“Rolland was from another clan, he was a perfect match for me.”
Clara thought about what it all meant. “You must mate with a male of a foreign clan?”
She nodded. “It is the way of it. We are always matched by the Rite of the Select.” She shrugged.
Maddoc looked like he would kill Bracus and she stayed him with a hand on his arm. He glared down at her, his anger at the incident between his mother and Bracus unexpected and unwelcome.
They did not mate within their own Band members. That is why Clara had been special. She had simply had savage blood which originated from another Band.
“How many females of savage blood remain?”
Rowenna looked again at Bracus. “Too few,” she finally said.
“Too few.”
CHAPTER 19
Evelyn and Clara spoke into the latest part of the night, dawn approaching as their voices faded, its pink light spreading like fingers in the sky. Finally Clara fell asleep. But not before she determined that the Band were not alike. Neither the females.
The pressure of being predestined to save the future weighed on her mind. No, that was not accurate.
Weighed on her soul.
The Travelers did not sound like a people she wished to save. They had been meddlers of history, saving whom they pleased and letting a situation of cloistered communities within the spheres weaken the people. Both their physical and mental constitutions. It explained much of Prince Frederic's sphere. She had never felt he was quite right in the head.
Then there was Queen Ada. They had been so very much alike in temperament as to be an uncanny resemblance. The issue of the fragment being the criminal of their time and deposited here with nary another thought for the people which remained was untenable. Of course, not all the fragment were evil. Clara's mind wandered to Daniel. He had been of a different ilk. What had become of him? He had tried to keep the worst of it from her. He had reminded her very much of someone but it was too preposterous for words. And too unlikely. She shoved it aside.
*
Clara awoke late in the morning feeling unrefreshed. The prior days drama swirling in her head. In addition to the information she was now privy to regarding her importance as the human key of successful procreation for the future.
For the Travelers.
She drug herself to the Gathering Hall. It was but a stout tent erected close to shore for the summer months. No one had woken her and she was grateful. Having traveled for over a month she had grown accustomed to it but did not yet miss it, she thought with a small smile.
She caught Anna as she was leaving and she rewarded Clara with a large smile, Clara's at the ready. “Clara, let us bathe at the spring that Rowenna said is nearby, we have much to discuss,” she said with a wink.
Clara smiled, she would very much like another female to talk with about all the happenings. Anna was an excellent choice. Surprised anew at how much Anna had changed since their acquaintance first began. The timid woman had bloomed into a true friend of gentle humor and friendliness.
“Wonderful. Where may Sarah be and Evelyn?” she asked softly, as to not give notice to the many of the clan that milled about underneath the tent.
“They await us even now. I was just about fetching you as you seemed determined to sleep the day away.”
Clara felt her cheeks flush. She was typically not one for lazing about but had stayed up late.
Anna pressed a finger to Clara's lips when she opened them to explain. “Worry not, my queen. Evelyn told us you stayed up into the wee hours to soothe her.”
Clara nodded. “I will gather some food and we will leave straightaway.”
Clara grabbed whatever was easiest. As was the case of all the clans, they seemed to have an abundance of fruit and cheese. She put the food inside her reticule and put that in a larger rucksack with her grooming tools.
The spring was quite close to the clan and Clara felt a little guilty avoiding a happenstance meeting with Rowenna. She needed time to come to terms with Bracus connecting with her own mother in the way of the select. Of course, she had released him from his obligation to her. Clara picked her way carefully along the trail which led to the water, deep in her own thoughts.
It was not long before she recognized feminine voices. The area in the forest narrowed then abruptly widened, spilling the women into the moss that as it neared the spring became saturated with the heated water.
Many women were at the spring and Clara sighed. She was not particularly modest but she had spoken at length with Evelyn and had been told that the females of this clan chased the males of the Band around unmercifully, without regard to propriety. Evelyn knew what their sudden presence meant to that delicate balance.
Clara easily found Evelyn with her blond hair that was nearly white, her ivory skin flushed pink from the heat of the water and emotion.
She was arguing. Clara disrobed and sunk into the warm depths, paddling to where Evelyn was, in heated exchange with two young woman of a similar age.
“You know naught of what you speak!” the one female said indignantly to Evelyn.
“It is as Jocelyn says, he would not want you enough to defend you. And as it were, it would only be as a duty because you are friends with their queen and our clan leader's daughter,” she spit out in Evelyn's general direction.
Clara looked at the young women who had cornered Evelyn and could see their obvious jealousy of Evelyn. However obvious it may be to Clara, to a female from a clan of so few, Evelyn may be stunned by the unkindness of the females. Clara was not. She had been raised by Ada and royal as well. She was intimate with pettiness in all its forms.
The females looked up as she approached and grew quiet. Evelyn had a deep flush upon her face and was clearly upset.
Clara looked at them sharply. “What say you?”
The one named Jocelyn looked disdainfully at Evelyn and said, “She claims that Maddoc, son of Rowenna, saved her from Lee. That he meant to have his way with her and she not wanting it.” The girl rolled her eyes and Clara narrowed hers.
