The Mercenary's Bounty

by Kristen Banet

  “She’s with Bryn on another cart. Take a look.” Nevyn laughed as Kian stood up, causing Alchan to sputter and tell him to sit down. She could see him looking over the cart and his eyes fell on her. She dared to raise a hand and wave.

  “Well, I’ll be damned,” Kian said with a grin. He jumped up, causing that cart to rock under the force, and flew back to her, Bryn, and Mat, landing next to the cart swiftly enough to spook their horses. “I’m Kian.” He extended a hand up to her. “And you are?”

  “Mave. I go by Mave,” she answered, taking his hand in an Andinna handshake where they grabbed each other’s elbows.

  “And what’s your story? How did they end up with three when they only intended to save two?” Kian looked her over curiously.

  “Rain and I were thrown into the Colosseum in Elliar and met her in the pits with the other gladiators. It’s a story, Kian,” Mat answered, reaching down to pat Kian’s shoulder. “How’s the family?”

  “Tired of having me around so much. They’ve been hoping you all survived so you can get me out of their hair. Nice break! The females will love you even more now, the poor things.”

  “I’m with Mave-” Mat wasn’t able to finish as others began to break into the conversation.

  “Pissing off your amanra?” Nevyn asked, laughing from his cart. Bryn pulled their cart up beside Nevyn and Varon’s, leaving Rain and Zayden in the back. Mat and Kian were between them, looking between the two groups. Even Alchan and Luykas were looking back, waiting to hear what Kian had to say.

  “Of course, but that’s really all. The village is boring. Tell me more about how this mission happened.” He quickly asked her something in Andena and she only caught a couple of words, like female.

  “She doesn’t know Andena well enough. You’ll need to ask her in Common,” Mat explained quickly. She tried not to feel a little embarrassed at the way Kian’s eyebrows went up.

  “And here I thought I should switch over to Andena, since we’re in the mountains and she might know it better than Common. We don’t use a lot of Common in the village, Mat.”

  “We’re working on it,” Luykas commented. “Just stick to Common for now.”

  Kian shrugged. “Well, I was saying maybe you should tell me everything, Mave. You’re the new one and you seem to be in the middle of all of this.”

  “I had nothing to do with Mat and Rain showing up in the pits,” she said, hoping he didn’t have that sort of impression.

  “No, I want to know how you met these assholes and ended up free with them.” Kian smiled. “My amanra is going to be excited another female is coming to the village, especially a warrior. We haven’t seen a new female join the community in over a century.”

  “Oh…well…” She tried to find a decent way to explain.

  “Let’s leave it for later tonight and I’ll tell you everything. There’s no reason to make her rehash it all when she had to live through the worst of it,” Luykas cut in, saving her from the spotlight. “Let’s talk about more pressing things. We’re not settling in the village until later, Kian. You up for a mission?”

  “I always am,” Kian answered. “What’s the job?”

  “We were attacked last night, right on the border of the mountains, like Nevyn told you. That’s where we learned something important. Mave here…” Alchan nodded to her. “She’s ten thousand gold suns. Preferred alive.”

  Kian coughed, thumping his chest as the information processed. “And what’s the mission, Alchan?”

  “We’re going to hit back. There’s that merchant we’ve been eyeing for a few years, the one we’ve stolen from a few times. He helps fund anti-Andinna sentiment here in Olost and supplies the hunters. We’re going to destroy him. No playing around this time. They tried to take Mave from us, nets and everything. We’re going to raze them from the earth for it.”

  “I’m ready. You just say the word. What else is pressing?”

  “We’ve got supplies for the village and we’re going to winter there, so things need to start getting prepped now. Think you can run ahead and let them know we’re close? We’re bringing in wounded.”

  “Yeah. If you pick up speed, you’ll be there before the evening meal ends. See you back at home.” Kian took off without another word, suddenly serious, probably thanks to hearing about Leshaun’s state. Mave watched him fly up higher, becoming a black dot, and race off, disappearing from view.

