A Traitor

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The bigger man glanced at him, "Then she is a bigger prize than I thought. My lord will have use for her."

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"And she is sister to Galti of the Askuzai Tribe."

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The leader stilled and a frown tugged at his brow. The warriors holding Kiri ceased their sniggering.

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"We will go to Galti Khan and demand a high price for her," he said and his eyes glittered, "as well as fealty to my blood-brother."

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"No, Caldur, I will take her back to the remnant of the Lateri tribe. I will take her as my bride and rule the people. Her brother will be forced to support me."

 

"Perhaps I will take her myself and become chief of the tribe," Caldur turned to face Boru, his whole body coiled in a threat.

 

"The leaders of the people won't accept you and her brother's support will count for nothing. But if I become bey, I will support you, O Caldur, and your blood-brother."

 

The two warriors with the wolf head gear, watched silently. Kiri's breath shivered between her teeth in gusts.

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"What of my husband?" she quavered.

 

She trembled as the attention of both warriors turned back to her.

 

"He is dead," Caldur growled.

 

Boru met her gaze briefly and then his eyes slid away, "Many of the men were killed in the attack, including your husband."

 

The leader let out a roar, "Don't be shy, Boru. Tell her. Tell her you turned on your bey and thrust the sword home yourself."

 

Boru's face tightened and a flush rose in his cheeks. He glared at Caldur and gave no answer. Kiri reeled. Her husband dead? He had been older than she but in the prime of life. And he'd treated her well. She wanted to cover her face and cry into her hands but she couldn't. The warriors still had her arms held fast. Boru! Boru who was the most trusted of her husband's men. How mistaken Yavar had been and his error had brought trouble and sorrow to them all.

 

But not to Boru. Now he was poised to step into her husband's place, and aimed to take his bed as well. Amidst the terror and spiral of rebellion rose in Kiri. She would not have it.

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"Tie her to the tree next to my saddle and cover her with my cloak," Boru ordered the men holding her.

 

They remained still, their eyes shifting to their leader.

 

"The Neuri answer to me, Boru," the pale-haired Caldur spoke gruffly but Kiri saw him dip his chin to the two warriors.

 

Now Kiri realised that this small group of men consisted of warriors with different allegiances. Who had attacked the Lateri? A people called the Neuri. Then who was this Caldur? And who was his blood-brother? All thoughts of defiance vanished in her terror as the men propelled her across the mud and dirt. She gazed around with eyes full of dread and hopelessness and they tied her hands behind her and fastened her to the tree. The next moment all went dark as a great, heavy cloak dropped over her head.

She listened in misery as the men talked and argued. Sometimes their voices rose until she thought a brawl would break out. At other times their voices dropped and they murmured for some time.  The temperature dropped and even under the heavy cloak she began to shiver.  She heard her name spoken and an ugly laugh rippled between the men.  Heavy footsteps crunched across the grass, heading in her direction. Kiri took a deep, quivering breath and fumbled toward her belt until the tips of her bound fingers touched the hard handle of her knife. She stretched and strained and her wrists chafed against the rawhide thong that bound her to the tree.  Her shoulders sagged.

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A bellowing shout made her flinch and a stinging tingle ran across her skin. She tensed under the cloak expecting at any moment for it to be torn away from her.  There was a gurgling cough above her and then the thud of something heavy fell nearby. Around her, the sounds of an immense struggle ensued, with the ringing clash of steel, cries and the dull thwack of limbs hitting limbs.

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At last there was silence. Kiri waited, frozen and tense. There was a light footfall and the fabric that swathed her lifted. A pale face with high curved cheekbones, shrouded with a smooth fall of black hair gazed down at her.

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"Rayl!" Kiri gasped.

 

Quick and silent, Rayl bent down and worked on Kiri's bonds. Kiri gazed about in open-mouthed amazement. Several bodies lay about the camp. Among them was the grizzled, beast of a warrior. The terrifying Caldur was dead. The pressure on her wrists loosened.

 

"Are you hurt?" Rayl demanded.

 

Kiri shook her head. Something stirred at the edges of the clearing and Kiri gave a muffled shriek.

 

"Rayl," she warned and snatched her knife from her belt.

 

The figure that materialised from the darkness was known to her.

 

"Kynan," she cried, "you're alive."

 

He gave her a short glance and a nod but spoke to Rayl.

 

"He got away, Rayl," he looked down, "I'm sorry."

 

Rayl's face was cold and her black eyes glittered.

 

"He will bring trouble upon us some day."

 

Kiri shivered. It was a big movement that wracked through her body visibly.

 

"He already has, Hatun," she said to Rayl, "Yavar Bey is no more. Boru slew him with his own hand."

 

Rayl's eyes closed briefly and when she opened them, they shone more fiercely than ever.

 

"Take up what you can and let us go."

 

She moved swiftly around the campsite and gathered up items of value. Kiri saw her stuff one of the wolf pelts, with the skull and teeth fashioned into a mask into a saddlebag.  When she passed the great warrior, lying still and quiet, she paused. In front of Kiri's horrified gaze, Rayl took out her sharp knife and worked over the man until his head parted from his immense body. She didn't look at Kiri or Kynan but strode over to a great dun horse. Kiri felt her gorge rise. Rayl finished tying the severed head to the saddle, by its own hair and returned to casting about the small, makeshift camp.

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"Mount up. We must leave before Boru returns."

 

Obediently, Kiri turned to the horse tethered near her tree. She had grown up riding in her own wild tribe, but she'd preferred the indolence and comfort of her father's tent, watching her mother manage the other women and the slaves and never lifting a finger to help with much. At her husband's settled village, she'd done much the same, not knowing, never realising that her husband and Rayl did all that for her. She never rode out to inspect the herds or visit the families. In all fairness, the thought never occurred to her for Kiri was more spoiled and indulged than any other steppe chieftain's daughter.

Still, she flicked the reins over the horse's neck easily enough but Kynan had to lift her up.

 

She caught his expression as she settled into the saddle and read clearly the unspoken thought. She was dead weight among them, holding them back, endangering them with her weakness. She would have to learn to leap up by herself and fast for who knew what dangers and perils lay in wait. And she was no longer the queen, the Hatun of the Lateri.

She became aware that Rayl was fastening items to her saddle and Kiri's stomach protested once again as she saw a head dangling from her own mount.

 

"We need to show them to your people when get there," Rayl said and finished tying with a last firm tug. Kiri sat still while Rayl added water and food and other items of use and value to her horse.

 

Before many moments passed, Kynan and Rayl leapt easily on their horses and swept off into the dark night. Questions burned in Kiri's throat. How had Rayl and Kynan defeated so many seasoned warriors and how had they done it so quickly. Sloshing at her side on a big whitish grey, Kynan leaned in close.

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"It was her," he whispered, "all her. I gave a few blows but she finished them, as silent and deadly as the mountain lion," he shook his head and looked after Rayl, ahead of them and looking smaller than usual on the big dun horse, looking far too slim to be such a deadly fighter, "she is not like other women."

 

Kiri remembered the stories whispered about Rayl, the ones she'd paid no heed to in her insulated indolence and preening self-worth. Kiri bit her lip and watched Rayl's undulating slender back, perched so easily on the mighty war horse. Rayl had kept Kiri alive,  Kynan too, and she was going to get Kiri back to Galti, her older brother and chief of the Askuzai tribe. The cold night air filled her lung and settled a deeper cold in her bones. Kiri drew the heavy cloak that was Boru's around her and gripped her legs around the horse that belonged to him - her husband's killer - and tried not to let her misery and her fear run like a crazed animal through her.

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Next chapter 

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