Clara laughed. “It is most difficult to believe, is it not?”
“It is.” Rowenna joined her in the laughter.
“Does Maddoc fancy her?”
“He does,” Rowenna said.
“How do you know? For I do not wish for Evelyn to be trifled with. She has had a most difficult time.”
Rowenna looked at her sharply. “What do you say?”
“She was taken by the fragment, one year past. She was also part of the kidnap of myself and the other females of our group most recently.”
Rowenna frowned. “She is a formidable female.”
Clara nodded. “She witnessed the execution of her father as well.”
Rowenna turned to her. “Fragment?”
Clara shrugged. “Of course.”
“I loathe them. And I loathe the Travelers for allowing their presence.”
“What did this Lee do?”
Rowenna answered, “I do not understand exactly the conflict but he bore the worst of it.”
Clara looked at Rowenna for a moment and determined she would seek out Evelyn.
This moment.
Clara looked around for her, spying her with a hand on her arm.
Maddoc's huge palm encircled Evelyn's upper arm, the fingers wrapping around themselves and Clara was struck by how delicate she looked beside her brother.
How they complemented each other.
Clara rushed to their side and Evelyn looked at her like a wounded animal and she was instantly furious.
“What have you done, Brother?” Clara asked, taking in Evelyn's disheveled appearance, her flushed face. She saw the other young male of the Band approach, his face looking like it was battered by a ram.
Clara knew that look and her eyes swept to her brother's knuckles, the skin hanging in shreds. The incredible healing of all the Band overtook the flesh, turning it pink and new as she watched.
Their eyes met and Clara understood two things: he had not hurt Evelyn. And the one of the Band who approached, had.
Rowenna turned as Lee approached and Clara watched Evelyn's reaction carefully, her face open and telling.
Evelyn saw Lee walk toward her and fought her need to run, it was simply too soon since her taking by the fragment. The instance when the men had come and taken her as her father lay bleeding, his sorrow at his inability to protect her in his eyes as he lay dying. She had listened to what Maddoc had said, that Lee had misunderstood her reactions. But all she could recall was his mouth forcing itself on her, his hand groping her breast without invitation and she began to hyperventilate.
Clara's mouth fell open as Evelyn's breathing became erratic, a high keening noise escaping her mouth.
Maddoc's expression darkened. “He will not hurt you Evelyn, I promise.”
She was whipping her head back and forth and Clara heard her say. “No, no, no.”
“What has he done that this girl would behave this way?” A look of thunder crossed Rowenna's face as she beheld Lee.
His beaten face looked contrite as his eyes met Rowenna's then shifted to Evelyn.
“Do not look upon her. She is in terror of you,” Maddoc said, drawing Evelyn into his body.
Evelyn hated the attention from everyone and was keenly embarrassed but she felt safe in Maddoc's arms. Even if he did not care for her and she was but a tired duty, she saw how he had reacted to her fear and she trusted that about him.
“She wished for my attentions then she bit me and ran! She is confused in her responses! I did not know she would be different from our females,” Lee said.
“She is a guest of our clan. And but ten and four years of age, Lee.”
He looked sharply at Rowenna. “What? She looks as a woman...”
“She is. But a young one.”
“She has naught been touched by a male,” Maddoc growled and Evelyn shivered against him. An overwhelming urge to cover her in his protection overtook him, coursing through his body in an adrenaline surge that numbed his extremities. She clutched at him and buried her face in his chest.
Clara watched a decision form on her brother's face and looked at Rowenna for support.
“Her bloodying your lip and running was not enough information for you to leave her alone?” Rowenna asked.
He shrugged his massive shoulders. “Mayhap I did not wish to listen.”
“That is most troubling. You would have to ignore your inbred imperative. Your inborn imperative to protect.”
“I am sorry. There is something special about this female. I was overcome, I admit. I could see nothing but my wish to consume her.”
Rowenna watched as Matthew and Bracus moved through the crowd, Joseph and Philip following closely behind them.
“What has happened?” Philip said on a growl, his eyes raking over the two young of the Band, noting the bruises as they faded before their eyes.
Maddoc said, “This one pressed his attentions upon the girl and I stopped it.”