  “He’s interesting,” she commented mildly.

  “Kian is an old friend of Nevyn and Varon. Those three all joined the Company right as the War ended,” Bryn explained. “He’s also the only Company male with an amanra and the only member of a mayara. Was.” He looked pointedly at Matesh.

  “I’d caught that. He has a female. She has two other males, right?” She was pretty sure she hadn’t heard that wrong whenever they brought up Kian.

  “That’s right. He’s a lot like Nevyn, so he can get a little wild. Be careful drinking around him. He likes to take people down, drinking them under the table. He’s normally the one who gets Mat so drunk that Nevyn can mess with him.”

  “I swear, Andinna turn three thousand and they go crazy,” Mat said with a chuckle. “Well, Mave, you’ve officially met everyone in the Company. What do you think?”

  “I think I need a pint,” she answered. It caused Mat, Bryn, and several other males to begin laughing.

  She was about to see her people free. Even if she hadn’t met Kian, she could have used a drink to relax her just at that prospect.

  And Kian’s reaction to her? He hadn’t questioned the idea of her being a new member of the Company. He’d just started a conversation, willing to get to know her. He didn’t even balk at the idea of risking the Company in the effort to keep the Elvasi from coming after her. He was instantly for it.

  She wasn’t used to comradery, but she realized she enjoyed it.

  31

  Alchan

  It was good to see Kian before they made it back to the village. Even on the back of an attack.

  It also brought up some questions for him.

  “Why do you think Kian was on patrol by himself? Think there’s been some trouble? Other than the trouble we had?” He didn’t like the idea of Elvasi so close to the mountains. That was a serious problem.

  “I think he’s been waiting on us every day because his wife hates having him around for too long,” Luykas answered, laughing. “Come on. You know Senri. She loves her merc, but he gets on their nerves when he has nothing to do. Even if there was some other trouble, you didn’t give him much of a chance to explain and he obviously didn’t want to say on the road. He’ll let us know when we get to the village while we’re preparing for the mission.”

  “Maybe Mat is right. We Andinna turn three thousand and go crazy.” Alchan huffed. Kian was the second oldest member of the Company. At thirty-eight hundred, the male was an experienced warrior, having served with Nevyn even before the male had met Varon. Long-time friends, much like Zayden and Mat, except neither of them was a grouch like the single father.

  “No…” Luykas was still laughing. “I think they just don’t take the world as seriously anymore because they’re in their prime, they’re settled, but also old. Eventually they’ll turn into an old male like Leshaun, and you know, I would rather deal with their antics at this age.”

  “You think we take the world too seriously?” Alchan gritted his teeth. He had to take the damned world seriously. He didn’t have much of a choice.

  “I think you do, and it’s not like they don’t care. They just are better at enjoying life than you.” Luykas shook his head, the laughter dying. “Calm down, my brother. Celebrate this moment, please. We’re back on our turf. We’ve got everyone back together, even if it’s just for a moment. We’re alive, despite how hard the Elvasi have been trying to kill us recently.”

  Alchan sighed. His brother was right. This was a moment he should be celebrating. Other than Leshaun’s unfortunate injury, they were walking away
from their hardest mission in centuries alive and mostly intact, even freeing a female in the process. He was cranky with her, but he was privately happy they did it. Her reaction to his title had made him feel even more sure about her place in the Company, even if he publicly resisted it.

  “How do you think he’ll like her?”

  “Well, he tried to talk to her the moment he realized she existed, so I think Kian isn’t someone we have to worry about.” Luykas gave Alchan a look. There would be some in the village that wouldn’t like Mave. “I think his family won’t be a worry either. You worried about anyone specific?”

  “Not anyone specific,” he answered. “I just don’t want yet another Company warrior to find themselves on the fringes of our society, especially not a female. She needs a place. With how the females treat Nevyn and Varon, and how you and I have never really belonged here…I don’t want to see her not find a place.”

