The Danu (6 page)

A short silence felt
almost like the world around them breathed and changed.  He felt Katrine teeter
and fall into him, her hand going to her head and that wild curly hair falling
over his arm and chest as he was suddenly holding her up on legs that did not
seem to support her.  He pulled her firmly against him and held her tight while
she sucked in a breath.  When she finally lifted her head, he could see pain
behind her eyes, and hated it.  Hated.  Another ridiculous reaction to a
stranger, an enemy.  She was slight in his arms, suddenly fragile.  She did not
feel like an enemy.

Katrine collected herself
slowly, and then stood up on her own feet.  Though she tried to back away from him,
he was having none of it.  She stopped trying to move away and just met his
eyes.  "We have a deal then," she said, looking both resolute and
calm, though he felt the quiver that traveled under her skin and knew she was
afraid.  That she showed none of that in her face or voice raised her in his
estimation even further.  "I will return to Haven with you.  But you have
been warned; if I stay too much longer I will not be able to leave."

Khalon smiled.  This time
a satisfied, predatory smile had her sucking in a breath.  He could see her
searching her memory for some trap she had not seen.  It was too late anyway. 
She had made the deal.   "Who said anything about returning you to
Haven?"

She opened her mouth and
then closed it again firming her lips and noticeably reaching for a calm she
was far from feeling.  Then she tried again.  "If not Haven, where are you
taking me?"

"We ride for Dunsen,
and my father’s palace."

The flash of fear that
crossed her face was satisfying in its own way.  She had no way of knowing that
now that she had given herself into his care he would allow no harm to come to
her.  All she knew was that they were going in to the heart of her enemies’
territory.  He could understand her fear.  His father was known by many names. 
The one she would be most familiar with was "Witch Killer."

There were only the two
horses once Dorn was sent back to Haven with his.  A pity, one thing the
outcasts were known for was their ability with horses, and Katrine had learned
from the best.  Even Renault never bested Deni in a horse race, and him being a
bastard of the first order did not change that the man was made to sit a horse.

The Prince stopped beside
his warhorse and Katrine looked from him to the animal.  He was a large beast,
about 18 hands high, and a good 2000 pounds of muscle and attitude.  The fire
in his eyes suggested he was half wild still, despite his times on the
battlefield, or maybe because of them.  He kicked up his head and nickered his
displeasure at a stranger being so close.  Katrine carefully took a step back;
if the horse wanted to he could easily step on her, kick her, or nudge her into
a pulp.

"Easy there
Thrax."  Khalon moved to the head of the beast, and took a firm hold of
the reigns, trying without success to still his war steed. 

Katrine had seen this
before with animals that were not familiar to her.  His horse sensed the magic
in her, and was reacting to it.  He was never going to let her on his back this
way.

With a quick brush of magic,
the horse calmed, and Katrine mounted his back in one swift glide.  A smooth
feat that had both men looking at her with surprise that turned quickly to wary
suspicion.  Ragnar cursed a few more select phrases, which from what she could
see, besides grunts, was his favorite way of communicating.  He wheeled his
horse around keeping a wary eye on her. 

His horse, Katrine
noticed was even larger than Khalon's, but then it would have to be to carry
that mountain of a man and his arsenal to battle.  Khalon brushed one last
soothing hand over his horse’s neck, his eyes wary and on Katrine, before he
joined her in the saddle.  He was behind her and seated in one fluid move that
rivaled hers, and Katrine could not help but be impressed. 

The man was nearly as big
as his friend was, and just as well fortified.  The strength in that hard body
was impressive and his seat firm and confident.  His hard thighs and groin
pressing along the outside of her legs and buttocks were both warm and
confining.  For someone who was unused to human contact it was disconcerting to
say the least.  When his arms circled hers to take the reins she was surrounded
and should have felt trapped, instead a feeling of protection, warmth, and a
tingling excitement traveled through her, sparking all her nerves and making
her feel flushed all over.  She berated herself for wanting to sink back into
the hard chest at her back because whatever she was feeling was a lie, and it
was worse than if she had reacted in fear at his touch because at least that
would make sense.  Whatever her body was telling her, she would find no safety
with this man.

Without another word
between them they were riding away from Haven and the wilds where she had
stayed too long.

