A Battle Lord’s Heart Read online

  Several women screamed as the Burly Man reached down and grabbed Mastin’s sword from the man’s nerveless hand. Somehow, Atty managed to find her footing as the men were dealing with the soldier. She cursed herself for not bringing her quiver of arrows with her, but the Ballock slid into her palm, warm and ready to do her bidding.

  Before the Burly Man could lift the sword for whatever purpose he had planned, the dagger was digging its point into the thick part of his Adam’s apple. Atty stood at arm’s length, her eyes darting between the bent-over man and his partner. She had no idea what to do next, or even how to protect herself. But she knew that at some point one of them would have to end the stand-off.

  “Leave this compound. Now,” she ordered, panting slightly.

  Burly Man growled as his eyes raked over her face and figure. “Anders, get this bitch’s pig sticker outta my throat before I ram this sword up her pretty ass.”

  “Touch her and I’ll kill you,” another voice menaced darkly.

  Before anyone could comprehend the swiftness, the companion melted to the ground in an unconscious heap. Yulen stood behind him, the pommel of his sword held high from where he’d bludgeoned the back of the man’s head. Casually, the Battle Lord advanced toward the burly man, twirling his sword expertly before stopping its point inches away from where Atty held the man at bay. “You were ordered to leave this compound. I expect you to obey,” Yulen told him, his face as flushed with anger as were his words. He made no attempt to disguise his temper or disgust.

  Burly Man gave him an astonished, disbelieving look. “Who the fuck are you?”

  Rather than answer the man, Yulen glanced over the hunched back at his wife. “Are you all right?” She gave him a quick nod. “What happened?”

  “He knocked me into the beer stand,” she indicated with a nod of her head. Yulen’s eyes swept over the mess.

  “Did he hurt you?”

  “A few bruises, but I’ll be okay,” she assured him.

  Burly Man gave a loud snort and a groan. “Oh, fuck, I don’t believe this! Who the hell cares whether this Mutah bitch is hurt or not?”

  For his remark, Yulen smiled cruelly and jammed his sword a quarter-inch into the man’s neck. Burly Man gasped with pain as a thin line of blood began to drip onto the ground.

  “What is your name?”

  “Herridge. Tall Herridge.”

  “What is your business in Alta Novis?”

  “N-no business. My partner and I are on our way to Port Destiny.”

  “Then I suggest you take your partner and leave immediately,” Yulen ordered, still in that soft voice filled with darkness. “You are no longer welcome here. By the way, my name is Yulen D’Jacques. I’m the Battle Lord of this compound. And the Mutah ‘bitch’ you so forcefully denounced is Atty, my wife and the Battle Lady of Alta Novis.”

  Releasing him, Yulen stepped back and raised his sword to his shoulder. “Guards!” Appearing like spirits drawn from the air, two soldiers came to attention at Yulen’s side. “Escort Mr. Herridge and his partner to the main gate and have them evicted.”

  Without a sound the two armed soldiers grabbed both men and dragged them down the walkway, out of the market area. The moment they were seized and pulled away, Atty dropped to her knees beside the soldier still lying comatose on the ground. An egg-size swelling radiated heat from the back of Mastin’s head. Yulen knelt down beside her.

  “I’ve sent for Liam. How is he?”

  “I don’t know. He tried to come to my aide, but that guy’s friend pulled an unexpected.”

  “Are you sure you’re okay?”

  “Yeah.” She gave him a sincere smile. “At least it wasn’t a bucket this time.”

  The remark brought a smile to his eyes that vanished as quickly as it had appeared. In the sunny, cold morning she appeared to glow, as if an inner flame had been lit to spread its radiance throughout her body and her face, and shine in her eyes. It took Yulen several seconds to collect himself enough to remember what he meant to ask her. “Did you get my note?”

  “Yeah. I was heading for the archery field, but I was going to drop by on the way.”

