The Devil's Concubine Read Online Free PDF

fact--the princess, Aliya, was accounted the most
    beautiful and desirable of all, a pearl of such value that no kingdom in need of a queen wished to be excluded from the chance to claim her.

    Until it had become known to him that kings and princess from far and wide were
    gathering to prove their worthiness of such a prize, he had ignored it. The fact that he had received no such invitation had begun to eat at him, however, long before he verified that not one royal from among the man beasts had been invited to take part in this great tournament.

    He supposed he should have been appeased by that fact, not further enraged, but
    so it was. He had not been singled out for insult. He was not even important enough in their minds for that!

    At first, he gave little thought to the princess herself, certain that their ‘pearl’ was likely as colorless and unappealing as the rest of her kind. Most likely he would have continued to believe that except for the growing numbers of men vying for her.

    That gave him pause, despite his determination to regard her as unworthy of his
    time or interest. Could she really be so commonplace, he wondered, when so many were falling over themselves to fight for her? Or was it possible that she truly was a pearl beyond price?

    And if so, then how dare they consider him unworthy without even allowing him
    to prove himself in battle?

    When he had left his kingdom in his man form and disguised as a prince from
    another land, he had thought only to assuage his curiosity of the entire procedure and make it known to King Andor that he did not take such insults lightly and there would be a reckoning. For he’d fully intended to call his army to war and teach them the error of their ways if he was not completely satisfied when he left the kingdom of Anduloosa
    again.

    He’d scarcely arrived, however, when he had caught a glimpse of the women in
    the rooftop garden and he’d decided in that moment to appease his curiosity about the princess herself. In doing so, he would put the fear of his wrath into King Andor by showing him just how vulnerable he and his family were.

    All had gone well enough until he had found himself face to face with her. In
    truth, and though he hated to admit it even to himself, he scarcely recalled what had happened next. He had known the moment he set eyes upon her that the rumors were not exaggerations of a woman barely better than plain. She was beautiful, so flawlessly THE DEVIL’S CONCUBINE
    Jaide Fox
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    perfect in face and form that his beast had seized his rational mind, instantly demanding to claim her for his mate.

    He did not regret it, although he well knew that his impulse would most likely
    spawn a war the likes of which no one had ever seen. In truth, he would have been quite willing to join the others who meant to prove their right to her in the contest of skills that had been set to take place.

    If he had been thinking at all rationally, he would have gone at once to her father
    and demanded he retract the insult and allow him to take part, as well, to prove to her that he was a far more worthy warrior than all the others.

    He had not been thinking rationally, though. He hadn’t been able to think at all.

    Grinding his teeth, he shifted in his throne and glared at the crew of carpenters
    that had begun to scurry back and forth through the hall, carrying tools and timbers. He was tempted to demand the lazy slugs use their gifts to move the materials instead of waddling clumsily along the ground, but it occurred to him that the task he’d set for them was easier performed in their man forms than bird and he tamped the urge.

    Shoving himself from his chair abruptly, he stalked across the hall and opened the
    nearest window, pushing the crystal wide so that he could gaze out at the view beyond.
    Even the beauty and majesty of his domain failed to soothe him, however.

    She had looked at him as if he was monster, so terrified she could barely move