She felt small,
insignificant and too soft to take on the wall of steel and heat at her back.  But
then he was not exactly giving her a choice, and good or bad she had given her
word.  She would see the deal through.  Thinking about it, Katrine sighed at
her own idiocy.  She should have gotten much more specific with the deal she
made.  Now she felt compelled to warn him of her intentions, which was also
stupid.

"Once we left the
wilds I did consider my part of this deal done," she said as mildly as she
could while fighting the need to squirm a little space between them.

She felt him look down at
her from his tall height behind her.  Felt his warm breath against her hair. 
She
sensed
the arrogant smile a second later and looked up over her
shoulder to find he had tipped his head down so that when she turned, their
noses almost touched.  Katrine froze, and sucked in a breath.  That smile she
had pictured so clearly was indeed there, the heat in his eyes warming them.

"Consider all you
want.  I have given my word that your friends will be spared and so they have
been," he murmured and she felt his warm breath against her lips with each
word.  "But you have given yourself into my keeping.  That is not going to
change because of geography."

Katrine firmed her mouth
and turned back to face the front, not wanting to admit how her heart was
tripping and her skin flushing.  "Then we know where we stand," she
answered mulishly.  And
felt
that smile again.  Right before he nudged
the hair at her neck with his nose and drew in a deep breath.  His hands at her
waist tightened pressing her back against his hard chest and warmed leathers
before he released her back to her original position, which meant she had at
least some minute space that was not saturated by the big man behind her. Not a
lot, but some.

His words when they came
had a touch of teasing that tickled her nerves as much as the feel of him
smelling her hair had.  "We do indeed." It would have been more
reassuring if she didn't know that he was laughing at her.  “Where do you think
to go, we both know you cannot return to Haven, and now that my father knows
you exist none of the other cities will offer you sanctuary either.”

Feeling her anger and a
few other emotions she refused to name building Katrine sought her center and
willed herself to peaceful serenity.  Her efforts were less than satisfactory. 
“That is not your concern.  I was just pointing out that going to Dunsen was
not part of our agreement.”

"Do you warn me
because you think it will make a difference, or because you know it
won't?"

Katrine said nothing,
doing her best to give off unaffected vibes.  At least outwardly it worked
because she felt the arms tighten around her and the hovering arrogance was
slowly replaced by irritation she could almost taste when she continued to
ignore his digs.  Apparently, he had been enjoying her reactions, and now she
gave him nothing.

"No answer?" 
His irritation was clear in his tone.

Katrine would have smiled
if she did not think it would ruin the effect.  Instead, she kept her peace,
and center, emitting serenity with all her will.

He nipped her ear with
sharp teeth, making her gasp and jump every bit of her equilibrium affected by
that one unexpected action.

"Did you just bite
me?" she asked incensed.

Something in her reaction
pleased a laugh out of him.   "Just wanted to make sure you were still
with me."

Katrine pressed her lips
together and glared straight ahead, ignoring Prince Khalon as best she could. 
She did not find her center again for a long time.

There were few permanent
places of safety along the North road between Haven and Dunsen, no small towns
or villages, and it was unhealthy to venture off the road for even a night stop. 
After stopping the first day to gather herbs, greens and berries from the green
because the witch refused to eat the dried meat or hard breads he and Ragnar
survived on, they stopped but rarely.  It was two days of constant riding
before Khalon felt safe stopping for the night.

Katrine, Khalon and
Ragnar turned onto the wide-open area that housed the Wild Side Inn.  Katrine
and the horses looked equally exhausted.  While he knew what his horse was
capable of, the witch surprised him.  She fell off the horse with a lot less
grace than she had shown when the forced march started, but she stood beside
his horse on her own two feet.  Anyone else not used to riding nearly nonstop
for two days would have buckled. 

He did not need another
thing to admire about the woman.  Her soft ass had been pressed against his
groin for two days.  Her scent, which should have soured at some point, had
only changed subtly and remained sweet for all that she had few moments to
clean up that were more than a quick wipe down with a water jug and a dusty
cloth.  She had not complained, once.  No, he really did not need anything
further to admire.

Khalon looked away from the
tired, dusty female resolutely leaning against his war beast’s neck.  That
Thrax allowed it no longer surprised him.  Since the first day of riding with
the infuriating female on his back, the horse had started to change, at least
where the girl was concerned.  Not that Khalon could blame the beast.  When the
girl was not arguing with him, or silently planning some rebellion she emitted
a type of soothing peace.

