he noticed the Reaper in their midst. He went to one knee, his head bowed.
“Don’t do that,” Bevyn snapped. He’d always been uncomfortable with such overt
acts of fealty. “Get up and tell us what’s happened.”
“Milord,” Halsey said, gasping for breath as he scrambled to his feet. “I did not
know you were here.” He swallowed hard. “Rogues, milord. We got three of them.”
“How long have they been there?” the Reaper asked, reaching for his shirt.
“Two days, milord,” Halsey reported. “They have a couple of women with them.”
Bevyn stilled. “Women?” he repeated. “Human women?”
“I think not, milord,” Halsey said with a shake of his head. “I believe them to be
rogues themselves.”
“That can’t be good,” Buford said.
“It isn’t,” Bevyn agreed, waving his hand. “Have they killed any of your people?”
“None so far. They’ve just taken over the entire town,” Halsey said. “I barely
managed to escape. The women culled out the men and had them put in a barn
together.”
“These women,” Bevyn said as he buttoned his shirt and began tucking it into pants
that were suddenly leather instead of denim. “Are they carrying weapons of their own?
Lance-like weapons?”
“Aye, milord,” Halsey replied. “Spears that shoot fire from the tip.”
“Amazeens,” Bevyn mumbled as he swung his gun belt around his waist and
buckled it. “I figured as much.”
“Want us to come with you, milord?” Buford asked.
The Reaper shook his head. “I’ll do better on my own,” Bevyn said. “Station guards
about. Make sure no one leaves town until I get back. Send word to get those living
close to town to come in. Tell Mable I’ll pay for them to have rooms at her place.”
“The townsfolk may take some in,” Cornelia spoke up.
Lea had been following the conversation with growing dread. She knew better than
to voice her reluctance to allow her man to leave for this was his job. This was what he
had been trained to do. It was a part of him. It was his reason for being, but it didn’t
make things any easier for her.
“You will be careful, milord?” she asked in a quiet voice.
70
Her Reaper’s Arms
Bevyn looked to her and saw the dread on her lovely face. Before everyone there, he
strode to her, hooked an arm around her waist and drew her to him.
“Aye, milady,” he said. “I will be alert.”
With the townspeople watching, he kissed her long and hard then turned away,
striding purposefully to the stable for his horse.
“Oh lord,” Lea whispered, a trembling hand to her lips.
“It is for men to fight and women to wait, girl,” Cornelia said softly. “That’s been
the way of it since time began.”
“But it doesn’t make it any easier,” Lea said, swiping at a tear that ran down her
cheek.
“No,” Cornelia replied. “I know it don’t.”
The livery owner hurried beside Bevyn without being asked. Bevyn sent him over
to Cornelia’s to retrieve his saddlebags since he didn’t know how long he’d be gone and
might need the tenerse inside those bags. By the time Préachán was saddled, the
stableman was back, handing the saddlebags to the Reaper.
“Tell the sheriff to keep an eye on milady,” Bevyn said as he swung atop his mount.
“We’ll all see to her, milord,” the livery owner vowed. “Don’t worry on that
account.”
Nodding his acknowledgement of the promise, Bevyn kicked his horse into motion
and thundered out of town, taking the road to Lawler.
“Lord Kheelan? Talk to me,” Bevyn sent to the Citadel. “Tell me what’s in Lawler.”
He was two miles out of Orson before the High Lord’s voice intruded on his
thoughts.
“You have our apologies, Lord Bevyn. This situation somehow escaped our notice. There are
three rogues and two Amazeen,” Lord Kheelan informed him. “We’ve no idea how the women
warriors got here. This is a first and it should be interesting to find out what the hell they’re
doing here.”
“Who is their leader?”
“A man named Thiess,” the Shadowlord replied. “He looks to be a bad one.”
“Where are they holding up in Lawler?”
There was a slight pause.
“They have made the saloon their base of operations. The younger menfolk are in a barn at
the outskirts of town being guarded by the Amazeen. The older men and male children have been
crowded into the jail. The women and young girls were herded into the church and the doors and
windows were boarded shut. Doesn’t look like the rogues are interested in them.”
“If they’ve mated with the Amazeen, they wouldn’t be interested,” Bevyn stated. “Can you
tell whom they’ve taken Sustenance from?”
“We believe only the younger men.”
71
Charlotte Boyett-Compo
Lawler was a thirty-minute ride from Orson and Préachán’s mighty hooves were
eating up the miles. Bevyn was concentrating on bending low over the steed’s neck to
alleviate some of the wind drag as the horse raced over the prairie.
“They are gone, Bevyn,” the High Lord suddenly said in a low voice. “The young men
have disappeared from the barn.”
“Shit,” Bevyn exclaimed. “Is there a ship lurking up there somewhere?”
“There must be but we’ve not the technology to sense it,” came the disgusted reply . “We
need to get the Net operational over the Citadel and spread it over the rest of the country.
Another week and we’ll have complete protection of the High Council at least.”
“Well, I can’t do anything about the men now but I can stop the rogues from doing it
again,” Bevyn snapped. “They’ll move on to the next town if I don’t.”
“Lord Naois is checking to see if they’ve hit any other towns before this,” Lord Kheelan
said. “Let’s pray this is the first.”
“I saw a Dóigra at English’s cabin,” Bevyn said, full memory of the horror he’d seen
there surfacing in his mind’s eye to nauseate him.
