Warcry

done. “We’ll talk later,” he croaked out. “I need to go take care of this.” He took a few steps back. “Please continue to use my room until you depart with Liam,” he said, the words strangling him even as he spoke. Then, coward that he was, he turned on his heel and headed for the kitchens.

    ATIRA’S HEART CLUTCHED IN HER CHEST AS SHE watched Heath leave. He’d been so abrupt, so . . . distant. She looked over at Lara. “Did I say I was leaving?” she asked.
    Keirson started to fuss. Lara cooed at him before answering Atira. “I think you and he have much to discuss,” Lara said softly. She carefully stood, then smiled at the bundle in her arms. “I’d rather nurse in our chambers. A nap sounds like an excellent idea for afterwards.”
    “Kayla still sleeps,” Keir said. “I’ll be up shortly.”
    Atira was still gathering her wits as Lara and Amyu gathered up Keirson and the various baskets and started to slowly walk to the kitchens. Did Heath really mean to leave her? Or did he want her to go?
    “If you wish,” Keir said, focusing on Atira, “I will release you to serve with Liam. I would regret the loss, for you have proved your worth as a warrior many times over. But Liam is a good man and powerful Warlord.”
    Atira stared at him. “You will have to return to the Plains eventually to reclaim your status as Warlord.” She didn’t mention other rumors she’d heard, of his more ambitious plans.
    But to her surprise, Keir agreed. “Lara knows that I cannot be Warking without being Warlord. This season, Simus will strive to seek that status, and Joden may become a Singer. But next year . . .” He looked down at the babe in his arms. “There will be separations.”
    “Why did you bond with Lara?” Atira blurted out.

CHAPTER 35
     
    THE WORDS WERE OUT OF HER MOUTH BEFORE she could stop them, and she held no token.
    “Warlord, forgive—” Atira started.
    Keir snorted softly. “After all this, there is no need of tokens between us, Atira of the Bear.”
    Atira stilled and waited.
    “How could I bond with a city-dweller, you mean?” Keir said softly.
    Atira nodded, but Keir was ignoring her, looking off into the gardens. “At first, it was to achieve my goals. I needed her as a warprize, and something about her stirred my heart.”
    “So I claimed her and brought her into my camp . . .” Keir smiled at the memory. “Even with Xymund’s lies between us, she wrapped herself around my heart in ways I didn’t think possible.”
    “Lara came to me thinking she was a sacrifice. A slave. It was only when she learned the meaning of warprize that she felt free to offer me her heart.”
    “It was when I tried to set her free, she forced me to face the truth. Promises, pledges, even bonds are as the wind. They call for more than just the words or gestures on a certain day. It must be a constant effort, like practicing with a blade.” Keir shifted, as if uncomfortable. “But within the bond, it is . . . words are not my gift.”
    “Like a pattern dance?” Atira asked, seeing it in her mind’s eye. “When the beat is strong and you and the one that dances with you move as one, sharing thoughts, sharing . . .”
    “Sharing the dance,” Keir finished for her. He looked over, his blue eyes sparkling bright. “But there is more to it than that, Atira. Lara completes me and gives me the one thing that no one else can. Her love. And now, my life is that much more because of her. With her by my side, I see possibilities that I never even thought of without her. Alone, I am nothing.” Keir’s eyes glittered. “But with her, I am limitless.”
    They sat in silence for a moment.
    “It is strange,” Atira said slowly, thinking as she spoke. “On the Plains, we see for miles, yet our lives are restricted, somehow. We grow in the thea camps, serve in the military, then return to the thea camps to raise the next generation. That is our way, and it is a good way . . .”
    Keir waited silently.
    “Here, I may not be able to see beyond the stones and the wall, but the choices seem endless. To be more than we are.” Atira shook her head. “I am not saying this right.”
    “No,” Keir said. “You begin to see what I saw when I went to rescue Simus and found a healer at his side.”
    There was a gurgle, and tiny hands started to wave about from the cradle of Keir’s arms. Keir looked down with a gentle smile. “Seems my daughter is awake.” Keir rose from the bench. “I best