Chosen (The Warrior Chronicles, 1) (12 page)

They arrived at the Pit, Jerrol now walking slightly closer than he had before their conversation. Shanti watched the proceedings for a scant two seconds before a lifetime of duty and leadership had her marching over to a man her senior by probably ten years. His form was decent,
but it only needed a slight tweak to be much more effective.

“What is your rank
, solider?” she asked gruffly, emulating Sanders. It made her feel stupid, not speaking to him like a human being, but it was the way they did things here. These men liked to keep things in routine. Much like toddlers.

The man hesitated. He knew he was talking to
a woman, knew he should escort her out of harm’s way, but probably figured he’d get a thump for it. He was right on two counts.

“Staff Officer...”
he responded.

“Name?”

“Derek.”

“Staff Officer Derek, you are holding that knife all kinds of wrong. Here let me…”

“
WHAT IS SHE DOING IN THE PIT?”

Alas, Sanders was more observant than she had given him credit for.

The man in front of her tried not to shrivel out of the way. He was the only one.

Shanti turned to face the oncoming rage
of the most vicious man in their military—if the rumors were to be believed. She was rather curious what he would do. Then bored, because instead of kicking her in the head, he immediately reached for her arm to drag her away. She evaded easily.

“Temper, temper,
” she taunted with a playful smirk. “Everyone will think you don’t have a sense of humor.”

“What are you doing in my clothes?” Sanders barked. “And where is your protection?
And-why are-you-in-the-middle-of-fifty-dangerous-men-who-are-half-mad-with-adrenaline?
Do you have a death wish? Or do you want me killed, because if the Captain found out you were here I would be cleaning the
latrines!
“

“Shoot
. My Honor Guard arrives.” Xavier was running at her in a full sprint. “I’ll leave you to it. But first…”

She grabbed Derek’s knife by the blade, spun, and threw with barely a glance at the target. It was easy and effortless and her aim was true. There was a resounded
thunk
as the knife hit the middle of the bull’s-eye.

Thank the grace of the Elder
s! Muscle memory was a wonderful thing. She would have made a real ass of herself if she’d missed.

She walked away to an entire training ground of dead silence. That was, until Rachie showed up.

“Oh thank fuck, we found her! I thought for sure she was hiding in the men’s bathroom again!”

As she let them lead her away, Sanders frothing in her wake,
she said, “Fuck? It seems you’ve been tight-lipped about a very important swear word. Explain.”

Sanders walked into the Captain’s office with a brisk pace and lead in his chest. T
he Captain sat behind his desk, completely composed, but a man just never knew where they stood when called out of the blue. His punishment was nearly up, so that was probably it, but he hadn’t kept a very close eye on his charge, so he could be getting reamed out for that.

Or possibly his men were the problem. They wouldn’t stop trying to intercept the foreigner and engage her in some way. Half of them already proposed. They loved hearing the ways they were rebuked. A bunch of young, horny fools was what they were.

Then there were her band of boys. They’d do whatever she said over whatever anyone else said, no matter if Sanders slapped them around or not. It was her way or silence. He didn’t know how she did it, but it was making a right mess of things in the practice yard.

Especially since they were starting to use a strange fighting style. And winning.

“Captain, you wanted to see me?” Sanders asked, coming to stand in front of the desk.

Eerie blue eyes looked up from crisp white papers. The Captain’s
shoulder length hair was back, tied at the nape of his neck. It meant he had battle in mind, which had Sanders immediately on point.

“Mugdock are gathering
en masse,” the Captain started, sticking Sanders with those eyes and drilling him into the floor. “Something is brewing, but right now they have no clear target in mind. At least, they don’t seem to. They’re huddled outside of our lands, but not heading to our farming areas or mining operations. I’m debating sending a large party to break them up.”

Break them up
was code for
kill them all
. Only way to do it with the Mugdock. “Is it just that one group?”

“So far, yes. It is probably half of their battalion. I have scouts looking for the other half.”

“Do you think they intend to raid?”

The Captain leaned back and c
losed his eyes. “I don’t know. It is fierce bad timing. I have a delegation coming through day after tomorrow to meet me and the council. They want to open trade lines between here and farther east. In addition, I planned on asking them about our foreigner. I don’t want to advertise our problems with the Mugdock.”

“Think they’ll know of one stray female traveler?”

Sanders wasn’t trying to be funny, or even grouchy, so he had no idea why the captain, eyes still closed, had a smile creeping up his face. Possibly laughing at a joke he’d told silently to himself. Possibly the young bugger was going mad. And if he
was
going mad, Sanders wasn’t planning on telling anybody because then it would be his problem. To that end, he stood right where he was, not daring to utter a single sound.

The Captain finally said, “She’s eclectic. I wouldn’t be surprised if they did.”

Eclectic
wouldn’t have been Sanders’ word of choice. More along the lines of royal pain in the ass. “Should I send a party to disband the Mugdock?”

The Captain went reflective, then shook his head. “No, not yet. That’ll cause a grotesque scene. Get men ready, though. If anything happens, I want our reaction swift and complete.”

“Yes, sir.”

“I hear the girl made her way to the Pit?”

Sanders’s balls tightened up. He knew that tone. “She escaped her Honor Guard, sir.”

The Captain’s
eyes, made of steel, honed in on Sanders. The air pressurized, causing fear to creep through Sanders’ now hollow veins.

