chapter Twenty-Four
Colm looked away from the men practicing in a clear, grassy area near the corner guardhouse. From his position, he had a good view of almost the entire inner courtyard. When he saw two people walking through the gates, his eyes sharpened. That appeared to be Tyson. When the wind gusted, he saw the bottom of a skirt and knew it was Tyson and Cami.
What were they doing back so soon? He’d thought with the chance to go for a long walk that she’d stay out there until the sun set if they let her. The tension in her had been growing. The problem with the single women had been part of it and her determination to keep a distance between them also had a part in it. Being confined within the walls hadn’t helped. It would have driven him out of his mind to stay within the walls for as long as she had.
Tyson stopped and looked around the courtyard. Colm wondered what he was searching for when he began walking toward them, Cami at his side. Colm tilted his head a little and watched. Something was off. Both of them seemed a little stiff.
By the time they neared him, he knew there was something wrong. The only reason he didn’t walk out to meet them was that if something had happened while they were outside the walls, he would have been told.
“Hi, Cami, I didn’t expect to see you back so soon.” He smiled as they stopped in front of him. He expected an easy smile in return, but her look was so serious and unsure that he knew for certain that something wasn’t right.
She took a deep breath and opened her mouth, but closed it again. Her teeth nibbled at her lower lip. She seemed to be trying to think of what to say. Her hands twisted together. What could make her so nervous?
“Is something wrong?” He looked from Cami to Tyson.
“Your Lady is convinced that the false Ardin are out there.” Tyson looked at Cami.
The man’s tone and expression both showed his confusion. If there had been the slightest hint of condescension in his voice, Colm would have taken him down for the disrespect.
“Cami, did you see something?” Colm asked.
“Not ‘see’ the way you mean.” Her eyes met his.
He bit back the curse. “Why don’t we take this inside the Thent where we can sit and talk about it in comfort?”
Cami still looked nervous. He knew these abilities were new to her. Whatever was bothering her, they’d work through later, but first, he needed to know why she thought the false Ardin were here. He’d known the men might follow her here, but with the number of men he had outside the walls at the moment, he was sure they weren’t close enough to do any harm.
Those men wouldn’t risk their own lives just to get to her. Especially since they thought there was a chance to get their magic back. Not that he expected a foolish attack when they realized that was gone. No, if they decided to try to kill her out of revenge, they’d wait for a vulnerable moment with little risk to them.
He gestured to Linc, who was across the field. That was all it took. Linc left the two men he’d been watching spar and began walking over to join them. Colm waited. Cami needed time to relax. A few moments waiting for Linc wouldn’t hurt.
Is something wrong? She’s back a little sooner than we thought. Linc’s thoughts swept into his mind along with concern.
Tyson said that she thinks the false Ardin were here. Colm kept his eyes on Cami. He didn’t know what to think. She’d been running from those men and had more than enough reason to fear them. He didn’t know how to reassure her without angering her or sounding condescending.
Did he give any reason why she thought that? Linc shot a frown at him as he joined them.
Colm shrugged and lead the way to the Thent. She said that she didn’t see them. Not in the way that I meant.
F*ck. Linc’s mental tone immediately grew a little rougher.
But I have to wonder if it’s really something that will come to pass or if her fear is coloring her thoughts. Colm kept his eyes straight ahead, but felt a little twinge of guilt for even thinking it. The one time she’d seen something here had been true. This was a little different. She hadn’t been asleep. We both know she’s still so afraid of them she has nightmares.
And there’s more than ample reason for those nightmares. Linc moved up beside him and scowled at him, the irritation plain on his face. Let her explain before you start making decisions about what’s real and what she’s imagining. We thought she’d dreamed up the last one and caught two men coming into our Thent because of what she saw.
I remember, but this is a different situation. Colm wasn’t making snap decisions, but he also knew that he was too inclined to believe anything she said simply because she was their Lady.
Sending men out to search won’t hurt anything, even if nothing is found. Personally I’d rather she be aware of the danger than so complacent she didn’t pay attention to what was going on around her. Linc didn’t elaborate, but he didn’t need to go into vivid detail of what could have happened to her if she’d been less diligent before she’d found them.
Those kinds of thoughts gave Colm nightmares. She’d been so vulnerable when she was on the run. He didn’t need the thought of her doing anything overtly reckless added onto the image. Linc had a point about sending out men. It would reassure her that they weren’t simply brushing aside her concerns.
