Charlotte Boyett-Compo- WIND VERSE- Hunger's Harmattan (19 page)

Shanee gasped. Her husband had nastily
said, “If you are ready to have your ass put down, bring it on, bitch.”

Hissing like a cornered viper, Polemusa
shoved past her daughter and her daughter’s mate and went outside.

“You can’t be serious!” Shanee said then
narrowed her eyes. “When did you learn Amazeen?”

“I learned a lot of things while you were
playing with Jules’ life,” he told her. “And I’m not going to back down to her
challenge,
ionúin
.” He spun around on his heel and headed for the
courtyard.

“The gods help me,” Shanee snapped,
throwing her hands into the air. She went after them.

Neither Polemusa nor Ailyn were armed. The
defense queen was wearing a short, white toga-like garment that accentuated the
lack of a right breast. She had kicked off her sandals and was standing on the
grass, hands on her shapely hips.

“Come on, Reaper,” she threw at him.

Ailyn swept his hand down his body and the
black silk shirt and black leather pants were replaced by his beloved
breechclout. His boots had disappeared as well.

Shanee saw her mother’s face alter slightly
and knew she was sizing up the man facing her—not from a warrioress’s viewpoint
but from that of a woman. She almost smiled as her mother licked her lips until
Ailyn spoke.

“Like what you see?” he taunted.

The Amazeen queen yowled with fury. Like an
enraged bull, she lowered her head and charged. Her fingers had arched into
claws. As soon as she reached her opponent, he took hold of her and flipped her
easily over his hip, setting her down almost gently on the grass before
stepping out of her reach.

Scrambling to her feet, Polemusa charged
again, but this time Ailyn grabbed her arms and fell backward, placing a bare
foot against her midriff to cartwheel her over his head. She landed on her back
with the air knocked out of her body.

Shanee grinned when her husband put his
palms flat on the ground behind him and did a back handspring that arched his
back then vaulted him to his feet. She could have hooted with laughter when he
put his hands on his hips—not even breathing hard—while her mother lay gasping
for breath.

“Need some help getting up, old woman?” he
inquired.

Polemusa struggled to her feet and stood
there bent over, hands to her knees. She lifted her head and gave the Reaper a
hateful look before launching herself at him again.

Ailyn grinned as he lowered his hands and
braced for her hit. When she collided with him, he wrapped his arms around her
then swept her legs out from under her with his foot. She skidded downward
between his legs and landed on the ground with him atop her—pinning her arms
and clamping his legs tightly along hers.

“Bastard!” Polemusa screeched. She tried to
move but he had her well in hand and she could not break free of his hold.

“Do you concede?” he asked.

“Hell no!” she spat at him, and tried to
head-butt him in the chin but he twisted his head to the side and she merely
clipped his shoulder.

“I’ve won, wench,” he told her. “Be a
gracious loser and concede.” When he saw what she was about to do, he turned
his head away again and her spittle went flying over his shoulder.

“Mother!” Shanee said. “That was beneath
you.”

“Aye, I agree it was childish and silly but
your mother hates to lose,
ionúin
,” he said.

“
Sie sind ein eingebildeter bastard,
”
Polumesa said, calling him a conceited bastard.

“
Und Sie sind sehr schön, wenn Sie
verärgert sind
,” he said, telling her she was very beautiful when she was
angry.

“Aye, well, you really haven’t seen me
truly angry, Reaper,” Polemusa snapped. “Now let me up.”

Ailyn smiled. “Say please and I will.”

The defense queen’s eyes flared wide. “I do
not kowtow to any man!” she growled.

“I am not just any man, baby,” he told her
and his grin disappeared. “You do not show respect for a warrior’s ability
either, do you? I guess there is no honor among the Amazeen when one of you has
been bested in a fair fight.”

He didn’t wait for her to answer but let go
of her and rolled away, getting to his feet and turning his back on her to let
her know she posed no threat to him.

Shanee held her breath, curious to know how
her mother would respond to that challenge.

“Don’t you walk away from me, boy!”
Polemusa shouted.

Ailyn swiveled his head around. “Then show
me the same deference you would a female who defeated you and I’ll treat you as
the equal I believe you to be.”

Put in that light, Polemusa had no other
option. She squared her shoulders. “I acknowledge you won that fight but I
won’t be as easy on you the next time around.”

Shanee expected Ailyn to snort at that
statement but he merely nodded. He waved a hand and his Reaper uniform settled
in place over his muscular body.

“Walk with me, Mother,” he said. “You and I
need to have a little talk.”

Polemusa gritted her teeth. “Don’t call me
Mother,” she snapped as she dusted off the back of her toga.

“Would you prefer I called you Mama or
perhaps Mom?”

A hiss was his answer as the defense queen
came toward him. “I prefer ‘Your Majesty’ but ‘Mother’ will suffice.”

Shanee came forward to join them but Ailyn
shook his head. “This is just between the two of us,
ionúin
. Wait here.”

“Already he is subjugating you,” Polemusa
stated, giving her daughter an I-told-you-so look. “That is what comes from
legally Joining with a man.”

“Would you rather she had Joined with a
woman?” Ailyn inquired.

“At least a woman would not treat her as
property,” his mother-in-law insulted him.

“Unlike Amazeen women who treat their males
like equals?” he countered.

Polemusa snarled at that statement but fell
into step beside him. “Point taken,” she admitted.

Once they were out of Shanee’s hearing
range, Ailyn spoke quietly to her mother.

“I love your daughter with all my heart,”
he said. “I would not have asked her to marry me if I did not.”

“You can have the milk without buying the
cow,” she reminded him.

