He was cut off on his right by a fuming Rhia, as an even angrier RuArk came up on the left.
“Hold, Rhia!” She didn’t miss the edge to RuArk’s tone, and she acknowledged him without ever taking her eyes off of Rehn.
“Oh come now, Rhia, does this mean you don’t wish to have children together now?” Rehn smirked, playing for time to figure out how to either get around Rhia or get around RuArk. “I felt you shiver when my teeth were on your neck. Come closer, sweet. Let me taste you again.”
She took a step forward with every intention of running him through, but caught herself. This was exactly what he wanted. He expected her to be ruled by her emotions and do something stupid. And she really, really wanted to.
Instead, she shut her feelings away and put on her stoic warrior’s face.
“You look so upset, Rhia. Is it because you will not have the pleasure of wrapping those strong thighs around my waist as I take you?”
This time Rehn’s words rolled off her. And he knew it as she set herself into an offensive stance oblivious to everything except RuArk.
“Rhia, do you wish to challenge him?” RuArk asked, his voice hard, with no inflection, no emotion, as if he were himself made of steel.
She started to say that she absolutely wanted to challenge Rehn. But they’d been here before. She knew that this was RuArk’s way of asking if she trusted him enough to regain her honor, as well as his own.
She loved this man with all her soul. In this moment, she would give him whatever he wanted.
“No. I give my right of challenge over to you.” With that, she stood down, not quite lowering her sword as she edged toward the closest exit, leaving her husband to his business.
* * * * *
Back in the Council Chamber, the High Counsel closed in on a semi-conscious Collaidh as he lay sprawled on the floor with his robes tangled around his ankles. He became fully aware and cringed as Grey Greysomne, renowned leader of the Society of War, picked him up by the scruff of his neck and slammed him into one of the chairs at the council table. Taking the very chains that had held RuArk, the High Counsel twisted them tightly around Collaidh’s body.
“It was Rehn! It was him! He did everything!”
“Shut. Up. Save it for when my daughter and the rest of the Council gather to judge you,” Grey snapped.
The High Counsel kept guard over Rama Collaidh until the fighting was done. He would not let this maggot wriggle away. No, Grey Greysomne would be the rock that crushed this spineless worm once and for all.
Chapter Twenty-Four
Rehn plunged his sword into the nearest Noman bowman, ignoring his look of bewilderment. RuArk’s reach was simply too long and his sword only made that reach longer. He knew there was no way to beat this man hand-to-hand.
Rehn snatched up the discarded bow and quivers, and took off at a dead run, trying to put any amount of distance between himself and RuArk. He turned and fired a swift arrow that caught RuArk’s left shoulder. But it seemed just a scratch to the warrior and didn’t slow the man at all.
They were now in the courtyard outside the Council chambers. A fast-moving summer storm had made the cobblestones and fine tile slick and treacherous. Rehn fired again, and again. Each time RuArk deflected the arrow with his blade or wrist guards and sent it skipping along the stones to land harmlessly in the wet grass along the sidewalks.
Each time Rehn shot, RuArk gained ground. He was now no more than fifteen feet away. In two strokes, Rehn fell, his lungs pierced by a cold piece of steel Gaian death at the end of RuArk’s arm.
* * * * *
As the day dawned, the grizzly carnage in the Council Chambers was revealed. The rain continued to fall from fluffy white clouds, illuminated from behind by the shining sun that waited to break through them. Muted light streamed through the skylight and reflected off pools of blood. The early summer morning heat quickly caused a stench to rise in the room. Thankful for the downpour and the tiled floor of the observatory, the now-free Draeman soldiers went up to the roof and opened the skylights to let the rain in to wash away the filth.
The Noman in the Citadel had been slain where they stood. The few who had survived saw their cause was lost and fled the City, even as the sun rose.
Collaidh was taken to the dungeons where he would await trial for treason.