As they climbed the steps, he kept his eyes on her. She was so tense. Didn’t she know that they’d still trust her dreams even if she was wrong this time? Whatever spooked her might not even be about today. It could be sometime in the future. She was just learning about her abilities and hadn’t learned to control or even read it fully yet.
He urged her in front of him as Linc held the door open for her. Tyson waited as they entered and followed them into the entrance hall. Colm almost stopped as he strode in behind her. His eyes rose from studying the sway of her ass as she walked. He saw Vin standing near the end of the hallway. Tension swept over him and his jaw clenched tight, biting back a curse. Seeing the chatar there, he knew something was important, even if he didn’t know what that was.
“I think you need somewhere quiet to talk, right?” Vin smiled and gestured them to walk before him. “You can use my library. Plenty of room for all of you.”
“We do need to talk, and since you’re aware of it, you should probably be part of it.” Colm frowned at the chatar. A little warning would be nice if he had any indication something would happen today. Cami had faced enough changes. She didn’t need any more surprises if it could be helped. He didn’t know what reason the man had for doing things this way. If it was similar to some of his other reasons, they might never know. The man was always mysterious.
Vin nodded and waited as they walked past him. Colm followed Cami as she led the way to the chatar’s library. He reached past her and opened the door before allowing her to enter. She strode into the room, but she didn’t immediately sit. She stood next to one of the shelves.
He knew she was nervous and didn’t want to crowd her. Taking a seat at the end of the table, he waited for her to relax enough to sit down. Linc sat down across from him, leaving the seat at the end open for her. Tyson sat a seat down from him and Vin took a seat near Linc. Finally, Cami sighed looked up and took a chair at the other end of the table.
Colm shook his head. That illustrated how she was feeling very clearly. Her against everyone else. Colm wasn’t about to let that continue. They were by her side on this. She wasn’t alone.
He stood and walked over to her. He didn’t sit beside her. He reached down and lifted her out of the chair. She stiffened and gasped, but she didn’t yell or argue. He walked over and put her into the chair at their end of the table. She grabbed the arms of the chair and narrowed her eyes on him. He didn’t know if she needed something to hold onto to steady herself. Maybe, she simply didn’t want to take a swing at him.
“We always sit by your side and we’ll be on your side. We might not agree with you or take everything you say as fact. That doesn’t mean we’re against you.” Linc put his hand on her arm and rubbed slowly up and down. “Now why don’t you start by telling us what happened out there?”
“Tyson can go first. My story isn’t going to differ too much from his except near the end of the walk.” Cami smiled, but Colm saw the strain around the edges of her mouth.
Trust. In ways, she’d given it to them, and in other ways, she seemed to expect them to turn on her. He was certain she trusted them with her body and not to hurt her physically. It was her emotions that now held her back. Talking wasn’t going to change that. Time would. He didn’t like it. Most of the time, he wanted to grab her and demand that she give them everything. He couldn’t order this. She needed to discover that on her own.
“Go ahead, Tyson,” Linc said.
Colm put his hand over Cami’s. He could see the distance in her eyes and the way she almost leaned back in the chair. He held back a snarl. She’d probably misinterpret his irritation at that silent retreat. He wanted to haul her into his lap and show her that none of her doubts mattered in the end.
“At first, everything was fine. She talked to the women and seemed relaxed. Once we walked away from the Thent and toward the forest, she began to get tense. Her steps noticeably dragged. I thought she was simply nervous about being outside of the walls, but she said no. There was danger.” Tyson looked over at Cami and he didn’t seem to know what to make of her actions.
“Danger? Is that where it ended? Did you bring her back then?” Linc frowned.
“No, I asked her if she’d seen anything. I knew you’d had the perimeter checked and that there were people watching us even at that moment. I thought she was simply nervous because of the old fear of them. I had her take a few breaths. When she was ready, we walked again. She suddenly stopped and said that she was ready to go back to the Thent now.” Tyson rested his arm on the table.
“Is there a reason that you didn’t wait for her to relax again this time?” Colm frowned. Taking that time had been a good idea.
“She wouldn’t. She was pale and obviously shaken about something. She said that if we went any closer to the trees that someone would get hurt.” Tyson shrugged.
“Now your side of the tale, Cami.” Colm looked at her and smiled. His hand tightened on her arm, hoping to reassure her.
