The Battle Lord's Lady

by Linda Mooney

  “Collaunt knows of this, too,” said Dion. “That’s why he decided to throw the big party.”

  “What party?” MaGrath asked.

  “Collaunt’s invited all his deviant friends to Bearinger to witness Atty’s aptitude.”

  “For what purpose?” the physician probed.

  Dion took another deep, shaky breath and glanced at Yulen for confirmation. “He’s going to bring her out into the main hall during the games and have a doctor check to see if she truly is a virgin.”

  MaGrath shuddered at the thought. “In front of the assembly?” he demanded, his voice rising.

  Yulen quickly shushed him. “It gets worse, Liam.”

  “How much worse could it get?” the physician demanded angrily.

  The little man licked his lips nervously, bowing his head. “If she is a virgin, Collaunt plans to have her publicly deflowered by some men he’ll have waiting nearby. Some of his...specially selected, handpicked men.”

  “Oh, God...” MaGrath wilted at the news.

  “Liam.”

  He looked up to see an equally devastated look on Yulen’s face.

  “He’s then going to give Atty a test to see if she still has her skills,” the Battle Lord told him.

  “What if she doesn’t?” Mastin whispered, still in shock. “What if she can’t save herself?”

  “She has to find a way,” Yulen said tersely. “We have to get her out of there before Collaunt can do her any more harm. But if we can’t, Atty has to manage to stay alive long enough for us to reach her.”

  “You’re going to have to do more than that,” MaGrath told him. A sudden coldness seemed to have crept into his bones. He found he was unable to stop from shivering uncontrollably.

  “What’s that, Liam?”

  “You’re going to have to go in there, find out where she’s being held, and you’re going to have to take her virginity before Collaunt’s men do.”

  Yulen lifted his chin, unable to respond. Without giving him a chance to think it over, MaGrath pressed his point.

  “You are the only one who can do it without demoralizing or traumatizing her.”

  “I... Liam...”

  “Either way, it’s you or it’s Collaunt’s men. And then she’ll have to prove or disprove the stories. Think about it. If you go in there, at least you’ll be able to leave her with the frame of mind to face what that madman has planned for her. But if you don’t, those men won’t be gentle. They’ll rape her, and they could very well destroy her emotionally and mentally, as well as physically. Then what kind of chance will she have?”

  “Can you get him inside?” Mastin asked the mole.

  “Not a problem, but it’ll be getting him to her cell that’ll be tricky.”

  “Any idea when would be the best time?” Yulen asked.

  “The noon shift change is the best. The guards coming on are tired from having to practice, and the ones going off usually skip out a few minutes early. Collaunt’s party is starting this evening and going on all night. Word is he’ll have the Mutah woman brought to the grand hall tomorrow afternoon. With any luck, I can have you back outside the compound walls before he sends for her.”

  “Isn’t early afternoon an odd time for such an exhibition?” Mastin questioned.

  Dion gave the Second a caustic look. “Collaunt expects D’Jacques to ride in tomorrow evening and attempt a rescue under the cover of darkness. By then, he wants it all over with so he can gloat.”

  MaGrath covered his face with shaky hands. “Oh, sweet mother of heaven. Can there be a more disgusting bastard on the face of this earth?”

  “You’ll have to leave your weapons outside the compound,” Dion expressed to Yulen. “If I take you into the dungeon, it has to look like you’re just another subject gone to visit an imprisoned relative. I can get you a coat to help cover you. Make you look more like one of us.”

  Yulen nodded slowly, still unable to grasp the enormity of what was about to happen. A hand reached over to grasp his shoulder. He looked up to see Mastin staring intently at him.

  “Are you sure I can’t accompany you, sir, to watch your back?”

  “No!” Dion adamantly whispered. “It’s going to be dangerous enough as it is.”

  “When do you want me to come with you?” Yulen asked.

  “Meet me at the northernmost fringe of the forest, closest to the compound walls. You’ll see a small door there. I’ll come for you right at shift change at noon.”

