Tara The Great [Nuworld 2] (55 page)

“The Waiting?” Seth looked confused. “No, my lady. What is it?”

“I’ve been told we’ve entered the Waiting,” Tara said as she remembered the dog-

woman’s words. “How far along are you with your translation?” She nodded her head

toward the book that Seth had returned to the glass case.

He moved to the small table and lifted a flat animal skin bag that she hadn’t noticed

until that moment. As he handed it to Tara, he said, “This disc contains what we’ve

done so far. Myro is working on one of the pages right now. Would you like to talk with

him?”

“No, don’t bother him.” Tara accepted the disc from Seth. “I’ll return this soon.”

“Please, we’d be honored if you kept it as your personal copy. As Myro translates

further, we will bring more discs to you.”

“Thank you. I’d appreciate that.” Tara slipped it into her pocket and thought how

best to probe for some information. “Seth, do you know how the Neurians are doing

after returning from fighting the Lunians?”

The priest folded his hands in front of him. The long sleeves of his robe covered

them. “Our people are recovering as are yours. The young girl that brought us here,

Tealah?”

Tara nodded. Go on, she thought anxiously.

“She lived in Dorn Gowsky’s house prior to traveling here with us. She might be

able to answer more specific questions on the political side of things. We try not to get

too involved in government issues. It can cause distraction in prayer.”

“I don’t know if I agree with that,” she smiled politely as she added, “I need Crator

to help me with every political decision I make.”

“Of course,” Seth said. “You rule a nation, we don’t.”

* * * * *

Darius wasn’t at the house when she returned, and one of Fulga’s granddaughters

watched the twins play in the backyard.

Tara watched them toss a ball to each other from the balcony before she returned to

her chair at the landlink in their room. She inserted the disc into the slot and began

scanning its contents.

She read about places and people she had never heard of. The calendar described in

the material was unfamiliar, so she had no idea when the events had taken place. But

she found that the adventures of the people ran parallel to her own life.

Tara found herself lost in a story about a man leading his clan across barren land to

a place proclaimed to be fruitful. The dog-woman wasn’t mentioned in the story, nor

was Crator. The man heard voices, though, and saw visions that the others in his clan

didn’t see. Tara understood how the man felt when some of his clansmen questioned

him, and she paid close attention to his response.

“He helped them to have faith by telling them that his Crator was more powerful

than anything they had ever known,” she muttered and kept reading.

She decided the temple at the clan site would be helpful to her people. Seth had told

her that he was careful who he allowed to see the old writings, but Tara considered the

possibility that if she encouraged Runners to read the old book, it would help them to

believe in Crator.

Much later, she heard Darius outside their door. He opened it and fell into the

room. She looked at him, stunned, until she realized he was drunk. Very drunk.

“Where have you been?” She looked at his tousled clothing.

“Celebrating.” He reached down and, before she could stop him, he lifted her into

his arms. “It’s my gift to you, you beautiful wench.”

She struggled to be released and realized he wasn’t as drunk as she originally

thought.

He grinned wickedly at her and tossed her onto the bed. He literally jumped on top

of her and she rolled quickly to avoid being squashed. Grabbing her with one arm, he

leaned his head against his other hand.

“Seriously, my lady, it has been a great day and I feel like celebrating.” He pulled

her toward him.

“Celebrating, huh?” She fought a smile, but his hands found their way under her

shirt and she smiled at his touch. “Why are we celebrating?”

He began kissing her neck and she felt the temperature rise between her legs. “Well,

my lady, the River People have approached Gothman and requested protection.”

“They’ve what?”

His lips found her mouth.

“They’ve acquired some of the Freeland north of them in return for unpaid debts,

they have. The land touches the southern Gothman border, and spreads south to the

Neurian border. They feel they are large enough to be under the control of a

government, but have been unsuccessful in establishing one of their own. They accept

our rule, and we protect their land, yes.” He smiled as her mouth fell open in surprise.

“That means the Gothman nation now extends south all the way to Southland, it does.”

Tara managed to sit up, staring at him with disbelief. “All the way to Southland?”

she whispered and her grin widened.

He wrapped his hand around the back of her neck, pulling her down on him.

