The Battle Lord Saga 02 - Her Battle Lord's Desire (7 page)

They allowed another quarter mile go by before they spoke again.

“Your domain is growing,” MaGrath observed.

“And it may grow even more,” Yulen informed him. When the older man cut him curious

look, he said, “Wallis is coming under my protection. Despite present circumstances, our treaty

still holds...somewhat. I plan to renegotiate it while we’re there. And then...I was thinking about

including a few more compounds in with it.”

“A few more compounds? What compounds?”

“Mutah compounds,” the Battle Lord answered casually, giving him a smile. “You didn’t

think Wallis was the only one of its kind, did you?”

“To be honest, I’ve never thought about it. Whenever in the past your father came across

a Mutah community, it was more like a village hidden in the woods. Wallis is the first fortified

city I’ve encountered. So there are other Mutah compounds? Any nearby?”

Yulen nodded. “I know of one that’s five or six days’ journey. There’s another one that

Fortune mentioned that might be closer. I’ll have to ask Atty. He told me she’d been to it. If I

can get the Council to agree to contact them, and if we can all meet and come to some sort of

mutual understanding...”

“Good heavens, Yulen, do you know what that could mean?” MaGrath swallowed hard.

“But your biggest battle isn’t going to be bringing the Mutah into the treaty. It’s going to be

convincing people like Zane Batuset and Logan Farr and what’s-his-name, from Van Cleve.”

“Thom Arbreth.”

“Yeah. Arbreth. How do you plan to convince them to stop their annual sweeps and to

embrace the Mutah just as if they were ordinary people?”

“They
are
ordinary people,” Yulen responded.

“On the
inside
,” MaGrath pointed out the obvious. “You’re trying to overcome three

hundred years of fear and prejudice. In my book, that’s called biting off more than you can chew.”

“I promised Atty I would try.”

MaGrath gave a short, humorless bark of laughter. “Okay, and I’ll be the last person to

say it’s not a noble effort. But do you honestly think you can accomplish something so grandiose

in such a short lifetime?”

Yulen turned a haunted but determined face to him. “If someone doesn’t try, nothing will

ever be accomplished. If I don’t try, no one else will. If I can at least put the plans on the table,

maybe someone else will step up in my place when I’m gone and see that those plans are

completed. Think about it, Liam. If I had told you last winter I was going to fall in love and

marry a Mutah woman, what would you have thought?”

“That you were either drunk or mentally ill. All right, you’ve made your point,” MaGrath

relented. Several more minutes passed before the physician casually asked, “Any idea when you’ll

be heading out again?”

Yulen shrugged. “I’m not making any more plans until we see how this thing with the

Bloods is resolved.”

“Think Atty is happy going back, despite the fact that the Council told her she’d never be

welcomed?”

“That’s why we’d planned on giving them a guard of honor. Of course, it won’t be as

grandiose as I would’ve liked for it to be, considering the time restraint, but I’m going to enjoy

seeing her thumb her nose at them.” Yulen grinned. “Atty has no idea what it means to be my

wife. For this once, I want to surprise her.”

“You want to spoil her.”

“Hell, yes. She’s had a life no one should be forced to endure. Even the way we met,

how we fell in love, and all the pain she’s suffered...I swore to her that week after your wedding

she would never need, never want for anything ever again. At the time she thought it was a very

sweet gesture on my part.” He snorted. “She wants to go with me on every excursion I plan.

Nothing would make
me
happier. But eventually I’m hoping she’ll remain back at Alta Novis to

tend to other things.”

“Other things?”

“Yeah,” Yulen said in a low voice. “Like maybe one day we’ll be lucky enough to have a

family.”

The simple confession struck a chord deep in MaGrath’s chest. Perhaps it had been an old

man’s wish, or maybe it was because he knew how deeply Madigan wanted to see Rory’s lineage

continue that he had hoped there would have been good news awaiting him when he returned

from Bearinger. After all, it had been five months. Maddy had discovered she was pregnant

with Yulen a scant two months after she and Rory had taken their vows.

