They stared at each other for a pregnant pause then she flew to Daniel, throwing her arms around him. “I will not let them kill you,” she said against his shirt.
*
Daniel felt Clara crash into him and fierce protection roared up from his belly and ignited his keen senses just as the Band pushed their way through the door.
His senses alive, he pulled Clara behind him and crouched in front of her protectively. The pain from his wounds dimmed in the face of potential danger to her.
Bracus laughed and Daniel's eyes bored into his, never shifting.
“Definitely Band,” Edwin said, shaking his head in wonder. “How did we not see it before administering our justice upon him?”
Clara came from behind Daniel and asked, “As I lay unconscious you beat him? You beat him!” She ran for Edwin, reaching him and slamming his chest with her small fists. “You do not decide who shall be punished.”
Edwin made no move to defend himself against her. Matthew grabbed her wrists. “Clara, he did not know. He had sport with who he thought was fragment. We did not know,” he shook her slightly and she met his gaze. “We did not know,” he repeated, his stare going to Daniel's
“Don't hurt her, or I'll bash your brains into my bed and sleep on your blood,” Daniel said as he moved to take Clara from Matthew.
“Definitely Band,” Maddoc said with a chuckle.
Matthew looked at Maddoc and he shrugged.
Matthew sighed. “We are not here to harm, but for answers.”
Daniel straightened then looked at Edwin. “Fine, but I don't have to answer to him,” he said pointing at Edwin.
Matthew released Clara and his hands lingered on her upper arms. She huffed out of the cell and motioned for all to follow her, Rowenna moving to her side.
“There seems to be much of the story we do not know,” she gave Clara a sidelong glance.
“ 'Tis true,” Clara said. “But soon we will make the most of the truth. As there seems to be much riding upon it.”
Clara left the area where the cell lay and went directly to Queen Ada's chamber, untouched for a year. It was there that she would make a Queen's decisions, eradicating the ghost of her false mother forever.
****
Clara looked at the assembled, Matthew and Daniel each looking at the other with curiosity.
Finally, Clara turned to Bracus. “What do you know of this 'recognition of kin'?”
Bracus rolled his shoulders back, inhaling deeply. “It is but legend, really. It is something all the Band was taught. That savage blood calls to like blood. Those that are Band know other Band. Those that are blood-tied, feel it as fire in their chests.” He laid his palm over his heart in illustration.
Matthew spoke for the first time. “We are kin. I understand that.”
Daniel gave a reluctant nod and Matthew continued, “But how is that possible? I have not seen my mother since I was a small boy. I do not remember her,” he finished softly.
Daniel looked at him sharply. “I do not wish to be the bearer of ill news,” he said, walking to where Matthew stood.
It was at that moment that Clara saw the resemblance of the two so sharply, one with gills, one without, the same height, the breadth of shoulder, the intensity of expression. Only the eyes were different.
Matthew stood in icy silence, his stare never wavering and Clara walked to him, placing a palm on his back.
“She was passed along the fragment that she was traded to. My fragment. When she came to be with child, she had me. Then...”
He looked into Matthew's eyes. “She took her own life.”
Matthew's eyes became red, the vein in his forehead throbbing and his fists clenched. “My mother was your mother?” Are you certain?”
“I am now.”
“How do you know?” Matthew pressed.
“Because it was told to me that a female of the Band was taken with a small son who was a pureblood. The son remained in the fragment which captured him, but the mother was traded to the fragment I was a part of.”
“Who was your sire?” Clara asked.
He looked at her, his face devoid of emotion. “I don't know.”
“How was it that you were not in danger? They beat and starved me, treated me as a burden. How was it you were able to fare as one of them?” Matthew asked, rage the only expression he wore.
“My wet nurse told me when I was old enough. I didn't have throat slits. And neither did she. It was presumed that she was clan only.” He shrugged. “I am sorry. I never knew our mother. She was but a ghost of the past. Someone that was abused and I was a product of that abuse. But my wet nurse, she loved me. She told me what she knew so that I would know what I am.”
“What are you?” Maddoc asked and Clara saw Rowenna lean slightly forward to hear it all.
“I am like your Queen, a half-breed.”
Silence filled Ada's chamber, the thick dust that lay over her possessions unmoving with the stillness of their bodies.
Charles broke the silence, “He killed our people, Clara. He must die. He is not the Band that you are allied with. He is part of the fragment. The people that rape and beat women, kill everyone, take all that is not theirs. He must be punished. And,” Charles paused for affect, “he knew what he was and said nothing.”
Daniel turned sharply to Charles. “I did what I had to do to survive, fool. I had all around me that were not of my blood. I was determined to kill Tucker, then make peaceable relations with the sphere. But it was just me, nobody else.”
“You talk as the fragment, the horrible dialect which hurts the ears. You fight like the fragment,” Edwin said.
Daniel narrowed his eyes. “I wouldn't fight fair when it is three to one in any event.” His eyes took in Edwin's, he didn't see the other two of the Band that had laid the abuse on his face. Edwin's face was lacerated and painful, but like all the Band, he was healing. Daniel healed more slowly but was known amongst the fragment for being the most resilient. They certainly knew why now.