  MaGrath threaded his way through the crowd and made a quick examination of the man before ordering several men nearby to carry the soldier to the clinic. “Atty?”

  “I’m fine, Liam. Honest.”

  Nodding, the physician took her word and hurried after his comatose patient. Yulen looked back at his wife. “Archery field?” he reiterated. “Can I watch?”

  “Okay, but no snide comments, or I just might be tempted stick this Ballock up your—”

  “Atty!”

  “Well, he pissed me off!”

  “Same here. So let’s go take it out on the target.”

  “What about the—”

  “We can do that later,” he told her. Getting to his feet, Yulen took her hand and helped her up, and together they headed for the back of the compound.

  Chapter Two

  New Home

  The men who were already on the field readily relinquished it to her when Atty arrived at the range. However, that didn’t keep them from backing away a respectful distance to watch. After news of what had happened yesterday, they were more than a little bit curious to see how she would fare at practice today, and wondering if they would witness another debacle.

  The first target was a mere thirty yards away, but it was farther away than the one she’d twice missed the day before. The day she had finally admitted to herself, to Liam, and to her husband that she carried their future in her womb. Atty stared at the target, unmoving, for a full minute.

  Moving over to where his men were standing, Yulen crossed his arms to watch. He knew she still had her skills. When the Blood army had almost managed to ambush them, she had been carrying their child, and it hadn’t interfered with her abilities. No, yesterday was a fluke, but a fluke she had to be prepared for in case it happened again. Yulen hoped that it wouldn’t happen when he most desperately needed her bow for their protection.

  A slight wind gusted over the field. Atty lowered her head and closed her eyes. Faint noises from the compound and market wafted over to them, but they weren’t loud enough to break her concentration. Yulen realized she was centering herself, trying to find that inner calm from where she drew her unerring eye. Behind him the men also seemed to notice, and one man whispered, “I wouldn’t doubt if she’s telling the babe to settle down so she can make the shot.”

  Yulen chuckled. Neither would he.

  There were less than a handful of people standing at the outer edge of the circle marking the circumference of the practice field, but more were slowly climbing up the small rise to join them. Silence sat over the stretch of dead grass.

  Suddenly, Atty lifted her head and grabbed an arrow out of the little barrel beside her. In one smooth flow she nocked and fired. As if guided by a wire, the barb buried itself in the direct center of the red bull’s eye.

  Snatching another arrow from the barrel, she began to walk toward Yulen and the group of men standing at the edge of the field. Yulen instantly knew what she intended, and he mentally began to tick off the additional yards: five...ten...twelve.

  She whirled, without even aiming, and fired the next arrow. The first arrow now became two halves as the second one split it cleanly apart. Atty was back in full force.

  Yulen let out a low whistle. She heard his appreciation and turned around to give him a wink. Returning to the barrel, she grabbed two more arrows, nocked one, and placed the other in her teeth. This time she gave the target another good stare before she turned her back on it and closed her eyes. Slowly, gradually, she raised the bow and turned it sideways, aiming it behind her. The sub-lieutenant beside Yulen gasped. “She’s going to attempt to hit it for memory?”

  The wind gusted again. Atty waited for it to die down. The bow lowered slightly as she adjusted, remembering how it felt, the position of her arms and hands, the tension on the string. Her eyes remained cl
osed.

  Everyone held their breaths. They’d all seen blindfolded shots before, but those had been nothing more than trickery. They were never meant to be actual, honest attempts.

  Yulen didn’t know he was holding his breath as well until she released the arrow. A heartbeat later, she nocked the second arrow she’d been holding in her teeth and let it fly directly behind the first one.

  The crowd gasped. There were still only two arrows on the target. The original two. Confused and surprised, they all turned to look at the woman standing with a smug grin on her face. Yulen blinked, then he let out a bark of laughter and pointed. A second target sat, unobserved and unnoticed, twenty feet beyond the one they’d been watching. A second target that now held two identical arrows, one embedded in the other, just like the closer one.

