Chapter 36 #2
“You’re not stupid! That’s not it. I just… It’s not fair for me to judge you based on what I’m used to with others. You’re not avoiding answering me. You genuinely don’t know what I’m asking for. Right?”
“Kyrya, I would give you anything. I would do anything for you. I’m sorry that I need direction to know what that is sometimes, but please know that my actions are genuine.”
“That’s nothing to apologize for. I need to be clearer. I need to learn to speak my mind. To make demands. That I have the right to make certain demands and that’s not me being unreasonable or needy. It’s me setting expectations for what I want and that’s okay.”
Tuvo just stared at her. Unsure what to say. It didn’t even seem like she was talking to him.
He wished she would make more demands of him.
He didn’t want to guess or misstep with her.
She was too important. If she told him exactly what she wanted, he would do everything in his power to make sure it was done exactly right.
It was better than him fumbling around and making even more mistakes with her.
She took a breath and lifted her head. Facing him with determination that filled him with pride. “I’m asking you what label you would put on our relationship.”
Oh? Was that all?
He laughed, relieved it wasn’t something more serious.
Her face fell.
“No, Hattie,” he rushed to say. “I’m not laughing at you. I-”
“Tuvo!” Inacio yelled at him. “Ready!”
He turned and nodded at the male before looking back at Hattie. She was smiling.
“You should go,” she said. “I’ll go find Belmira and stay with her.”
She stepped forward and came up on her toes, leaning her head back for a kiss. She couldn’t reach him if he didn’t bend over. He wanted to continue this conversation, but he couldn’t deny her.
He covered her lips. Bidding her farewell. Making her a promise of his feelings even if he didn’t return from this battle.
He lingered over the kiss. Enjoying it. Enjoying her. For as long as he dared.
They broke apart slowly. With a few more, lingering kisses at the corner of her lips before they separated.
“You are my heart, beating outside of my chest,” he said, holding her arms, resting his forehead against hers, trying to explain what she was to him.
“The only thing that keeps me alive. That which drives and powers me. Vi kyrya. Nothing but death will keep me from you, and death will have to fight to take me away.”
Her hand stroked his cheek as she stared at him through watery eyes, smiling despite them. “You are the greatest warrior on Turv. I expect great things from you. I demand them. I know you will make me proud.”
Nothing she could have said would have filled him with as much determination and strength as her belief in his abilities. He stood tall and proud. Determined to live up to his own name and prove his worth to her. As a proper warrior and domini should.
She took a step back. Then another. Keeping hold of his hand for as long as possible until distance forced their fingers to separate.
Still, she walked backwards, keeping her eyes on him, as long as she could, until Belmira touched her shoulder, forcing her to look forward.
Tuvo watched her walk away until the trees swallowed her up. Only when she was gone did he turn to face the males – and two females – waiting for him. Waiting for instruction. Ready to protect their home and families.
He grinned, fangs flashing, the excitement of the coming battle rising in his blood.
He was a domini, a warrior, and this was exactly what he was designed to do.
Chapter 37
Hattie
The hiding place Hattie and the others were going to could best be described as an unfinished treehouse.
An uneven platform was built between three different trees a fair distance away from the village.
It was old, at least a generation or two, and Belmira explained that they had built it when the Three Rings initially started terrorizing their people.
One of the younger men – who had come for this purpose alone – climbed the tree using a knife and his bare feet.
When he got to the top, he dropped a simple rope ladder down then stayed to help bring everyone up.
He was going to return when he was done, but seeing that all the women, children, elderly, and infirm were safely hidden away was his job and he took it seriously.
Hattie stayed near the back with Belmira, waiting for their turn. They were sending the children up first. Then the elderly, then the infirm. Only once all of them were up would the able bodied, stronger women without children climb.
Hattie put herself firmly at the back. She was not only able bodied and without dependents – for now – but she was the outsider. And probably the reason this was happening. She felt like she didn’t have the right to climb up first.