“Aye, but I gave her my name so I might
defend and protect her. She…”

“She doesn’t need your protection!”
Polemusa declared.

“Perhaps not, but it is there if the need
should ever arise,” he said quietly. “As it did on the
Midian
. Had I not
pulled her assailant off her, he might have done her harm.”

Polemusa shrugged but did not say she
agreed with his assumption.

“I know you worry about her since she is no
longer under the aegis of her tribe. You should feel some relief that there will
be someone at her back when she goes on her missions from now on.”

The defense queen stopped in mid stride and
put a hand to his arm to halt him as well. “You will be working with her?”

“I want her safe, Polemusa,” he said. “I
will be with her from now on or she won’t be working for the Guardians.”

“You think you can stop her?” Polemusa
sneered.

“I know damned well I can,” he replied. “Do
you doubt it?”

She stared into his eyes for a long
time—taking his measure, giving him her most intimidating glower but he did not
so much as blink much less lower his gaze to that threatening glare.

“You promise you will keep her from harm?”

“I do.”

“That you will treat her as she should be
treated—with honor and with respect?” She narrowed her eyes. “You will be faithful
to her?”

“I am a Reaper,” he reminded her. “I will
have but one love in my lifetime. I have given that love to your daughter. I
will keep myself only unto her. There will never be another for me.”

“You will give her children?”

“I will give her as many sons as she
wants.”

“What of daughters?” she ground out.

Ailyn shook his head. “That I cannot do. My
parasite will not allow it.”

Pain drifted over Polemusa’s face. “It is
every Amazeen’s dream to have a daughter to follow in her footsteps. Shanee is
my only child. I want a granddaughter to…” She shrugged as though hating to
admit what she was about to say. “To spoil.”

“Are there no female children in Amazeen
who need a mother?” he asked. “Are there no little girls who should not be with
the mothers they do have?”

“You would accept such a child?”

“Every child needs a mother’s love. When
that love is withheld, the child rarely grows up to be a happy, well-adjusted
adult.”

“You sound as though you speak from
experience,” she said.

“I do.”

Polemusa had not come to this meeting with
Ailyn Harmattan without knowing all there was to be gleaned about the man her
daughter had married. She knew he had not lived a happy childhood and that his
own mother had ignored him his entire life. She suspected there was even more
pain lurking in his past in relation to his mother that she didn’t know about
and made a mental note to discover what that pain was.

“Shanee cannot come to Amazeen to find such
a needy child,” Polemusa said.

“Do you not think she would trust you to
find her a little one who will need what we can give her?” he asked.

“We?”

“We,” he said.

Polemusa’s grip was still on his arm and
she seemed to be unaware that she was caressing the hard muscle of his biceps
until he looked down pointedly at her hand. She jerked her hand away and ran
the palm down the skirt of her toga. “Forgive me, son,” she said.

Without missing a beat, Ailyn reached for
her hand and laid it atop his forearm as he drew her along with him, covering
her hand with his free hand. “There is nothing to forgive,” he said as though
no harsh words had ever passed between them. “I swear to you that I will do all
I can to make Shanee happy. I will never raise a hand to her and I will strive
to never raise my voice either. I will give her a good life and I will be there
with her for as long as the gods allow.”

Polemusa relaxed as they walked. “That is
all a mother can ask for her child,” she said gently.

“It pleases me to know you love Shanee,” he
said.

“As it pleases me that a warrior such as
you loves her,” the defense queen replied.

* * * * *

Shanee was pacing in front of her quarters,
glaring at those who had been peeking out their windows at the spectacle
playing itself out in the courtyard. She knew none of her neighbors—didn’t care
to—and was irritated that they were spying on her personal business. When she
realized her mother and husband were coming back from their short walk, she was
stunned to see her mother’s hand on Ailyn’s arm and that the defense queen was
smiling.

“You have done well, daughter,” Polemusa
said. “This one is a keeper.”

Ailyn lifted his mother-in-law’s hand and
kissed the back of it. “
Mai ist der Wind immer an Ihrer Rückseite, Mutter,”
he said softly then let go of her hand.

“
Mai ist der Wind immer an Ihrer
Rückseite, mein Sohn
,” Polemusa replied.

“Now I’ll leave you two lovely ladies to
discuss me behind my back,” he said with a grin, and thrust his hands into the
pockets of his leather pants.

After he was inside her quarters, Shanee
put her hands on her hips and glared at her mother. “Since when have you
ever
wished a man that blessing, Mother?”

Her mother cocked a shoulder. “It seemed
the polite thing to do since he wished the Wind at my back.”

Shanee’s eyes narrowed. “Since when have
you ever extended
politeness
to a man? You wouldn’t even say please when
he bid you do so!”

“He was lying atop me, daughter,” Polemusa
said. “I wasn’t about to ask him to please get his well-honed and wonderfully
heavy body off me.” She smiled. “I was enjoying him far too much.”

Shanee rolled her eyes. “That is a terrible
thing to say about your son-in-law,” she snapped.

“Don’t tell me you find his weight and his
muscles—not to mention that hard cock I could feel pressing against my
thigh—not to your liking, Shanee,” her mother said.

“Mother!” Shanee gasped, her face beet red.

“Go,” Polemusa said with a laugh. “Make use
of that steely shaft with my blessing. I must return to Amazeen lest your aunt
incite an insurrection against me.”

* * * * *

When his lady-wife came inside, Ailyn was
reclining on the settee in a pair of black silk pants that hugged his long legs
like a second skin. His chest and feet were bare, one knee crooked as he read
an old-fashioned book he had brought with him from Theristes.

“Did you know Terra was once inhabited by
dragons?” he asked.