The Outcast (8 page)

SHE
was grateful for the strong arms still around her. She didn’t want to face Ragner alone. To look at him filling the position that by all rights had been
her
mother’s. Her father’s.

Hers. If she had wanted it. She’d been raised to be the heir of the Amyenka House. Ragner had taken that from her. Their family lines had once been the largest Dardaptoan in Russia, numbering close to five thousand. Mostly males; strong fighters who prized their abilities to defend the Amyenka House.

That number had splintered by a third after her father’s death.

“Does anyone know how many Amyenka will be coming?”

“They number just under four thousand.” It was Marcos’ cousin who spoke, and Lana forced herself to meet his eyes. He looked at her like he could read her soul. And that definitely scared her. “They are disheartened, by the recent past, and by the orders to relocate. They will be looking toward your line. Are you prepared for that?”

“I will meet my duty to my people, even though mine own numbers are much smaller than that. I am Amyenka first and foremost.” Lana closed her eyes for a moment, as the remembered words of her parents flooded her heart. They had preached duty to her, above all else. She was to lead.

Ragner had robbed them all of that. And now was the time she would face him. Was she ready?

Aureliana leaned down
from her seat upon the dais, until she could speak to Lana. Marcos’ sister wrapped a hand around Lana’s. She forced herself not to yank away from the woman’s act of kindness. Were all of Marcos’ family like that? Willing to reach out to a stranger? She couldn’t fathom it.

“You are
not a stranger. You have been of our family since the moment
Marcos
was born. It just took
us
this long to find you. You will always be welcome here. You are as my sister, and will be always. Remember, you are not alone. Not any longer. And you never really were.
We
have been waiting for you.”

Something passed between their clasped hands, and Lana felt a rush of humbling power and support unlike anything she had ever felt before. 

She was Amyenka, and she wasn’t alone any longer. If her people needed her, she had no other course than to be there.

“I am ready.”

SOMETHING
about his female had changed, but Marcos knew not enough about her to tell what it was. She stood a little straighter. She didn’t look quite as ragged as she had at first.

Pride in her filled him. She
was
strong, even though the small body and wounded ways belied that. But the look in her eyes…

She stepped away from him, then unbraided her hair. She tightened his
hasha
around her waist. “My people are coming. I will be the one to greet them.” Her eyes met his. “With you by my side. I do not know whether I will be welcomed, and I need your assurance. My people—the ones with me today—will always be protected, as part of
your
House.”

“You have that assurance. My House, your House, all who choose to follow you… we become as
one
House today.”

Never had he spoken truer words. He could see some of
his
top warriors in the crowd surrounding them. Behlik, Ju, Areu—men he had spent the last four hundred years fighting and living beside. Behlik nodded at him, and Marcos knew the other male understood, as well.

“Together we live,
now.
”

Ten minutes later the portkeys parted and a new House stepped through. It was a rather large one, as it took them more than two hours to fully arrive.

The
hasha
they were was the brown of Amyenka.

Lana stepped forward. Marcos shifted to stand at her back. He leaned down and brushed a kiss against her neck. He whispered in her ear. “I am
here for you now; you will never have to be alone again.”

SHE
could do this. She didn’t need Marcos’ support, though it was certainly appreciated. She stayed still until the people of her mother’s House stepped past the initial entrance to the courtyard and moved toward the queen and king. Toward her.

The two
hours it took were some of the longest of her life. Finally the House of Amyenka came close enough to pay respects to the High King and their hosts in this new world.

The first person she recognized was Salo, her mother’s old tutor.
Her
old tutor. His eyes met hers.

She didn’t know what to
do
next, so she fell back on the training her mother had given her. That
Salo
had given her. She bowed the traditional formal greeting of the Dardaptoan people.

He stopped walking, causing half the people behind him to stop, as well.

Lana continued to study her people. And they were
hers.
The weight of the responsibility settled upon her soul. As did the knowledge that leading the House of Amyenka was what the goddess she’d worshipped her entire life had destined for her.

She was ready to meet that future now.
Or as ready as she would ever be.

Others wearing Amyenka brown had stopped now, too. Kir, Jacu, Phe, and Rek—Dardaptoans she’d known for her entire life. Kir was crying. Phe and Rek stared at her. Lana nodded at the couple, distant cousins of her mother.

“The heir
lives!”
Rek turned to the people behind him as he yelled the words.

Others picked up the cry. Soon the crowd was chanting, “
She lives!”
and “
Havalana!”

And then,
as more and more of her mother’s people—
her
people—came through the portkey, the chants grew.

She just stood silent as the crowd
swelled. Thousands of Dardaptoans filled the demon courtyard. Her family’s people, the ones she had led these past three years, those she recognized as her
Rajni’s
House, plus onlookers drawn to the commotion—they all stared in her direction.

The eyes and the questions—they did not matter. Her people, her
House—
that was what was important.

Ragner would not control them any longer.

Rek and Salo came to her. Kir, too. Her mother’s best friend wrapped trembling hands around Lana’s upper arms. “We feared you were lost to us forever.”

“I was never lost; I was fleeing and injured. Tell me, where is Ragner?” She would never again claim him as her brother.

“He comes through last.” Rek bowed to her. “He wished the leaders of this land to be impressed by our House’s numbers and wealth.”

Her
Rajni
squeezed her shoulder. “I have not been in this world long, but I have seen enough to doubt that wealth matters much here.”

Lana agre
ed. “The numbers may be of great use in this time, but the wealth and ostentatious trappings Ragner so desperately loves—no. Loyalty and a love of our House, and our Goddess will be what is prized.”