“Yes, my lady. We’ve just doubled the size of our nation. Tomorrow, we’ll make the

announcement to all of Gothman and the Runners, we will. An invitation will be

extended for some of our people to form a colony south of here. I’m thinking we’ll

create a new town. I thought we’d call it Taratown.” He pulled her closer and stole a

kiss. “What do you think?”

This time, she kissed him and he wrapped his arms around her quickly in a death

grip. Within seconds, he’d rolled them over and was on top of her, sliding her shirt up.

She managed to pull away one more time and adjusted her clothing, covering her

breasts as Darius watched, pouting.

“We’re truly the greatest nation on Nuworld.” She smiled and stroked his cheek,

then allowed him to kiss her fingers.

“This is just the beginning, it is. I’m working on a proposal for the Cave People.

They need to rebuild and could probably use the help.” He tugged at her shirt.

“We’ll rule our entire continent. We could probably take over the Sea People

without too much resistance.” She smiled at his mischievous face as he massaged one of

her breasts. “Crator may call this the Waiting, but we’ll hardly be sitting around doing

nothing.”

“Hardly,” he groaned.

She’d teased him long enough, and this time he simply overpowered her and forced

her to lie down by rolling on top of her and pinning her hands with his. His kisses were

affectionate but powerful, and they didn’t come up for air until he permitted them to.

“There’s one more thing,” he said as she struggled to breathe and clear the sexual

fog from her brain. “I saw Tealah while we were at the tavern with some of the River

People.”

There went the fog. She noticed he enjoyed the instant jealousy he’d created in her.

He licked his lips and allowed a pause almost too long for her to bear, before

continuing.

“My men aren’t too accustomed to women joining them for a drink, I’d say.” He

paused again and she fumed at his enjoyment of drawing out the point of this topic.

“Quite a few of them bought her drinks. She got rather drunk, I’d say.”

Now she was angry. It was one thing for him to walk through a contract without

even mentioning it to her, but to be drinking ale…with that woman…

Darius began laughing as she turned her expression from passion to outrage. “You

are so beautiful, you are.” He kissed her, but she didn’t respond to him. It didn’t seem

to bother him as he pulled his face away several inches to look at her stone cold

expression. “One of my men took quite a liking to her. He demanded the claim, and she

accepted.”

She watched his smile widen, and she knew her face reflected the triumph and

relief coursing through her. “Tealah’s been claimed?” Her voice had laughter in it. “I

think she might have beaten my record for entering this nation and being claimed.”

“No, my lady, you were claimed the second I saw you.” He lowered himself slowly

and kissed her again. Slowly, passionately, aggressively.

This time, she didn’t pull away.

About the author

All my life, I’ve wondered at how people fall into the routines of life. The paths we

travel seemed to be well-trodden by society. We go to school, fall in love, find a line of

work (and hope and pray it is one we like), have children and do our best to mold them

into good people who will travel the same path. This is the path so commonly referred

to as the “real world”.

The characters in my books are destined to stray down a different path other than

the one society suggests. Each story leads the reader into a world altered slightly from

the one they know. For me, this is what good fiction is about, an opportunity to escape

from the daily grind and wander down someone else’s path.

Lorie O’Clare lives in Kansas with her three sons.

Lorie welcomes mail from readers. You can write to her c/o Ellora’s Cave

Publishing at 1056 Home Avenue, Akron, OH 44310-3502.

Also by Lorie O’Clare

Nuworld: The Saga Begins

If you are interested in a spicier read, check out her erotic romances at Ellora’s

Cave Publishing (www.ellorascave.com).

Cariboo Lunewulf 1: Taming Heather

Fallen Gods: Jaded Prey

Fallen Gods: Lotus Blooming

Fallen Gods: Tainted Purity

Full Moon Rising

Lunewulf 1: Pack Law

Lunewulf 2: In Her Blood

Lunewulf 3: In Her Dreams

Lunewulf 4: In Her Nature

Lunewulf 5: In Her Soul

Sex Slaves 1: Sex Traders

Sex Slaves 2: Waiting For Yesterday

Sex Slaves 3: Waiting For Dawn

The First Time

Things That Go Bump in the Night 2004 anthology