A Battle Lord’s Heart Read Free Page A

disguise his temper or disgust.
                Burly Man gave him an astonished,
disbelieving look. “Who the fuck are you? ”
                Rather than answer the man, Yulen
glanced over the hunched back at his wife. “Are you all right?” She gave him a
quick nod. “What happened?”
                “He knocked me into the beer stand,”
she indicated with a nod of her head. Yulen’s eyes swept over the mess.
                “Did he hurt you?”
                “A few bruises, but I’ll be okay,”
she assured him.
                Burly Man gave a loud snort and a
groan. “Oh, fuck, I don’t believe this! Who the hell cares whether this Mutah
bitch is hurt or not?”
                For his remark, Yulen smiled cruelly
and jammed his sword a quarter-inch into the man’s neck. Burly Man gasped with
pain as a thin line of blood began to drip onto the ground.
                “What is your name?”
                “Herridge. Tall Herridge.”
                “What is your business in Alta
Novis?”
                “N-no business. My partner and I are
on our way to Port Destiny.”
                “Then I suggest you take your
partner and leave immediately,” Yulen ordered, still in that soft voice filled
with darkness. “You are no longer welcome here. By the way, my name is Yulen
D’Jacques. I’m the Battle Lord of this compound. And the Mutah ‘bitch’ you so
forcefully denounced is Atty, my wife and the Battle Lady of Alta Novis.”
                Releasing him, Yulen stepped back
and raised his sword to his shoulder. “Guards!” Appearing like spirits drawn
from the air, two soldiers came to attention at Yulen’s side. “Escort Mr.
Herridge and his partner to the main gate and have them evicted.”
                Without a sound the two armed
soldiers grabbed both men and dragged them down the walkway, out of the market
area. The moment they were seized and pulled away, Atty dropped to her knees
beside the soldier still lying comatose on the ground.   An egg-size swelling radiated heat from the
back of Mastin’s head. Yulen knelt down beside her.
                “I’ve sent for Liam. How is he?”
                “I don’t know. He tried to come to
my aide, but that guy’s friend pulled an unexpected.”
                “Are you sure you’re okay?”
                “Yeah.” She gave him a sincere
smile. “At least it wasn’t a bucket this time.”
                The remark brought a smile to his
eyes that vanished as quickly as it had appeared. In the sunny, cold morning
she appeared to glow, as if an inner flame had been lit to spread its radiance
throughout her body and her face, and shine in her eyes. It took Yulen several
seconds to collect himself enough to remember what he meant to ask her. “Did
you get my note?”
                “Yeah. I was heading for the archery
field, but I was going to drop by on the way.”
                MaGrath threaded his way through the
crowd and made a quick examination of the man before ordering several men
nearby to carry the soldier to the clinic.   “Atty?”
                “I’m fine, Liam. Honest.”
                Nodding, the physician took her word
and hurried after his comatose patient. Yulen looked back at his wife. “Archery
field?” he reiterated. “Can I watch?”
                “Okay, but no snide comments, or I
just might be tempted stick this Ballock up your—”
                “Atty!”
                “Well, he pissed me off!”
                “Same here. So let’s go take it out
on the target.”
                “What about the—”
                “We can do that later,” he told her.
Getting to his feet, Yulen took her hand and helped her up, and