Nuworld: Claiming Tara (14 page)

“You’d like it if that happened, wouldn’t you?” Hilda
yelled and stood, glaring at Reena. She shook her head at
Tara, looking disgusted as her hands went to her wide
girth. “My son didn’t know you were a Runner when he
made the claim. Now he must save face with his people. He
has promise to be one of our greatest leaders.”
“He did know I was a Runner. He knew all along.” Tara
wanted to jump up and stamp her foot. Why was she
defending him? He should be defending his actions to his
mama.
“Did he really?” Reena was smiling again. “Hilda, he
knew and he still claimed her. Maybe they were meant to
be together.”
“What a day that would be for you, wouldn’t it, my old
friend? I’m not so old that I don’t remember what happened
over twenty winters ago.” Hilda snapped her finger in the
air. “My claim knew of your goings on with the Runners.
Maybe he should’ve been rougher with you.”
“But he wasn’t. I’ve never said a word. Then was not the
time for Runners to be among us. But now! Times are
changing. The Runners haven’t opposed Gothman for many
winters. This generation thinks Runners are enemies, but
don’t know why. You said it yourself. These two are in love.
Tara will challenge him, but is that so bad? Imagine it,
Hilda. She will make Darius stronger. I’ve heard you say a
time or two that behind a good man is a good woman. What
a match they will be, don’t you think?”
Hilda was quiet. She looked at the clothes, then walked
around the table, still staring at them. Tara watched her
pick up the cloth with the embroidered emblem on it.
Her chubby fingers traced the circle with the red drop of
blood centered in the middle. “What is this?”
“It is the symbol of my clan.”
“And what is the name of your clan?”
“The Blood Circle Clan.”
“Ah, and who are your parents?”
“Patha is my papa, but not by birth. He found me as a
toddler and brought me into his clan to be raised.”
Hilda started to stomp out of the room. She stopped and
turned, looking angrier than Tara had ever seen her as she
glared at Reena. “You knew she was coming to you!”
“No, Hilda, I told you already.” Reena remained in her
chair, but her lips narrowed to a fine line.
An animosity of some kind appeared between the two
women, as if some old wound had suddenly been opened.
Finally Reena relaxed and stared hard at Hilda as she
spoke. “She caused quite a ruckus in the pines that night.
The guards were out thick looking for her. She dodged
them and made it to my house. I saw her for the first time
when she came out of the woods. I didn’t know she was
coming.”
Hilda stood there for a minute, thinking. Then, she
picked up the clothes and thrust them at Tara. “Put these
on. I want to see you in them.”
Tara took the clothes and looked at Hilda confused.
“You’ve been with us for over a cycle now. You’ve lived
like a Gothman, but you’re a Runner. My heritage means a
lot to me. Let’s see if your heritage means as much to you.
Put those on and feel your heritage. Show me who you
really are.” Hilda’s voice shook with emotion as she pointed
with a shaky finger to Tara’s clothes.
Tara clutched her clothes. She trotted up the stairs,
feeling queasy with excitement. In minutes she would be
out of the flimsy Gothman dress. She rubbed her finger
over her leather pants. Taking the stairs a couple at a time,
she hurried to her room. She was also a bit nervous.
Changing into her own clothes didn’t bother her. Darius
had taken most of his personal guards with him. There
would be a few of the lord’s guards on duty outside, not
that she would tolerate any of them upsetting Darius’
family if they saw her in Runner clothing.
There was something going on between Hilda and Reena
that she didn’t understand.
The
two of
them kept
exchanging looks. Tara didn’t want to fathom a guess what
the two of them might be hiding but it had something to do
with Runners. Once Hilda was calmer maybe they would
enlighten her. Unlike the two of them, though, old gossip
didn’t interest her as much as second-guessing what would
happen in the future.
The leather was cool against her skin. Her feet rejoiced
to be in her boots again. She pulled her headscarf over her
face and headed back downstairs. She didn’t make a sound
as she approached the dining room, and the two women
didn’t hear her return.
“I won’t have her having my grandbabies, then steal
away during the night. Those clothes will bring her back to
reality. She’s been pretending, and she’ll come to her
senses now.”
“You want her to leave,” Reena spoke quieter and her
voice sounded strained.
“You can’t make her stay anymore than you could make
her papa stay,” Hilda snapped.
“You’ll not speak of that. I have your promise!”
