Still, as much as Matrise had proved herself up to the task of hiking through the Lower Jungle – and he was impressed – she was lagging, and had been despite the energy she had received from the dūdol fruits he had found shortly after they had gotten started. Matrise had like the sweet tang of the fruit. She had liked it enough to fashion a pouch out of one of the under-robes she had worn, pick a number of extras and stow them with the rest of her clothing into the pouch.
Now Halden took the pouch with its knotted sling and hooked it over the bundle that was already over his shoulder. She turned to him as he took the pouch and now stood in front of him tired and a little irritable.
“I had it.”
“Yes, and now I do.” Halden chose not to mention the word ‘tired’ to Matriese as he was coming to realize the woman had a quick temper. Before she realized his intention, Halden scooped the woman off the ground and arranged her as he had the night before. “Now I have you. Rest Matrise. It has been a long day.”
“I swear, no matter where you go, men are all the same.” He heard her grumble against his neck.
She must really be tired – I expected her to fight with me. Instead, I think she is already dozing off to sleep.
*
Matrise woke up in another tree. This time when she sat up, Halden reached out and pushed her back down onto her back.
“Sleep a little longer,” he murmured, his eyes still closed.
“I can’t – I’m awake.”
One black and gold eye slitted open. He glared at her with that one eye, before glancing around. Finally he sat up and scrubbed his hands over his face. A gusty sigh blew out of him, hissing through his teeth.
“I had hoped for it to be a little later in the afternoon. We have only been here for a few hours.”
“A few hours? But it was barely night…you carried me through the night again!” Matrise accused.
“And through the morning. I wanted more distance between us and Cliffside. The King and his soldiers have doubtless discovered that you are not within the city by now. They probably entered into the Jungle sometime yesterday. I had to take the long way around one of the crags in the night as it would have been foolish to do otherwise. I hope to take the short paths on the ones we will come across between now and sunset. “
“What is a crag?” Matrise asked.
*
As it turned out, a ‘crag’ was a giant canyon dramatically cut into the planet’s surface. Matrise stared at the one in front of her. It was easily a hundred feet wide and several times that deep – not to mention it then appeared to stretch at least a mile in either direction…probably further.
The damn thing was undeniably a death pit as it had suddenly appeared in front of her. If Halden hadn’t been expecting it, Matrise could imagine having walked right into it.
That’s an unpleasant thought.
“You said there was a short-cut? How exactly is there a shortcut around this thing?” Matrise demanded.
“Do you trust me?” Halden asked from behind her. The man had been fiddling with his damn bundle while she gaped as the massive crevice in the ground.
“Not when I am staring at a pit of death.”
Halden laughed – Matrise considered killing him, but the fact remained that she needed him.
“Do not worry, I have done this before.”
“That is not a reassurance. People have died before. That doesn’t help the situation any.”
“But I am not dead.”
*
She would definitely kill him. Later. When she could walk again. Hell, she would kill him when she could breathe again.
One second Matrise saw something jettisoning across the crag, the next the mad man was rushing her, snatching her up and diving into the pit of doom. She had screamed the whole way.
As Halden rubbed at his ear once more, Matrise was certain that the giant jerk had deserved the operatic masterpiece of that scream aimed right into his ear. He had scared the living hell out of her – he could suffer.
Sure, the man had known exactly what he was doing. He had known that the crag narrowed, that he could easily catch hold of the other wall and climb up, quickly and with ease, but he still deserved to suffer for nearly scaring her to death.
“I don’t see why you thought you would need to kill the King,” Halden grumped. “You only had to do that in his ear for him to run desperately in the opposite direction.”
“You don’t sound as if you like him much,” Matrise commented.
“What was that – I can’t hear you . I think I have permanent damage.”
“Permanent brain damage maybe.” At her muttered comment, Halden poked at her ribs in retaliation. “Hey! Geeze don’t be so dramatic. And you obviously did too hear me.”
Halden gave her a hard stare before speaking. “The Kings took their position in the way that has been accepted for as long as history has been recorded on Rodnekow'E. But no, while I respect the position of the King, I do not like the personality of the man that holds that position.”
Matrise pressed for more, but Halden refused to comment further. She soon forgot about interrogating him when they came to another gaping crag. Matrise felt her eyes widen in horror, but before she could protest, she saw the projectile fly – the bundle she now recognized – felt his hands on her, gravity rushing to meet then as they plummeted into the abyss.
To make sure he understood her resounding ire, Matrise shrieked into the shell of his ear again.
Jackass!
*
The only thing that could so radically increase Matrise’s need to sleep, she figured the next morning when she woke cradled against Halden’s back, was that her body was still recovering from whatever had happened to her to get her to Habögad 4 – Rodnekow'E. He had swept her up sometime in the night, and judging by his steady, though lagging pace, the man hadn’t stopped to sleep yet.
Matrise shifted against him.