Cami bit her lip and then took a deep breath. “I felt way more than nervous as we were walking. Dread comes closer to it.”
“Okay, you were afraid.” Colm hoped to prod her story along so that they could get onto reassuring her that they did take her concerns seriously.
She stiffened and leaned as far back as the chair would allow. Her eyes narrowed a little and her breathing quickened. He clenched his teeth as he realized how harsh his words had sounded. Putting her on the defensive was the last thing he wanted to do.
“Everything inside of me was telling me that going near that forest was a bad idea. At first, I thought that maybe some of it was nerves, because I hadn’t been out in the open in a while. I wasn’t completely unaware that might be the cause. It’s why I kept going after the first time we stopped.” She looked at him and anger burned brightly in her eyes.
Colm saw Linc’s hand stroke up and down her arm, probably trying to soothe her once again. He kept holding onto her hand even when she tried to pull away from him. Better she realize quickly that he’d hold on tightly now.
“So you tried to ignore the feelings, but they were too strong. What happened that finally convinced you of that it wasn’t a bad case of nervous fear?” Linc’s voice rolled smoothly through the room.
“As we got closer to the forest, I saw images. It wasn’t a complete scene as I normally get, but flashes, disjointed little snips and a rush of feelings. Some of the emotions, I’m certain weren’t mine.” She shivered and her scent changed. With the drug in her system, he couldn’t quite identify it, but her body language and expression were enough to tell him fear played a part in it.
“What were the images?” Colm asked. He hoped she realized that he wasn’t questioning what she saw or how she felt about it. He needed to know more about what made it seem so real to her, why this time was different from all of her other visions of the future.
“I saw a flash of light. At first, I tried to make myself believe that it was a bird or something that caught the edge of my vision. It wasn’t.” Her voice strengthened and the she looked him straight in the eyes.
“You became certain it wasn’t a bird.” Linc patted her hand.
She glared at him. Colm shot him a dark look too. The last thing they needed was Linc bumbling around verbally. Colm did enough of that. He wanted her to know they supported her, but everything they said seemed to put her on the defensive.
She pulled at her arm, but he held onto it. If he released her, she’d get up and walk away from them. He wanted to haul her into his lap and hold her tight, but he knew she’d fight that. She was much too angry already.
“No, it wasn’t a bird. I saw flashes of scenes, as if it was a moment out of time. A hand gripped a knife, but I didn’t even have time to wonder who was holding it before the next one hit me. Kynar’s face, his lips twisted into a sneer. I saw blood flowing across grass and dirt. It pooled beside a male hand. And then there were the feelings.” She took a deep breath and shuddered.
Colm felt the tremor as it passed through her. Whatever she’d seen had shaken her badly. Even if this wasn’t a true vision, he wanted to beat the two men who had hurt her. Colm knew he’d made his own mistakes, but he didn’t like paying for theirs. He’d had to fight for her trust since he met her. The desire to rip the barriers away grew every day, but even as part of him railed at the delay, it wasn’t that easy. He might demand her complete trust, but he couldn’t make her give it.
“What feelings? Tell us what you sensed. We need to understand why it seemed so real to you.” Colm winced as he realized how the last of that sounded.
“A strong wave of hatred and anger hit me. It wasn’t mine. I know that much, but I can’t tell you who the feeling belonged to or even who it was directed at. Then almost equally intense was a wave of sadness and guilt. I’m not sure about all of the sadness, but I think part of it and the guilt would have been mine to bear if we’d gone on.” She licked her lips and looked up at them through her lashes. She seemed to be waiting for their reaction.
“We’ll send someone to have a look around the area to see if we can find any sign of anyone trying to hide or strangers.” Linc smiled at Cami and patted her arm.
She stiffened and glared at him. Colm knew that Linc’s words hadn’t soothed her. From the sharpening of her scent, her emotions were raging. He didn’t know what to do to soothe her or even what had set her off. Hadn’t she wanted them to send someone to look for signs of Laed and Kynar?
“You’ll send someone, but you don’t really think you’re going to find anything. Why go to the bother? You don’t have to humor me.” She tugged on her hand again. “Colm, if you don’t let me go, I’m going to bite.”
He released her, but not because of her threat to bite. He didn’t want to panic her. By the glowing light in her eyes, her emotions were rising out of control again. She looked a little surprised and sat there without moving for a few minutes.