“You think if she quits pretending that it will change
everything?” Hilda sounded downright hateful. “You’re a
fool, old woman, and you always have been.”
“I am not pretending. I’ve known who I was the entire
time I was here,” Tara interrupted, not understanding, or
liking the way Hilda was speaking to Reena.
The two women looked up as the Runner entered the
room.
Hilda shrieked and covered her mouth, staring wideeyed at Tara.
“I’ve taught your youngest son to ride a motorcycle. I’ve
raced his lord through the hills on my motorcycle. Lord
Darius had it brought here. It’s in the shed right now. I’ve
behaved the way you’ve wanted but have never ignored who
I am. If I stay here, I’ll stay as a Runner, and Darius knows
this.”
“I see. Well Darius asked you to tell me and so you have.
Now I know. If my son is asking for my blessing, he knows
how I feel about Runners. That hasn’t changed. You have a
good heart, Tara, but you’re a Runner.” Hilda sat back
down and looked exasperated.
Tara moved to the old lady, bent, and kissed her on the
cheek.
She then did the same to Reena. “I don’t know what yet,
but you have a secret and I mean to learn what it is,” she
whispered in Reena’s ear.
“Well, child, you best get back out of those clothes before
someone thinks you are attacking us instead of kissing us.”
Hilda grabbed her cloth napkin and dabbed her cheeks and
neck. “Go now.”
Tara noticed the woman’s hand shook. But she did as
Hilda asked, ran upstairs, changed, and returned her
clothes to the bag under her bed. She came back down in
time to see Reena gathering her things and preparing to
leave. Tara followed both women to the front open room.
“I’ll be seeing an announcement to a claiming party
before long, I expect.” Reena walked across the yard to her
groundmobile. “We’ll have to make her a dress for certain,
old woman. Goodness knows she can’t sew a stitch.”
“I wonder why she’s more excited to see me claimed to
your son than you are.” Tara watched Reena drive away
before turning to face the plump older woman.
“I can’t go and tell you her thoughts. She’ll have to do
that herself.” Hilda headed upstairs, claiming a headache.
”And she won’t ever do that,” she called down, closed
herself in her bedroom and locked the door.

Torgo ran to greet Darius when he and his guards pulled
around the back of the house and parked that following
afternoon.

“I’ll help fight if you need me.” Torgo sounded delighted
at the thought.
“Will you now?” Darius climbed
off
his bike
and
stretched. He looked exhausted and dirty, very much like a
warrior who’d been on the road a couple days.
“I can ride my motorcycle pretty well,” Torgo continued.
“I can run errands, or do anything you want.”
Tara smiled as Torgo sought his brother’s approval.
She’d been walking through the pines and returning to the
house when she heard Darius’ motorcycle pulling into the
backyard. She wanted to run and greet him and let him
know how she
had missed
him.
Instead,
she
stood,
sheltered by the branches surrounding her, and watched
Darius push his bike around the back of the shed.
Torgo ran to get water and rags to help Darius clean the
mud from his bike. He returned just as his older brother
was opening the shed. The young boy disappeared inside
along with Darius. Tara hurried across the yard to join
them, ignoring the guards when they scowled at her.
Torgo saw her first and ran to greet her. Darius turned
and their eyes met. He looked exhausted and more serious
than she’d seen him look before.
She
imagined
him creating
strategies and hearing
reports from his scouts while she sat and dined with old
women.
She
should have
been at his side.
She
had
knowledge of the Sea People. She had heard stories around
the fires of the strange race.
The Sea People were greedy and paranoid. Many of the
stories she had heard over the winters said they were a
race addicted to some type of opiate drug. If what she’d
heard was true, the Sea People’s actions would be hard to
predict in battle.
Darius pulled her into his arms the moment she reached
him.
“I can’t wait to hear your stories,” she told him, knowing
it was a Runner greeting shared between spousal warriors.
Darius only smiled. “I will be…” he whispered in her ear,
but wasn’t able to finish.
“Tara, oh my dear, there you are. Come at once. There
has been a call to the house.” Hilda stood at the door to the
house gesturing wildly. “Darius, I’m glad you’re home. This
is bad.”
Tara started toward the house with Darius following.
They entered the kitchen and found Hilda rushing about, a
distracted look on her face. She didn’t offer any further
explanation but began moving items around on the pantry
shelves. Hilda glanced over her shoulder. “I’m losing my
mind. There aren’t good times ahead.”
