Pirate's Price Read Online Free PDF Page A

media
entries, and four interactive access points.”
    It was a royal marriage; media frenzy was
inevitable. “Display the official announcement.” He sat on the
contoured alloy seat as the announcement materialized onscreen. His
gaze skimmed down the page until the bride’s name caught his
attention. “Confirm identity of the bride.”
    “Princess Rana Jabulayni of the Devauntian
Empire. Shall I display an image file?”
    “Yes.” Vihlok could barely force the word
out. Usurpers, murderers, and thieves, the House of Jabulayni was
responsible for his present circumstance. War was brutal and
barbaric, but at least it was honest. The Jabulayni butchers had
murdered his parents while they slept! His older brother had
followed and Vihlok would have been next if he hadn’t been small
enough to escape through the ventilation ducts in the palace.
    Fibros found him three days after the
massacre, terrified and hungry, cold and unable to speak. They’d
had no choice but to leave the planet, knowing the Jabulayni
assassins wouldn’t rest until every member of the Royal House of
Torral was wiped out of existence.
    Vihlok gazed at the holoimage. Silky black
hair framed Rana’s heart-shaped face. Prominent cheekbones and a
full-lipped mouth distracted little from her wide glistening eyes.
Light brown with a hint of red, the color was exclusive to the
House of Jabulayni. Vihlok couldn’t deny her beauty. Her youth,
however, gave him pause. She would have been a child when the war
took place, innocent and -- He’d been a child too! He’d been
reduced to a common criminal while the House of Jabulayni
cannibalized the Devauntian economy.
    Stunned and infuriated, he activated his
audiocom.
    “Go ahead,” Fibros responded to the
page.
    “Do you know who we’ve been contracted to
abduct?”
    Fibros chuckled. “Thought you’d enjoy the
irony.”
    “What’s to say this isn’t a trap? Who the
fuck would contract me to abduct one of them?”
    “The wedding is taking place on Peronite,
and the empress has no reason to believe you’re still alive. This
is the opportunity you’ve been waiting for. Make of it what you
will.”
    The link went dead and Vihlok was left
staring at the image of his enemy.
* * *
    Rana clasped her hands into tight fists,
determined not to reveal her apprehension. Simulated torches cast
the formal garden in hazy golden light. Kashi had assured her
repeatedly that the wedding would not take place. The younger woman
refused to divulge the specifics of the impending abduction,
fearing Rana’s reaction would be less than genuine if she knew what
was going to happen.
    King Vega stood at Rana’s side beneath a
flowering arbor, resplendent in court finery. Her gown was no less
elaborate, but her mood was anything but festive. The robed
minister droned on and on, rudely performing the ceremony in
Peronite without benefit of translation. If their surprise guests
didn’t arrive soon it might be too late.
    An abrupt pop startled Rana out of her
anxious musings. She glanced over her shoulder as twin pillars of
smoke billowed into the night sky. People covered their mouths and
coughed, instinctively huddling into protective groups or darting
toward the surrounding buildings.
    Vega’s private guards rushed in from one
side and Rana’s advanced from the other. Dressed in formal suits,
with the lower portion of their faces covered, three men emerged
from the panicked guests and insinuated themselves between Rana and
her guards.
    One of the raiders grabbed her around the
waist and trapped her arms against her sides. “Back off!” he
shouted and pressed a gun against the side of her head. Surprise
and fear made her yelp and then go perfectly still. He wasn’t
really hurting her. She just hadn’t expected the kidnapping to be
this realistic.
    A foolishly brave guard lunged for her and
one of the abductors blasted a warning shot right between his feet.
He scrambled back, weapon raised in a non-threatening