“How many years are you?” Clara asked levelly.
“I am ten and six,” Jocelyn said and Clara's attention went to the other girl.
“I am the same.”
Anna asked, “What do they call you?”
“Ella,” she responded sullenly.
“Well Ella and Jocelyn. Evelyn is but very soon ten and four years. She is not used to the company of other females and speaks true. It is not like her to act with guile.” Clara let what she thought run through her face. She was not impressed that they allowed themselves to say whatever they wish without regard to Evelyn.
“She is not yet ten and four?” Ella asked with true surprise.
“Aye,” Anna said, glaring at them.
“She is mixed, yes?” Jocelyn asked.
Clara nodded. “If you are asking if she be of savage blood, she is. Her grand-sire was Band. Is this the cause of your rancor? That she is special? That she may be a viable match for one of the males of the Band?”
Clara had hit upon it, she could see by their expressions.
No matter. Evelyn would not be punished because she was not simply clan, but had blood of the Band running through her veins.
“Leave her be. She did not know until just yesterday what it meant to be select.”
“We do not care that you are Rowenna's daughter, thought lost to us all these years. You have Band that you could choose. You need not claim our males. You or she, or anyone else.”
Clara smiled, they were truly wretched. “You misspeak. It is not up to us who chooses whom. It is simple biology. That you do not ken that reflects the soft intellect that you use to make your assumptions.”
Evelyn giggled and Clara held their gaze. They would have to do much more than this to move her.
Clara was not easily intimidated.
“I believe she has told you both that you are quite stupid,” Evelyn explained.
Joce
lyn glared at Evelyn. “Have your fun, half-breed. It will not matter. In the end, you will depart and none of the Band will choose a child bride. Especially not Maddoc. He would not be with a whore who has been passed amongst the fragment.”
Clara heard the sound of her palm as it echoed against Jocelyn's face. Her head rocked back as she stumbled in the spring, falling into the water completely, taking it in her mouth and spluttering.
Evelyn stood shocked. Clara was not wont to be violent but had apparently had a change of heart this year past.
“She is not a whore,” Clara said in fierce rasp. “ However, she did witness the death of her father by the fragment and was rescued by our Band. Furthermore, she was abducted with my party most recently. She has never been touched by a male except with their fist. That is her exposure to the fragment.” Clara's chest rose and fell in her fury, her hands shaking with the need to launch herself at the girl. She seemed years younger than Clara. Could it be that she was but two years? She was soft. It was obvious to Clara that she had never seen the bad side of anything.
Jocelyn was without internal fortitude.
Anna and Evelyn came to flank Clara and Jocelyn swam forward and stood, the water rivulets gliding down breasts that she made no attempt to hide. They trembled with her anger in the cooler air. “I would take care of you, Queen Clara,” her voice enunciated sarcastically, “but I know Rowenna would punish me. So you are protected, for now. But come hither,” none of them moved. “Fine. You will be unprotected one day and we shall see how brave you really are. You behave as such but look at you. So small, so weak, you could harm nothing. Nary the butterflies which float above our flowers. You deserve not to be queen along with your subject, the ugly Evelyn.”
Ella looked at Jocelyn, a wide smile riding her face at her friend's clever words. Jocelyn's attention shifted to Anna for a moment then with a snicker, they floated away and exited the opposite side of the pool, giving a solitary glance back.
Clara felt if a look could maim, she would even now be crippled.
Clara waited until they were out of sight then told Evelyn to come to her.
Evelyn's lip trembled but she did not cry.
Clara was so proud she felt she would cry herself.
“They would not leave it lay. They said that I was lying. That Lee was a wonderful male of the Band, that I had given 'wanton invitation'. That he would never think to even want me because I was ugly.”
“Was it your lack of beauty that upset you?” Anna asked.
Evelyn shook her head. “I know that I am not of the beauty of this clan. I thought I was fair of face. But now? Compared to how the others look...”
“And what of this talk about her being passed about the fragment? Why have they made this supposition?” Anna asked.
“I do not know. They assumed such. They thought I was older than I truly am.”
“Listen to me, Dear-Heart,” Clara said, tucking a finger under her chin and lifting it until their eyes met. “They are angry because new women have come amongst them, select. It is a rare thing to have the blood of the Band beating in our hearts.” Clara said, placing a small fist against her wet breastbone. “It is not something you or I asked for. It is something that we are, without choice. That they would anger over it is mindless and cruel. Do not let it bother you.”
“What about that last? I was uncomfortable with her gaze,” Anna said, gooseflesh rising on her arms.
Clara looked at her. “I did puzzle at that.”
“What if she means to do something about Anna's clan? Her old clan?” Evelyn asked.
“What say you?” Anna asked, an edge in her voice. She looked around nervously, her arms wrapping her breasts.
“I say, what if those abhorrent creatures mention to the wrong set of ears that Anna resides here? With this clan?” Evelyn asked.
“I spoke with...Rowenna,” Clara began, tripping over using the name Mother as yet, “and she said that the male of her Band that attacked Anna has been shunned.”