  “I’ll be there,” Yulen promised. A moment later, the little man had left them, melted into the blackness of the forest as if he’d been swallowed alive.

  Heaving a heavy sigh, Yulen ran his hands through his hair. “Liam...I don’t know if I can do this.”

  MaGrath watched the turmoil of emotions play over the Battle Lord’s face. He didn’t respond. He didn’t need to. There was no other choice, and Yulen knew it. MaGrath knew it. They all knew it.

  “Might...might I make a suggestion?” Mastin quietly interjected. He waited until both pairs of eyes turned to him. “Frankly I think this whole story about Atty losing her skills is hogwash. I think she can find a way out of her dilemma, but not without some help.”

  “What are you trying to say, Cole?” Yulen asked softly.

  “Well, it’s going to mean a little trickery on our part,” the Second told them. “It’ll also mean having you surrender to Collaunt, to get you closer to Atty. In the meantime, I’ll be leading the men to the compound in the morning.”

  “Go on.”

  Leaning closer to them, Mastin roughly outlined what he thought might be a possible plan. To his surprise, both the Battle Lord and the physician found it feasible. Together, the three of them continued to devise what they hoped would be a solution, until Yulen determined it was time for them to head back to the encampment and make ready to continue on toward Bearinger.

  Chapter Thirty-Four

  Wait

  In the dark, pre-dawn hours, two men made their way by horseback to the northern edge of the forest overlooking Bearinger. Leaving their horses tied a safe distance away, Yulen and MaGrath advanced on foot through the dense forest to where they could see the small side door in the compound wall. Standing guard over it, the sentry appeared restless but awake.

  MaGrath looked over to where the Battle Lord was bent down behind protective covering, assessing the layout of Collaunt’s domain. Yulen sensed the physician’s intent stare, and glanced over at him.

  “Are you going to be all right?” MaGrath asked, keeping his voice low and soft to avoid detection.

  Yulen turned back to watching the compound. “I wanted our first time to be special. I wanted her to feel...loved. Cherished. I wanted to shower our wedding bed with morning glory petals. Not...not like this,” he admitted in a tight voice.

  “You’ll be able to make it up to her, Yulen. She’ll understand. After all, look at what she’s already endured because she loves you and wants to be with you.”

  He watched Yulen bow his head. The man’s right hand nervously played with the pommel of his sword, the only outward sign of the roil of emotions battling inside him. Sighing, MaGrath placed a hand on the man’s arm. Yulen responded by laying his free hand over MaGrath’s and giving it a squeeze.

  They remained in wait until Dion appeared from seemingly nowhere right before noon.

  “Ready?” the little man asked. At Yulen’s nod, he handed him the coat he’d brought along. The Battle Lord removed his weapons belt and handed it to MaGrath. Donning the coat, Yulen turned to give MaGrath an unexpected yet sincere hug.

  “She’s my life, Liam,” he whispered in the man’s ear.

  “I know.”

  Breaking away, Yulen lowered his eyes and turned to follow Dion back the way he’d come, leaving the physician behind to pray for their success.

  Chapter Thirty-Five

  Cell

  Yulen stepped into the dungeon, hesitating slightly as Dion closed and locked the door behind
him. The little window at head level opened, and Dion whispered so only he could hear, “Better hurry, sir. I’ll come back for you when they change the guards.” The covering slid shut, leaving him alone in the dim light.

  He stepped further into the tiny cell, appalled by the dungeon’s conditions, when a fist of guilt punched him in the gut, and he realized conditions at Alta Novis weren’t all that different where they kept Mutah prisoners. The place was freezing, the bare rock like ice. What little covering there was contained soiled or moldy hay, or the remnants of filthy clothes left by prisoners who had once occupied this same cell.

  “Atty?” He peered into the darkness, waiting for his eyes to adjust. He finally could make out a small figure huddled in the farthest corner of the irregularly-shaped room. “Atrilan?”

