The Devil's Concubine Read Online Free PDF Page A

stiffen her spine and lock her knees as he gripped
    her upper arm and hauled her along the corridor that led to the great room.

    “Reyhan!” he bellowed.

    The soldier, who’d been in the process of taking a swig of ale, jerked, pouring a
    good portion down the front of his leather jerkin. Slamming the tankard on the trestle table before him, he surged to his feet abruptly, brushing at the dampness on his jerkin as he hurried to answer the summons.

    “Sire!”

    Talin shoved the woman toward his guard. “Take her into the dungeon and
    secure her,” he growled. “Make sure she can not harm herself, else it’ll cost you your hide.”

    Reyhan’s eyes widened fractionally, but he grabbed the woman firmly by one
    arm. “Yes, Sire!”

    Talin looked her over speculatively. “And watch yourself. I imagine she would
    just as soon slit your throat as not if she can get her hands on a blade.”

    Appalled and outraged, it took Aliya several moments to realize he really
    intended to have her thrown into the dungeon. “I am a princess!” she stammered finally.
    “I demand the rights of my station. You can not throw me in the dungeon like a common felon!”

    “You are in no position to demand anything!” Talin growled. “Take her.”

    She struggled briefly, but she either saw the futility of it or she decided it
    wounded her dignity to continue. She desisted after a moment, walking stiffly.

    Talin watched the pair until Reyhan had vanished with her down the narrow
    corridor that led to the dungeon. Turning abruptly, he strode across the great hall, mounted the dais, and flung himself into his throne, drumming the fingers of one hand irritably on one chair arm. A round dozen men at arms were congregated in the great
    hall. He saw that they were gaping at him in stunned surprise and bent a furious glare upon them, whereupon they returned their attention to the games of chance they’d been amusing themselves with.

    Scanning the hall, his gaze lit finally on the captain of the guard. “Solly!”

    Solly jumped to his feet so quickly he nearly overturned the bench he’d been
    sitting on. Striding quickly across the hall, he went down on one knee before the dais.
    “Sire?”

    “Round up a crew of carpenters. They are to install shutters and doors on every
    aperture--and bolts,” Talin snarled. “Starting with the royal suite. I want my own suite finished by moon rise.”

    Solly gaped at him. “Sire?”

    Talin’s eyes narrowed. “Have you grown deaf?”

    Shaking his head, Solly leapt to his feet. “No, Sire! I’ll see to it, Sire.”

    When Solly had left, Talin sank into his own dark thoughts, drumming his fingers
    on the chair arm. The next time he glanced up it was to discover the last of his soldiers slinking quietly out the door.

    He was tempted to summon them back and demand some sort of distraction, but
    decided after a moment that he preferred solitude in his current mood.
    THE DEVIL’S CONCUBINE
    Jaide Fox
    16

    It had been a mistake to take her, but that realization angered him almost as much
    as the fact that he wasn’t completely sure of why he had. He certainly had not gone to the Kingdom of Anduloosa for that purpose. In truth, he had had no clear idea of what he’d hoped to accomplish by going, other than to make it clear that he resented the insult to the man beasts in general and himself in particular.

    Ordinarily, he was quite content that the inferior man children kept their petty
    little squabbles to themselves most of the time, rarely encroaching upon any of the
    kingdoms of the man beast. The tournament had been poor timing on their part, however.
    The clamoring of his beast to find a mate had become harder and harder to ignore in
    recent years, more difficult to ignore than the grumbling of his council that he had yet to take a queen and produce an heir to his throne.

    Even so, he thought he could have ignored the uproar beyond the boundaries of
    his kingdom except for one minor