Reckoning

by T. J. Michaels

  “I did not think so. You would not want a man you could walk over, and you know this for truth.”

  “Yeah, whatever. Let’s just get back to it,” she grumbled and closed her eyes again.

  This time she successfully reached her Source. The sensation was exquisite. She’d only been able to reach this place within herself a few times, and only with Sharyn’s help. This time she was on her own and the sweet, addictive surge of energy was almost overwhelming. Off in the distance, she heard Sharyn giving her instruction on how to better control it now that it coursed through her.

  Rhia gently clamped down on the raw energy. She allowed it to continue to flow, but controlled the power and strength of that flow. Swirling images danced in her mind, came close until she could almost make them out, then they retreated again. The images seemed wispy and transparent. She opened the flow of her Source just a little bit more, then focused harder. Then, she saw it.

  * * * * *

  “Fire Storm? Fire Storm, wake up.”

  “What happened?” Rhia asked, sitting up groggily. “What am I doing on the couch?”

  “Something happened with your Gift while you were connected to the Source. You were controlling it expertly when you began to tremble. You opened your eyes, but did not respond to me. Then you fainted.”

  “Fainted? I’ve never fainted in my life.”

  “Well, that is no longer true. Tell me what happened.”

  Now that she was awake, the memory flooded her thoughts with a clarity that was frightening. “I saw something, Sharyn. It seemed so real. And there was so much blood...”

  She trembled as the scenes played themselves out before her eyes and brought with them all the feelings of dread and death, as if she were experiencing them right here, right now.

  Rhia took a deep breath and pushed the words out of her mouth. “Our men were on their way to the High City. I could tell because I could see the walls from where I sat my horse. It was like I was there, watching. Like I was outside of myself or something.”

  “What happened after?”

  “RuArk, Linc and Marth, they all rode into a trap. The warriors with them were taken prisoner and put underneath the High City somewhere. RuArk was taken into the Council chambers and accused of being a traitor and... and an assassin. Sharyn, he was sentenced to death.”

  “Who said he was a traitor?”

  “I don’t know. I couldn’t see any of their faces. I could only see RuArk. He was badly wounded and bleeding everywhere, yet he stood before the Council of Seven with that blasted granite face he wears. Then...”

  “Then what?!”

  It was the first time Rhia had ever heard Sharyn raise her voice.

  “They killed him, Sharyn, right there in the Council chambers. His blood was all over the floor. Why would my father do such a thing?”

  “Your father? You saw him? But you said you could see no faces?”

  “Who else would it be? No one else in all of Draema has authority to conduct a Council meeting, and no one else has the authority to order someone to death.” Dread settled into the pit of her stomach as she thought of what this could mean. Sharyn put her thoughts into words.

  “Rhia, this Gift may be Foreknowledge. If it truly is, it is possible someone else had the power to order RuArk killed.”

  “But that would mean my father is not High Counsel in the vision I saw.”

  “Not Vision. Foreknowledge.”

  “Vision or Foreknowledge, so what. Who cares?”

  “Even in something this troubling you must know what you are dealing with. The Gift of Vision shows us what may come, but it is shown in parables and symbols. If you see a songbird, it could represent spring or freedom, as birds sing in springtime and have freedom to fly where they wish. Interpretation is subjective. With Foreknowledge, you get exactly what you see. Death is death. Pain is pain.”

  And fucked was fucked.

  “Sharyn, link with me. Please. I can’t control my Gift enough to do this again by myself, but I have to try to see the vision again.”

  “Rhia it is very dangerous. We linked our Gifts when RuArk was injured because neither of us could have healed him on our own. But it was a dangerous undertaking. You know this.”

  “If RuArk’s life is on the line, I’ve got to know what’s supposed to happen. And so do you.”

  Sharyn shook her head, yet resigned herself to the wisdom in Rhia’s words. They joined hands and reached for their Source.

  The scenes came more quickly this time. Rhia could feel Sharyn reaching into her to help her control the images. This time they saw enough to determine the timing of the horrors. Late summer. The summer season had just begun, so they at least had a little bit of time to figure out how to stop this treachery. But it didn’t make either of them feel any better.

