In the Flesh Read Online Free PDF Page B

.”
    “The king ?” Wulf’s gut knotted.
    “Makes your position quite interesting, doesn’t it? I’m certain the king has no knowledge of your presence here.”
    “Someone will turn me in.” Wulfric looked around the room with renewed alertness. “Some of these mästares would pay dearly to see my capture.”
    “When I first learned of your identity, I intended to give you up. My older brother was almost killed during the Confrontations. General Erikson saved his life. If he hadn’t…” Dalen tensed, the thoughtvisibly taking root before he shook it off. “The other mästares and I swore to serve the Mistress. She may be the king’s karisette , but she is our first responsibility and turning you in would endanger her.”
    “What the hell is a karisette ?” Wulf snapped, suspecting from the way the word was said that he wouldn’t like its meaning.
    Dalen lowered his voice. “The king’s love.”
    “A concubine?”
    “More than a concubine. His Majesty is in love with her.”
    Wulf’s jaw tensed. His angel belonged to his greatest enemy.
    “The Mistress is something of a national celebrity,” Dalen explained. “Her value to the king is well known to the people of Sari, which makes my position as her mästare a prosperous one.”
    “If he loves her, why send her here? Why not keep her in the palace, where access would be more convenient?”
    Owing to the bitter relations and ever-present threat of war between their countries, Wulf had learned all there was to know about the Sarian Army and the king’s family, but he had left interest in the king’s concubines to others. Now he had a very strong interest in a royal concubine, one who’d brought him back to life just from the sight of her. It had been a very long time since he’d felt such attraction to a woman. So long, he couldn’t recall it.
    “You know the king has no children, Your Highness, and Sari needs an heir. All royal offspring must be made naturally. The king must spill his seeddirectly into the queen. Assisted inseminations are not allowed, as they are for the general population.”
    “It is the same in D’Ashier.”
    “The king was unable to perform his duty to the queen with Mistress Sapphire in the palace. So he sent her away.”
    Wulf wasn’t confused exactly, the story was quite clear, but the king’s motivation eluded him. “Did he send all of his women away?”
    Dalen shook his head. “From her first night in the palace five years ago, the king has only had Mistress Sapphire in his bed. A year after she joined the seraglio , His Majesty realized the desire he once had for his other concubines would not be returning and he offered to end their contracts. A few accepted his offer, the rest stayed. The mästares in the palace service the remaining women, since the king does not call for them. Therefore, whether those mätresses stayed or left meant nothing to him, but the Mistress had to go. Having her close at hand made his duty to the queen impossible.”
    Wulf grew very still. “Your king kept Sapphire in his bed exclusively? For five years ? With no break?”
    “I see by your expression,” Dalen grinned, “that you have never been in love.”
    It was beyond Wulfric’s imaginings to picture the same woman in his bed over a five-year span. If he wanted longevity in a bedmate, he’d marry. As it was, he was blessedly unattached.
    “So,” Dalen continued, “maybe now you can see why the Mistress has been gifted with this palace and all of us mästares . It’s no coincidence that we wereall selected based on our physical resemblance to the king.”
    Very clever of the monarch, conceded Wulf, to keep constant reminders of himself all around his former lover.
    But the king had only imitations to give Sapphire.
    Wulf was here in the flesh.

Chapter 3
    As Wulf walked the length of corridor that framed the center courtyard, hot air coursed over his sweat-dampened skin. He relished the heat, accustomed to it from long