Page 12 of On a Barbarian World

Kavon tightened his hold on the woman and half turned toward his men. “Mine.”

He watched a wide grin cross Colm’s face. “Of course, Warlord.”

Kavon snorted. “You only warlord me when you’re amused or trying to rile me.”

“Yes, Warlord.”

Kian made a sound that might have been a choked laugh. “I’ll start collecting some of the wreckage.”

Kavon reached his beast and then, with reluctance tugging at him, turned to his friend. “Hold her while I mount.”

Colm nodded and carefully took the woman. Kavon gripped Tarm’s reins and swung up. Once he was seated, Colm handed the woman back to him.

As his men grabbed some metal objects and stashed them in their saddlebags, Kavon allowed himself to finger the woman’s hair. It was pulled back in some complicated plait, but much had escaped its bindings. Soft. It felt like the finest Markarian silk.

“Warlord, look at this.”

He glanced at what Kian held. It was a metal ball, perfectly formed, the size of his hand. “Bring it.”

Kavon was beyond intrigued by this woman and he wanted to know more about her. Where she was from and what she knew. Skyflyers were said to have advanced knowledge, and that sort of knowledge could help with his plan to rebuild his family name.

But for now, she was his, claimed in the way of Markaria. That meant it was his job to keep her safe. His nanami flared, flooding him with energy.

“Enough,” he called out. “Mount up and let’s ride.”

They sped away from the crash site, and Kavon pushed his beast as fast as he could in the darkness. He kept the woman pressed hard to his chest.

She stayed motionless, all that vibrancy he’d seen as she’d fought them, still and quiet.

His pulse tripped. What if she was badly injured? As they approached the house, her eyes remained closed.

“You will not die,” he muttered. He pulled his beast to a stop at the front steps to his home. He leaped off with the woman still in his arms and strode up the steps.

“I need the healers,” he bellowed. “And hot water to my rooms.”

People scurried to obey. Kavon took the steps to his rooms two at a time.

“You will not die, woman, because now you are mine to protect.”

But the woman didn’t stir.

Aurina turned over in the comfy bed, rubbing her face against the soft sheets. She stretched her arms out, her fingers brushing across the furry blankets.

Furry blankets? Her bunk on the Sky Nomad was covered in a smooth synth-silk cover.

She bolted upright.

That set her head throbbing and, with a wince, she clutched her temple, staring around the room.

She froze. Oh, God.

The walls were a shiny, pearlescent gray stone. Sunlight streamed in through a large window, where gauzy, white curtains fluttered in the breeze.

Everything crashed back in on her.

Systems failing. Meteors. The sickening lurch of the crash.

She wrapped her arms around herself. She’d crash-landed. On some unknown planet in the middle of nowhere. Her chest constricted, her breathing turning harsh.