  That afternoon Rhia sent a letter to her father telling him what she suspected. She admonished him not to trust anyone and that he should consider her warning as part of the original reason he’d called RuArk to the High City in the first place. They were still in danger. All of them.

  Chapter Six

  RuArk healed quickly and jumped right back into his duties as Protector of the Realm. A quick trip across the river to Gaia to get the patrols along the borders and the land bridge redeployed, had been quickly followed by the organizing of a large hunting party. The plan? Track down and annihilate the Noman who’d attacked Province Springs—an attack that had nearly cost RuArk his life.

  With summer fully upon them, both Rhia and Sharyn had expressed concern about the coming hunt. She’d even told him about her Foreknowledge, which hadn’t gone at all as planned.

  Rhia tucked her head against her lifemate’s chest and blurted out her fears.

  “RuArk, you can’t go. It’s not safe.”

  The covers fell down around his waist as he swiftly sat up and looked at her as if she’d lost her mind. She quickly launched into her tale in hopes of heading off their imminent clash of wills.

  “RuArk, Sharyn thinks I have the Gift of Foreknowledge. Aaaand there’s the imperious raising of the brow,” she chuckled. He rolled his eyes at her dry humor, and she continued. “While we were practicing touching my Source, right after you got out of bed that first day, I saw something. Something terrible. RuArk you died, horribly. And it was in summer... which is right now.”

  “You know that the Gifts are not always exact.”

  “But...”

  “Rhia, you’ve worried more about me since the attack. Don’t roll your eyes, you know it’s true. I appreciate it, but we can’t lay down our responsibilities, lay down who we are, what we are, and go live in a cave.”

  “But, RuArk...”

  “Your life was in danger the day I walked back into your life. Your life is in danger now. I will not sit aside to save my own skin. Not now. Not ever.”

  “You know,” she snapped, “it’s a good thing Sharyn insisted that I learn how to reach out to the Ancestors for help because thanks to you and your bone headedness, I’ve been doing quite a lot of that lately.”

  “Thank you,” he said, nuzzling her ear.

  “I’m not sure if you’re welcome or not, damn it. You should just give it up and let me go with you,” she insisted, trying to squirm out of the arms that had come around her to hold her close. “You’re trying to distract me.”

  “Is it working?” he asked. She smacked him on the arm, but only succeeded in hurting her hand.

  “Ow! Must I remind you that I’m First Heir of Draema and a Blademaster in the Society of War? Since we’re still officially in Draema province, I have every right to go with you if I bloody well want to.”

  “And must I remind you that you’re my lifemate before anything else and your first duty is to be safe.” He kissed her soundly. “And listen to me, of course.”

  Rhia snorted and almost burst out laughing until he reminded her that his recovery time hadn’t counted towards her “Yes RuArk” days.

  “Are you s
eriously bringing that up now, RuArk Miwatani? Really?”

  “I am. And don’t forget the time added for that fight in town. With warriors. While you were dressed inappropriately with not a sarand in sight.”

  Damn it, she’d completely forgotten about that little dust up, which hadn’t been her fault at all. Not to mention, Linc had been the consummate tattletale.

  “Officially,” he said sarcastically, “You have two more days of total obedience. Of course, you have the option of challenging me again to have them dismissed.”

  Being no fool, she quickly declined.

  RuArk then proceeded to make her forget about wanting to go Noman hunting or anywhere else outside of their bed. God, how he made her scream. Not to mention, he did some screaming of his own.

  Blazes, the man had been gone for all of two days and already she missed him terribly. She rolled over, grabbed his pillow to his chest and inhaled his scent. Rolling out of bed, Rhia headed to the bathing room to dress while forcing herself not to reach for him through their bond. It wouldn’t do to interrupt him if he were in the middle of a fight

  Though it was early yet, it was clearly going to be another scorcher of a day. Ice cold juice in hand, Rhia sat on the terrace under a cloudless blue sky and observed a self-defense class down the hill in the courtyard. She smiled, pleased to see a Gaian captain teaching hand-to-hand basics in her own Draeman style to a mix of Tanners, Horse Breeders and other Society members.

