The Battle Lord Saga 02 - Her Battle Lord's Desire (15 page)

him as they entered the wood on their way toward Wallis.

“You have no idea, do you?”

She saw the smug look on his face. The sun was beginning its descent in the western sky.

In its orange rays, Yulen glowed like a smaller version. Somehow, in the back of her mind, she

suspected he’d planned for just that impression.

“You’re talking in too many riddles today,” she accused her husband. “No idea about

what?
”

“Remember me telling you how beautiful you are?”

“You tell me that almost every day.”

“Granted. I guess my telling you so often has numbed its effect on you, but you are. And

it’s not often we see you in a dress.” His eyes raked over her with undisguised heat. “Especially

one where your charms are so devastatingly obvious.” He chuckled to see her eyes widen before

she glanced down at her partially exposed breasts. She pressed a hand to her stomach in surprise

as her cheeks turned a deep pink.

“Oh, my!”

Yulen almost choked on his laughter.

They continued to advance en masse toward the newly released compound. Atty kept

turning around, keenly tuned to what was going on around her. At one point Yulen raised an

eyebrow her way. “What are you sensing?” he asked, not alarmed but curious.

“They know we’re coming,” she informed him.

“Good.”

Now it was her turn to give him a curious look.

Once they reached the break in the trees and could see the outer wall of the compound,

Atty paused as Yulen gave the signal to halt.

“This is going to be the tricky part,” he told her. She waited for him to explain.

“Normally, when we’re anticipated, the main gates would be opened for us to enter. That

obviously isn’t going to be offered to us this evening unless you can get them to open them,

Atty.”

She brightened. “Not a problem. I’ll have to go out alone, first, though.”

Yulen nodded. “Okay. I’ll take my cues from you.” He smiled and waved a hand at her,

gesturing outward, inviting her to proceed.

Confidently, Atty rode out into the clearing as the troops watched her advance toward the

huge gate. It was only a matter of seconds before the challenge was issued.

“Ho! Stranger! Identify!”

Atty lifted her chin. “Atrilan D’Jacques!” she called out in a loud, forceful voice.

The sentry literally hung over the side of the wall. “
Who?
Atty? Is that really you?”

She shielded her eyes with one hand against the glare of the sun. “Stephand Reah! What

have I told you about carrying your bow like that? Turn that damn thing around and wear it right,

or I’m coming up there and beating you over your pointed head with it until you learn better!”

Yulen and the soldiers behind and around him who had been within earshot did their best

to cover their laughter. What was more amusing than her threat was the fact that the sentry
did

have a distinctly pointed skull, like an overly narrowed egg.

The sentry disappeared from sight for a moment, then popped back up, this time with

nearly a dozen others. “Atty!”

“Open the gates, Stephand!
Both
of them!”

Almost immediately the massive wood doors began to crank outward, slowly,

ponderously. Atty remained rooted where she sat as the walls of the compound began to fill up.

People lined the parapets and catwalks, until the narrow ledges could hold no more. Turning

around in her saddle, she gave a nod.

“Presentation...forward!”

Yulen called, giving the signal. Behind him Mastin waited to bring up the first row.

Slowly, the Battle Lord moved forward with his six guards of honor lined up behind him from left

to right. He stopped when he was even with Atty, and the next order was given from behind.

“Secure guard...out!”

Moving as one, the first row of armored soldiers emerged from the forest to flank behind

the Battle Lord and Lady. They gleamed in the sun’s setting rays as they stately made formation.

“Remote guard...out!”

The second row took their place, creating a box-like, protective wall around the first.

Already the small opening was nearly filled with their presence.

“Defensive guard...out!”

The final third of soldiers drew out into the open, taking their places in the exact order

they’d practiced. As they paused for the next order, the entire garrison remained perfectly still

and in exact, perfect lines. The effect was mesmerizing. Before them, all of Wallis had gathered

to watch with eyes wide with fear and wonder. And awe.

Atty felt light-headed. Glancing askance at her husband, she could see the stoic

expression on his face. Lifting her chin, she grew determined to present an honorable and equable

face.

“Presentation...colors!”

One hundred banners representing Alta Novis simultaneously snapped upward into the air

on their poles. In the evening breeze, the pennants began to snap and pop against the wind.

Beside her husband, Mastin took his position on his other side and slightly to the rear, as

was his right as Yulen’s Second. “Presentation...
arms!
”

The air sang with the song of steel weapons being unsheathed in one long, smooth pull.

Every man lifted his sword above his head and froze in that position.

“Arms...forward!”

The third guard began to move forward while, at the same time, the second guard boxing

them in moved aside. The result was a corridor three men deep leading from where the Battle

Lord and Lady waited, all the way to the entrance in the gates. Their upraised swords, tilted

forward, made for a canopy of steel overhead.

“Guard of Honor...defend!”

The six men behind Yulen, each one a lieutenant, broke rank and positioned themselves

beside Yulen and Atty, three on each side. They paused, waiting for their leader to take

command.

“This is it, my love,” Yulen whispered under his breath, drawing up his reins.

“I’m ready,” Atty promised, kneeing her horse.

Together they moved toward the gates of Wallis.

Atty forced herself to keep her eyes forward and her face calm, although she felt anything

but. All of Wallis was either watching from overhead or lining the main corridor from the

entrance to the courtyard.

She knew all of these people personally. She’d grown up with them, and they had helped

raise her from birth. Which was why she couldn’t help herself from drinking in the sight of

everyone she passed.

