Time Dancer (12 page)

Then she was gone, stepping to her horse and leaving him standing there. That damnable hood shielded her face from him and, in his confusion, he remained in human form, walking alongside her horse’s flank. He’d never thought that a kiss, a mere touching of lips and tongue, could bring such sensations. His body hummed in the winter night.

Batu turned north, where the road lay covered in white with no footpath marking the way. Barren trees arched overhead, fracturing the moon glow to patches of weak blue and deeper gray. The crunch of snow from the horses’ hooves echoed far too loud. A prickling along the base of his neck elevated his awareness.

“Be wary,” he whispered.

“What is it?” Batu asked.

Noise exploded from the tree line. Moonlight glinted off a silver blade. Batu charged, bringing his mount between the descending men and Jana. An axe handle struck his horse in the muzzle. It squealed then bucked, unseating Batu. Darach took a step then stopped, a huge hunting knife jammed against his throat.

Rank breath sailed across his neck from behind. “You’re mighty free with that purse, milord, so I’m thinking you won’t mind handing it over.”

Batu tried to rise, but two dark shapes hovered over him, kicking. Jana cursed as meaty arms ripped her from her saddle and held her to a chest broad as a workhorse. She squirmed and struggled. A gruff snigger filled the night. “Hey, this is a fiery one, like I like ’em. Think he’s as free with his woman as he is with his coin?”

“Whatever, idiot,” the voice at his back spat. “But make it fast. Then maybe I’ll have a go at her.”

Jana’s eyes went wide, then narrowed. She drew up her knee and slammed her boot down on top of the man’s foot. He loosened his grip as she elbowed his ribs. “Get off me, you dog!”

Fury sped through Darach. The sharp edge of the knife cut into his throat as he shifted his weight, preparing to race toward her. He whirled, knocking the blade away like an annoying fly. He gripped the man’s neck, his fingertips driving deep into flesh. The man kicked like a newborn babe. Purple splotches broke along his cheeks and his lips turned blue.

Red-rimmed eyes locked with his as Darach squeezed. The airway crunched and blood spurted. A wet gurgle bubbled a small bit of red froth from the man’s lip but his body went limp. Darach flung the bleeding body aside then shoved his hand into his glove. The claws became extensions of the animal inside him that hunted.

Jana had gotten her attacker to his knees but he held firm to her cloak. She spat in his face, kicking him in the groin. “Whoreson!”

His yelp sounded like a puppy’s squeal but his huge hands latched onto her thigh, tugging her forward until she stumbled into his hold. His brute strength easily flipped her onto her front and his meaty hand captured her flailing wrists behind her back. His other hand shoved her tunic edge up and her leggings down. Her rounded bare rump glowed milky white against the dark band of her breeches.

“Don’t make me hurt you,” her attacker growled, tugging at his own clothes.

“You won’t,” Darach promised.

His claws raked down the man’s spine, opening his body like a book to be read. Blood splattered the snow. A fast punch, twist and tug ended the nonexistent battle. The body collapsed on top of Jana. Darach used his boot to roll the man off her. She rolled and her eyes went wide at the gaping hole in the big man’s back.

The prince had regained his unsteady footing. His sword pinned one dead body to the ground through the belly. He fended off the second attacker’s axe, dodging and ducking, then striking out with his dagger. A kick to his bandaged leg dropped him to his knees.

Darach growled.
Humans
. They disgusted him, preying on the weak—the young, females and the injured. He lunged with a bellow. Batu’s attacker shrieked, dropping the axe. Fear widened his eyes as he backed away, holding his hands out. He took three timid steps backward then whipped around and fled. Snow kicked from his boots as he darted toward the tree line around the road bend.

A feral instinct pounded hot in Darach’s blood. His long legs made the chase a short one. Snagging the coarse wool cloak, Darach planted his heels and yanked the man off balance. Snow-crusted gloves shoved at him but he thrust them away and grabbed hold of one scrawny arm.

A swift jerk ripped bone from the socket as a scream pierced the night wind. Skin tore away, blood spitting into the air, before the man collapsed, his face buried in snow. Darach tossed the arm alongside the body. Victory swelled inside him.

“What did you do?” Jana’s horrified whisper floated on the bitter wind.

“I killed him.”

“He was running away!”

