Mastered By Love (24 page)

Shadow’s face reflected the
same sick anger Dario felt every time he looked at Miri. The Demon
Kin’s ebony tail whipped back and forth, smacking lightly against
the legs of his chair.

I should have gotten her
away from Grasos. If I can protect Tariza, I can probably shield
Miri too.

Shadow’s expression
smoothed to complete impassivity as Grasos turned toward him. Even
his tail stopped flicking to curl around his chair. Grasos smiled
at his unwanted guest with false benevolence.

“
It’s traditional at feasts
like this to offer guests their choice of women. I know women are
scarce on Belleren, so tonight I’d like to make that offer and
extend it.” The king gestured grandly. “You may each choose a slave
and she will be yours permanently. Ownership will be officially
transferred to you by tomorrow evening.”

Grasos turned toward the
assembled crowd. “Gentlemen, have your slaves stand for viewing,
please.”

Dario gave a subtle breath
of relief that he hadn’t insisted on bringing Tariza.

All the women in the room got to their
feet except for Miri, who remained crouched with her face pressed
to the floor. The Bellerenic ambassador surveyed the slaves with a
secretive smile. Shadow made a show of looking, but his gaze
continued to rest on Miri.

“
Are you ready to make a
choice, Your Highness? Ambassador Envy?” Grasos said.

“
Go ahead, Envy,” Shadow
said.

“
I choose the lady in the
green dress,” Envy said, pointing at a slender redhead.

“
Excellent.” Grasos
beamed.

The redhead walked to the ambassador,
her gaze on her feet.

“
And you, Prince Shadow?”
Grasos said.

“
I want this one.” Shadow
gestured toward Miri. “The one in the black collar.”

Grasos scowled. “This one?
She’s worthless. Surely you’d rather have one who is beautiful and
accomplished, not this ugly little stick.” He shoved Miri with his
toe.

Dario tensed. Hell. The
Bellerenic prince was hotheaded. He’d probably lose his temper now
and ruin his opportunity.

But Shadow merely smiled
and leaned nearer to the king. “I like that you’ve ... marked
her.”

The king’s eyes gleamed.
“Do you indeed? I never would have guessed.”

Somehow the Demon Kin prince
manufactured a blush. At least, Dario assumed it was manufactured.
What if Shadow was telling the truth and Miri was going to a master
just as brutal as Grasos?

“
It’s not something I
advertise,” Shadow said, still looking embarrassed.

“
There’s no need for shame
here.” Grasos snapped his fingers. “Slave, attend your new
master.”

Miri scuttled across the
floor to crouch at Shadow’s feet. Her dark head barely showed over
the top of the table and as she settled in, she disappeared from
view. Shadow bent his head to speak softly to her.

The Demon Kin lifted his goblet of
wine, lowering it beneath the table to offer Miri a
drink.

“
We don’t feed Miri at
table,” Grasos said.

“
Ah, but she’ll need her
strength for what I have planned.” Shadow smirked.

That sanctimonious prick,
acting all high and mighty, pretending to be offended by Dario’s
treatment of Tariza when all along he was looking for a woman to
abuse. Dario’s whole body tensed.

Grasos laughed. “You’re a
man after my own heart.”

Shadow caught Dario’s eye
and winked. He was signaling something – maybe that his show of
solidarity with Grasos was just an act. Dario gave the Demon Kin a
cool, polite smile and turned to Ambassador Envy with a remark
about the weather. He’d keep an eye on the foreign prince and Miri
to ensure she wasn’t abused anymore. It was the least he could
do.

***

“
I’m
taking
the ambassador and the prince
on a tour of Saturnios today. Unfortunately, we’re not taking any
women so you’ll have to stay behind.”

Tariza forced a
disappointed smile. The thought of spending a day on her own in the
palace made her skin crawl She’d be vulnerable to Grasos without
Dario there to protect her. And if she were honest with herself,
she had to admit she would miss him. But she smiled anyway,
determined to put a happy face on things for her master’s
sake.

“
I’m sending you down to
the slave quarters for the day.”

“
Oh.” Was that better or
worse than being stuck in his quarters by herself? She was betting
on worse.

“
The king won’t bother you.
He’s got a lot of business to deal with today and he’ll be occupied
until late evening.”

Another weak smile. “That’s
good. Thank you for telling me.”

Dario hugged her. “You’ll
be fine.”

“
I know.” She hugged him
back. She shouldn’t be so weak, so needy, but she couldn’t seem to
help it. Maybe it was something to do with her position as slave.
It affected her mind, her soul, and made her less of a woman than
she’d been in Concordia.

“
I’ll walk you downstairs,”
he said, his deep voice rumbling in her ear.

The slave quarters were in
the basement of the palace. Light wells brought daylight inside, so
it was less cave-like than she’d expected, and wood-burning stoves
kept the air warm. But the atmosphere in the dormitory was chilly
anyway.

The slaves all stared at her for an
uncomfortable minute when Dario brought her into the room. Then
they looked away, and began muttering among themselves. Dario gave
her an apologetic look.

“
I’ll see you this
evening,” he said. He leaned down and kissed her on the cheek. “Be
a good girl.”

“
Yes, Master.”

He lifted a brow at her subservient
tone, but made no remark. She watched him turn and walk away from
her, leaving her alone in a room full of hostile Saturnian
slaves.

The women ignored her. She might have
been invisible for all the attention they paid her. Tariza stood
feeling lost and directionless while the others went about their
morning grooming routines or left in groups to exercise.

She scanned the big, open
room. Rows of simple wooden beds filled the space, each with a tiny
chest near its head. Except for one, which had no chest and the
shabbiest blankets she’d ever seen. Miri sat there.