Evelyn's eyes became big like saucers and her hand covered her mouth. “Really? It has been many decades since such happened in our Band.”
Anna looked down at her hands. “I have weakened my former clan by his absence. But Lord help me, it relieves me mightily to know that he is no longer there. He would have harmed another.” Her brown eyes met theirs and they clasped their hands together, lending comfort to one another.
None saw the pair of malevolent eyes that roamed the feast of naked flesh before him. He would bide his time. And then the female would be his. His eyes took in the others. Mayhap them as well. His smile broadened at the thought.
CHAPTER 20
Unlike Clara, Rowenna did not feel any of the disdain for tables which placed their leader at its head. However, she did not wield a scepter as Ada had. Clara intuited that Rowenna was a fair and just leader. Her placement at the head was warranted and not meant to make her people feel lesser.
Rowenna had, after much searching, found a suitable garment for Clara to wear to the feast in her honor. Every surface was covered with food and Clara was thrilled to see that tangerines were amongst the delicacies. It had been some time since she had consumed her most favorite fruit and she would be indulging this night.
Clara could not keep her eyes off of Bracus and Rowenna. She recalled the conversation that she and Rowenna had partaken in during Clara's dressing.
*
“Tell me you love him and I will step aside. We do not have to ever see each other again.” Rowenna said earnestly.
Clara looked at her mother as Rowenna anxiously bit her lip. Clara thought that she was never anxious and wore the emotion awkwardly.
“I thought I did. But when things began to cause strife between he and Matthew, it seemed fair that I no longer hold them to the constraints of courtship with a miserable girl such as myself who was unable to choose a mate.”
“Daughter, you are not miserable. But you speak true. You will know your mate, he will sing to your heart. You are savage, the blood will know what it wants. I will warn you, it will be one of the Band. And what of the male, Matthew? He is very good to the eye, eh? And close in years to you.”
That was true, Clara thought, her face turning pink. But she was curious about something and asked, even though she was quite sure it was rude, “Rowenna, how many years are you?”
“Ah, Clara. You should know this! I am but ten and six older than yourself. Actually, a tad less.”
Clara believed it. In fact, Rowenna did not look very much older than she.
Rowenna laughed at her expression. “The Band ages slowly. How many years did you take Bracus for?”
Well he was surely Matthew's age? Then she thought about it. He had been a boy when he came upon Matthew after he escaped the fragment, true?
“He is ten and twenty, Clara.”
Thirty! He was ten and two older than she?
Rowenna laughed. “You will see. Even if only my blood runs through your veins you will look the age you are now for ten years hence.”
“People of the sphere do not die quickly,” Clara said. Thinking of Father. How the Healer was able to do nothing to save him.
Rowenna's face became sad. “Your father knew the sacrifice he made for his descendents. He knew the travel through their time pathway would sicken him but he chose it. He was Band in his heart.”
“Have you not been curious? Have you not wished to visit our sphere?”
Rowenna shuddered. “No. I was there when Raymond burst out of the ripple, as evacuated from an evil womb. He was so ill after his travel that he could hardly...” her eyes met Clara's and she nodded. Clara understood what it was that she could not say.
“What was my father like...as a man? To you?” Clara asked softly.
Rowenna looked at Clara, holding tears that brimmed and glittered on her lashes but did not fall. “Tender,” she said on a whisper.
“You miss him,” Clara stated.
Rowenna nodded
and turned away.
Clara put her dress on in the quiet of Rowenna's bedroom, both women remembering one man.
*
Rowenna used a fork made of wood and lightly tapped it on a small brass bell which chimed. She stood and Clara noticed that she wore a long skirt and tunic which matched. They were a deep violet, not the grape color which Ada had fancied, but a rich plum that perfectly deepened the lavender of her eyes.
“This is a happy day of glad tidings that my daughter, Queen Clara of the Kingdom of Ohio, has been called home by her savage blood. The blood of the Band beats within her. The Traveler’s portent of this momentous occasion has come to pass. As they foretold, she is the key to our future prosperity.”
The clan-dwellers stood as a group, the Band standing in a loose circle at all portals of the large tent exits.
“Now, as well you know, my daughter is destined to mate with one of the Band. A match amongst our own Band would not be advantageous, but from another, it would be most welcome.”
Clara stayed seated, a horrible precognitive feeling descended upon her and she found Matthew's eyes. What she found there confirmed her suspicions.
The smile which she usually wore became frozen in place as Rowenna introduced a male of the Band she had not noticed, tucked amongst the shadowed corners of the tent. “This is Edwin, from the Clan of Massachusetts. He is the primary candidate for Clara.”
Clara paled visibly. Rowenna had known of this, planned it, said nothing. She watched Matthew leave his position at the tent entrance and snake through the many clan-dwellers who stood, getting a view of the visiting male of the Band.
Clara turned to give him her attention, and had never been more glad of royal bearing. It had been literally beat into her. She stood and gave a small curtsey, extending her hand at an angle. She had been taught that a male could squeeze, shake or kiss her hand and it was a position of neutrality.
The Savage Blood (Savage Series, Book 2) Page 15
