Tara The Great [Nuworld 2] (17 page)

“Yes, my lord.” The soldier handed him his own communications device. “A small

army has been dispatched as well, it has. I’m told they should be here within the hour,

yes.”

Darius nodded and attached the comm to his ear. He’d parked the bike and slid off

leaving Tara sitting there. As he spoke into the mouthpiece, he pointed to the night lens

the soldier had on a string around his neck. The soldier handed it to him as Darius

began to speak. “Patha,” he paused and returned to Tara’s side.

She’d gotten off her bike and moved stiffly. She hoped it looked as if she’d become

stiff from sitting so long and not from the pain brought on from the rough terrain they’d

traveled over.

“Of course I’m alive, old man. You worry like a woman, you do.” Darius’ laugh

was a rich baritone, and the group of men around them chuckled along with him.

“She’s fine too…or that’s what she’d have you think, it is.”

Tara watched his face while he listened to Patha.

Darius’ smile faded and the hardened warrior consumed him. He put the lens up to

his eyes and searched the dark horizon. “How many are missing?”

“Missing?” Tara frowned.

“There are eight Gothman and one Runner missing, there are,” he whispered.

“What? How long? What do they mean, missing?”

Darius held up his hand to silence her and she stood in front of him, disgruntled.

“I’ll contact you when they get here.” He switched off the comm and lifted the lens

to his eyes once again.

“What is going on, Darius?” Tara asked.

“There’s no one out there, no.” Darius lowered the lens, then searched the darkness

without it, as if not trusting the Runner device specifically designed to see across

distances in the night.

“What did Patha say?” Tara watched him study the terrain.

“The Lunians have contacted Patha.”

“They have?”

“Yes. They apologized for our treatment and informed him it wasn’t their intention

to attack us at the trailer. They thought we were cave people, they did. Patha said they

told him they were searching our trailer in hopes of finding us there. They told Patha

we must have thought they were preparing an ambush, and so we destroyed our own

trailer for nothing.”

“Well, there’s a small part of the truth in all that. They weren’t looking for us to

protect us. You know that as well as I do.”

“I know. They lied to Patha, they did. What we need to figure out is why.”

“Who spoke to Patha?”

“Brev.”

“Brev made the comment that he knew Runners and Gothman were the most

powerful of Nuworld. So he doesn’t want us as an enemy.” Tara was puzzled by their

behavior. Why would they bother contacting Patha at all? “They don’t realize we

overheard them talking. But you said there’s Gothman and a Runner missing?”

“Yes, and I’m willing to guess these moon people have already reached Gothman

and have kidnapped them, they have.”

“Who’s the Runner?”

“Syra.”

“Oh, no!” Tara’s hand went to her mouth. “Darius, you know why they’ve been

kidnapped!”

“I can guess as well as you can, yes.” Darius had that hardened look of a frustrated

lord. “They’ll impregnate the women for some demented thievery they have going on,

they will.”

“Are the Gothman all women?”

“No, they took four men and four women, all young, under the age of twenty

winters.”

“We’ve got to go back and get them.”

“Fifty men are on their way. I anticipate they’ll be here in less than an hour. I’ll set

up an outpost here. But I question whether they’ve taken their hostages back to the

mountain, I do. All were reported missing this afternoon at the earliest. If they were

headed this way, I would have seen them, I would. I want to find out where these

people are setting up camp. The mountain was temporary for them, it was. Or maybe,

they thought the mountain would be a good home but for some reason decided the cave

people didn’t suit their needs. Apparently, they feel we’d suit their needs better, yes.

They learned of Gothman superiority after they might have arrived here, yes.”

“So we send scouts out in all directions surrounding Gothman.”

“Agreed.”

It wasn’t often Darius and Tara were able to discuss military strategy calmly

without disagreements. He reached for her hand and wrapped his fingers around hers

before bringing her hand up to his mouth and gently brushing his lips across her skin.

She despised the way her gut instantly responded to his hot breath on her skin. She

also despised the way he could look into her eyes, as he was doing right now and see

how her body reacted to his touch.

Fire danced in his eyes. A look of victory.

She didn’t want him to feel that. She forced herself to picture that little baby she’d

held briefly. That little baby that looked like her children, but was a bigger threat than

the enemy they would be facing shortly.