Tariza walked over to her. The
black-haired slave sat in a little huddle, her arms wrapped around
herself. Her hair looked dull and tangled. She was naked, and cold
judging by the goosebumps all over her arms.

“
Hello, Miri,” Tariza said.
“May I sit here?”

Miri shrugged, so she sat down on the
bed.

“
Are you all
right?”

“
What do you want?” The
other Concordian spoke in a rusty voice.

“
No-one will talk to me
here.”

“
You’re like me,
then.”

“
No-one talks to
you?”

“
Not really. Unless they’re
yelling at me. I get in trouble a lot.”

“
I’m sorry.” Tariza reached
out to lay a compassionate hand on the other woman’s shoulder, but
the slave flinched away as if afraid of being struck. Tariza
dropped her hand.

“
You’re a Concordian, like
me.”

“
Yes,” Miri said. “I guess
everyone knows about me.”

“
You were there the night I
met King Grasos. Don’t you remember?”

Miri stared at her with a
frown. “Not really.”

Goddess. Had she been
drugged that night, or was her mind destroyed by the Saturnian’s
brutal treatment?

“
What do you think of your
new master?” she said.

Miri shrugged again. “He’s
another master. They’re all the same.”

“
Dario is nothing like the
king.”

Miri gave her a skeptical
look.

“
Really. He doesn’t beat
me. Or starve me.”

“
The new master is a Demon
Kin,” Miri said.

“
I know. Did he let you
touch his horns?”

The other slave shook her
head, looking puzzled. “No. He didn’t touch me, and I didn’t touch
him.”

Strange. She’d assumed
...

“
Ooh, look who’s come to
visit, girls. It’s the queen of slaves,” said a rude voice she
recognized. Tariza looked up to see Lola standing over the two of
them.

Lola sneered. “What are you
doing here?”

“
I’m here because my master
ordered me here.”

Lola snorted. “I guess
you’re not his favorite anymore. Maybe the queen has been
deposed.”

“
He’s taking the Demon Kin
on a tour of the city.”

Lola smirked. “Tell
yourself whatever you like, if it makes you feel
better.”

“
What is the matter with
you? You’ve been nasty to me ever since the encampment.”

“
You’re a
Concordian.”

“
So? It’s petty to hold
that against me.”

“
Petty? Did you just call
me petty?” Lola sounded outraged.

Tariza laughed. “I’d think
you would consider that a compliment. You work so hard at
it.”

The other blonde’s eyes
narrowed in a most unattractive way. “You bitch.”

Tariza shrugged. “Call me
whatever you want. I don’t care.”

“
You will.”

“
Lola, grow up. I have
better things to do than listen to your sniping and I don’t care
what you think of me.”

“
You can’t talk to me that
way.”

“
Yes, I can.” Tariza
sighed. “And I’m not going to fight you again. You’re not worth
it.”

Lola stood there fuming, her nostrils
flaring. With an inarticulate sound, she turned on her heel and
flounced off, her long hair swinging to and fro against her
back.

“
You shouldn’t make her
angry,” Miri said. “She’s mean.”

“
I know. But I think she
was born angry.”

Miri smiled, an expression
so tenuous and unexpected that Tariza stared at her. “If what you
say about Prince Dario is true, then you’re very lucky. You should
be thankful you didn’t get the king.”

“
I am.”

They sat in silence. The
sound of drums and a flute came from an adjacent room, where the
women must be dancing or performing some other kind of exercise. If
they didn’t hate her so much, she’d go in and join them. She longed
to move her body, to stretch her muscles and feel the blood
pounding through her veins. Sitting around wasn’t normal for
her.

Miri shifted on the bed,
drawing Tariza’s attention. The black-haired slave glanced at her
and then looked down at her lap, twisting her hands together. She
bit her lip.

“
If you can get a knife,
would you ...” Miri’s voice faded. She swallowed hard. “Would you
kill me?”

Tariza’s mouth fell open.
“What? Goddess, no. I don’t want to kill you.”

“
Please.” Miri raised her
head and looked at her. There were tears in her eyes. “I don’t want
to live like this anymore. I tried ... I tried to do it myself, but
I made a mistake. I didn’t bleed enough and they stopped me. They
saved my life.” Her voice was bitter.

“
Miri, you have a new
master now. He’ll take better care of you.”

“
You don’t know
that.”

“
Don’t you want to give him
a chance? He’s got to be better than you know who.”

“
I don’t care. I just want
to die. I can’t hold my head up before the Goddess
anymore.”

Tariza didn’t know what to
say. Her heart hurt for this lost young woman.

“
She’s abandoned me,” Miri
whispered. “She doesn’t love me anymore.”

“
I’m sure that’s not true,”
Tariza said, although she’d wondered the same thing about
herself.

“
Yes, it is. And I don’t
blame Her. Who would want me? Who would love something like
me?”

“
I think you’re very brave
to have survived everything they’ve done to you.”

Miri’s lips tightened. She
looked like she didn’t believe a word Tariza said.

Goddess, what can I do for
her?
Tariza had no more power than Miri,
except for the minor influence she had over Dario. Perhaps he could
check on her, make sure Prince Shadow treated her
decently.

She laid her hand on Miri’s
arm. This time, the other slave didn’t flinch or pull away. “Hang
on a little longer. Just try. If things don’t get better, then
maybe I’ll ... Maybe I’ll help you.”

“
You promise?”

Goddess, help me.
“Yes. I promise.”

“
Thank you, Princess
Tariza. Thank you.” Miri suddenly threw her arms around Tariza.
“I’m honored you would even consider helping a worm like
me.”