Confused, he turned. A fire crackled in her eyes, not the flash of excitement or fear but one of anger. It hit him like a boulder and he staggered back. Her fury tasted of scorched dirt in his mouth.

Limping from behind her, Batu said nothing. He struggled to one knee and turned the body over. Long lank hair covered the slack face. Batu pushed it aside and cursed. Although tall enough, the body wasn’t of a full grown man. The barest tinge of a beard darkened the youth’s gaunt cheeks.

“Oh, God,” Jana breathed. “He’s barely grown.”

“Seventeen maybe, eighteen at best.” Batu, head hanging low and his shoulders drooping, pulled the dirty mantle hood over the man-child’s face.

Her knees crashed into the snow. Darach reached to pull her to her feet.

“Get away from me!” She swatted his arm and scrambled back, away from him. “Why? You didn’t have to chase him.”

“It makes no sense to let prey escape.”

The livid heat of her glower turned frosty. “He wasn’t prey.”

“He was retreating.” Batu’s voice dipped deep, carrying regal authority and human sadness. “You should have backed down, Darach. It was wrong.”

His chin lifted in bruised pride. “His axe would have killed you, despite his age.”

“It was wrong!” Pushing to his feet, the Crowned Prince glared at him. “When someone retreats, you let them go, to hopefully learn from their mistakes. He was still young, he could have learned better. His actions were a crime but he didn’t deserve to be chased down like a rabbit.”

“Should I have stood by and let you both die?”

“Once he dropped the axe, there was no more danger. Look, it’s done.” Batu raked his fingers through his dark, wet hair. “We have to take them back to the inn, pay for someone to see to their remains.”

“No.” Darach shook his head. “You’re hurt.”

Jana slapped both hands on his chest, shoving him. “We can’t leave them here for the wolves. We aren’t animals.”

Her accusation hung unsaid. “Jana, I am not an animal.”

“You aren’t a man either.” A hollow echo robbed her tone of emotion. “That’s the difference between humans and animals. Compassion and intelligence, not blind impulse. A good man shows mercy even when evil is done to him. Argot would have.”

Argot was dead and still she measured them and found Darach lacking. He had more magic than she could dream of but he wasn’t what Jana wanted. He was a spell, a tool to be used and then forgotten. The longing to be more tightened his chest.

She swept past him with her chin held high, angling her shoulders to avoid brushing his cloak. Kneeling beside the body, she closed her eyes and whispered words that cocked his head in confusion. She prayed for the boy to find peace, to forgive them.
Them
. She lumped herself and Batu in the same group, although Darach had acted alone. They all bore the guilt of his actions.

Batu murmured a final word, then took Jana in his arms and led her back to the horses, whispering things Darach chose not to hear. His eyes were locked on her trembling fingers gripping the prince’s mantle. The taste of her kiss was gone from Darach’s lips but he licked out, trying to recapture that elusive heat, that peppery burst of connection. It wasn’t there. Strange that the lack of something could inflict such a deep ache in his chest.

* * *

Jana could barely keep her eyes open. She blinked several times and the firelight blurred. Her father’s training cabin was small but well built, keeping out the wind and spitting ice. Dry kindling in the wall notch gave her something to do as the men bedded the horses down. Everything hurt. She’d wiped as much blood away with snow as she could but the iron scent remained in her nose. She wondered idly if she’d ever not smell it again.

Stinging bits of snow swirled in the door as Batu limped in. “I thought I smelled smoke. Thank God, I’m frozen to the core.”

His face was tinged green. He draped his wet cloak along the chair back and collapsed nearest the fledgling fire. For one breath, he relaxed, exhaustion sapping all the stiffness from his frame. Then he steeled his jaw and eased his arm from the sling. A swift but nearly silent breath leached the color from his wind-chapped cheeks.

Jana scooted close, reaching for his boots. He tried to angle away but she sent him a censuring look. “In the old days, personal servants attended to every physical need of the royal family. You’re hurt. Let me play valet, okay?”

“I’m not too proud to say thank you. I feel like hell.”

She tugged his boot off, cringing when he hissed in pain. His leggings hid the bandage wrapped around his thigh but blood had seeped through both. She stayed quiet, bending her head and concentrating on pulling off the other boot.

The cabin, outfitted only for the warm seasons, held only a single fireplace. She dragged two pallets in front of the hearth. She dug blankets from a cedar chest, shook one out and wrapped it around his shoulders.