Yet there was no denying Atty’s internal workings were a complete mystery to him. He

had received absolutely no teachings whatsoever as to how different Mutah anatomy was from

theirs, although there was no denying it was. For one thing, their genetics were so skewed, there

was no way to predict what form of mutation each generation would inherit.

He glanced over at the pensive look on the Battle Lord’s face. Yulen knew the risks. So

did Atty. It was only because of their love for one another that they were willing to jump that

chasm. Now, if nature would only take her natural course, because the two lovers were definitely

doing their rightly duty to try and conceive. At least nightly, MaGrath smiled to himself.

Sometimes more often than that.

“Battle Lady about!”

Yulen had already pulled ahead before the shout went out. MaGrath glanced up at where

the road crested a few hundred yards ahead. In the distance a lone figure on a horse stood

waiting for them. As the caravan advanced toward them, two more figures on horseback

emerged from the wood and joined her. A large, shadowy figure on a travois rested behind

Atty’s mare.

Ignoring the other two hunters, Yulen swept his wife from her saddle as he galloped by.

Atty threw her arms around his neck as he brought his stallion to a halt and turned it around.

They kissed deeply in greeting as he cradled her in front of him with his free arm.

“Looks like you had a successful hunt,” he smiled into her eyes. He quickly examined her

to see if any of the bloody streaks smeared across her face and arms were hers. Knowing what

he was thinking, Atty shook her head.

“It was a team effort,” she told him. “We all came out unscathed. Promise.”

He drew up to where he could see the enormous wild sow lashed to the travois. The

arrow in the eye was definitely Atty’s trademark kill. The slash across the throat was not. The

animal’s huge lower incisors were crusted with blood. He glanced up at the two other hunters.

“Are you gentlemen all right?”

Fortune appeared startled by his question. “Yeah. We’re fine. Like Atty told you.” He

and Bertrand were still reeling from watching Atty at the hunt. The Council would turn on its

ears when they heard the news.

“Good.” Yulen flashed him a grin. “We’ll go ahead and break for camp and get this pig

cut up for cooking. Otherwise it’ll take all evening if we keep it whole.”

Reaching over to grab the mare’s reins, he tossed them to Bertrand, then headed back to

the caravan where he signaled for a full stop. Foster City lay behind them. Even though they

hadn’t made the extra dozen miles he had hoped for, they’d made good time otherwise.

Besides, he couldn’t wait to spring Atty’s surprise on her.

And then, there would be tonight.

Atty heard him coming up behind her. She could tell it was him without having to turn

around because of the way he walked. He would have made a good hunter, given the right

training and upbringing, she mused. He already knew how to tread so quietly that crispy fall

leaves underfoot wouldn’t crunch under his boots, and small limbs wouldn’t snap under his

weight.

“You’re gonna have to do a lot better than that if you don’t want me knowing you’re

trying to sneak up on me,” she commented with a grin.

There was a small snort of amusement. “What if I wasn’t trying to sneak up on you?” he

asked. “What if I just wanted to stand here and watch you?”

“Watch me what?” She glanced at him over her shoulder. “Wash the blood off my hands?

Gee, doesn’t take much to keep
you
entertained, does it?”

Yulen chuckled. “Actually, I came over to ask you out to dinner.” Now it was Atty’s turn

to chuckle. He continued. “The first couple of portions are about ready. Did you have anything

to eat today?”

“I had enough at breakfast this morning to sustain me,” she said.

“You eat like a horse, Atty, just to sustain your metabolism. I know you must be starving

by now.”

She straightened as she got to her feet. After kneeling and bending over for nearly an

hour as she and Fortune skinned and quartered the hog, and Bertrand delivered portions

throughout the encampment, her back and shoulders were beginning to protest.

