries were posted.

            A muffled cough caught her attention. She glanced at her husband beside her. During the night he’d developed what sounded like rough congestion, sometimes waking her when a coughing fit overcame him. Already his voice was a bit hoarse, like it was edged with grit. Despite her concern, he blamed his allergies again and dismissed her worry. That alone bothered her more. She braked her mare and started to pull away when he turned to her.