“Woman! Hell be doomed. What’s wrong with you?”
Darius spoke from behind Tara.
“Darius, I answered the caller.” She pointed to the
receiver, with its stretched cord on the counter. Hilda had
forgotten to return it to its cradle on the wall.
“You said that already. What is so incredible about the
caller?” Darius’ frustration strained his voice. He picked up
the receiver and put it on the cradle.
“Reena called and asked for you Tara, but I didn’t know
where you were.” Hilda began, and brought several small
jars out of the pantry. Her pallor didn’t look good. “She has
company. She said some of your, uh-” She paused as
Torgo slipped into the kitchen eyeing a plate of food on the
counter. “Tara, your family has arrived. She needs you to
take these herbs to her. I know they are used for medicinal
reasons, so someone must be hurt.”
Tara didn’t wait to hear more. She rushed from the
kitchen and up the stairs to her bedroom.
“Tara!” Darius’ bark echoed off the walls.
She ignored him as she ran to her closet and quickly
flipped through her dresses until she found one more
practical than the frilly thing she had on at the moment.
She chose one made from a knitted material and hurried to
change.
“What are you doing?” Darius appeared in her doorway,
then leaned against it, watching her.
She’d forgotten to shut the door. Already having taken
off one dress to put the other on, she worked desperately to
get the zipper in back to close. “Would you help me with
this?”
He walked toward her, turned her around, and zipped
her dress. “You’ll take the herbs and come right back.”
“I’ll be back as soon as I find out why there are Runners
at Reena’s.” She squatted down on all fours and reached
under her bed.
“There are Sea People ready to attack Gothman. I’ll not
have you running around the countryside.”
Tara ignored him. She took her Runner clothing out of
the bag and set them on the bed, then slipped into her
leather boots.
This was the first Darius had seen of her Runner
clothing. More curious to him though was the small, silver
bang stick she pulled out of an inner sleeve in the bag.
Tara checked it like a seasoned professional. Then she
opened another flap in the bag and pulled out a larger
weapon. This one grabbed his attention. Darius leaned over
and picked up the small laser to look at it. “This is what
you used to shoot the trash can that day, isn’t it?”
“Yes.” She continued to get herself ready.
He
put
down
the
laser, then picked
up
the
larger
weapon, strode over to the balcony. Darius opened the
doors, aimed the Runner weapon at a group of trees at the
far edge of the meadow, and pulled the trigger. A branch on
a tree a good half-mile away fell to the ground. Darius
grunted as he scrutinized the weapon closely.
Tara reached into the bag and pulled out a small case.
She opened it and removed a small flat disc. It was more
minute than any coin and as flat as a piece of paper. She
placed the disc on the edge of her finger and moved behind
Darius.
“I like this one.” He held up the large weapon.
“It has four more shots in it.” She reached around him
and pointed to the attachment on the side. “It works best at
a distance. If it’s used at close range, it emits a large
explosion. You may keep it. I’ll do with my laser.”
Darius put his arm around her waist and yanked her up
against him. He held her to him in a possessive grip.
Darius kept the powerful weapon in one hand at his side.
But he held her in a death grip with the other arm.
Tara wrapped both hands around his neck and gently
stuck the small disc on to his flesh just under his shirt at
his nape. It held its place under Darius’ curls, and she
prayed he wouldn’t detect it. Although she’d never used a
tracker before, they were virtually undetectable, waterproof
and would give her peace of mind if trouble was about to
occur.
“It’s important that you listen to me. Gothman is going
to be attacked sooner than I anticipated. I want you to be
safe.” Darius searched her face as he spoke.
There wasn’t time to rejoice in the compassion she saw
on his face, in spite of her heart skipping a beat. Tara
pushed away and slipped a harness over her dress, then
she slid her laser in it. “What do you know of the Sea
People? Have you had contact with them before?”
This was a side to Tara he hadn’t seen before. She was
preparing for battle. It would take
many guards, and
probably locks and chains to keep this woman at home.
Tara was a Runner, something he’d always known, and
staying put wasn’t her nature. Up until now he’d had no
problem keeping her at home. The moment she heard word
of her people, she prepared to leave. She wasn’t asking his
permission to go; she was just going. He wondered if he
would ever be able to tame that part of her.
Tara appealed to him because she was wild, untamed,
outspoken and beyond sexy. Would taming any of those
qualities make her less appealing? He worried the answer
to that was yes.