“Are you ready, then? To take the mantle that by all birthrights is yours?” Rek had
long been a man of frank words. Lana had always appreciated it.

“I am ready.”

Rek stared at her. Lana kept her gaze steady and direct on the male who had been her mother’s top advisor until four years ago.

He bowed to her and turned toward the crowd surrounding them. “House of Amyenka! Heed my words well! This is the day our people will remember for eternity! The
Dahn
of Amyenka lives. Behold our Havalana Amyenka, of the noble and ancient House of Amyenka!”

His voice carried and had the crowd quieting. Lana’s heartbeat sped up.

Her
Rajni
was there, his grip tight and reassuring on her shoulders. Lana risked a glance at him. Some of her anxiety subsided, but only a bit. She nodded, slowly, then raised a hand to the one he rested on her right shoulder. His fingers met hers. She squeezed his hand, then stepped away.

Her people needed to see her as strong, and not dependent on anyone to lead them—even her mate.

She did not miss the mingled admiration and pride in his eyes.

Rek, Kir, others that she recognized, went to one knee in front of her. Those behind them did the same, almost in a wave.

Until she was surrounded by people kneeling before her. What was she supposed to do now?

One person near her was the last to take a knee. Pleius. Her Pleius. Her best friend—her protector.

Everything a brother
should
be. Without him she would have been lost to the evil that was Ragner’s soul.

Her gaze met his.

He took the hat off, then bowed his handsome head. His unfailing faith in her had been what had carried her through. She would never forget that.

Marcos’ hand brushed against the small of her back.

More quiet, steady faith. Something she most definitely needed.

Havalana stepped forward. Lifted her face to the sun, then looked at her people as they gathered in front of her. She needed to say something to them. To let them know she was
here
and that from this moment forward
she
would lead them.

Marcos must have read the thoughts in her head. He lifted her from behind, and placed her on the small dais.

Next to the watching king and queen, next to
his
sister and brother-in-law. She did not miss the power in that placement. And she would take advantage of it.

“I know you have questions, and some legitimate fears. About this new place and where
I
have been these years…”

MARCOS
could barely breathe as he watched the transformation of his female from timid outcast to strong and beautiful
Dahn.
He looked at his family surrounding her and knew they saw the same as he.

Did she realize what was happening to her in that moment?

Her people were hanging on her every word. And how could they not? There was a power in her voice, beyond just the motivational words of a great leader.

He studied her for a long moment. Something about his female had changed, almost in an instant. Her skin was radiant, her eyes bright and bold, and fire touched the long red hair.

She no longer looked ragged and waifish, though he knew the
pardus
and
vestis
she wore were too big and borrowed from the healer Thadd’s younger sister.

“I know you have questions and some legitimate fears. About this new place and
where I have been these years. Evil has separated us, robbing a number of the daughters of Amyenka of the family the Goddess Kennera decreed for them. This evil also took from us my mother,
Dahn
of this noble house. That evil is one that is known to you, to me. Had I not fled almost four years ago I would have been lost to you, as well. The last
true
decedent of the original Amyenka. It was only by our Goddess’s grace that I lived to guide our House of Amyenka now, in this strange land. The
daharana
has been the blessing of my mother’s family since the creation of our people. Ragner tried to take that from this House, by treachery, greed, and deceit. No more!”

Her voice rang out over the now still crowd. Marcos studied those who were the dark brown of Amyenka. Ragner still stood, a handful of men beside him. The bastard had no expression on his face, but he had yet to look away from Lana.

Marcos resisted the urge to go to her, to show Ragner that Lana would no longer be vulnerable to him. But he didn’t.

Her people needed to see her as
their
leader. Fierce, strong, capable, fair, loving, and yet willing to do whatever was needed to keep them safe.

Her voice still carried over the courtyard and he half wondered
how such depth and sound could come from such a small body.

“From this moment forward the House of Amyenka will be
led
by a true heir of the first Havalana Ara Amyenka, my great, great-grandmother.” Lana pointed toward the back of the crowd. “Ragner, once Amyenka, step forward and accept the consequences of your sins against this House, the one the Goddess Kennera made!”

It was a bold challenge on her part, but Marcos sensed that the crowd surrounding them agreed with her words, were believing in the power of her and her position.

He had not known that the House of Amyenka was matrilineal. Many Dardaptoan Houses were not. And he had not known that Ragner was an imposter
Dhar
of the House four years ago. If he had, he would have simply killed him back then.

And then maybe he would have found his female sooner.

It would take Marcos a while to forgive himself that oversight.

He could have found her, protected her, and had her by his side years ago.

Ragner tried to flee, but Marcos could have told the little shit that wouldn’t have been a smart idea.

Aodhan and the Wolf God had come up behind the false
Dhar
while Lana had been speaking. Marcos’ eyes met his brother’s, and he definitely appreciated the expression on Aodhan’s face.

Aodhan would be keeping Ragner for Marcos to deal with
later, wouldn’t he? Marcos intended to enjoy the privilege.

And after seeing the marks left on Lana’s back by Ragner’s treachery, Marcos held the right of a
Rajni
to avenge his female’s suffering—never mind the shit Ragner had done to
him
four years ago.

No, Marcos would make Ragner pay for what he had done to Lana, and all the females she had le
d deep into the Russian woods. He would make Ragner suffer for every single night those Dardaptoan babes had gone to bed with too little food and no real shelter.

By rights, Lana should be the one to extract that punishment from the male who tried to take what was hers by rights—at least according to Dardaptoan law.