 It had angered him at
first, thinking it was some type of magic she emitted to lower his guard.  But,
he eventually realized there was no harm meant.  Then it was only when she used
that peace to escape his attention that he disliked it.  Once he understood he
could bring her out of it with a few contrary words or a shift of his hips, it
no longer bothered him.  After a while, he realized it felt good.  He relaxed
more in her presence than he thought possible, considering he was traversing
the wild places of the North with an enemy he wanted more with each breath he
took.

Dismounting, Khalon
dragged his eyes from the Katrine and took in the rest of his surroundings
belatedly.  When Ragnar snorted in disgust from beside his own mount, Khalon
could not blame him.  It was never a good idea for a warrior to lose his focus
on the road, and from the attention they had attracted, he would need his focus
to be on survival, and not a pretty red haired witch who smelled like wild
flowers and felt like heaven in his arms. 

Khalon cursed inwardly,
his friend was right to be disgusted.  This was a bad place to be distracted by
his wayward cock, if there was ever a good place.  Though no one with any sense
would start trouble here, once you left the Inn behind, it was a long dangerous
trek to the next place of safety on the roads, and anything could happen if you
drew the wrong attention.

The small clearing sat
between the North Road and a small winding stream, giving it a natural cut off
from the wilds.   This was the only place for a few days ride that the wilds
did not claim, besides the road itself.  As such everyone passing through this
area stopped here, be they warrior, prince, Outcast, or bandit.  Because of that,
it was considered a neutral place.  By unspoken law, there were no fights on
the premises for that reason.  It was a law everyone followed or found out the
hard way that the next time they passed through there would be no room at the Inn. 

The Innkeeper was one-half
of an old married couple that ran the place as long as anyone could remember. 
This was a place to find a clean bed, a bath, and a meal that was not full of
road dust or dried to a jerky and stored in a pack for days on end.  They also
had the best tasting water that could be found anywhere, as it flowed from
natural spring that was said to have healing properties.  A rumor helped along
by the fact that the innkeeper and his wife were older than dirt and still spry
as people half their age.

He was about to suggest
they make their way inside when something in the air around him went static. 
He already had his sword pommel in his hand when he looked down to find
Katrine's full and blank faced attention on a group of Outcasts across the
small clearing standing with a temporary corral.  Four of the five men were
looking at Katrine as if they had seen a ghost; the fifth man had an altogether
different look in his eyes.  It was a look he would not like to see directed at
any female, let alone one under his protection.

"Who is that?"

Katrine sucked in an
audible breath and raised her chin, turning her back on the men, she faced Khalon
and met his eyes with a shuttered peaceful expression that was colder than
anything he had seen from the girl before.  "Who is who?”

Khalon narrowed his eyes
at her answer, but did not look away from the clear threat across the
clearing.  "Who is the Outcast who looks at you like you belong to him,
and he would as happily bed you as beat you?"

"Oh him," she
shrugged.  "That would be Renault, son of Deni of the Outcast clan Wind Chaser."

Khalon spared her a brief
glance at her simple emotionless recital, and when he looked back at the man
his eyes had turned to Khalon.  The look he gave Khalon was both a threat and a
promise.  "Son of Deni?"  He asked incredulous.  "He was your husband’s
son?"  He knew from the man’s age he could not be hers, but he did not
look at Katrine in the way of family, even by marriage.

"Which is the only
thing that kept me safe from Renault," Katrine said softly.  She did not
look behind her. 

He felt Katrine shiver,
though if he had not been touching her he might have missed it.  Khalon did not
miss it or the fear and anger that came right behind it.

"How long has he
watched you with that look on his face?" he wondered aloud.  Then
something else occurred to him.  "You did not just leave the Outcasts when
your husband died.  You ran."

"As fast as I
could," she said, her chin lifting again, eyes lighting with defiance and
anger as they met his.  "I will be no man’s play thing.  Least of all that
monsters."

Khalon looked back over
at the Outcast that coveted her.  He stepped even closer to Katrine, until her
body was just brushing his.  Then he pulled her around until she stood at his
back, and he stood between her and the man who eyed her as if she was property
and something to eat a hard bloody bite at a time.  Ragnar came up beside him,
effectively sandwiching the girl between them and Thrax, who was looking less
peaceful every moment they stood there.  The man, Renault, recognized the
message he was sending, as did the men with him, who were looking less angry
and more worried by the moment.