“That’s the problem with marrying someone. They get to know you too well. You can’t

keep anything secret anymore.” She followed up her gripe with a warm smile as she wiped her

damp hands and arms on the hem of her tunic. “Okay, wise guy. You’re right. I’m hungry.

What do you mean, ask me out to dinner?” She glanced around at the surrounding wood.

“Aren’t we ‘out’ already?”

Her husband got a funny look on his face, as if he was relishing a private joke he had no

plans on sharing with her. “That’s another problem with marrying someone. She tends to rub off

on you.
I
cooked tonight, and I need your expert opinion on whether the final result is palatable or not.”

Atty raised both eyebrows his way. “Oh, this ought to be good.
You
cooked?” Gesturing

down at the gore and the remains of the hog at her feet, she asked, “Do I have enough time to get

this buried?”

He held out an arm to her. “I’ll get one of the men to dispose of it. Come.”

Grabbing her water bag, Atty walked over to where he took her hand and began to lead

her toward the far end of the encampment, near the head of the line where she knew he liked to

bed down for the night. Unlike many Battle Lords who preferred for safety’s sake to bunk in the

midst of the soldiers in case of attack, Yulen preferred to be on the fringe, prepared to help

provide the first line of defense. It was one of the many idiosyncrasies she’d come to learn about

him, and one of a hundred reasons why she loved him.

After listening in night after night as Yulen’s men gathered in the main hall and talked as

they ate, she’d come to learn much about the man she’d fallen in love with—his preferences, his

habits, when it was time to run for cover when a particular look of anger came over his face, and

when it was okay to ease off a bit because he was in an unusually good mood. From what she

could tell, he was having a lot more of those good mood days than he’d ever had in the past few

years. Naturally, the soldiers all attributed the new warmth and brightness at Alta Novis to her,

although she normally shrugged it off with a wicked smile and said it was more likely due to the

fact that a satisfied spouse was very much a docile spouse, a remark which gained her a hearty

laugh and acceptance into their confidences.

Glancing upward, Atty noticed the unusual brightness in the stars, despite the number of

small campfires all around, whose lights normally dimmed the night sky. She suddenly shivered,

and Yulen whispered, “Cold?”

“Nights are getting chillier,” she admitted.

“Don’t worry. You’ll stay warm enough tonight,” he promised.

Atty cut him a look while biting her lower lip. This was going to harder than she thought.

A few soldiers bid them good evening as they passed by. Yulen signaled to one of the

newer recruits and ordered him to bury the pig’s remains to prevent other scavengers from

approaching the encampment. The young man nodded, repeated the order as required, and

hurried off.

“Did you enjoy yourself today?” Yulen casually asked her.

She smiled. “Yeah, I did,” she admitted, realizing she hadn’t been aware of how much she

missed going on the hunt. “It’s been a while since I worked in team. Anything happen while I

was gone?”

“No. Liam and I had a nice long talk, though.”

She looked at him. “About?”

“He’s wanting to hang up his saddle.”

Atty stopped, pulling on his hand so that he also stopped and turned to look at her. “He

doesn’t want to go out anymore?”

Yulen gave her a sad shake of his head. “He’s deserved the time to stay at the compound

and take care of the people. Alta Novis is growing, Atty, in case you haven’t noticed.”

“Yeah, I’ve noticed.” They resumed their walk. “I saw those pictures you’ve been

studying of late.”

“Diagrams. They’re diagrams and blueprints.”

“For what?”

He sighed loudly. “We’re going to be expanding the forest wall another five hundred

yards. That’ll give us enough room for more homes and shops. We’ve grown by another

hundred and twenty people in the past few months, quite a few of them from Bearinger. I’d also

like to build another lodge adjacent to the first one.”

“Another lodge? What for?”

He looked at her. “For us.”

Atty stopped in her tracks again. “What do you mean, for us?”

“Exactly what I meant. I don’t like having our quarters directly over the main hall. My

great, great grandfather founded Alta Novis, and back then it may have been the safe thing to do.