  “For all your blustering, you do care,” Luykas teased.

  “I have to,” Alchan snapped back. He was lucky they were far enough ahead of most of the Company that only Varon would be able to hear them. He was even luckier that Varon was great at keeping secrets. The things he’d probably heard Alchan and his brother talk about over the last thousand years would make many of the Company tuck tail and run. “Don’t give me a hard time.”

  “Why not?” His brother began to chuckle, shaking his head. “You and she can barely be in the same room without a power struggle. You probably can’t even be in the same mountains. We’ve discovered that over the last weeks.”

  Alchan stopped himself from reaching out and strangling his brother. He had a point. Alchan didn’t have the easiest time with Mave, and she didn’t have an easy time with him. It was just the way of things.

  “You know that’s never going to change, right? She and I will always be at each other’s throats. It doesn’t change the fact that I’m one of her commanding officers now. It doesn’t change the fact that I’m her King.” Alchan hated how much responsibility he had, but he didn’t avoid it. “So yes, I’m going to care if our people decide to ostracize her. It would make her less happy, and morale is important for warriors constantly on the move like we can be.”

  “I just like teasing you, brother. I know you care and why.” Luykas’ fun attitude dropped and he took on a somber expression.

  Alchan huffed. Already he could hear the chatter of the village. They were basically on top of it. He knew right around the bend, he would see it.

  Here I go again.

  As they rounded the bend silently, he took it in. Built into a cliffside, it had taken a century for the village to be livable. It had been a hard century, the Andinna scattered across the world, the Company fighting the Empire as much as it could, trying to free as many as they could. The Hornbuckles were smuggling their people as best they could to the freedom of Olost.

  A long, hard century.

  But through it all, somehow this village was built. The biggest one they had, the first of many. There were others, smaller homes and individuals living all throughout the mountains in southern Olost, but this was their hub. It was built close enough to Namur that a trip didn’t seem too much of a problem if trading needed to happen. Alchan never liked how close it was to the edge of the mountains, but he understood the purpose.

  On the ground beside the cliff were several large wood and stone buildings. Those were the community buildings for feasts, prayer, and other things he never participated in, including lodging for visitors and those who couldn’t fly yet. Up the cliffside that shadowed the small area were wooden platforms and doors. Andinna built their homes into the mountains whenever they had the chance. There were homes on the ground level as well, and there was even a section for just the Company’s living quarters, the single males at least. Many had their own places to live now. Zayden had been given a small ground-level home when he met Summer and had Rainev. They had moved a little higher when they had the chance and Summer was gone. Nevyn and Varon shared a small home much further up the cliffside. Luykas’ was also high, as he preferred the space from the rest of the village, but still in it.

  I need to see if they have space for Mave and Mat to have their own home, or have Luykas get on it.

  Alchan saw the people coming out of their homes and the community buildings as word continued to spread of the arrival of the Company. It was always an affair. He never got to enter the village quietly without being bothered. He didn’t even live in it. He only passed through to make sure the Company was settled. He lived on a different cliffside, by himself, how he liked it.

  “Welcome home!” a female called out in Andena. “It’s good to see the warriors have yet again returned from glory. Sire, it’s good to see you are well.”

  Alchan held up a hand and waved silently, continuing to ride closer. Some cheered. Well, many cheered. They had sent Kian back to the village by himself, telling him to pass along what had happened and their return.

  Alchan tried not to bristle at the title, either. He’d never liked it. Sire. Your Majesty. None of that ever suited him. His position in the royal family meant he had never been raised hearing it and it didn’t suit him. He figured it never would.

  He didn’t stop moving forward until he was only a few steps in front of the lead female. An old female, she was roughly Leshaun’s age, but Alchan never asked. She coordinated the entire village, was the tradition-keeper for festivals and many other things. There was a mativa for every major village and many of the smaller ones, many of whom looked to this old female for guidance.

