Every Battle Lord's Nightmare

Chapter 2

Chapter One

Summit

“Mattox! Come back here right now!”

made a grab for the slippery two-year-old, but he managed to wriggle out of arm"s length, climb over the rim of the tub, and go racing in suds-covered abandon out of the bathroom. Giving a grunt of irritation, she climbed to her feet from where she"d been kneeling beside the big copper tub to bathe him, and went in pursuit.

She barely reached the spiraling staircase leading down into the living area when a familiar voice called out. “Hey, Matt! , you little rabbit, you. Where’re you off to without a stitch on?”

“Grab him, Warren!”

Laughter, mixed with delighted squeals from her son, answered her.

“Don"t worry, ! He"s not going anywhere.”

She peered over the balcony, down at where her second had two firm arms around the child. “He"s quite a handful.”

Warren Paxton grinned. “Well, the terrible twos, you know. Want me to carry him back upstairs for you?”

“Would you, please? Thanks. I was hoping to be done here before finished inspecting the troops, but Mattox had other plans.” She didn"t miss how the second"s eyes dropped to her belly and the noticeable bulge, but he didn"t comment on it.

“The battle lord isn"t done with the inspection. I"m here for a different reason.” Reaching the bedroom, he perched on the edge of the bed and plopped the child into his lap. “If you give me a towel, I"ll dry him off for you.”

“Thanks, Warren.” She returned to the bathroom to fetch a dry cloth, tossing it to him as Mattox verbally protested.

“ go! go! Warren, go!”

“Hold on now, little prince. This won"t take but a minute. You don"t need to go running around the compound in your birthday suit. You"ll catch cold!” Paxton laughed as the child fought the towel and his confinement. “Hold still! Mind me, or I won"t take you to the practice field tomorrow to watch the sword fights.”

The threat of losing that particular treat worked. Although often used candy or desserts to bribe her son into doing what she wanted, Mattox had a special fondness for getting to roam amid the other soldiers and be a part of whatever they were involved in. Especially if he was accompanying his father. But if the battle lord wasn"t available, the next best options were Warren Paxton and Cole , the seconds in command.

watched as her son finally stopped struggling and accepted having his mop of curly brown hair dried off, as well as the rest of him. By the time Paxton was finished, she handed the man the little pair of pants and tunic to dress the child.

“You showed up at the right time,” she admitted. “I seem to be getting slower.”

Paxton snorted. “Slower, but not less agile. You have better aim when you"re pregnant than a lot of seasoned veterans have in their prime. Okay, Matt. Where are your socks? Soldiers don"t wear boots without socks.” He set the child on the floor. Mattox promptly ran into the small bedroom adjacent to his parents" to fetch a pair from the small bureau.

“You said you had another reason to see me?” prompted.

Paxton turned his attention to her. “A missive was delivered a few minutes ago by a small brigade of soldiers. wants you to meet him at the main lodge.” He waved for her to leave. “Go ahead. I"ll take care of Matt and meet you there.”

She turned to head down the stairs just as the child emerged from the back room. The little boy’s unique eyes turned pale pink with worry when he realized she was leaving without him.

“?”

She paused to flash him a smile. “I’m going to the main lodge. As soon as you get your boots and jacket on, you can come join me and your father.” Grabbing her coat, she threw it around herself and left the cabin without hearing any further protests.

Her presence was hailed two steps outside the front door. automatically waved to the sentry on watch in the nearby tower. The night was clear, the air crisp. The stars overhead were ice crystals surrounding the milky white broken moon. Clumps of snow remained on the ground, scattered in little melting mounds, but it felt like the worst part of winter was over. Hopefully, spring would be early this year.

was standing by the fireplace, along with and two other soldiers. Four armed men wearing ceremonial tabards were waiting a few feet away. Everyone glanced her way when she entered from the side door. waited until she joined them to introduce her to the brigade.

“Gentlemen, my wife, , Battle Lady of Alta . , this is Wolfe and his squad. They"re from .”

“?” She gave them a puzzled stare. “Where is that located?”

“West,” answered. “North and west.”

Her eyes widened. “North and west? How far? I"ve never heard of the place.” noticed how the man tried to keep himself from staring at her hair as he explained.

“We"re representatives of Alton , Battle Lord of Rocky Gorge. He"s heard of the treaties you"ve forged with the .” He pointed to Atty. “He"s also aware that the battle lord of Alta has taken a to wife.”

He flashed her a smile. The sight of it set her teeth on edge, but she said nothing. Instead, she smiled in return. “What is your business in Alta ?” she inquired.

In reply, handed her a small leather envelope. She opened it and extracted a sheet of paper, quickly reading over it. When she glanced up at the visitors, she didn"t miss the surprised expressions on their face. It was obvious that seeing her verified the rumor of marriage. Seeing her reading the document further shocked them. She could almost read their thoughts as clearly as she’d read the paper.

The can read?

The can read?It"s true! She"s ! See the blue hair?

