Read Online The War for Mare (The Fall of Man Book 3) by Jacqueline Druga - Free Book Online Page A

he raced from the
room and returned with wine and food. Surely, he had a seduction
plan on mind. It must have been time for him to do that portion of
the conditioning.
    I was ready.
    “This calls for a celebration,” he said,
pouring me wine. “Do you drink?”
    “Doesn’t everyone?”
    “True.” He poured me a glass. “You can take
a break from conditioning.”
    “Tell me, why do we celebrate?”
    “Because you, my new friend, have vital
information. I have needs.”
    “I’m glad.”
    “Let’s run you dry.”
    “Hmm. Then I’ll need this.” I brought the
wine to my lips. “Too bad we don’t have a little honey.” I caught
myself. “I jest.”
    “If you want honey, I’ll get you honey.”
    “Maybe later.”
    He winked. “Sounds good. So...” He downed
his whole glass and then poured more. “We have established you were
a housemaid in the Ancient City. Tell me a little about you. What
do you remember? Your life.”
    “You don’t think I am weird anymore?”
    “Oh, no, you’re definitely out there. But I
need to hear your story.”
    “Why?”
    “Knowing you will help me gauge the validity
of what you tell me.”
    Understood. Surely I couldn’t tell him my
real story. But what about human life did I know? Suddenly, I
recalled all the television shows.
    “Where shall I begin?”
    “Do you have brothers or sisters?”
    “Yes,” I replied. I didn’t really, but I had
to make up something. “There were six of us. Three boys and three
girls. My father was an architect.”
    “Did you have a maid, too?”
    “As a matter of fact—”
    “I’m joking. Did you work? What did you do?
Before the housemaid thing.”
    Knowing I had a skill as a seamstress, I
could share that. But he may not have known the term seamstress. I
wracked my brain again, I answered according to what he’d know with
the television shows. “Fashion designer. I was a designing
woman.”
    “I see. Okay, where are you from?
Originally, before the Event. Before the plague and war.”
    Dare I spew out, ‘Deep in the caverns of the
Laurel Mountains in Pennsylvania’? No…think. Shows. Finally, I
figured it out. “Green Acres.”
    He sat back. “Is that near Petticoat
Junction?”
    “Yes. Yes it is.”
    Again, he downed his glass. “Enough of your
past. If I showed you a map, could you show me where the Ancient
City is?”
    “I can. Anything for you.”
    “Then I’ll be back.” He stood and walked to
the door.
    “Davis?”
    He paused at the door. “Yes?”
    “Just so you know, if you want, you can have
your way with me.”
    “Um… thanks. Maybe later.”
    “I can wait.”
    He flashed a hurried smile and raced out the
door. His urgency was impressive. I suppose he wanted to get that
map so he could eventually get to me.
    Despite that he did not know I was at one
time an Ancient, surely he sensed the generosity of my offering.
After all, it is not every day a woman like me offers herself to
someone like Davis.

TWENTY-TWO – VALA
     
    Sophie had a
coldness to her soul. That was the one thing I noticed right away.
She lacked deep emotion and understanding. Granted she was only a
child, but still, when I told her of our mother’s passing, she
merely nodded her understanding. The Sophie I knew before would
have cried. Even I shed a tear for our mother.
    She needed to rest. Not that Ancients or
‘Humancients’ as I learned they were called, needed to sleep, but
they did require rest. Sophie was so young, she required more. I
made sure she had a lunch of fruit, and then I read her a story,
kissed her, and left her room.
    The events of the early morning were still
on my mind. The king was insistent that it was a ploy, a mind game
played on me by Anubis.
    I needed to escape, to forget about it. I
was saddened to learn that Snake and Tanner had left without saying
goodbye. Did they truly harbor ill feelings toward me? The hallway
was long, and my destination was Iry’s hidden room. I felt the need
to watch ALF .
    I