Evelyn came forward and Daniel saw her face as Maddoc reached for her. She turned and shook her head. “He will not hurt me.” He dropped his hand reluctantly and watched her as a lion watches a gazelle.
She approached Daniel. As she drew near, she reached out and squeezed Clara's forearm, smiling around the wounds on her face and Clara stifled a sob.
She remembered what it was to have her face look like that.
Evelyn looked up into Daniel's face. “I believe you. I remember exactly how you tried to protect the women. You reminded me of Band even then. He does not deserve death, Charles.”
Charles was disgusted and strode to Clara, tearing her away from Matthew, circling her upper arms with hard hands. He shook her slightly. “Do not give him fidelity. You cannot save everyone. Do you not see this? He does not deserve your sufferance and protection.”
Charles felt a hand on the base of his neck as it bit into his flesh. “I don't know what place you hold here in Clara's kingdom, but if you do not release her I will break your hands off and beat you with them,” Daniel said with quiet menace.
Matthew met his gaze and smiled. He had been thinking much the same.
Charles disengaged his hold on Clara and shook off Daniel's hand. He turned back to Clara, but she saved him the trouble of speech.
“He does deserve my protection. He gave me his with great risk to himself. Protection is a sacred gift. I would know, Charles. I was without it for years. I do not take the gift of protection lightly.” She crossed her arms and too late realized her careless words.
Charles face hardened before her eyes. “So soon, with your precious Band around you, you forget the protection I afforded you in those dire times.”
Clara opened her mouth to apologize. Of course Charles had been there but neither of them had been able to prevent Queen Ada and her tyrant's fists. And those of Prince Frederic alongside. She stood uncertainly before him.
He interrupted her before she coul
d continue, “Why do you think he wishes to protect you Clara? Has that entered your head? Think upon it. Could it be what all males wish? He is fragment, it is all they think of. He does not think of your soul, Clara. He thinks only of what lays underneath your garments,” he said the last with sarcastic finality.
It left Clara speechless as if he had slapped her. In a way, he had. Even if it was the truest thing in the sphere, to say it out loud, with such lack of compassion told her where they now stood with each other.
Clara's heart was breaking but she stood strong. She felt Matthew's solid hand flatten against the small of her back where it cupped the side of her waist.
Charles saw the movement and smirked, as if affirming Matthew's intent.
Clara was instantly incensed. “I think it is time that we serve differently within the sphere, Charles. We will never agree with regard to the alliance. If you continue to see them as enemies whilst they seek mates, friendships and camaraderie I cannot have that as an obstacle while I rule.”
He moved forward, his fists clenched and Clara automatically took a step backward into Matthew. His face showed the shock. “I would never hurt you.”
Clara's head dipped to her chest. “You already have,” she whispered.
Clarence came to stand beside Charles. “Let us go. This has been an emotional and violent ordeal. There are many things Queen Clara needs to decide and adjudicate. Let us give her that respite.”
Charles looked at Clarence then his gaze shifted to Clara. As if compelled he spoke in a fierce whisper, “We are not through with these discussions, my Queen.” He looked at Matthew, then Daniel. They stared back unflinchingly.
“Let us leave,” Clarence said, guiding Charles away. Charles stared at Clara another moment then spun on his heel and strode away.
CHAPTER 33
Clara was a coward and studiously ignored and avoided Charles for the forthcoming two weeks. Instead she rolled up her royal sleeves and worked to rectify the lopsided mess that was her sphere. There were now many tasks and chores needing accomplishing that could not be executed.
There were not men enough to do it.
Bracus called many of the clansmen and temporary housing was erected and they began the onerous process of learning the oyster fields and all the other dailies that made the sphere viable. The worst of the processes were disposing of the bodies. So many needed burial that they were forced to establish a large cemetery Outside.
Clara would walk the cobblestone streets of her home and look through the wall of her sphere and see the wooden stakes which marked each grave. They floated like ghostly beacons above the mounds of earth. It was vaguely disturbing. The clansmen had insisted on fashioning the wood into an elaborate cross for each grave. The saws which moved by steam became a constant sound within the sphere.
There were hundreds of graves. There had been more than twenty of the fragment. The sentry had been killed at the intersect. His keys used to open the great brass doors to the Outside, where the remaining fragment had poured in unabated.
A portal of destruction. The doors were now barred with a huge arm that slid across them. It took four men and two of the Band to move it. The fragment would need more than locks with keys to penetrate again.
Clara walked the tunnel with Bracus, Rowenna and Matthew. Edwin was busy with one of the many tasks for the Band.
Men of the Clan were already at the doors, sliding the bar away from the front. They crouched down and unlocked the two locks at the top and bottom. The doors opened, the sunlight and late autumn heat poured into the sphere tunnel. Clara closed her eyes and let the moment of fresh air, so much drier than the interior sphere warm her skin, stealing her breath in a pleasant rush.
When she opened her eyes, she found Matthew's on her. She smiled up at him. He wrapped his hand around the back of her neck, squeezing it, saying nothing as they walked Outside.
Clara watched the clansmen as they dug graves but one stood out to Clara.
