AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“Do we return them?” Uriah asked.
Ajali moved to the windows overlooking the courtyard. “Yes.”
“If I may, my liege,” Bastien replied. “To return the king’s gift would be an insult to him and Aria. The gems must be returned, but the women would be stained, as it will be said they were inferior to those already in your harem. Your harem is fabled, my lord.”
Ajali already had three hundred of the most beautiful women in his harem to respond to his every whim and desire. Lady Sascha, the Countess of Assia, had been his favorite erratically over the past several months.
He had taken others, but there had been a marked preference in how often he had demanded her presence.
“They are not going to last long under Lady Sascha’s reign.” Uriah chuckled. “She is called the queen of the harem, and she lords it over those she deems beneath her.”
“They are beautiful,” Bastien uttered, “and I believe you need a distraction. You have been travelling some time and must have missed Sascha or any of your other haris, sire.”
“I agree,” Uriah said softly. “Take some time for pleasure. You have not been sleeping. I’ve noticed Ajali. Visit your harem.”
Mayhap they were right. “I will view the women.” Perhaps he needed the distraction. Tension had him rigid, and his loss of allegiance with Boreas had left him cold since. He had plotted on how to use those indebted to him to achieve his goal. He needed consider how to manipulate the other kingdoms so that when war arrived, for arrive it would, he could call in their debts.
“Deliver the women to the hari wing. Ensure they are generously fed and there is ample fine wine. I will join you shortly.”
After his chancellor exited, Ajali spun to face Uriah. “Have attendants and a squadron of warriors return the chests of gems to King Valius. Prepare a missive informing him of the cancellation of Nuria’s allegiance with Boreas, and make a promise for our visit in the near future.”
Ajali ignored Uriah’s stare, and stalked to the portrait of their fallen queen, seeking something from his mother’s emerald gaze deep within her painted image. Echoes of her wails of loss and despair sliced through his mind. Memory of her haunted gaze as she lay dying while her kingdom and king burned had Ajali closing his eyes, blotting out the pain of the past. Nothing had been more important to his queen and mother than the protection of their realm. And in one bid to save her, he had almost sacrificed everything she held dear. He would find another way to prevent the prophecy. Nuria would not fall under his reign.
I will not fail you or my kingdom again.
***
Tehdra stood in the northern wing of the castle—the haris’ wing. When their party had entered, the women in the harem had paused to watch, some with great curiosity, others with jealousy. Servants led Tehdra and the others through several chambers before reaching a sitting room, where a score of women lingered. Some sat on cushions sipping wine, others played musical instruments; others leisurely picked at a lavish repast while chatting cheerfully to their companions. All were dressed and pampered in a state of constant readiness as if the King were to visit.
A rustle of movement snagged Tehdra’s attention, and servants rushed in the room with a female, who vibrated with fury. She was magnificent, her skin was rosy with a healthy, pink blush, and her hair was a mass of golden ringlets which reached down to her mid back, with light blue eyes. Jeweled, sheer garments draped her slim, graceful form—garments so sheer Tehdra could clearly glimpse the outline of the female’s nipples. She was also adorned in magnificent sapphire set in heavy ornate gold. “Why are they here?!” she demanded, with anger trembling in her voice.
“You will remember your place, Lady Sascha,” the chancellor said. “You do not question whom the King adds as his hari.”
Her face whitened. “King Ajali has no need for others,” she snapped. “You will return them.”
“You overstep, Lady Sascha,” the chancellor growled.
The blond beauty opened her mouth as if to protest, and then closed it with an audible snap. She swept her gaze across them all, coldly assessing. She paused on Tehdra for a lengthy moment. Her eyes flicked on and appraised the other two women at Tehdra’s left, before stopping at a young lady Tehdra had considered a Nubian goddess. Tehdra surmised that King Ajali would be so busy with the goddess; he would hardly spare her a thought, leaving her free to start her investigations without fearing he would want to bed her. Tehdra froze. What if he bedded several of his concubines at the same time?
The large doors to the sitting room flung open and in strode the king. Her heart crawled its way up to her throat and lodged itself there.
The man was magnificent.
Waves of energy simmered in the air around him, and such power could have only been earned on bloody battle fields. She glanced at the sheathed swords on both sides of his thighs. Chains coiled around the handles of the swords.
Curious.
He was richly garbed in black trousers and a dark grey silken shirt and boots. Her eyes devoured him, his muscled frame, the sharpness of his cheekbones, the brilliance of his eyes, his shoulders that rippled with each movement. At six feet and five inches, he was lithe and graceful, yet somehow predatory. His hair, the most fascinating mixture of honey and dark brown, had been plaited into hundreds of locks that tumbled down his back. The contrast of forest green eyes, honey and brown hair against olive skin made him stunning. He reminded her of the jagyuars, great cats that were unique to the Mevians.
A keen sense of loss ripped through her. Even when her directives were fulfilled she would never be able to claim King Ajali as her mate, the next half of her soul. She would eventually hunger to know him, but to approach him would be unthinkable. She belonged to the darkness—reviled for the viciousness buried inside of her, and he was the king of a great kingdom.
***
Ajali observed Lady Sascha’s bowed head curiously. Uriah was probably right; she thought she ruled the harem because he had preferred fucking her. She had a lush body, and she used her mouth with wicked heat and hotness, but it was her mind, her razor sharp intelligence that drew him. He sighed internally; he did not have time for this nonsense. His oracle predicted war and death for his people, and his death by a woman, no less. With such a prediction he should be emptying his harem, not adding to his concubines. It was a pity Ruxia had not been able to provide a description of his killer, beyond her hair. “Leave,” he commanded.
Sascha blushed and quickly curtsied. “My king,” she murmured, then hurried from the room.
Ajali observed the ten females. King Valius would have sent him the most beautiful. Ajali ran his gaze leisurely over them. He agreed with Bastien that he needed an outlet for the fire which raged deep inside of him. But Ajali saw none that greatly tempted him. He strode to a brunette with wide tawny gold eyes and lips that looked as if they were made to fit around his cock.