  Oh, yeah. He smiled to himself as she walked over and into his arms amid the cheering. His Atty was definitely back.

  Once the congratulations were over, the couple linked arms and walked back to the compound. Inside, Atty accepted several more good wishes from people who had been standing on the parapet to watch. It took them a while before they were able to make it over to the new lodge where Yulen had planned to take her originally.

  To Atty’s surprise, the lodge looked complete. There was even a door. “Okay, this is going to be interesting.”

  “How so?” he asked, opening the door and waving for her to step inside ahead of him. She did as requested, halting just inside the doorway. Atty gasped, unable to believe what she was seeing.

  The living area extended upward to the vaulted ceiling. An enormous rock fireplace was almost finished being constructed along one wall, disappearing just beyond where a railing marked off a hidden area upstairs. “What’s up there?” she asked.

  “Let’s go see,” he grinned, pointing to the stairwell behind them.

  Atty ascended first, following the curving steps to the narrow landing at the end of the railing. It was then she noticed that the entire area upstairs was not enclosed, but rather opened up to the living area below.

  Here, the roof was pitched another good fifteen feet overhead. The fireplace that had been started below had branched over and filled the same north wall of the room. One fireplace, two flues. Atty glanced over where her husband stood, waiting for her reaction. “That’s our bedroom, isn’t it?”

  “Keep looking.”

  The east wall held one enormous window made up of many small panes of glass. Atty knew she would love watching the sun rise in the mornings from that window. Behind her, facing west, was the bannister overlooking the downstairs area. The only other wall to her right was solid, braced by small doors on either side. “Where do those go?”

  Yulen cleared his throat. “I’ve already spoken to you about those, remember?”

  She paused, racking her brain. “Something about ‘in case’. Was that it?”

  Rather than answer her, he motioned with his hand for her to look. Atty went to the door closest to the bannister. Opening it, she stepped into the bathroom.

  “Oh, my God.”

  She heard him chuckling as he came up behind her. “Like it?”

  “That is the biggest damn tub I’ve ever seen in my life.”

  Yulen had to agree with her. “Berta had a fit when she saw it,” he confided.

  “I don’t doubt it,” Atty laughed. “It’ll take two trips to fill it!” Looking up, she paused. “Yulen?”

  “What?”

  “Why are there two more doors in the bathroom?”

  “That one leads to the closet,” he told her, motioning to the one in the wall directly behind the tub.

  “Closet?”

  Seeing him grin, she walked over and pulled on the latch. It swung inward, revealing a large storage area where the Battle Lord’s ceremonial armor already sat, if the huge leather sacks held what she thought they held. To make certain, she rapped her knuckles against the largest one, and met the resistance of metal. She stepped back into the bathroom and went to the second door on the opposite side.

  “How about this other one?”

  “Keep snooping, my love.”

  Giving him an exasperated look, Atty opened the second door. Walking into the smaller room, she froze in place as she spotted the tiny cradle sitting in the middle of the floor. Yulen stopped behind her and drew an arm around her waist, pulling her closer to him until he could press his cheek to her hair.

  “‘In case’ we ever had a baby,” he said softly. “The cradle was mine. Madigan kept it in storage, hoping one day I would end my wild ways and settle down.” He turned her around and settled her body along his, feeling her warmth despite both their jackets. Atty snuggled against his chest, closing her eyes as he held her tightly. Nudging his chin into her temple, Yulen let her know he wanted to kiss her. She lifted her face as he lowered his, and she hungrily accepted his lips.

  How long they stood there touching, kissing, stroking a cheek, a brow, or the tender skin under an ear, they had no idea. Yulen had sent the workers home early so he could show Atty the lodge, leaving them all alone inside the unfinished building. The solitude was intoxicating.

  Slowly, Yulen lowered them down to the bare wood floor until she was lying on her back and he was stretched out beside her. Undoing the buttons at the neck of her jacket, he found the velvet warmth of her throat and the hollow where her pulse beat strong beneath the skin. As his mouth and tongue rasped over it, Atty caught her breath and shivered.