  The battle with the Noman had been a wake-up call to the people here. People who finally appreciated that their Gaian neighbors had dealt successfully with the menace across the land bridge for ages.

  As she watched the students learn the fundamentals of fighting stances, she got up and went to the kitchen, her mind drifting to the language exercises she was supposed to go over with Sharyn later this morning. Rhia usually looked forward to her Gaian lessons, but frankly she was so tired even her favorite tasks lacked appeal. Exhausted and ravenously hungry, not one thing came to mind that could possibly explain this ridiculous fatigue.

  Determined to stuff herself with something savory, the second she entered the kitchens her stomach lurched and roiled. Spicy sausage, herb-laced hard cheese, fresh bread—smells that usually made her salivate—had her running the opposite direction. Maybe she was coming down with something? A message to Brita for some vitamins to ward off the illness and regain her energy was most certainly in order.

  But later, after a nap.

  Sharyn flagged Rhia down just as she started to climb the stairs back to her apartment.

  The other woman hadn’t gone hunting with RuArk and the other First Commanders. Even if the other woman’s sole purpose was to keep her sister of the blade from earning any new punishment upon RuArk’s return, Rhia was glad for Sharyn’s company, and doubly glad for Joan and Brita’s.

  “Rhia, where are you going?”

  “Back upstairs for a nap.”

  “A nap?” Sharyn said doubtfully as her eyes conveyed her thoughts. Rhia could practically hear the woman’s amazement. Usually up with the sun, driving herself relentlessly until the dinner hour, a nap this early in the morning sounded ridiculous, even to her own ears.

  Sharyn grabbed Rhia by her chin, placed a hand under her neck and ran her fingers over Rhia’s skin. “The sun is not even at midday. Do you have a fever? Are you ill?”

  “I don’t know what’s wrong. I don’t feel sick, but I’ve been wiped out lately. I barely have the energy to do anything but observe what’s going on around here.”

  Brita came out of the kitchens and strode down the hallway, heading right for them. Her step was sure, but her expression was strangely vacant. Just as she passed by, Rhia called out. The woman jumped a foot into the air and gasped in surprise as her hand flew to her throat.

  Rhia frowned.

  Wild-eyed and afraid, it took a moment for the woman to calm enough to speak.

  “Dammit, Rhia, you scared me!” Brita snapped frantically, trying to catch her runaway breath.

  “How? You were walking right past us,” Rhia stated matter-of-factly.

  “I was? I... Well, I guess I’ve just been so preoccupied with getting the new medicine stores sorted and put away that I’m kind of loopy.”

  Sharyn looked at her out of the corner of her eye, not quite convinced. “Hmm. Are you sure you are not ill? I was just asking Rhia the same question. Perhaps you should go see the Physician in the township, or one of our Healers?”

  “Me? Sick? No, no,” Brita stammered, her fair skin blushed to a bright red. “I’m fine, really. I’m just tired. I haven’t been sleeping well, but I’m sure it’s nothing.” Then she hurried away.

  “That was weird,” Rhia murmured.

  “I will not disagree with you on that. It was almost as if she was someplace else as she walked past us. Strange.” Sharyn turned back toward the kitchen, then called over her shoulder. “I will send Lunis with a meal for you.”

  “Thanks, Sharyn. See you later.”

  Rhia dragged herself up to her apartments, stripped in the bathing room and then headed to her huge bed. Thinking about her husband’s “come hither” eyes and lazy smile, she recalled every minute detail of his face, his body. Even his voice as he whispered naughty words into her ear.

  Without her meaning to invoke it, the bond she shared with her husband kicked in the second she touched her Source and flared up in her chest stronger than she’d ever felt it. Then RuArk was there, alive and vibrant in the back of her consciousness.