Evelyn's eyes peeked out from the bunched cloth of Maddoc's tunic and met Bracus' gaze.
Her vulnerability was more than he could bear.
Clara saw Bracus in a blur as he fisted the material of Lee's tunic and dragged him in until their noses touched, the younger Band shorter by inches.
“You dare to force a female of my Band? A girl, you ruffian!” he spat into Lee's face and Lee stood straighter, pushing Bracus, who stumbled back.
There was a swollen moment when Clara thought that it would end, then Bracus charged and everything dissolved as Rowenna leaped forward. Spinning on the balls of her feet she landed between the two men and Bracus barreled into her. She used his momentum and grasping his huge forearm she swung him to the side over her outstretched foot as he started to fall. He wound his hand around her forearm, mirroring her movement. She fell upon him, a dirk naked in her hand and pinned against his throat.
A sound escaped her and Clara saw his hand circled her arm with crushing force. Bracus' eyes widened in alarm and he immediately let off the pressure, his face would have been comical had the situation not been so serious. She lay atop him, her breasts crushed against his chest, the point of the dagger sinking the tiniest bit into the tender side of his neck, his gills a hair's breadth from the point of entry.
“You bloody me for that scoundrel,” he whispered.
“No. I bloody you because you will not discipline my Band. They are my sole responsibility.”
Philip came behind her and Maddoc put Evelyn into Clara's arms as he moved to intercept him but in a smooth motion, Rowenna kept the blade against Bracus' throat as her opposite hand struck out behind her. Philip skidded to a stop an inch before the remaining blade punctured him.
Her attention split, Rowenna said in a low voice. “Maddoc.”
“I am here, Mother.”
“Guard me as I rise.”
Joseph laughed. “He is barely a man, he cannot guard anyone against four of the Band.”
“Mayhap not, but he is my brother and should not be pressed into service,” Clara said, her gaze steady on Joseph.
Rowenna rose, a blade in each hand, her gaze wary.
Bracus jumped to his feet, grabbing Rowenna about the nape of her neck, bringing her against him. “Pierce my flesh, Rowenna. Do your worst.”
Clara watched those fingers that would have done harm, curl around Rowenna's slender neck.
Maddoc moved to assist Rowenna and Bracus said, “Do not. I will not harm her. I could never harm her.” Rowenna's eyes widened and she let her blade drop to the floor, their bare flesh pressed together.
Bracus kissed her, his arms crushing her against him and the room stilled, the collective breath leaving it, stealing its oxygen.
Maddoc stood watching his mother melded against Bracus in a storm of conspicuous passion.
Her arms rose to encircle his neck and he clutched her tighter against him.
It looked as though Bracus had made the choice for Clara.
*
They broke
apart and Rowenna touched her lips with her fingertips, her blades laying at her feet.
Bracus appeared similarly stunned. He recovered and looked at Clara. “I... I am sorry. I do not know what has just happened. One moment we were warring and the next...”
“You touched my skin and all thought of harming you...” Rowenna began.
“Vanished,” Bracus finished.
She nodded.
Maddoc glanced behind him at Evelyn, seeing she was with Clara, he came to stand beside his mother. “What has happened?'
Rowenna shook her head. “It is as the Travelers said it would be.”
Clara approached, her hand clasped within Evelyn's. “What say you? Is there something I was not told?”
Rowenna tore her gaze away from Bracus and he reached out to touch her and she shivered as his flesh connected with hers.
She did not pull away.
“All females of savage blood are the fabled select that the Travelers prophesied about. I am a pure blood of the Band. It was bound to happen eventually.”
Clara was confused. “Why after Rolland passed did you not mate with another?” Clara was trying not to think on the fact that her mother had been kissing Bracus. The man she had just ended her courtship with.
“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 with history, saving whom they pleased and letting a situation of cloistered communities within the spheres weaken the people. Both their physical and mental constitutions were degraded. 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 day's drama swirled 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 dragged 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. She was 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 and Evelyn be?” 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 might 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 ask
ed 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.
Jocelyn 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.
The SAVAGE Series, Books 1-3: The Pearl Savage, The Savage Blood and The Savage Principle Page 43
