Claimed & Seduced Read Online Free PDF Page A

code. A quite different type of garment showed on the replicator menu. Plain black. No insignia. Perfect.
    Jarlath plugged in the code and checked his eye in his looking glass. Nice and black but not painful. He’d live. A quiet hum and the metallic tang on the air showed the replicator was doing its job. While he waited, Jarlath dragged a comb through his hair. On automatic, his fingers reached for pomade to settle his rebellious locks. At the last min, he drew back, frowned into the looking glass then nodded.
    Routine was boring, boring, boring.
    A ding signaled the replicator had finished, and he lifted the lid of the unit to retrieve his new garments. Plain black trews and a black tunic. Soft black boots completed his outfit.
    Perfect.
    Jarlath donned the garments and grinned at his reflection in the looking glass. The boots molded to his feet, and he could scarcely feel his blister. It was like a glimpse of his brother, and the possibility of freedom, even if it was for a mere few hours, made him want to whistle. He grabbed his sat-com, although he turned it to vibrate rather than summons mode and stuffed it in his pocket. At the last moment, he strapped a blaster to his hip.
    That done, he crept from his chamber, not wanting to attract attention. Unusually, he didn’t see anyone except a maid wheeling a tea trolley toward his mother’s chamber. The queen was a habitual early riser, yet she never appeared until late morn.
    Jarlath let himself outside and strode in the direction of the stables.
    A sleepy stableboy greeted him, yawning widely in Jarlath’s direction. “Can I help you, sir?”
    “I’m going for a ride,” Jarlath announced. “I will saddle Black.”
    “Black? But that’s Prince Jar—”
    The boy’s face paled and he bobbed a quick bow. “I’m sorry, Prince Jarlath. I did not recognize you. I hope I didn’t offend.”
    “Don’t trouble yourself.” Jarlath waved away the boy’s stammered apologies and strode into the stable and headed for Black’s stall. The aroma of polymox hay, nroc straw and saddle soap filled the air, the scents bringing back lazy days of childhood. He nodded to the stableboy mucking out a stall then collected his personal saddle from the harness room and opened the stable door. His cambeest gave a rumble of welcome and nuzzled his chest.
    Jarlath didn’t normally saddle his beest, although he knew how and kneed Black in the ribs when the creature tried to hold his air-filled belly. Not a trick he intended to fall for this morn.
    He swung into his tan malpack saddle and guided Black toward the forest before giving his beest his head and letting him choose their path. The crisp air chilled his cheeks as Black surged forward. Part of him had expected Black to tread his normal trail, but the beest cantered down a new one Jarlath had never noticed. Instead of going through the forest, the path skirted the edge of the trees. Birds sang, sitting so high in the treetops he couldn’t see them. The blue-tinged grass grew tall, and if it weren’t for his knee-high boots, his trews would have soaked up the excess moisture.
    In the distance, he saw farm dwellings, the lazy curl of purple smoke telling him they were burning the wood of the purple puzzle tree. An introduced species, this tree was an aggressive grower and threatened to choke their native forests. It had been his idea for their people to use it for fuel, and he was pleased with the results and the thinning of the puzzle copses.
    The path meandered into the forest then exited near a small lake. The pale green waters steamed. Ah, his brother had mentioned this heated lake. He and his friends used to sneak alcoholic drinks and party here with their choice of the opposite sex. Lynx had seduced many a woman here, or at least rumor pointed that way. When it came to his brother, the tales were oft exaggerated. Lynx no longer bothered denying the gossip whenever he deigned to visit home.
    Black trotted past the lake and