“It’s not that we don’t believe you. Even you admit that you’ve never experienced anything such as this. We don’t know what to believe. When the men came over the wall, you dreamed it. We’re going to search because we don’t want to remain ignorant of their presence if they are here,” Colm explained hoping that it helped her understand.
She snarled and lunged to her feet. His fingers slipped over hers as he grabbed for her, but somehow, she’d edged out from between him and the chair. He stood, but stopped as Linc gave a small shake of his head. He looked at Cami again and remained still. Her feet thudded lightly against the woven carpet as she paced to the shelf and whirled around to stomp back toward them. She never got within reach. He didn’t know if he’d have resisted the urge to grab her if she had.
“I know what I felt and I don’t feel that level of anger much less hatred toward anyone, not even Laed and Kynar. I want them dead, but not that kind of hate. That wasn’t my emotion. I know it.” She stopped to glare at them and one of her hands braced on her hip.
“That may be, but you can’t be sure whose anger you were picking up on. It might not be Laed and Kynar. It might not even have anything to do with today. It could be days from now. Since this experience is so different from anything else you’ve had, we’ll have to wait and see.” Linc shrugged.
She growled and threw her hands up in the air. “They’re here. You can wait for confirmation if you want, but it was them. I knew you wouldn’t believe me without proof, but you needed to know. They have no honor and they’ll kill anyone who crosses their path if they get the opportunity.”
She stalked out of the room before Colm could say anything to that or even hope to come up with something that might soothe her temper. Since he didn’t even know why she was so angry, that was a long shot anyway. He started for the door.
“She’s still coming into her power.” The chatar’s voice cut through the room. “Not even close to reaching her peak yet.”
Colm turned and looked at the chatar. “She’s right, then? They are here.”
“Tyson would have died if they’d gone near the forest. I didn’t know about it until she started talking.” The chatar’s voice was soft, but his eyes locked on the warrior.
Colm didn’t need to have it explained any further. His hands fisted at his sides and his head lowered. As much as he’d told himself they were going to support her, they hadn’t. Hell, he hadn’t really given much credence to what she was saying because of the way it had come to her. They had been humoring her.
“Why is it different this time?” Linc’s voice broke the silence in the room.
“It was different this time because of the situation. Her nervousness. She wasn’t asleep, relaxed or trying to meditate to see something more. The flashes and emotions were warnings and she heeded them. As she learns to use her abilities, that might become clearer at times, but even I have occasions when something hits me unexpectedly.” Vin relaxed back in his chair.
“And you couldn’t have said something before we made this huge mess?” Colm shot a glare at the chatar, but knew that it was his own fault.
“You have to learn to trust in what she tells you. She’s going to make mistakes. I do sometimes too. Interpreting what is seen isn’t always easy. Although it might seem immediate and urgent, it could be something that’s happening a rona from now.” Vin sighed. “This isn’t easy for her. She’s still a little afraid of the magic inside her and doesn’t entirely trust it herself.”
Colm grimaced. Even if Vin had spoken up once he realized how serious this was, it wouldn’t have changed anything. Now they needed to show her that they could learn from their mistakes as well as admit to her that they’d made a mistake.
“All right, we send some men out to the forest line to search for signs that they were there. Tyson, start gathering some men. I want at least one set of tierna bonded men with the group. And remind them to be on guard, because I don’t want Cami’s words about them killing someone to be prophetic.” Linc stood and paced once back and forth. His eyes locked on the door.
Tyson nodded and left the room. That left Colm with Linc and the chatar. Thoughts of Cami and what they needed to do flowed through Colm’s mind. He glanced over at Linc.
Colm knew exactly what his bond brother was thinking. He wanted to go after her too. “It would probably be better to let her have a little time before talking to her again. We can go help with the search and make plans. We’ve got a little learning to do ourselves.”
“That’s a start. You’re probably right about her needing some time alone. I’d want to hit somebody or something if I felt that something was wrong and didn’t think anyone was listening to me.” Linc grimaced, but didn’t take his eyes off the door.
“I’m probably lucky she didn’t bite me.” Colm shook his head, but a small smile curved his lips. Most of the time, he liked her feisty attitude. Especially the contrast to her caution at first.
“Let’s get this started and see if we can find those men today. That might even be good enough to make her forget about us not listening.” Linc straightened.
“Maybe not.” Colm shrugged and led the way out of the room.