Read Online Dark Warriors: A Dark Lands Anthology (Darklands) by Autumn Dawn - Free Book Online Page B
Authors: Autumn Dawn
Tags: Romance, Anthologies
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his kingdom well.
She was still determined to leave. Maybe it was dishonorable, but she planned to subtly pump the boys for information. While she was at it, she’d learn all she could of the world that had snatched her. The more she knew, the easier it would be to escape and elude capture. Ideally, she would get out within the month. Already she could feel the growing familiarity with this place sucking her in. The longer she was there, the worse it would be. Risky as it was, she had to take the earliest opportunity to leave.
Now she had to figure out how she’d got there in the first place.
A knock sounded on the door. “Ma’am? It’s time.”
The grand hall she was led to was filled with a glittering array of guests. Many of the women from the harem stood beside the soberly robed warriors. They watched her with a mixture of resentment, puzzlement or curiosity. Jen was there with Ser, and she gave Vana a small smile.
Dagon stood at the head of the hall on a small dais. The expression on his face was solemn to match the occasion. Light gleamed off his glossy black body armor. A gold trimmed, sleeveless long coat of scarlet with a Chinese collar swirled around him.
Breathless from the sight, she looked at the boys who stood just below the dais, smiling at their expressions. Young Devin, not yet a teen, had the rebellious light of hope shining in his eyes. His white outfit, the same as the others wore, made him look like an adolescent white knight.
As dark as Devin was blond, Viej’s stare dared her to back out. How could she when she knew his dying father, the last of his family, had put the tattoo on his face? He’d wanted to see the last hope of his bloodline on the face of his son, to remind Viej of the need to survive and save their line. It was too heavy a burden to let the boy bear alone. Who would teach him moderation in his quest to please the dead? Someone had to give him back the gift of his childhood.
And the twins; destined to be lady-killers, both betrayed their youth with the hopeful fear they tried to hide. She wondered how long their white outfits would survive the trauma they’d put them through.
“Lady, are you ready?” Dagon asked, prompting her to look at him.
“I am.”
He gestured, and his mother stepped forward. Vana felt the blood leave her face. She hadn’t expected Ellyn to show up.
As serene as if the moment mattered nothing to her, Ellyn said calmly, “From this moment on, I relinquish my children. I did not birth them. I do not know them.” She turned her back on the boys. In response, every soul in hall did the same. They stood there, repudiated before everyone they knew, motherless. Unwanted.
Horrified, for Vana had never expected this kind of humiliation for them, she sought Dagon’s hard gaze. He’d been abandoned, too.
Slowly, her hand curled into a fist. Making sure her voice carried throughout the hall, she stepped forward and said the words she’d been taught, plus some. “I want them. They will be my sons. It will be as if they came from my body. When they bleed, my heart will bleed. Those who will not acknowledge them will not be welcome in my house. They are dead to me.”
Gasps went through the hall. That last bit hadn’t been part of little speech they’d taught her. Considering her position, it was as daring as actually slapping Ellyn’s face.
Ellyn stiffened. The guests turned around as tradition demanded. For long seconds it looked as if Ellyn would simply walk off and never face them. But finally, her face proud and cold, she turned, though the hand clenched in her yellow robe trembled.
Vana didn’t care. Any woman who could do that to her children was not a woman Vana wanted near them.
Dagon glanced at Ellyn. Grimly, he told the boys, “Greet your mother.” As she’d been coached, Vana knelt and accepted their light touches on her shoulders as they affixed the beads with their name runes engraved on them in her braided hair. Each bead was
She was still determined to leave. Maybe it was dishonorable, but she planned to subtly pump the boys for information. While she was at it, she’d learn all she could of the world that had snatched her. The more she knew, the easier it would be to escape and elude capture. Ideally, she would get out within the month. Already she could feel the growing familiarity with this place sucking her in. The longer she was there, the worse it would be. Risky as it was, she had to take the earliest opportunity to leave.
Now she had to figure out how she’d got there in the first place.
A knock sounded on the door. “Ma’am? It’s time.”
The grand hall she was led to was filled with a glittering array of guests. Many of the women from the harem stood beside the soberly robed warriors. They watched her with a mixture of resentment, puzzlement or curiosity. Jen was there with Ser, and she gave Vana a small smile.
Dagon stood at the head of the hall on a small dais. The expression on his face was solemn to match the occasion. Light gleamed off his glossy black body armor. A gold trimmed, sleeveless long coat of scarlet with a Chinese collar swirled around him.
Breathless from the sight, she looked at the boys who stood just below the dais, smiling at their expressions. Young Devin, not yet a teen, had the rebellious light of hope shining in his eyes. His white outfit, the same as the others wore, made him look like an adolescent white knight.
As dark as Devin was blond, Viej’s stare dared her to back out. How could she when she knew his dying father, the last of his family, had put the tattoo on his face? He’d wanted to see the last hope of his bloodline on the face of his son, to remind Viej of the need to survive and save their line. It was too heavy a burden to let the boy bear alone. Who would teach him moderation in his quest to please the dead? Someone had to give him back the gift of his childhood.
And the twins; destined to be lady-killers, both betrayed their youth with the hopeful fear they tried to hide. She wondered how long their white outfits would survive the trauma they’d put them through.
“Lady, are you ready?” Dagon asked, prompting her to look at him.
“I am.”
He gestured, and his mother stepped forward. Vana felt the blood leave her face. She hadn’t expected Ellyn to show up.
As serene as if the moment mattered nothing to her, Ellyn said calmly, “From this moment on, I relinquish my children. I did not birth them. I do not know them.” She turned her back on the boys. In response, every soul in hall did the same. They stood there, repudiated before everyone they knew, motherless. Unwanted.
Horrified, for Vana had never expected this kind of humiliation for them, she sought Dagon’s hard gaze. He’d been abandoned, too.
Slowly, her hand curled into a fist. Making sure her voice carried throughout the hall, she stepped forward and said the words she’d been taught, plus some. “I want them. They will be my sons. It will be as if they came from my body. When they bleed, my heart will bleed. Those who will not acknowledge them will not be welcome in my house. They are dead to me.”
Gasps went through the hall. That last bit hadn’t been part of little speech they’d taught her. Considering her position, it was as daring as actually slapping Ellyn’s face.
Ellyn stiffened. The guests turned around as tradition demanded. For long seconds it looked as if Ellyn would simply walk off and never face them. But finally, her face proud and cold, she turned, though the hand clenched in her yellow robe trembled.
Vana didn’t care. Any woman who could do that to her children was not a woman Vana wanted near them.
Dagon glanced at Ellyn. Grimly, he told the boys, “Greet your mother.” As she’d been coached, Vana knelt and accepted their light touches on her shoulders as they affixed the beads with their name runes engraved on them in her braided hair. Each bead was
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