Warprize

Anna and Othur may love me dearly, but they couldn’t stand between us.
    Even more, if I returned to the castle, I returned to the known. The commonplace, daily routine of my life. Yet I’d been ripped up by the roots and the pot had been broken, and I wasn’t sure that I’d fit there ever again. Much less grow.
    I hesitated, and wheeled the horse again. It puffed out its breath and stamped at the grass. This time we faced the road that led to the valley. I had skills, and there’d be those that would help me. I could go to the lands that my father left me, and start that school, living out my days teaching and healing. I could even leave for some foreign land. With some supplies and a few coins I could make my way anywhere in this world. Leave Keir and Xymund to weave their pattern and get myself out of this tangle that they called a ‘peace’.
    The horse shook its head, jingling its tack, and stamped its feet, as if in disapproval. If I tried to make my own way, I’d break a promise that my Blood had sworn to the people when Xy had first taken the throne. I might be free of my slavery to the Warlord, but my oaths and my duty still held me to my people. For it seemed to me that for the peace to have any chance, I must be at Keir’s side.
    I wheeled it again and turned to look at the camp. I could hear Joden’s voice. “You are free, Lara. The only restraints on you are those of your own choosing.”
    My breath caught in my throat. The camp of the Warlord, the camp of the dreaded Firelanders. A people who were a total mystery to me, for I had no idea of what my life would be like among them, or what awaited me at the Heart of the Plains. The camp of a man who was risking everything on the chance of building something better. Stronger. Brighter. For both our peoples. Returning to the camp and Keir was a risk. A wild unknown, for no one could tell if his plans would survive to the dawn, much less work. And there was no way to predict what would happen to any of us if he failed.
    There was another aspect to all of this, grand plans and kingdoms aside. I flushed to think of it. For certain, a Daughter of Xy contemplating her duties and obligations was not supposed to think of the touch of a man’s hand in the night, or how a simple brush of lips on her neck could raise such a heat in her breast. No, a loyal Daughter of Xy should think only of her duties and obligations, as I had when I knelt in the throne room to surrender myself to slavery.
    And yet, what I had thought a claiming, had been a seduction.
    What I had thought were chains, were tokens.
    What I had thought was pride of possession in a certain pair of blue eyes was… the promise of a lifetime?
    Hope rose in my breast like a sunrise. There was but one way to find out. That was the only certainty I had. If I took either of the other paths, up to the castle, or out to my lands, I’d never know the answers. Or I could take the biggest risk of all, and open my heart and myself to Keir. Of all the possibilities, of all the paths, it was that one that set my blood afire. A future full of risk and dangers, potential and promise. For him. For me. For us.
    I laughed and urged the horse on, and once again it sprang forward with a willingness. Down the rise we went, the horse’s hooves churning the soil. We galloped through the gate, without so much as a hail of the guard. I caught a brief glimpse of their expressions as we came back through, and laughed again, certain that they were thinking that I was no rider. I didn’t stop until I pulled the horse up outside my stilltent. Joden was still standing there, and I could see the joy in his eyes as I slid from the saddle. Epor and Isdra ran to me, joy and relief on their faces.
    “Thank the skies,” Epor spoke as I handed the reins to Joden.
    “One more question.” I stood straight and looked Joden right in the eye. He grew serious, and nodded for me to continue. “Am I required to bear five children?”
    He blinked, confused but then his face cleared. A smile crept back over his broad face. “No.”
    “Where is he?” I demanded.
    Now Joden’s whole face lit up, and he pointed past the tents to the practice grounds. I smiled, and turned to go.
    “Warprize!” Epor stepped in front of me, his hand out, pleading. “Warprize, please let us to go with you.
    ”
    Isdra added her voice. “Warprize, it’s worth our lives to let you—”
    I stopped and turned. “And if I say ‘no’?”
    Isdra