“Halden.”
“You’re awake now?” Halden’s voice was a soft murmur in response.
“Yes – sorry. I don’t know why I am so tired these last days.”
“Do not worry about it,” he assured her.
“You can put me down now.”
“Why? We are nearly there.”
Matrise straightened on her perch and ogled the vine covered stone walls that appeared before them when Halden pushed through what appeared to be the final thicket. She felt his torso stretch as he breathed deep and relaxed.
Halden slipped Matrise down from his shoulder so that she could wander among the vines and heavy leaved plants alongside him.
“What is this place?” Matrise asked softly.
“This is Sidel.”
*
As Matrise gaped at the lost Jungle City Halden surveyed it himself for the first time in several years. During the cycle long test to measure him for the position of War Lord, Halden had lived in Sidel. he had called the worn, jungle infused stones his home. There was something about the sprawling ruins of the city that spoke to him – that made him feel at peace.
The low stone walls were draped and overwhelmed by vines that would flower in the cool air of the night. Open windowed buildings built on one another. Small relics of a long-forgotten time could be found strewn about the city.
He had gathered a vast collection during the year he had lived there. Still, Halden had deemed it most wise to leave that collection of treasures behind in the sprawling structure that may have been a palace or a temple to the ancient gods that had bestowed the power unto the strongest of the R'kowe.
Halden took a meandering rout to that structure with Matrise now. He shouldered aside the swag of vines that obscured the doorway. When they stepped inside, they stepped into Halden’s past. Everything was exactly as he had left it. The rope-cloths he had knotted from vines still laid over the furniture he had built to suit his needs and the feel of the ancient city.
Dust had accumulated on the tables and shelves. Va
rious small animals had wandered through the space, but everything that mattered had been left undisturbed during the years he had commanded the military forces of the Twin Kings. Everything had been left undisturbed and waiting – waiting for him to return.
Chapter 7
Days had passed. Days upon days. Ediskrad could barely control his fury at Halden’s continuous evasion. The warriors were slow moving through the Lower Jungle in such a large group and despite their numbers many of his most loyal had fallen to the treachery of the wilds.
His command of the Power protected Ediskrad from the dangers, but it posed a threat to the warriors the longer they remained in the Lower Jungle.
*
Mishtal and Mishtlan as well as a few others gathered in the cooled air that came with night. They took shifts – some guarded while others slept, they would switch off half way through the night.
“He is becoming increasingly deranged.” One of the men, Bretnil murmured. “Solak, I mean.”
They all knew exactly who Brentil spoke of and as Solak was the name he had given a dūdol’E-spek his daughter had recently found and brought home as a pet, no one was fooled. No one disagreed either. King Ediskrad was becoming quite mad. He was obsessed with finding and killing the War Lord. No one was sure that the woman he was determined to claim and bond would survive either.
Mishtal kept his eyes on the thicket surrounding them as the others murmured in the dark. A number of the warriors were irritated with the War Lord, as in a way he was responsible for the current debacle they found themselves in. Still that irritation was nothing compared to the building malice many felt for the man that stood as their King.
Warriors had been lost in the Lower Jungle. Several had met with hard ends thanks to the predators that stalked the Lower Jungle. Yet others had fallen, unsuspectingly into massive crags that gouged the floor of the Jungle.
Still other warriors had disappeared in the night Mishtal hoped that they had managed to find their ways safely out of the Lower Jungle – that they had safely made it back to Cliffside.
Neither Mishtal nor Mishtlan blamed the men for their abandonment. No, and they did not blame Halden either. In the Misht twins’ shared opinion, the blame lay squarely on King Ediskrad’s gilt shoulders.
*
Matrise still marveled at the beauty of Sidel. Even after a couple of weeks, she would turn around and discover something new and unexpected among the ruins of the city. Though she had been surprised to discover a whimsical streak a mile wide in her companion – it was obvious every day how much he loved the ruined city.
Presently he was dragging her off to practice with the bow and barbs – as he called the arrows – he had brought with them. At least she had finally discovered what was in that bundle the man had insisted on toting with them: a couple of bows, a slew of ‘barb’ and a couple of swords he insisted were daggers. When Matrise had debated the terminology, he had laughingly informed her that he supposed ‘child-size’ was perfect for her.
Halden had tried to convince Matrise to learn to hunt, but she had put her foot down. She would learn the weapon skills for self-protection, but as long as he was available she did not consider the skill to hunt to be in her own defense. She had also refused to be party to the chore of cleaning the kills he brought back. Eew!
That was just too much. This planet was in dire need of a grocery store. Matrise didn’t mind the ‘gathering’ part of hunting and gathering, so that task had become a constant part of her day. It also afforded her the opportunity to explore Sidel.
Unfortunately it was ‘bow-time.’ Over the last week ‘bow-time’ had become synonymous with ‘debate time.’ Today’s topic of argument was an increasingly popular one between them – Mission: How To Get Matrise Back Home.