RuArk was amazed at the sheer number of warriors who had come to his aid. He was grateful to many of them...but not grateful to all. With the High Counsel, and all three of his First Commanders looking on, he stood in the rain and waited for Rhia to come to him.
Arms crossed over his chest, he tried and failed to hold onto his temper. In truth, his anger was born of fear for her safety. Period.
“You placed yourself in danger.”
“Yes, RuArk, but I...”
“There is no excuse for this recklessness. My only purpose in life is to protect my woman, yet here you are in danger of being killed.” He pointed at the blood on her clothing, though in truth most of the blood belonged to others. “If a warrior cannot protect his woman, he does not deserve to keep her. I can see that I can’t protect you, even from yourself. I am done.”
He turned on his heel and began to walk away.
RuArk had never felt this kind of vulnerability in his life. Not on any battlefield, not in any fight. And not for any other woman. When he saw her standing in the Council Chambers next to those Collaidh bastards, he had truly been afraid for the first time in more years than he could remember. And all because he couldn’t bear to lose her. Not now. Not ever.
“RuArk, stop!”
His face may have been stoic, but he was amazingly angry at the danger Rhia had placed herself in. The earnestness in her voice as she called to him was unsettling, as if her very heart was breaking. He stopped walking.
“I know you are angry with me for coming here, but I couldn’t leave things the way they were, knowing what I knew. Won’t you at least turn around?”
His granite expression firmly in place, he turned slowly, bloodied sword still in hand. He clenched his teeth and said nothing. She would try to explain her way out of this one, but there was no excuse. None.
Rhia took a step back.
He looked around quickly and saw that Joan and Sharyn were having similar conversations with their mates though they were not exchanging words. They were all just... glaring at each other, and no one was backing down.
“RuArk, the Ancestors had me come here.” He started to turn away again, but something in her words struck home and rang true. Could it be that the Ancestors had taken Rhia’s safety out of his hands for a time?
“RuArk, I had a vision of Foreknowledge. I told you about it ages ago, but it hadn’t come true so I ignored it last summer. But this time I knew you were in danger. I had to come. There was no way I could ignore what the Gift showed me and let you walk into a trap and be killed along with all our people. Even your mother came and took the children to safety with timing that matched what I was being shown.” The rain continued to fall and Rhia stood, soaked to the skin, but determined to make him listen.
She went on to tell him everything—about her first vision in Sharyn’s quarters, and the very moment she realized that the vision was about to come true, as well as how they’d carefully made plans to come after him.
“I love you more than my own life,” she said.
He was beginning to thaw, but only just...
“I couldn’t let you walk into this situation without doing something. I’ve spent almost my whole life surrounded by people, yet alone. And you promised me you would never leave me alone. You promised! I know I was shown what was happening in order to help you keep your word. I know it sounds simple, but if you are going to stay mad at me then you have to be mad at the Ancestors, too, damn it!”
She yelled at the top of her lungs, one hand on her hip and the other on the hilt of her sword whose tip was point-down in the mud. “And please don’t be angry with our warriors. I forced them to come
with me. I take full responsibility for my actions.”
He turned to fully face her now.
Rhia walked to within a foot of him and knelt at his feet. Her knees sank into the mud, covered with the gore of battle.
“What are you doing?”
She didn’t answer. Instead, she wiped her blade on her own clothing, held out her sword to him with both hands and swore fealty to the Protector of the Realm.
“I give you my honor, my loyalty and my sword. I place your life above my very own.”
RuArk couldn’t remember ever seeing a woman in all the realm of Gaia ever gift her lifemate with her blade. Ever. It didn’t matter that most females of his home province chose to forego the sword. Even for a hardened warrior like RuArk, it was a humbling experience.
It was one thing to have a soldier under your service swear, but a lifemate? A wife? It meant more than simple words could convey. It meant that she would serve him in whatever way he needed for as long as he wanted, whenever and wherever she was needed. But it also put her under his protection, which was all he’d ever wanted in the first place.
