The Conqueror Read Online Free PDF Page A

back to the auctioneer.
    “ Going once…”
    Taez met those eyes. The auctioneer
could only hold off so long.
    “ Going twice…”
    Shit, that was a lot of money—it wasn’t
his either, but Taez had his instincts. And those instincts were
telling him to buy.
    The hammer was about to fall on
Lowren.
    “ One-seventy-five.”
    There was absolute silence, until the
gentleman over there took one last look at the item on display,
shrugged his shoulders and turned away. He melted back into the
crowd, apparently uninterested in the more usual household or
agricultural servants.
    The auctioneer grinned and
nodded.
    “ Going,
going…gone.”
    Taez sagged a little on hearing it. The
crowd rumbled and this was no time for second thoughts.
    “ Sold, for
one-seventy-five!” The voice rang out, clear and
jubilant.
    Knowing Taez well enough, he went
through the contract and disclaimers in a quick breath and then it
was on to Lot Eighteen. This was a matching pair of fairly
healthy-looking, not exactly young women with experience in
textiles and dye-works. They both still had a lot of their teeth,
had no dependent children and might very well be suitable as
domestic servants, agricultural specialists, or for work in the
hospitality industry.
    While he was there, Taez also bought
one or two new staff members for the household. He had a certain
leeway in his budget and the people were needed here and there.
Making his way to the holding area, he made arrangements for them
to be brought up to the castle. Arrangements for Lowren took some
thought, but they did have all those dungeons after all.
    The smiles and giggles from those all
around him could be borne. He was sort of wondering, kind of late
as it was, but hopefully Queen Eleanora would be pleased with her
latest acquisition.
    If nothing else, they could always put
Lowren in the ring and let him fight it out with other condemned
prisoners. He had a sneaking suspicion that other bidder might have
been a fight promoter or something like that.
    The possibility that he was a shill,
merely there to drive up the bidding had also crossed Taez’s
mind.
     
    ***
     
    Taez was very conscious of the speed
with which the average secret evaporated in any small community,
which was just what any properly-constituted household was. He
presented the Barbarian King Lowren, as he was billing him, just
after the main course at dinner.
    This was a long, drawn-out affair. If
things went his way, it would be the highlight of the night. No one
around Taez shared his tension and the time dragged interminably
until the desserts had been served. Servers were going around
freshening the wine glasses.
    It was now or never.
    Taez turned and found the eye of his
assistant, hovering in a side entryway. He gave a wave and the man
nodded, turning behind him to give the signal.
    When the prisoner was led out, it took
a minute or two before people caught sight of him being led
forwards and to catch on to what it might mean.
    A hush fell over the assembly as Taez
stood to address the Queen and the handlers pulled Lowren out front
and centre.
    Flanked as she was by guests of honor,
interrupted in the act of sending choice tidbits, the first slice
of something to Loshon, Ambassador of the Heloi, her mouth opened
even as the light smattering of applause died away and the people
waited for her reaction. The foreigners, at least, looked pleased
and they muttered amongst themselves. Unfortunately for Taez, their
opinion, while possibly helpful, wasn’t the one that really
mattered.
    At first, it did not seem good, and
Taez’s heart sank, as did that of his friend Nyron, attending all
official state functions as per standing orders in his role as an
officer and a gentleman. His table was on the far side, at the
kitchen end of the Great Hall, but there were half-empty tables as
well and he saw it without heads and bodies in the way.
    A small gasp had escaped Eleanora, and
her hand flew up to her mouth. The hand came