Page 122 of Tashama
“They will not harm you, Listra. I promise. You must slip away through the camp and run to the colonel’s tent. He is of the 4thhouse and will have a blue flag waving in front of it. You must make a scene, then faint. Soldiers cannot stand to see a woman faint.”
Aleron frowned at her.
“No, I have never done such a thing,” she said, smiling, “but just the same, I’ve read how effective the maneuver can be.” She turned to Listra. “You must do this, as Aleron and I must stop the warring of our people. I need all the soldiers I can get to help me rid Karthland of Loran’s influence.”
“All right,” Listra said, but her tone of voice indicated her heart wasn’t in the task she was given.
Tashama hugged her. “Go now, and quietly as you must make it to the colonel’s tent.”
Aleron shook his head. “I’m not certain.”
“I’ve seen this is what must be done, Your Highness. Please help me in this, as I cannot do it without both your help.”
Aleron opened a flap to the window and saw several officers conversing nearby. Tashama peeked out the other side of the carriage and found the soldiers so far away from the vehicle that she motioned in that direction. Listra walked out first, then, as she moved behind the horses that pulled the carriage, one of them whinnied, and Tashama motioned her to continue.
When Listra was out of sight, Tashama grabbed Aleron’s hand and dashed toward a stand of horses as they were tethered in a long line nearby. He reached to untie a horse, and she pulled at the reins of a painted pony.
He helped her onto her horse, then mounted his own and walked into the dark, aware that the soldiers were bedding down for the night in their tents scattered all over the meadow, their conversation still cluttering the air.
Barely breathing, Tashama worried her heartbeat could be heard over the muttered conversations. She followed Aleron’s lead because she hadn’t a clue where the battle might be taking place, and they stopped their horses when a man said, “Who goes there?” He only spoke to a fellow soldier, and the other laughed.
“Drank a little too much ale tonight.”
Their conversation drifted off as Tashama and Aleron continued on their way.
By the time the sky lightened slightly, Aleron motioned to the plain. Tashama nodded, then rode to where Oshon’s men prepared for the day’s battle while General Karam’s men did the same.
The order was given to release a hail of arrows. Tashama perceived Carissian was nearby. Fearing he would see what she had planned and would have Aleron stop her, she dashed into the center of the meadow. Her hair and the horse’s blond mane and tail flailed in the breeze, kicked up with his gallop.
She turned at the end of the battle line and rode like the zephyr back across the plain between the two forces. Stunned, several of the men lowered their bows, though their respective generals stormed through the ranks, urging them on without regard to the woman in their midst.
Tashama neared the halfway point across the battlefield. An enthusiastic Maldovian archer struck her in the shoulder with awell-placed arrow aimed at a Karthlander, and the Karthlander, in response, aimed for the Maldovian. But Tashama, determined to stop the war at all costs, kneed her horse forward to stop the arrow meant for the Maldovian.
The arrow hit her thigh, and she lurched forward, then pulled her horse to a stop in the middle of the field. She sat with her head held high as the blood trickled from her wounds while Maldovians and Karthlanders waited in silence. Then Aleron jerked his horse’s reins from the officer who tried to keep him from aiding the lady. As he rode through his own ranks, Oshon hurried to speak with him.
Tashama watched them, then turned as General Karam was unmoved. As word was passed to the Karthlander’s healer, he hurried to reach her with his bag of medicines in hand, while Aleron’s healer did the same.
Both pleaded with her to dismount, but she declined. As one of General Karam’s officers rode forth, then dismounted by Tashama’s side, she shook her head.
“I won’t leave this place until General Karam comes forth and agrees to end hostilities.” Oshon and Aleron advanced toward them. “The Maldovians have already agreed to such a thing.”
Aleron pulled in beside her and touched her wounded arm. “Tashama, let my healer see to your wounds.”
“Not until General Karam agrees to cease this conflict.”
Voices rose in discussion on both sides as the air heated with men’s anger, and Tashama gripped onto her reins tightly as she felt her mind drifting. Carissian appeared beside Aleron. “Our healer must see to her wounds at once. The pain she’s feeling…”
Tashama shook her head. “General Karam must come forward. We must be patient. He’s just very stubborn.”
“And you are not?” Aleron said. “You’ve lost a lot of blood, Tashama. Your cheeks have lost their color.”
“We must wait.”
The Karthlander healer reached up to break off the arrow in Tashama’s leg as he feared waiting any further. As the arrow snapped off in his hands, the pain shot up through her leg. Tashama saw the sky grow white, then turn black.
The next morning,Tashama opened her eyes to find the Maldovian and Karthlander healers checking on other wounded soldiers. She rubbed her forehead for a moment, then sat up on the cot. As the bed creaked, Throckmorton, the Karthlander healer, looked her over. “My lady, you must lie down and rest.” He hurried to attend to her as a Maldovian page ran from the tent hospital.
“What has happened?” She lay down.