  Dion wouldn’t have led him to this room if he wasn’t absolutely certain she was here. Biting his lower lip, Yulen walked over and knelt in front of the shivering figure. A lock of hair fell over the thinly covered shoulders. Deep blue hair the color of morning glories.

  “Atrilan!” He lifted her into his arms and tried to give her his warmth, willing her to be well, to be whole and unhurt while he tenderly kissed her face. The huge, ugly bruise from her assault at the market place still colored her right cheek and jaw.

  “Yul?” She blinked, drawn from the escape of sleep by a voice from her dreams.

  “Atrilan. We haven’t much time. Are you okay?”

  “Time?” Groggy, she reached for him and clutched his shirt. “Yulen, get me out of this place. Take me away from here!”

  “I can’t,” he admitted, his voice breaking. “It’s too risky. Too dangerous. Listen carefully. Are you completely awake?”

  She pulled back to look up at him. Her face was unnaturally pale, and Yulen felt his heart ache at the circumstances.

  “Atrilan, in a short while Collaunt is going to have you taken into the main hall where he’s going to have his physician check to see if you’re still a virgin.” He could tell by the fear in her eyes that she was listening and understanding. “If you are, he’s going to have you publicly raped in front of witnesses. And then he’s going to test you to see if you still have your skills.”

  “Why?” her voice quivered.

  Yulen shook his head. “He’s an evil man. He hates me, hates my having you. This is one way he knows he can humiliate me. He thinks it’ll break me, treating you like that.” Kissing her forehead, he admitted in a softer voice, “He’s right. It will break me.”

  Atty sobbed quietly. “Why are you here? Why can’t you take me with you?”

  “Because it’s too dangerous. So we’ve come up with a plan.”

  “We?”

  “Me, Liam, and Mastin.”

  “What is it?”

  “Listen. There’s very little time. I’m here to do the only thing that will save you from Collaunt’s brutality. I’m going to have to take your virginity.”

  She started to say something, but paused when she saw Yulen pull off his coat and lay it on the ground before guiding her down onto it. “Yul...”

  “Shhh.”

  Silently she allowed him to tug off her pants. Earlier the guards had taken her boots, and now her feet were numb from the cold. When she was naked from the waist down, she watched him unbuckle his own pants, noticing for the first time that he wasn’t carrying his sword.

  “This is going to hurt, isn’t it?” she whispered.

  “Forgive me, Atrilan.” He knelt before her to lift her knees and spread her legs before leaning over and covering her with his body. She shivered against the icy temperature now attacking her flesh until his warmth shielded her like a blanket.

  He lifted her face so that she looked up into his eyes. “I wanted our first time to be special,” he murmured. There were tears in his eyes. “Forgive me. I promise you, once we get out of this, I’ll make every night from here on a gift.”

  “You’ve already made this special,” she whispered. His hands were tenderly stroking her thighs and buttocks where they rested on his coat. Her own hands had found his waist, and even now were burrowing underneath his shirt to find the hard muscles of his back.

  “How?”

  “You’re doing this to save my life,” she told him.

  He pressed his lips her throat, feeling her pulse under his tongue. They had to hurry, but he couldn’t rush it, or else it still would be too much like rape.

  Incredibly, he was hard for her. With extreme gentleness, he guided himself to her entrance, until the tip of his erection buried itself between her lower lips. She was dry. And there was no way she could take all of him.

  He knew it would hurt her beyond anything she’d ever experienced before in her life, but it couldn’t be helped, and he prayed she would forgive him. She continued to shiver beneath his weight, and he adjusted himself so as not to crush her with his weight. One hand continued to cup her buttocks. With the other, he played with her clit, rubbing the end of his penis across the tiny bundle of nerves until he was rewarded with a drop of her wetness. Smearing the head of his erection with her warm cream, Yulen fitted himself into the entrance of her tight little tunnel. Atty gasped at the sensation.

  “I’m afraid,” she choked. “What... Do I need to do anything?”

  “Try not tense up, Atrilan,” he whispered into her ear.

  “Is it going to hurt much?”

  “Yes, but not for long. I promise, not for long. And after this one time, never ever again.”

