Honored Vow Read Free

that I had remained silent, I could tell, touched him deeply.
    “If you do not return the beset of my reah, Crane Adams,” he began, turning back to look at the phone, “I will come and take him, along with your head. I have, as you know, a member of the Shu living in my home, and once he speaks to the priest on my behalf, I will have a mandate for your life, semel of the tribe of Anuket.”
    There was a long silence.
    “You thought I would just say yes because you know that Jin loves Crane. Your sylvan, Jin’s father, and your sheseru, Crane’s father, were probably in agreement with this plan, but I will not grant you aid for one man, especially as I have a true covenant bond with the man seeking to take your territory from you, Derek Jackson.”
    “He’s filth! He’s—”
    “He’s passionate,” Logan said, cutting him off, “and younger than you and stronger than you. He wants a tribe that is racially mixed, not racially pure. He wants diversity because he wants the strongest tribe, the best, and accepts all based on nothing but their desire to stand with him. It makes sense to me.”
    “You cannot—”
    “I have, I did. It cannot be undone; it’s sealed in blood, mine and his. So you will return Crane Adams and all will be well, or I will come with my sheseru and my khatyu and however many members of the Shu the priest decides to send with me and I will kill you, your sheseru, and your sylvan, destroy the tribe of Anuket, end its lineage, and leave it to Derek Jackson. Choose your course.”
    Archer was breathing hard over the line.
    “Now!”
    Every eye in the room was on Logan. He was absolutely still, absolutely certain of his decision. And I held my breath because I wanted Crane more than anything, but I knew, in my heart I knew, that if they didn’t choose to give him back to Logan, I wasn’t getting him back at all.
    “You must come for him and speak your words to my tribe, in front of my tribe, and tell them all that you refuse to aid us,” Archer told him.
    “I will aid them, semel,” Logan assured him. “They are all welcome to come and take refuge on my land and with my tribe if they do not want to become part of the tribe of Mnevis. I would welcome them all.”
    “You said my tribe was dead to—”
    “ Your tribe, semel,” he clarified. “If any panthers come to me seeking sanctuary, seeking shelter, I will take them in, and so they are then members of my tribe. Do you understand?”
    Archer Pike had no idea the kind of man that Logan Church was, and that had been his biggest mistake. Logan would never, ever turn his back on fathers and mothers and children. He’d pay to relocate them all, speak to Derek Jackson on their behalf, and do whatever was necessary to create a smooth transition if and when he had to.
    “Your answer, semel,” Logan demanded.
    There was a deep exhale of breath. “Come, then, and claim the beset of your reah.”
    “I will leave tonight,” Logan told him. “I will call you after I meet with the semel of the tribe of Mnevis, and you will grant he and I, our sylvans, and our retinue safe passage.”
    “You will not bring your sheseru?”
    “I will not.”
    “Then who will—”
    “As I stated before, I have a member of the Shu here on my land, Taj Chalthoum; he will act as my sheseru and come in Yuri Kosa’s place.”
    “I do not understand you leaving your sheseru behind if your reah is—”
    “Never, ever concern yourself with my reah,” he said, his voice going from cold to warning in seconds.
    “But we request the presence of your reah.”
    “Your request is denied.”
    I would have said something, because I wanted, needed, to go, but if Logan forbade it, I could never protest… at least in public. He was going to get an earful when we were alone.
    “My sylvan wants to see his son, as does his mate, your reah’s mother.”
    My mother no more wanted to see me than my father did. It was crap.
    “My reah will not step foot into your