The rough voice was quiet as it said, “You will take her in hand, Commander. Put an experienced ma
n on her. If she so much as sneezes, I want to know about it. There is more to that woman than mere traveling. Ordinary people don’t have swords like that. She’s hiding something, and I will not let my people come to harm due to ignorance.”

“Yes, sir.”

“How is it going with you and Junice?”

“Wh—fine, sir. Thank you for your concern.”

“The foreign girl isn’t coming between you? There isn’t jealousy there?”

Sanders’
eyes widened momentarily. “No, sir. Not that I am aware. The gir—Shanti leaves every evening to the park—followed by members of her Guard. She comes back just after our bedtime. I rarely see her.”

“I see. I’
m thinking of moving her location. Junice has developed a sort of loyalty to her. I would rather not have you compromised.”

The Capta
in was losing faith in Sanders’ ability to follow orders. It stung. Sanders had always been a career man, loyal to a fault. This foreign woman was starting to be a cancer to his life, disruptive in every way. And it was true—Junice was constantly singing her praises, though the foreign woman did nothing to help around the house.

Sanders nodded grudgingly.

“I’ll arrange the move tomorrow at noon,” the Captain said with finality. “Get her that experienced guard, and let him know that if he starts to feel even the smallest bit of loyalty toward her, he will be answering directly to me.”

“How long do you plan to keep her here?”

The Captain glanced up at his timepiece and looked back down at his papers. “Until she tells me who she is, and how I can help or hinder her progress, depending on her story.”

Oh good, the Captain was in a pissing contest with a strange
girl from God-knew-where. Madness. Definitely madness setting in.

Sanders turned on his heel and headed out without another word.

“They are coming.”

Shanti looked around, confused.

Where was she?

In the wood. Not her home wood, though. Not the wood—

“Chosen, they are coming. We must get ready.”

Shanti turned to the man on her left. Tall, strong
, and steady, he was safety with a staff. He would protect her at all costs. He had absolutely no equal, save herself. But he had not heard how many came their way. Their best strategic minds, their best planners, and the best ground moving crew they had, would not stop the horde coming. They were but one nation, fighting many. She was on the losing end of a blood bath, and she knew it. All the Head Staff did.

With
the confidence born of her role, and the loyalty born of inspiring and leading by example, Shanti followed her Chance to the lookout cusp. She was the Chosen. She needed to survive this day. She needed to distract this horde long enough to get an already selected group of their people to a safe location. There they would remain until Shanti came back with her people’s long separated blood relations. She would reunite the tribes, declaring war on the nation threatening to bend the knee of the entire land.

“They are coming,” he said again.

As they moved into position, it echoed.

They are coming…

*****

In a cold sweat, Shanti sat straight up in bed, her hair plastered to the side of her head. She’d had that nightmare a great many times since it had been a reality, but never had it stopped before blood was spilt. Never had she woken up with that lingering warning.

She registered the still night. The calm of the wood, so close, breathed fresh air through her cracked window. As the breeze tickled her face, drying her sweat, a force tickled her barriers, asking to be let in.

Memories of her youth assaulted
her. Screaming. A child tottering down the lane covered in blood …

Flashes of imagery wrestled
with her self-control. Dowsed her in fear. Dragged her under the surface of panic.

She scrambled up and raced into Sanders’ room
, desperately trying to get ahold of herself. Something was coming, and she was as vulnerable as a child without her weapons.

“Sanders!” she bellowed, then braced for defense. You never surprised fighting men out of a dead sleep unless you were prepared, or did not value your life. Thankfully his reaction was to jump onto the bed, and crouch over his wife with short-sword in hand. His teeth were bared, his muscles taxed.

“Something is coming!” Shanti whispered fiercely.

Sanders was down off the bed and in her face
surprisingly quickly. “What do you mean? What is? How do you know?”

“Someone… I don’
t know. I don’t know what it is, Sanders, I am a foreigner here. Something bad is focused this way. Someone with malice. Someone filthy—a lot of someone’s, actually.”

Sanders relaxed slightly. “You had a dream, Shanti. Go to bed.”

“What’s going on?” Junice said with a thick voice. She sat up slowly, eyes puffy with sleep. “Avery, is that a sword?
What’s going on?
”

“Sanders, I need my weapons.
Now,
” Shanti exclaimed. “I will not face whatever is coming without my sword.”

“Nothing is coming…” Sanders’
voice dropped an octave. “Why are you so sure something is coming?”

“I
feel
it, Sanders. Now, as I stand here, I feel it.
FLAK
!” Shanti shook her head impatiently. This was getting her nowhere. Sanders didn’t trust her, he couldn’t sense what she could, and he was too stubborn to listen to reason. She needed her Honor Guard.

She made it one step before she felt
his intention. She whirled to her right, narrowly missing Sanders’ grab.

“Don’t do this, Sanders. We are not having this fight right here.”

He repositioned himself in front of the door. “You are not leaving this house, Shanti. I don’t like the way you’re talking. The Captain is right; there is something off with you.”

“The Captain thinks there is something off with me, does he?” She huffed, glancing at the window. She was faster than him—she didn’t need to go through if she could go around. “Doesn’t like looking in a mirror, perhaps? Doesn’t matter. I am not going to stay in this town and get killed.”