It"s true! She"s ! See the blue hair?Atty folded the document, replaced it in the envelope, and handed it over to her husband. Stepping back, she took a seat at the closest table and silently let take care of matters as she kept warm by the fire.

“How far is your compound?”

“Eleven days ride,” replied.

slowly nodded, thinking. “Is Alta your final destination? Or will you continue on your way after you leave here?”

“Your compound is our southernmost stop. We would be grateful if you would allow us to spend the night here. We"ll head back at first light.”

glanced at his two subordinates. “Meyers, will you and Tattersall show these gentlemen to the soldiers" barracks and issue them a bed?”

The men nodded before ushering the visitors out of the lodge. At the same time, Mattox threw open the side door and ran in, followed closely by Paxton. gestured for the seconds to join him and at the table.

“Our guests are being shown their overnight accommodations,” the battle lord informed her second. He extracted the paper from the envelope and shoved it across the table for Paxton to read. When the soldier finished, he handed it back.

“Well? I"d like to hear your opinions. Pros and cons.” looked at both men. knew he wouldn"t discuss the invitation with her personally until they were alone.

“Are you asking if we think you should go?” finally spoke. “My first reaction is yes. This would be a perfect opportunity to cement what you"ve accomplished between and . Maybe bring about more signed treaties from that area.”

“Your second reaction?” nudged.

“Eleven days to get there? That"s almost a month on the road going and coming. And we all know a hell of a lot can happen on the road, especially in areas we"re not familiar with. Not to mention that compounds that far away may still be antagonistic toward . There are too many unknown and potentially dangerous variables.”

“I agree with Cole,” Paxton commented. “But my biggest fear is that we may encounter Bloods. We don"t know where they went once they left this area.” He glanced at before continuing. “We know for a fact they didn"t go east. And so far there haven"t been any sightings from New or anywhere south. That pretty much leaves the west and north.”

“Then you"re suggesting we decline the invitation,” clarified.

smiled to herself. We decline. Not I decline. That was one reason why she loved her husband as much as she did. He firmly believed that any decision he made affected everyone. Although he made the majority of the decisions, he accepted full responsibility for those choices, whether they ended well or disastrously. When it came to the bigger issues, he never made up his mind without seeking council or examining all avenues. Since she"d been with him, she"d never seen him assume the self-righteous, self-serving attitude of some battle lords she’d met, who felt their word was indisputable.

We decline. Not I decline. Both seconds glanced at each other. They knew they didn"t have the last word in the matter, yet they were aware that the battle lord trusted their instincts, as well as valued their opinions. sighed. “I"m saying this is your chance to spread the word. Maybe bring about more treaties. But we"ll need to be well-armed and watchful while on the road.”

“Since the Bloods have deserted us, I feel the men have gotten less vigilant,” Paxton added. “They"re not as sharp as they once were. Whoever we take with us will need to be well-honed.”

They were interrupted by the sound of wood smacking on wood. looked up to find that Mattox had grabbed his play sword where he"d left it by the fireplace and was attacking the tables with jabs and swings.

straightened. “I’ll let our guests know what we decide before they leave. Since they"ve come this far, it"s only right I let them know whether or not we"ll attend, so they can inform their battle lord upon their return.”

He got up from the table and walked over to where his son was practicing. smiled at the two seconds. “Between us, doesn"t the thought of traveling into unknown lands sound a bit exciting?”

Paxton chuckled. “More like intimidating.”

“I thought I"d had my fill of unknown lands when we tracked you to the east,” admitted.

“Yeah, but you have to admit, you"re glad you did,” she teased. “Otherwise, you wouldn"t have met .”

blushed at the reminder. She glanced at Paxton. The man was resting a hand on his abdomen where he"d sustained life-threatening wounds when she"d gone east to hunt and almost lost her life. “I know released you to resume your duties, but do you think you"re fit enough to make the trip?” she asked him.

It took the man all of two seconds to realize what she was asking him. He blanched. “, I wouldn"t need to go unless you were. Good God, are you actually contemplating accompanying the battle lord over such a long distance? In your condition?”

“I"m barely seven months along, Warren. I was further than that with Mattox when we went to to find out what happened to after the Bloods attacked the compound. Say it takes us a little over a month to get there, stay a few days, then return. I"ll be back long before my due date. Besides, Liam says I"m doing a lot better with this pregnancy than I did with my first, and I agree.”

“So you think will accept the invitation to the summit?” inquired.

shrugged and got to her feet. “All I know is that all the work has done to bring about these treaties isn’t over. Now that some agreements have been put into place, we can"t sit back and hope the good he"s done continues on its own and spreads outward. No, we need to spread the word ourselves. We need to venture into areas where it wouldn"t otherwise be heard. Am I looking forward to being away from home for such a long stretch? Not really. But sometimes sacrifices have to be made for the greater good.”

“The greater good?” Paxton echoed.

felt a warm glow go through her as she observed her husband and son skirmishing in mock battle. “Yes. The greater good. For me and , that good is the future we"re leaving for our children.”