Matrise had scrubbed the idea of going into education when she had realized she would be one of those teachers that was great in their field but had no idea how to share their knowledge.
That realization was cemented every time Mission: HTGMBH was brought up. Matrise could not explain the physics of space travel in a way that Halden understood, and thus they continued to go round and round and round.
Halden reached over to adjust her grip on the bow as she drew back the string. What I would give for a wrist-guard, Matrise lamented as she anticipated the sting of the string as it bounced back.
“I fail to see why you continue to discount the Power. It is the most astounding force on Rodnekow'E. There is little here that it cannot do.”
“So you keep saying, but there is more to traveling through space than power. Also, Earth is too far for a single push to propel you to.”
“What do you mean?”
“Using the technology that is currently available and recognized as viable on Earth it would take hundreds of lifetimes for a normal person to travel here.”
“Why do you say that? How long is the normal life-span of your people?”
“The current average is 125 years.”
“Year?”
“A year is a single cycle of the planet around its sun.”
“Ahh, a cycle. But is 125 cycles not a bit short of a life-span?”
“What? That is vastly improved from what it used to be.” Matrise gaped at Halden as a question occurred to her. “How old are you?”
“My birth occurred 332 cycles ago.”
“332…you don’t look older than thirty-two. Holy shit!”
*
Halden shook his head as he always did at Matrise’s word usage. She was quite fond of profanity that would make the most seasoned of warriors blush.
“Obviously the Power has affected the manner in which the R'kowe age,” he said simply. “Why, how many cycles do you have?”
“A fraction of the number you do.” Matrise grumbled as she let another barb fly into the target he had fashioned. She was becoming increasingly good with the bow, but the woman had a wicked skill with hurtling daggers at a target.
“That doesn’t answer the question.”
“Twenty-eight.”
“By the power you would be a child to the King?”
“What does that mean,” she snarled.
“The Twin Kings have ruled over Rodnekow'E for the last 600 cycles.”
Matrise turned to stare, shocked, at him for a moment. Then she turned back to the target, “I am not listening to you anymore. You are going to freak me out.”
Halden considered it wisdom to keep one’s mouth shut when dealing with a temperamental woman; still, he could not quite silence the chuckle in his throat. Halden silently pondered the situation as she continued to let barbs find home in the target.
Technology is not a part of Rodnekow'E. With the Power, the R'kowe have never needed such a thing. It is becoming clear that there is no foreseeable possibility of getting Matrise back to her world.
*
Whatever the rule is on Earth – everything tastes like pork here. The animal that Halden had brought back and cleaned for the night’s meal had been a strange chimera. It looked to be a feathered and scaled beast in the shape of a rabbit. All the same, it tasted like pork now that it was well cooked.
“You once mentioned that the Kings affect the environment of the planet.”
“Yes, the spirit of the ruler is ties with the Power. Apparently the sky before the Twin Kings was the same shade as your eyes, the planet was cooler. It was a paradise. There is another abandoned city – Odnek it sits on the plateau above the cliff. It became too hot – and the R'kowe were forced to carve out the Cliffside and abandon their homes on the plateau.
The Power was warped and burned the planet. The Jungles have thrived, but before they bloomed a variety of brilliant colors. Now the flowers can only open in the cool of the dead of night and are gone by morning.”
Matrise pushed aside her now empty bowl and considered Halden. Though he had never seen Rodnekow'E as it had been, he still mourned the changes the planet had experienced.
“Apparently Earth was once co
vered in green. Now only a smattering of jungles and forests remain. The oceans have been polluted and over some cities the air is thick with the pollution of smoke – it is like breathing in poison. There are too many people and many species of incredible animals has gone extinct. Though none of our animals really look like anything that I have seen here.”
*
There was just a glimmer in her eyes as she spoke of her world that called to him to tend to her. Still his passions had been dammed up for too long. Every day was a struggle to maintain the easy way they had been existing with one another.
He had insisted that Matrise take the bed, and he had suspended the coarsely woven hammock in a neighboring room. Still, Halden had found himself, night after night, fantasizing, as he stood in the doorway and watched her sleep in his bed, about joining her in the large bed, waking her with his hands and mouth, and after finally causing a fire to ignite within Matrise, slaking both of their passions through the night.
Though he had been careful in the weeks since they had fled from the Cliffside, Halden’s control finally slipped. He turned toward Matrise, as they sat side by side, and pressed his lips to hers. The inferno that had been burning within him burst out of control.
*
Matrise had occasionally caught herself fantasizing about what it might feel like to have Halden touch her. Yet, he had never made a single overture. Matrise had been sure that he preferred another type of woman, or hell men, but suddenly all of her assumptions were blown away like smoke on the wind.
Alien Lords' Captive (Celestial Mates Book 6) Page 7