Rhia continued to give him the words, not seeing her father nodding his approval. She didn’t see both Gaian and Draeman warriors with admiration shining in their eyes as they sank to their knees and swore their oath anew. And she didn’t see Rehn, laying no more than twenty feet from her, reach for the bow that had fallen from his grasp when RuArk had slashed him with his blade.
The bastard sat up just long enough for one more shot.
The arrow slammed into Rhia’s back and threw her forward into the mud.
“No!” RuArk leapt over her body, his blade a blur as one swing took the Noman’s head clean off his shoulders.
* * * * *
She felt herself being gently lifted. The was sharp pain enough to cause her eyes to snap open for a moment.
“Rhia, if you die now I swear I will take you over my knee.”
“RuArk,” she lifted her hand to his face, but it didn’t make it to his jaw. It fell limply to her side and the jolt caused a groan. She tried to keep quiet, not wanting to alarm him anymore than he already was.
Geez, here she was dying and she was worried about her strong, stoic warrior’s disposition? It was actually quite funny.
Her chuckle came out a pain-filled gasp. Rhia closed her eyes and began to slip into the welcoming void, grumbling when her trip was interrupted by a gentle shake.
“Rhia, come back to me!”
She tried, she really did. But the darkness beckoned her. And it was so peaceful. But then she thought of her beautiful children, Taté Icamna and Relaina Grey and suddenly, she didn’t want to drift into the peaceful darkness.
She tried to tell RuArk that if he could just get her to the Society of Physicians they could have her on the mend in no time. Better yet, if Sharyn...
Her energy had run out. She was still trying to talk, but had no power left to get the words past her lips. Her head fell back, her body limp, as her lifeblood flowed, warm and sticky, from the wound in her back.
Then came the bellow of a torn man, telling her how much he loved her.
The memory of her warrior’s tears falling onto her cheeks with the light misting of the rain, played over and over in her mind as Rhia slipped into unconsciousness.
Chapter Twenty-Five
Rhia awoke on her stomach. She opened her eyes and found familiar surroundings. She was in her old tower apartments in the Citadel.
Sitting up too quickly caused a wave of dizziness so wildly off-center it threatened to carry her back to the shadows of unconsciousness. She fought, but the pain was simply too intense. She lay back down and wondered at the dressing stretched around her torso and splotched with specks of dried, brownish-red blood.
Owwww!
Her back was on fire.
And where was RuArk?
Damn it, now she remembered. The fighting was done and he’d turned to leave her, believing that he couldn’t protect her. She’d tried to explain what had brought her to him, even giving him her sword arm, swearing to him.
He wasn’t here. Not his scent or his presence. Not daring to sit up, she rolled to her side and looked around. The curtains were open and the room was bright enough for her to see that none of his weapons or his clothes were there. He’d really left her. He must have, otherwise he would be here by her side, especially while she was wounded.
Energy spent, heartsick and sore, she lay quietly, not bothering to try to touch the bond with her husband, nor stem the tears that flowed hotly down her flushed cheeks. She’d known the consequences of her actions before she’d ever left Province Springs. Known that there was always the possibility that things wouldn’t work out as planned. She accepted those consequences, knowing that her coming had kept him alive whether he was still hers or not.
But what would she do without her lifemate? Without her RuArk?
A knock came at the door. She didn’t call out an answer. What was the point? It wasn’t RuArk, so she didn’t want to see whoever it was anyway.
Her father poked his head in.
“Rhia? Are you okay?”
“Fine.” Her voice quivered on a sigh. She took a deep breath and tried to compose herself. Making her father worry wouldn’t help any.
Tousling her hair, he said gently, “You’ve been asleep for two days now. How are you feeling?”
Two days? RuArk had a two-day head start back to Gaia? She wouldn’t go after him, though. If he couldn’t forgive her, then there was really no point. She turned her head to look at the High Counsel and noticed that his cuts and bruises were practically healed.
“Your face? How...?”
