AllFreeNovel
Share Us
"We can take them," Cassair cried in triumph.
"Fire at will!" I ordered, and more deadly volleys entered the sky. I agreed with Cassair, we had a near-endless supply of arrows.
"Stop!" Chrissy yelled. When everybody turned to stare at her, she added quieter, "You're only wasting your arrows. You might shoot all of them down, but the Terran Confederation will send more and more after that. Let me go, and I promise, I will put an end to this."
Gryck waited for Ahlana to finish translating, before he demanded, "What do they do, and why are they here?"
"They're drones sent by the Terran Confederation to survey the area. They will send pictures back to headquarters and show them what everything looks like on this side of the ocean. The Confederation is getting ready to invade. You're running out of time." And then she pleaded one more time. "Let me go."
Gryck stared at her long and hard.
"I will go with her," Kendryx promised.
Gryck nodded.
"She is my prisoner. I will go too." Uthar asserted.
"If you go, you will take your people with you. I will not harbor them without their leader," I threatened, not liking the idea of Uthar putting somebody else in charge who might get the wrong idea and try to take over my stronghold.
"The two of us will be much more inconspicuous," Kendryx argued, surprisingly without malice. "We will get your lands back," he added, looking straight at Uthar.
Uthar glared at me but threw his hands up. "How will you even get there?"
"With the ship you will donate to the cause." Kendryx grinned.
Again, Uthar threw his hands in the air. "Fine. I'll find you a small vessel best suited to sneak across the Dead Sea."
"Won't the drones detect you?" Alahna asked worriedly.
"There are ways to disguise it," Chrissy said. "Even if they do, they won't pay any mind to one lone vessel, not yet anyway."
"May the gods be with you." Gryck nodded at Kendryx.
"Come, you will need thick clothing and—" Alahna offered, but Chrissy broke her off.
"My uniform will be more than adequate to keep the chill out. It has before."
"You will still need… things," Ahlana insisted and pulled Chrissy with her.
Damaris accompanied them and once it was just us males, Gryck ordered, "Keep shooting them down. They might have a near endless supply, but so do we, and the longer we can hold them off fromsurveyingour lands, the better."
I couldn't have agreed more with him and passed his order on to my archers. "I want watchers out, day and night," I pressed.
"Kar, Warlord," Cassair acknowledged. "It will be done."
We still had more to discuss. Gryck had already indicated he wanted input from us on who to advance to warlord to fill the two empty spots. We would need those spots filled now more than ever.
ThedaysafterKendryxand Chrissy left wore on endlessly. The cold season turned chillier and prevented our khazar, Vandor, and Damaris from leaving. Gryck's mood turned sourer with every day because the weather stopped him from riding to Slotenburg and Acklymburg to check on the new Warlords he had appointed. They would have their hands full finding what was left of the dissidents among the population who might still hold true to their old warlords.
Uthar also stayed with us, keeping us on edge with his mood swings and presence.
I did enjoy Damaris's company, especially when I found myself expecting Brogan's child as well. It felt good having a companion who had already gone through the experience, especially with a half-breed baby. I felt assured when she told me that the pregnancy hadn't been any different from what she had heard aboutnormalpregnancies. Only, she allowed, she had been more tired in the beginning. Later, her adrenaline had flooded her too much to allow her to be tired, but that is her story to tell and not my place.
She did advise me to seek out a healer who had experience with half human half Thyre babies, because the gestation period was unpredictable and ranged from five months to seven. With seven being the exception.
Damaris explained that it depended on if it was a Thyre or human woman who was carrying the baby and how dominant the Thyre genes were, at which we both laughed, because I didn't imagine Brogan's being any less strong than Vandor's and Damaris had only carried her son a little over six months.
Brogan showered me with presents daily, ranging from a simple pastry to jewelry, from the moment I told him I was expecting our baby. He drew baths for me, massaged me gently with oils and at night he whispered to our son, which he insisted I carried.