  “Cold?” he murmured almost too quiet to hear.

  No. She wasn’t cold. Just the opposite. She was burning up. Burning up with the need to feel him against her overly-sensitive skin and breasts. Panting softly, Atty struggled to undo the fasteners on her jacket as Yulen began to unbutton her pants. He rolled onto her side, sliding along her hip, until she could feel his hardened erection straining against her thigh. His mouth found the tip of one breast beneath her tunic and he teased it with his teeth until her nipple ached for him to suckle it. Atty groaned, and she heard him echo the sound.

  Rolling onto her side, she reached for his erection, finding it bulging within the tight confines of his pants. Grasping it, she gave it a squeeze and began manipulating it, pulling and tugging on it until he slipped his own hand down the back of her pants. Atty whined softly as his fingers traveled between her buttocks, then dipped further. He began to insinuate one finger into her anus as another found her clit. He had played with her before in that fashion, telling her that at some point in the future he planned to take her from the rear. Her body shivered at the erotic electricity sizzling through her.

  Atty lifted her rear to give him easier access, when something alerted her. Faintly she thought she heard the sound of a door closing, when a voice called out. Every nerve immediately tensed, and Yulen shuddered as he likewise stopped to listen.

  “Sir?” came a tentative voice for the second time.

  He let out a choice expletive. Atty smiled to hear it. “At least it’s not Cole this time.” She tried to make light of it, knowing how much her husband detested having his second in command interrupt them during moments like this. It was a habit Mastin was trying to break.

  “No,” Yulen admitted, knowing the man was still recovering in the clinic. “It sounds like Paxton.” Reluctantly he got to his feet and jerked his coat down over his hips. “Stay there,” he ordered down at her as Atty pulled the edges of her coat together to preserve her warmth. “I’ll be right back.”

  Atty watched and listened as her husband left the nursery through a door that opened back into their bedroom, and went to see who was looking for him. “What is it?” she heard him inquire in a peeved tone. His voice echoed eerily in the empty building..

  “A messenger just arrived from Bearinger, sir,” Paxton relayed from the living area below. “You need to come hear this.”

  “Give me the short end of it,” Yulen demanded.

  “Bloods.”

  Atty was up and fastening her clothes before he got back
to the room to fetch her. She followed behind him as they descended the stairs, only stopping just as they got to the front door.

  “Oh, damn! I left my bow upstairs!” she remembered. “Go ahead. I won’t be but a sec.”

  “We’ll be in the main lodge,” he told her, and went on ahead.

  Quickly Atty hurried back upstairs to find where she’d propped her weapon on the wall near the bathroom door. Snatching it up, she turned to go back downstairs, but for some reason the wooden steps wanted to sway under her boots. She paused, hoping to get her sense of balance back. Taking one careful step at a time, and holding onto the curved bannister with her free hand, she managed to get to the bottom landing to find the floor there was also tilting at an odd angle. Worse, there seemed to be a roaring in her ears, as though a great wind was blowing with tremendous force through the living area.

  Reaching for the door, she tried to make the last few steps, hoping that once she got outside, the strange topsy-turvy floor, and now the room, would stop moving. Relentlessly, the roaring noise became so loud as to drown out everything, including her call for help. The last thing she remembered was the floor rushing upward to strike her in the face, and the world went from day to night in the blink of an eye.

  Chapter Three

  Liam’s Theory

  Yulen rushed into the main lodge where the dozen men who had arrived minutes ago were waiting. “Powell? Report.”

  “We’ve been hit twice by a rather large army of Bloods,” the sub-lieutenant responded.

  “How large? What would be the estimate?”

  The man thought for a moment. It was clear their escape from the compound had taken a great physical as well as emotional toll on the party. All of the men from Bearinger were close to total exhaustion.

  “Around two hundred, but it could have been more. Hard to tell in the middle of the night.”