“The Sensuan are Gaian and some of them have been able to tap into the Gift of Healing. With so many injured during the fighting they have been invaluable. You were in pretty bad shape, Rhia. That son of a bitch, Rehn, had too good an aim. You had a punctured lung and a lot of internal bleeding. We thought we were going to lose you, girl.” With a watery smile, he cleared his suddenly dry-sounding throat. Ever the soldier, he refused to let his tears fall, but he didn’t fail to tell her the words she needed to hear the most.
“So, uh,” she stammered, trying to change the subject. “What happened to Rama Collaidh?”
“He’ll go to trial in the next few months. But right now, I don’t care about that at all. I love you, Rhia. I don’t know what I would have done if you’d left us. Sharyn saw to yours and RuArk’s wounds personally.”
So, that was why she was still alive? Sharyn. If she ever saw the woman again she would kiss her feet upon demand.
“I love you, too, Father,” she whispered, closing her eyes against the pain in her heart. Her father loved her, but she’d never felt so alone in all her life... which she honestly didn’t think was possible.
“Father, do you think you can send someone to the Queen of Gaia asking if I can see my children? Maybe she would agree to have them brought to me? Even if it’s only for a day or so?”
Another voice sounded from the door that she hadn’t noticed was still ajar.
“And what of their father? Have you no wish to see him?”
RuArk! Larger than life and right here.
“I thought you had gone. I mean...” She tried to get herself together. Even tried painting on her diplomat’s face. Besides, she didn’t want to put all her feelings out there in case he’d actually come to say goodbye.
“I could no more leave you than I could leave this world of my own accord.”
“I think I’ll take my leave,” said the High Counsel, pressing a kiss to Rhia’s forehead before rising making his way to the door.
RuArk came all the way into the room then, holding both Taté Icamna and Relaina Grey in his arms. How in the world had he gotten her children here?
“My mother and Sharyn have been watching over you. And yes, I have been here sleeping beside you as well.” RuArk laid both babies on bed.
“Really? You didn’t lea
ve?”
“I told you, it’s not something I can do. To leave you would be to leave a part of myself behind. And our children are precious to me. As precious as their mother.”
Rhia stretched and turned her stiff neck to see Taté Icamna’s midnight black little head, barely visible among the thick bedding. He was contentedly stuffing the covers into his mouth, chewing on them. Relaina Grey had a handful of her brother’s hair in one hand, and her father’s finger in the other.
Rhia reached for the nearest baby, then changed her mind and reached for her husband instead. The movement caused her to wince. A dull ache creeped up the right side of her back, but she was so happy and fulfilled that she just didn’t care.
RuArk returned her hug, and much more as he leaned over to practically bury her with his body. He gathered her in his arms, careful of the silky gauze dressing covering her wounds.
“I love you, my wonderful warrior,” she whispered.
“It is said that warriors do not love, or at least they should not. But this one does, Rhia. With all my heart. I love you.”
“So, you’re still my Wind Storm?”
“I am. And you are my Fire Storm.” It was a statement of fact, without the slightest hint of a question.
Sealed with a kiss, there was no doubt that the Gathering of the Storms was an advent of nature, indeed.
Also by Author TJ Michaels
Carinian’s Seeker, Vampire Council of Ethics One
Serati’s Flame, Vampire Council of Ethics Two
Hatsept Heat, Vampire Council of Ethics Three
Seeker’s Solace, Vampire Council of Ethics Four
Juicy, A Twilight Teahouse Story
Luscious, A Twilight Teahouse Story
Succulent, A Twilight Teahouse Story
Silk Road, Seals of Destiny
Spirit of the Pride, a Pryde Ranch Shifter Story
Niah’s Pride, a Pryde Ranch Shifter Story
Pursuit of Pride and Pleasure, a Pryde Ranch Shifter Story
Shiftin’ Sassy: Derria Pryde, a Pryde Ranch Shifter Story
Winter Blues, a Pryde Ranch Shifter Story
Reckoning Page 21