  She wore traditional garb: a long skirt of sorts with a slit running up the side, a cloth wrap belt around her hips. The shirt was loose, a very feminine look and something he hadn’t expected. Dangling from her horns were several shiny and ancient stones on leather, gold, and silver bands. She had a somewhat ornate necklace as well, rich with color. It was the symbol of her position. Her arms were decorated in the bangle bracelets of their people, like many of the others had on.

  For the most part, her look screamed that she had been spending her evening meal with her mayara. She had four old males who had been with her longer than most of the Company had been alive.

  He swung himself off his horse, still silent. He extended a hand to the old female.

  “It’s good to see you as well, Jesvena,” he finally said softly in Common. He kept his tone gentle, as to not be disrespectful. He might be King, but she was a female leader of the community. It made him internally growl and snarl, but he would never do it to her. He would try not to. They clashed occasionally, but they tried to keep it out of the public’s view.

  “Your Majesty.” She took his elbow in their handshake, bowing to him in the same motion. “Was there success? Kian said you were going to save poor Rainev and Matesh. Were there any casualties on the mission?” She spoke in perfect Andena.

  He knew Kian probably told her the answer to all of those questions, but he also knew she wanted more details from him. He didn’t plan on giving her those yet, though. “We succeeded. We’ve brought glory to the Andinna and plan to continue to do so.” He went with Common, knowing Mave would want to know everything he said. Everyone in the village would have to deal. He released her, turning to motion to his warriors, all dismounting as he had. They didn’t move forward, standing behind him until he released them to go about their business on preparing for the mission. “We won’t be staying long. I need healers for Leshaun. He took an injury on the road home. I’ll also need preparations made for us to winter here. We’ve brought supplies to help lighten the load and will be bringing back more soon enough.”

  “Of course, Sire.” Jesvena waved a hand. “You heard him. Help unload the carts. Bring the healers. Leshaun has been hurt. Find him and take him in.”

  All around him, the free Andinna jumped into action. He waited for Jesvena to be done pointing them around to continue. He had more for her.

  “Is there anything else you need? Anything specific abo
ut the preparations?”

  “We’ll talk on it in a moment,” he answered. “There’s someone you need to meet.” Jesvena raised an eyebrow. He took a deep breath and shouted, “Mave! Front and center!” He might as well make sure the old mativa before him knew Mave didn’t know the language.

  Many of the Andinna stopped and began to stare. Luykas slid closer to him.

  “Can I release the rest of the Company?” his brother asked softly. “Before this becomes a scene?”

  “Yeah, let them go. Everyone’s going to want to bathe, I bet.” Alchan tried not to sound dismissive, but he was just as tired as all of his warriors. He wanted a good night’s sleep alone.

  “Company! Fall out!” Luykas roared. Right as his brother began to walk away, Mave appeared by his side. To Jesvena’s credit, the old female said nothing. She quietly took in Mave, studying her politely

  He couldn’t say much for any of the other free Andinna, rudely stopping and openly staring as if Mave had two heads. They stopped and stared as they unloaded the carts instead of getting their work done. Looking back, Alchan nearly groaned at the sight of Matesh protecting Mave’s new personal items, hoarding them in the cart she had been riding with Bryn. He protectively held a small pouch Alchan knew carried the stones and gems that would begin Mave’s collection of jewelry.

  He watched his warriors for several moments as they broke up and went about their business, helping the free Andinna carry things into their stores, to give Mave and Jesvena time to handle their female shit. He didn’t particularly care to witness the standard female dominance plays or get in the middle of them.

  Finally, he could see out of the corner of his eye that Mave bared her teeth, but never dropped her eyes. She’d rolled the mativa, establishing herself higher than the leading female. That was something he knew was going to come back on him later.

  Time to get this done. No more pretending to be distracted.