  A soft sob trembled in her breath. He felt her lips against his cheek. “Do it.”

  Holding her steady, he pushed into her, quickly and forcefully, so as not to prolong the agony, and at the same time clamped his mouth over hers. She cried out, her scream was muffled as her body spasmed against the sharp, overwhelming pain. Her nails dug into his back, leaving thin trails of blood. Yulen didn’t move, but kept himself motionless, enveloped deep within her, until she began to weep.

  “I love you,” he whispered, kissing the warm drops sliding over her temples. “I love you, and I’m so sorry it had to be this way. My love...”

  “It...hurt.”

  He could hear a small whine in the back of her throat, and he cursed himself for not doing it sooner, for not taking her to wife the day after they’d arrived at Alta Novis. He wished there could have been another time, another place, another circumstance. If only she had been in the throes of passion, coated with sweat and her own womanly juices. If only he’d had enough time to bring her to another moment of release.

  “Does it still hurt?” he asked tenderly. He’d remained frozen, a little more than halfway inside her. He felt her head move slightly against his. No.

  Very, very slowly, he moved himself within her. Her body accepted him, creaming her inner channel and making passage easier. Atty’s reaction was instantaneous. “What are you doing?” Her voice contained the agonizing memory of her penetration, but something had changed.

  Yulen lifted his face again to look down at her. She opened her eyes to gaze up at him. He watched her expression as he moved again, sliding deeply, carefully, until she sheathed almost three-quarters of his length, then retreated with excruciating slowness. Her body was a glove three sizes too small, yet it tried to stretch and accommodate him. Nature took over and found a way. A softness came into Atty’s eyes. She arched her head back, and he bent over to taste her silky neck.

  “What are you doing to me, Yul?”

  “Now we’re making love,” he whispered in her ear as he continued to move in and out of her, feeling her tight, inner muscles beginning to contract around him.

  She caught her breath. The breath became a low moan.

  He closed his eyes and allowed himself to savor that which he’d denied himself, had dreamed about, ever since that time in the little shop when he knew he would have her by his side for the rest of their lives. He felt her lifting her knees, which gave him greater access, and he pressed his forehead to the coat on the floor as his bod
y responded.

  The quick rap at the door startled them both. The little window opened, and a frantic voice whispered, “Sir! One minute! No more!” before it shut.

  Immediately, Yulen withdrew and rose onto his knees.

  “What—” Atty started to ask, but he shushed her while he tore off a piece of her shirt. She watched as he cleaned himself, and her eyes widened in shock to see blood smeared on the material. Before she could say anything, he reached between her legs and gently wiped her down, then tossed the stained material to one side.

  “Quick. Your pants.” He stood and strode over to the door as he pulled up his own pants and fastened them. When he looked back at her, she had managed to pull hers back on. He rushed back over to snatch up his coat from the ground.

  “When they take you to the main hall, say nothing,” he whispered against her lips. “MaGrath and I will be there once we allow them to take us prisoner, but that is another part of our plan.”

  “Yul! No!”

  “Sir!” the voice came from the little window once again. There was no mistaking the urgency.

  Yulen gave her one more loving look, one more soft but quick kiss, and he slipped out of the door seconds before Collaunt’s men came down the corridor to fetch their prisoner.

  Dion led the Battle Lord back to the outer wall where MaGrath was waiting with baited breath. “Well?” He was answered with a dark, unfathomable look, but it held the answer he sought. “Thank God.”

  They hurried to the strand of trees where the horses were tethered. Dion melted back into the underbrush, but not before repeating the Battle Lord’s instructions.

  Taking a deep breath, Yulen swung into his saddle and turned his horse around, prepared to leave the protective covering of the trees. “There are more despicable things I’ve done in my life, Liam, but right now I can’t think of any of them.”

  “Is she all right?”

  There was a long silence. “Yeah,” Yulen finally whispered. “Yeah. She’ll be fine.”

  MaGrath nodded. “Now let’s go get her.”