  She pulled a pillow over her head and groaned as her body responded to his scent on the blankets and sheets. Hopefully, the hunt would end quickly and he’d be home soon. She didn’t want to go any longer than necessary without his touch or his company. Her skin and breasts tingled, eager for her husband’s touch. In fact, she was a big tired, tingly mess.

  Too sleepy to hold onto the bond any longer, she released it. Her last thought as she drifted off was how wonderful sleeping a year sounded, and for the first time in her life she didn’t feel the least bit guilty about it at all.

  * * * * *

  “Rhia? Rhia, wake up will you?”

  Groggy, her eyes heavy with fatigue, Rhia finally managed to crack them open enough to focus on Joan’s worry-lined face.

  So much for sleeping a year.

  “Wake up, get dressed and hurry up.” Joan’s agitation seemed to vibrate from her curly platinum head to the bottom of her sandal-clad feet.

  “What the blasted hell is going on?” God, her body weighed a thousand pounds and her head felt full of wet linen.

  “The warriors on the outer wall wouldn’t let him in at first because Wind Storm left strict orders that both the Borderland and Province Springs walls and gates were to be closed and guarded around the clock. The low walls that surround the estate are patrolled, too. Nobody from outside the township is allowed anywhere near you except for the Grandfather and the warriors coming across the river from Gaia while he’s away.”

  “So why did they open the gates against his orders? And who did they decide to let in?”

  “I’m getting to that,” Joan snapped. Clearly, whatever news had come from the High City was pressing enough to shake her. And a shaken Joan was something to be concerned about.

  “One of the warriors came up from the gate. There’s an urgent message from your father.”

  That was enough to get her moving. Fatigue forgotten, she was out of bed. Joan filled her in as she ducked into the bathing room to retrieve the light gray sarand she’d shed earlier.

  “As I was saying, he showed them a letter with the seal of the High Counsel on it. Whatever was in it was enough to get the gates open and an escort through the township directly to you.”

  The second her clothes were arranged, Rhia was out the door, practically running down to the great hall with Joan on her heels. Once inside the main hall, she pounded to a halt. Sitting at a long polished table on one side of the huge main hall was a man looking up at
several amazingly tall, weapon clad, and obviously distrustful, Gaian warriors. That clammy looking, pale skinned, black haired man, dressed in black and more black was none other than Bryan Collaidh. What the hell was he doing here?

  Ewan, one of several scowling warriors, looked over to see Rhia standing at the entrance to the hall. He walked silently to her and quietly gave her a full account of everything that had occurred since Bryan’s arrival in Province Springs.

  “Where are his men?” Rhia asked, not taking her eyes off the man of her nightmares across the room.

  “They were taken under guard to the outer barracks, sir.”

  “The outer barrack?” she asked, eyes raised up to Ewan with true surprise. That building was an old stone building, windowless and scarcely furnished. Barely comfortable and used only for the occasional storage of supplies, its sole purpose was to eliminate the need for warriors patrolling the outer walls to ride the several miles into town to replenish whatever they used while on duty. It was also the only building that locked from the outside. If there was ever a need for a quick holding cell, the outer barrack would be it.

  “He came with six men, all unarmed. We would not allow his men into the township. For this reason, they were taken to the outer barrack, their horses with them. I do not trust him, sir.”

  “They came all this distance with such a small force and no weapons?”

  Ewan didn’t bother to answer the question. The hard glint in his dark eyes made his stance clear—one wrong move and Bryan was history.

  “I don’t trust him either,” Rhia told the warrior. “Thank you, Ewan, for such clear headed thinking.” She chuckled, shaking her head at the typical warrior ‘Well-what-did-you-expect’ expression that crossed the tall man’s face. With that, she plastered on her diplomatic mask with a less than diplomatic smile and walked into the hall. She made a beeline to where Bryan sat watching the circle of warriors with a look that bordered on wonder.

  “Bryan, what are you doing here?”

  “I have an urgent message from your father.” He reached slowly, deliberately into his cloak to retrieve the letter, just as every warrior slowly, deliberately, reached for a long knife or blade strapped to their midsections, sheathed in interesting looking shoulder harnesses.