She jumped as the door flung open. Darach carried in a massive armload of cut wood. His earth-dark eyes fixed on her kneeling at Batu’s feet then darted away. Jana turned her head, concentrating on the mortar between the hearthstones. She heard rather than saw him stack the split logs in the niche. For three tension-strung heartbeats, his gaze dug into her spine. Then he wordlessly left the cabin.

“You’re being too hard on him,” Batu murmured.

“Not as hard as he was on that young man.”

“He made a mistake, Jana. Stop judging him against Argot.”

“I’m not.” Indignation flushed her face but she couldn’t force herself to face him.

“Aren’t you? Argot didn’t have to learn how to be a man, he grew into it. Darach has only been in this world a few days. Give him a chance to grow.”

Salt stung her eyes as they closed, hiding her turmoil behind tightly pinched lids. There was no reason for Darach to grow. He had no desire to learn about humans or to become a man. Bits of bone and ash, mystical words and a daunting task was the sum of his existence in this world. Whether they failed or succeeded, he would return to his realm, his paradise.

Boot steps sounded on the wooden porch so she held her tongue. Sharp wind, icy cold, and the scent of wet copper permeated the cabin as he stacked more wood in the niche. Snow melted on his hair, turning the rich sable to mink. He added two small logs to the blaze, poked at it, then fixed his eyes on the flames.

“I learn things of this world by watching, mimicking, interpreting. I can use my eyes and ears while in this form or my magic while resting in Jana’s pendant. Only once have I seen a man protect his friends. I reacted in a similar manner but too harshly.” Hushed by understanding, his voice rasped. “There’s so much I don’t know but I...I made a mistake. Had I the magic to reset time, I would. I’m sorry.”

The simple sincerity in his timbre made her chin tremble. Batu caught her look and gave a slight nod, a gentle push for her to respond. She laid her palm along Darach’s arm.

“Many men never learn how to say they’re sorry but that was very nobly done.”

He brushed his fingers along the back of her hand.

A noisy yawn widened Batu’s mouth. “Who’d you see protect his friends?”

“Warric.” Darach added a bit of wood shavings to the small fire. “He cast magic then punched...someone in Jana’s time-dance vision.”

Batu groaned. “Great. He’s a wonderful influence to follow. If you take a mind to get drunk and chase barmaids, let me know, all right?”

Confusion angled Darach’s head. “Why would I wish to—”

“He’s teasing,” Jana explained with a censuring look at the prince.

Batu chuckled. “Sorry. I’m so tired I’m getting stupid. Look, if you ever have questions about anything, just ask me, okay?”

Darach had not stopped stroking her hand, his fingertips tracing the tiny bones of her wrist in a lazy pattern. Tingles shot up her arm that had nothing to do with the chill outside. He licked his lips while looking at her mouth. “There is something I wish to know, Your Highness.”

Jana bristled. Surely, he wasn’t going to ask Batu about that impulsive kiss, was he? She couldn’t even explain why she’d done it. He’d simply stunned her, woken her grief-numbed mind with an act so compassionate, it ached. She yanked her hand from his arm.

“Stop calling me that.” Batu stretched his injured leg with a groan. “Just ask.”

“What do the terms
whore
,
bastard
and
bugger
my
ass
mean?”

Jana stilled. Sympathy and disgust knotted her belly. “Oh no, not that little boy.”

“Yes.” Darach nodded. “He claimed to be a bastard of a whore and mistook my coin for payment to bugger his ass. What does this mean?”

Batu’s jaw went white. He jammed his unlaced boots back on his feet, grabbed his wet cloak and thrust awkwardly to a stand. He grabbed Darach’s arm, shoving him toward the doorway. “Jana, stay and tend to the fire. I’ll explain the birds and the bees to our bear in the barn.”

The door slammed behind them. Jana rubbed her temples. She didn’t envy Batu’s conversation plans. But she was grateful for a few minutes of privacy. The bedchambers showed her breath but contained a chamber pot. She hurried through her business then left her belt dangling, dropping it on the tabletop. A fast glance out the window showed no movement from the barn so she toed off her boots and stripped off her wet leggings. The stained tunic would be enough to sleep in. She wrapped the stale blanket around her and sat, watching the flames and wishing the chill would leave her bones.