Hot, prickly heat filled her face. Her nose stung from unshed tears as she realized how

homesick she’d been. Everywhere she looked brought back memories of her past. Each visage in

the crowd was a voice in her head. But today these faces bore the ravaged signs of a nearly

month-long starvation watch that finally was over. Unable to stop herself, Atty glanced over at

Yulen, who saw her anguish and smiled encouragingly.

They continued to advance slowly, stately, toward the end of the corridor where they

could see all the members of the Council of Elders standing in wait for them. Once she and her

husband passed through the gates, the order to lower their weapons was given. There was a

sudden explosive sound as two hundred swords were slapped against metal armor in unison. The

silence that followed was deafening.

Not a word was spoken by either the soldiers or by the Mutah community. The forces

from Alta Novis were filling the smaller compound, as intimidating as they’d been five months

ago, but no longer frightening. They were not there to torture or kill. They were there on a

mission of mercy. Atty felt pride in their precision and dedication. They were her new family.

Her new family meeting her old, where she hoped they would subsequently forge a stronger

relationship with the new treaty Yulen planned to propose to the Council.

At the end of the corridor Yulen held up his arm, signaling for a complete halt.

“Arms...rest!” Mastin barked.

Two hundred swords sang a softer song as they were sheathed in one smooth move.

Standing at the head of the Council, Piron George never dropped his gaze from the Battle

Lord’s. Atty saw the unreadable expression on the man’s face, and she glanced over at her

husband. His own eyes were expressionless, but she knew too well the play around his lips.

There was a silent war being waged for authority. Atty had no doubt who would be the victor.

Almost casually he dismounted. Walking around the front of the horses, he came over to

Atty and held up his arms to help her down. She gave him a warm smile that reflected in her face

as she held out her hands and felt him clasp her around her waist. He literally lifted her from the

saddle and lowered her to the ground. For a split second his hands remained around her as

something unspoken passed between them. Atty was transfixed by his gaze, by the intense

emotions behind his eyes, leaving her unaware of him lifting her left hand until he placed a kiss

directly on the small platinum band she wore on her third finger.

Keeping her hand firmly in his, Yulen turned and proceeded toward the front where the

Council was watching them, ready to formally present her. They stopped directly in front of

George.

George’s eyes swept from the Battle Lord to Atty and back. Atty saw his hesitancy.

“Good sirs, I would like to present to you my wife, Atrilan D’Jacques, of the compound

Alta Novis, late of the compound Wallis.”

Atty fought her nervousness by giving the old man a cool, almost daring stare. There was

a moment of tenseness, until a small smile bent the corners of his mouth. Giving a deep sigh of

finality, the Council leader dropped his stern visage. “We’ve missed you, Atty,” he honestly

admitted.

A second later she had thrown herself into his arms and was giving him a smothering hug.

“I’ve missed you all!” she exclaimed, fighting back tears. Then she stepped back slightly and gave

him a hard, angry shove as she glared at them with a dark, hurtful look. “How
dare
you and the

Council!
Damn
each one of you!”

The men look disoriented and confused. “What are you talking about?” George

demanded, completely lost. Glancing over at the Battle Lord, he was even more confused by the

smirk on the man’s face. His attention went back to the stranger standing before him. A stranger

he’d known since her first breath of life.

“
Damn
you for never telling me Yulen had come back here looking for me!
Damn
you for

making me think he never cared enough! And damn every member of the Council for thinking I

wasn’t of any use to you anymore. That I’d lost all my skills and ability to hunt for you and

provide for this community, and
that’s
why you relented to let me go back to Alta Novis!”

Without warning, she snatched George’s staff he used to call their meetings to order and

broke it over her knee, tossing the pieces behind her like so much kindling. The crowd reacted as

if she’d done an unthinkable act.

“You owe me and Yulen an apology, Piron George,” she ordered them, shaking a finger in

their direction. “And it damn well better be a good one, and an
honest
one, or, by God, I’ll take those wagons full of supplies and send them straight back to where they came from!”

A movement behind the cluster of men caught her eye. Before anyone could see what was

happening, Atty whirled around and snatched her husband’s dagger from his hip. Her body

completed the circle, and she threw the blade underhand, over their heads. There was a small

grunt and a solid sound as the knife embedded itself through the shirtsleeve and into the trunk of

the tree twenty feet away. The man standing beside it could only stare in shock where his arm was

securely pinned, preventing him from raising the bow, much less aiming and firing it.

“You better had been planning on putting that thing away, Killen Sudderlee,” she

threatened angrily, “instead of what I
thought
you were about to do with it!”

There was shocked silence as realization and understanding began to flow through the

Mutah community. The flaps on George’s cheeks noisily blew open and closed, revealing his

irritation and agitation. He opened his mouth to comment on her actions when two men emerged

from where they had been standing amid the armored soldiers.

Stepping up to the low platform, Fortune and Bertrand faced the Council. “You owe

them an apology,” Fortune restated. “We were wrong. We were
all
wrong.”

Turning around to face the crowd, he caught sight of his wife’s face. His next words were

meant more for her, as well as for the rest of them. “We place our greatest faith on love, and

marriage, and family. Yet, we tried to deny those very principles to someone we claimed to love.

I admit I am just as guilty when I tell the Council now, we had no reason to take Atty away from

the man
she chose
for her husband. And then we denied her going back to him, when she had

every right! Our guilt multiplied when we denied D’Jacques the right to see her, or to even let

him know she was alive! Her husband! Therefore I beseech the Council.”

Fortune turned back to face the small group of elders. “Why can’t we offer an apology to

them both? Why did we have to punish Atty, when all she was guilty of was falling in love with a