“This is the first time the Sea People have come this
close to Gothman. I’ll not stand for them pushing into my
borders, though.”
“They’ve communicated with you?”
“I’ve received messages saying the Gothman have grown
too large and they don’t intend to honor the hold I have on
my land.”
“That isn’t true. The Gothman borders run into the
Freelands. Darius, have you never been out of Gothman?”
He frowned and his gray eyes darkened. He wasn’t
pleased that she questioned what he knew, or didn’t know.
“Are you saying I can’t rule this land because I’ve never
been outside its borders?” He scowled. “My papa didn’t
need the help of outsiders and neither do I.”
“Understanding your enemy helps to defeat them.”
“So now you are telling me how to rule.” He looked fierce
when he smiled and stroked her cheek. “You have until
sundown to go and return home.”
Tara put
her
black
leather jacket
over
her
dress.
Grabbing the bag, now empty and ready for Hilda’s herbs,
she headed for the door.
Darius grabbed her arm. “Did you hear me? Before
sundown.”
“I’ll be fine.” She went up on tip toe and rested her hand
on his shoulder. She was reeling from the shock of him just
saying this was her home. “I know this will take time for
you to accept,” she whispered and brushed her lips over
his. “Not only would I be safe outside after dark, but I
would be the danger others should worry about.”
Tara reached up and pulled a band off his leather jacket
sleeve that bore the Gothman seal and shoved it in to her
bag.
“I’ll represent two nations today.” She smiled and kissed
him again.
“You’ll be home before dark because no respectable
Gothman woman is out after the sun goes down,” Darius
grumbled, his expression still dark and dangerous. Then
his voice went oddly flat. “Tell your leader that Gothman
would be honored if the Runners would enter into battle
with us against the Sea People.”
Tara stared at him, stunned. “Okay, I will,” she said,
before turning and leaving the room. Now her head was
seriously reeling as she ran down the stairs.
Hilda looked at Tara’s outfit when she reached the
bottom of the stairs, but didn’t say anything. Her son stood
at the top of the stairs with the large Runner gun in his
hand. Hilda opened her mouth, but closed it and handed
the keys to her groundmobile and the herbs to Tara.
Nothing she would say would make any difference. There
had been many times since her claim, Jovis, had died that
she’d been glad he wasn’t around to see what was
happening. Jovis had encountered Runners many winters
ago. Their culture and beliefs were very different from
Gothman. Their nomadic nature had been proof enough to
her claim that they were unreliable with no true honor or
sense of commitment.
“They will infiltrate our society and breed weakness into
our
strong
Gothman code
of
values. My
warriors are
superior because they’ve known since they were boys that
they would be part of a powerful nation. Gothman is a
mountain that can’t be crossed. Runners will never be
allowed to impress upon my people their nomadic ways.”
Jovis had ordered any Runner entering Gothman to be
shot on sight. Before that decision, her claim had left for
Reena’s many times. Even as a girl, Reena had insisted on
remaining in the forest outside of Bryton after her parents
died. Hilda had feared her good friend was becoming a
mistress to claimed men. Hilda’s fears had escalated when
her claim had started riding out to the secluded home of
her unclaimed friend.
Hilda already had two babies – two sons. She was claim
to the Lord of Gothman. Some claims weren’t based on love
but Hilda had loved her claim. It had been an early
morning when she’d followed Jovis to Reena’s. That’s when
she’d seen Reena with the Runner.
The Runner wanted Reena to leave with him. Hilda had
rushed out of her groundmobile and wrapped her arms
around Reena. She’d been a fool to doubt her claim’s love
for her. Now all that mattered was saving Reena. Hilda had
cried that she couldn’t stand living without her best friend.
Jovis had held Hilda in his arms, soothing her, and forbade
Reena to leave Gothman. The Runner had told Jovis if he
gave Reena a claim it would mean war.
“You’ve tainted this lass, Runner,” Jovis had barked. “No
honorable Gothman would want her. But hear me now. If a
Runner ever enters my lands, mingles with my people, they
will be shot on sight.” He’d sliced his hand through the air
with the finality of his command.
Hilda blinked away the memory and stared at Darius
holding the Runner weapon and the Runner leaving with
Hilda’s groundmobile. If she’d given up her best friend all
those winters ago maybe her claim’s justified fears wouldn’t
be coming true today.