She pulled her hand away from him. “Contact your scouts and get them moving,”

she ordered and turned to start cleaning her bike.

Chapter Ten

Darius rolled over and pulled his blanket around his shoulder. It had grown cold

through the night, and he felt chilled upon waking. As he stretched and moved his arms

under the blankets, he realized he was alone in the small tent he and Tara had slept in

the night before. Or rather, part of the night, at least for him. The night had been half

over before he’d been informed a tent had been set up for them and that Tara had

already retired for the evening.

After the troops had arrived the day before, he’d worked well into the late hours

preparing them for battle. Small armies had been dispersed to find the Lunian camp.

Although he and Tara agreed on this strategy, it had been the only thing they’d

agreed on. She’d wanted to go home. He knew their best leadership position was

among the troops. She’d called him antiquated and told him his Gothman ways would

be the downfall of him yet. He knew she’d been talking about more than his leadership

methods.

Darius had disregarded her comments and had continued instructing the troops, all

but forgetting Tara’s anger until much later in the evening. He approached her as she

cleaned her bike, watching her. He felt the first sign of remorse at the destruction of his

own. Her only comment was that it was a little too late to have feelings like that.

When he realized her intentions were to drive back to Gothman to be with the

children, he prohibited it. She turned on him with a rage he’d grown rather accustomed

to seeing. Her timing was inappropriate however, and he made that quite clear. He was

Lord. She could not address him in such a fashion, especially in front of troops.

That was when she marched off.

He wasn’t sure he’d be allowed into the tent. When he crawled in, she was so

soundly asleep, he’d been able to lie down next to her without disturbing her. Now, he

looked around and noticed immediately that his comm was missing. He’d set it inside

his left boot next to his side of the bedding before he had gone to sleep. Nothing else

was gone.

Dressing quickly, he crawled out of the mini-tent and stretched in the morning air.

The morning sun was barely visible on the horizon, providing a dim light across the

open plateau. The heavy dew made him glad he’d brought his boots inside the tent the

night before.

Before him, his small army spread across the wet grass. Each man slept in a resting

bag next to his bike. A typical battle scene, one he’d seen many times.

Now where was that woman?

“My lord.” Two guards on duty quickly straightened to full attention as they

acknowledged Darius’ presence. “All is calm, it is.”

“Good.” Darius couldn’t ask them if there’d been any communication with Patha,

or they would know he didn’t have his comm. And he wouldn’t ask if they’d seen Tara.

She was his woman—his claim.

A man not capable of controlling his woman was marked a fool. For a Gothman

Lord to suggest he didn’t know the exact whereabouts of his claim would be the

standing joke for many a cycle. The expression on the two men’s faces revealed nothing,

except possibly fear for being caught slouching on the job. They didn’t know he was

looking for Tara, and he damn sure wasn’t going to allow his Runner claim to brand

him a fool.

Relieved, he saw her bike parked where it had been the night before. At least she

hadn’t left in the middle of the night, defying his orders. That would have been just like

her. The woman ignored his orders way too often, and there were days when he itched

to flog her for disobedience.

He and Tara would make a great team if she just accepted his word.

Darius ran his fingers through the tangled curls on his head, squinted and scanned

the quiet camp. He didn’t want to fight with Tara, in fact, that was the last thing he

wanted to do with her.

He wandered out into the field he and Tara had driven through the night before.

The sun provided little light as it slowly rose to announce a new day. Then he saw her.

She sat on the ground, leaning against the smallest rock in the formation that had

been their rendezvous point. As he approached, he saw her cheeks stained from tears.

She stared straight ahead, not seeming to notice him. That, in itself, was odd. Her

warrior training should alert her to anyone’s approach, no matter how lost in thought

she was. And he wasn’t trying to sneak up on her.

Tara’s chin rested on her knees, and she stared wide-eyed at the field in front of her.

She’d wrapped her arms around her legs, and he noticed her hands were clenched in

fists.

Darius wondered that she didn’t grimace in pain from the way she held her body.

He grew concerned as he drew within feet of her and she still didn’t stir.

“Tara?” He quietly squatted next to her. “What is it, my lady?”

No response. Was she so mad at him? Her fury usually didn’t last long.

The communication device lay next to her, and he picked it up.

She still didn’t move to acknowledge him.