Her eyes took in Daniel as he speared the ground with a stout spade. The ground broke and he dug and flung, dug and flung. His muscles flexing under the movement. He looked so much like Matthew it was startling. Until his eyes met hers and a smile overcame his face, the whiteness of his teeth a slash in his sweaty face. She watched as he stabbed the ground beside him and jogged to where she and Matthew stood. She could not help but notice he was very well put together, his stomach muscles bunching and flexing with the run. The sweat glistened on his skin, tanning under the sun at its zenith. Clara had far less difficulty with the immodest expanse of skin than she once did. This was probably not to her benefit, she mused, disconcerted.
“Clara,” Daniel said. “It's good to see you.”
Clara had become accustomed to his strange speech and tried a phrase that he had taught her most recently. “It's good to see you too.”
He laughed, delighted. “That's so much better than, 'and I, you'.” His face took on all the emotion of the moment: pride, happiness, purpose and the one she feared most.
Love.
She and Daniel had just finished a tense discussion the day before where she fruitlessly tried to explain her alliance and future courtship with Matthew and Edwin. Although Band in his blood, he had been raised amongst the fragment and did not ken to the formality or procedures that were so common amongst sphere-dwellers and to a lesser extent, clansmen.
In the fragment, they simply took what they wanted. It was survival of the fittest. The best fighter, the most cleverest intellect, or in combination, had the best of all. The cream rose to the top, so he said.
He wanted Clara.
Not because she was Queen. No. That had not mattered. As a point of fact, he had not known she was anything but a lowly Princess when they first made their acquaintance. No, as he explained it, she was his. She was the thing that he had been waiting for, fighting toward.
Underscoring the meaning of why he existed...
*
Clara felt uncomfortable. Daniel had asked for an audience alone with her, and Matthew had come undone and they had needed to be separated. Brothers reunited and both of them wanted Clara. However, she was not flattered by the attention. She was aggravated. She had found some measure of relief when Bracus had been swayed to her natural mother's side. Rowenna deserved another after the death of her mate, Rolland. She did not begrudge her that.
Clara had always been slightly more drawn to Matthew. She and Bracus were too much alike to make a good ruling pair. She would need someone different enough from herself as a complement. That is what Father had made clear to her on more than one occasion. Two different minds were meant to come together and make a well-thought-out monarchy.
She reasoned with Matthew, “He will not hurt me. So there is nothing to fear,” she had said, her eyes searching his.
“It is not all that I fear. I already share a courtship with Edwin. It has been over a year since the Rite of the Select and still we are not mated. And neither are you with another. My patience is not limitless, Clara.”
He crushed her to his chest, his hands everywhere and nowhere, pinning her to his body, his lips covering hers as they moved over hers in a rhythm that brought a gasp from her mouth, his hand finally winding around her neck and pushing her against himself, deepening the kiss. He suddenly broke the kiss and put her away from him.
Clara felt hazy, the kiss stealing her good sense like smoke through a chimney. “Tell me you do not feel as I do and I will leave you and you may be with another.”
Clara could not. Instead she stood there, warm in his arms, aching for more kisses, her feet rooted to the spot where she stood, helpless before the fire of their attraction.
She was weak.
He drew her closer again. “Not everything is about duty, Clara,” he said softly, his forehead pressed against hers as he covered her bosom with his warm hand, the fingertips to her left shoulder and the heel of his palm against the other. “Some things are about the heart. Your happiness is impor
tant as well.”
A tear escaped from her eye. Her body trembled on the brink of wanting just what Matthew offered. Security, devotion, protection, love.
The door opened and Daniel stood there, taking in the scene with the two of them.
He smiled at Matthew and shook his finger. “My turn brother. You'll not sway her so easily.”
He held out his hand to Clara and looked at her face. “You promised to speak with me.”
She began to walk away and Matthew grabbed her from behind and pulled her in against him, kissing the top of her head as he did so. Finally he let her go. His reluctance and subdued possessiveness filled the room like a tangible scent.
Daniel just smiled and kept his hand out. Clara moved to take it, and he grasped her small hand in his and moved her into the room, closing the door softly behind him.
Clara looked behind her as Matthew's face disappeared from view, his expression unreadable.
He turned her to face him and she was stiff in his arms. “I do not know you, not really. Keep that foremost in your mind as we converse. I have a history with Matthew. I have agreed to court Edwin of the Clan of Cape Cod.”
Daniel scowled, his finger tracing the contour of her jawbone, trailing down to her collarbone. He did not address what she said.
“You are too thin,” he said absently and bent to lay a kiss at the hollow where her heart beat and she pulled away from him, the spot burning where his lips had been. His hand snaked out and latched onto her wrist and she was suddenly afraid.
His eyes looked into hers. “I would die to protect you, Clara. You know this. When you were taken by the fragment...”
“Yes,” Clara nodded in agreement. “Let us discuss the fragment.”
His expression darkened and she knew she had hit on a nerve, as he would say.
“Your culture is all about taking. Our culture is not. We compromise, we interact, we deliberate. We are civil.”
The SAVAGE Series, Books 1-3: The Pearl Savage, The Savage Blood and The Savage Principle Page 52