But Belmira stayed with her. At the back of the small crowd, waiting with her arms crossed as she kept looking back. Both her father and her lover had stayed. Her mother was waiting with the rest of the elders for her turn to climb – though she had protested.
Belmira had also protested. She wanted to stay. To fight. But her loved ones all ganged up on her and told her that she was going to hide. They had just gotten her back. They would not risk her being taken again. Belmira had eventually given in, but she had been unhappy about it.
“Hey,” Hattie smiled at her. “They’ll be okay. Promise.”
“Yours might be. I’m a bit more worried about mine.” Belmira returned the smile, but it was a pale imitation. “And my father. He’s not a young man anymore.”
There was nothing Hattie could say to that.
For as confident as she was in Tuvo, it only took a split second of bad luck for the irreversible to happen.
He had survived a volley of bullets, which made her feel a bit more secure, but not completely assured.
None of those shots had hit him in the head.
He told her that he still felt pains from the various metal fragments still trapped in his body.
And those had been shot at from a distance.
What if they were closer? What if they were armor piercing?
There were so many things that could go wrong, Hattie’s nerves were roiling in her belly. But she kept a smile on her face. Tried to act strong. There was enough worry going around. She couldn’t add to it for the sake of the others.
But she kept checking over her shoulder. Thinking about Tuvo. Worrying about him.
Slowly, the line in front of them got smaller and smaller. There was only one way up, but the three different platforms were connected. They weren’t perfectly camouflaged from below, but if you didn’t look closely, you likely wouldn’t see them.
Hattie was only about five people from the ladder when a rushing through the trees made all of them turn. Hattie’s hand was on the hilt of her knife, ready to yank it free. But she stopped when she saw-
“Keith?”
Breathing hard, his jog came to a halt. He gave her a quick smile. “Oh, good. I was hoping you all hadn’t pulled up the ladder yet.”
“What are you doing here?” Hattie asked, confused. Keith had told her that he was going to be with the other men to help defend the village.
She had actually been impressed. She hadn’t thought Keith would be the type to put himself on the line for something like this.
He went to the gym but wasn’t the type to get into a bar fight.
In fact, she was pretty sure she he was the guy telling people to hold him back while not actually being a threat to anyone.
Keith gave her a smile. “Tuvo asked me to come back and guard you all. Just in case.”
“He did?” Hattie wasn’t surprised that Tuvo would give someone that responsibility, but she was surprised that he would give Keith that role. Especially when there was already someone with them that he could have just asked to stay.
“Anything I can do to help,” he said, winking at one of the women.
“Oh, well. Okay. Thanks,” she said slowly before turning around.
Belmira rolled her eyes, doing the same. She mumbled something under her breath in Portuguese.
Hattie insisted that Belmira climb up ahead of her, then followed her up.
Keith climbed last, trading places with the guy that came with him.
That guy looked confused but said nothing as he climbed down.
Keith brought the ladder back up as Hattie sat cross-legged next to Belmira right there on the edge.
There wasn’t room for them anywhere else, so though there were no rails or anything, they just had to be careful.
“Nice and safe,” Keith said, dropping the last of the rope ladder into a heap with a grin like he had accomplished something.
“What are the others doing?” She asked since he would have been the last to see them.
Keith shrugged. “Think Tuvo was going into the forest or something.”
He didn’t seem to care. Which wasn’t at all surprising. She shared a look with Belmira, and though neither of them said anything, a silent agreement passed between them. There was no way Tuvo had sent Keith back here. He was running from the fight.
Hattie wouldn’t judge his cowardice. She couldn’t say he was wrong, exactly, for not fighting in a battle that wasn’t his. But just the fact that he had lied about fighting, and now was lying about being on guard duty, was annoying.
But she decided not to care. Whatever Keith did was his own choice to live with.
Looking past him, she stared into the trees. As if there was a chance she might see Tuvo. Not that it would matter even if she could. There wasn’t anything she could do to help, but she felt like if she could just keep her eyes on him, he would be okay.
Please, be okay.