Fantasyland 02 The Golden Dynasty (3 page)

Um… not nice.

Behind the dais there was what looked like a
stream of fire that danced the length, illuminating it. To either
side of the throne, massive fire pits then huge drums that were at
least the height of two grown men and the men banging the drums had
to run toward it and hurl their mallet with the flying weight of
their whole body, drop to their feet, run away and then run back
again. They were glistening with sweat for their efforts.

That was all I caught. No man was sitting on
the throne. There was no one there.

No one.

Until I saw him.

Standing at one side and up toward the
edge of the dais looking down was a giant of a man. A
beast
of a man. Taller than any of
the extremely tall warriors on the sides of the parade, broader,
more muscled,
more savage.

He was looking down the dais not at the
parade but at a man in robes who was gesturing up to him. His
strapping arms were crossed on his brawny chest, his chest and face
painted in streaks of black, one going clean across his eyes. He
wore no other colors.

And he appeared bored.

That was all I saw before frenzied Korwahk
girls, calling out in their strange language, closed in front of
me, jumping up and down like they were at their favorite boy band
concert.

“He doesn’t intend to take a wife this Hunt,
thank the Gods,” Narinda breathed at my side and her relief was so
great, it communicated itself to me. I relaxed and she moved us
forward hurriedly but I could tell she was trying to make it not
look hurried.

Then I did something stupid. I don’t know
why I did, but I did.

When we were passed the dais and the girls
started to circle me again to deflect the attention the warriors
were giving me, I looked back at the savage Korwahk king.

And when I did, I looked right into his
dark, painted eyes.

Oh fuck!

I twisted back around swiftly and sucked in
breath.

“Circe?” Narinda called, hearing my breath
even over the drums.

“He saw me,” I whispered.

“What?” she asked.

“He saw me!” I cried. “The Dax!”

Her eyes got big and she cried in return,
“Oh no!”

I shut my eyes tight.

“All right, all right, my lovely, maybe he
didn’t. Maybe he –” she tried, clutching my arm.

“He did,” I whispered as we moved beyond the
avenue of warriors into another sea of onlookers.

She gripped my arm. “Maybe he didn’t.”

I nodded. “Maybe he didn’t,” I said
softly.

But he did.

The Claiming

One warrior slashed out with his enormous
sword cutting open the warrior who had chained himself to my
necklace, the warm spurt of blood splashed across my front, I
screamed and jumped away as the warrior attached to me dropped,
lifeless, to the ground.

Narinda had not told me about the Hunt. She
had not told me that the warriors would fight each other for their
brides. You could hear the grunts of men everywhere, the clash of
steel, the howls of pain, the roars of victory.

You could also hear the cries of women, most
were in surprise, some fear, some distress, some were in ecstasy
mingled with the groans of men finding sexual release.

All of it coming at me from all directions
in the dark night.

It was a nightmare. It was a nightmare’s
nightmare.

This was the third time I’d been caught,
tackled to the hard ground by a warrior who threw himself off a
horse to do it. He then took the end of the chain around his waist
and hooked it to my necklace and then he started wrestling me,
fights I knew I’d lose because all of them were inhumanly strong
and stinking
men,
I might
add, so already stronger than me. Then they’d be challenged by
another warrior (once two). Then they’d battle, sword against
sword, knife against knife, fists against flesh and the only thing
I had to be thankful for was that the chain was long and every
warrior who hooked it to me shoved me well out of the
fray.

The others had given up, though, by batting
the victorious warrior on the head seeming not all that bothered
then they unchained my chain, remounted their steed and took off
into the night.

This warrior had killed the man chained to
me.

I backed up, trying to drag the massive,
inert warrior I was attached to with me as the new warrior stalked
toward me, his eyes intense, his body scarred more than most, his
face, even only lit by the moonlight and the faraway torchlight of
the Daxshee, ferocious and
mean.
I
knew instantly, as I panted and yanked at my chain, dragging the
motionless warrior with me as the new one prowled toward me, that
although I didn’t want any of them,
this
one I
really
didn’t
want.

Then he tossed his sword to the side and
rushed me. Before I could get my feet to turn my body, his heavy
weight was flying through the air. It hit me and I went down to my
back, the wind knocked out of me, his weight now on top of me.

I struggled for breath and thrashed beneath
him as he unhooked the chain at my neck and hooked his own,
completely immune to my flailing.

Once he had his chain connected to me, his
head turned to me. I stilled a second at the cruelty easily read in
his eyes, his hand went between us, he shoved one of my legs aside
and I shrieked in his face, bucked with everything I had, by some
miracle he went up and I pushed him over, scuttled from under the
rest of his body, made it to my feet, my hands going to the chain
at my neck to try and unhook it and I
ran.

I got four steps before my chain was yanked
viciously. I flew back and landed hard and painfully, ass to
stone.

Whipping around on my behind, one of my
hands going to the hook at my necklace and fumbling with it, the
other going to the chain to hold on and give myself some slack as
he yanked it again, pain piercing through my neck where the
necklace dug in and my bottom was dragged across the rock toward
him.

God, he was reeling me in like an
animal.

What the fuck did I
do
to get transported to this
hellhole?

“
No!
” I shrieked, tugging hard at the chain and then
we both heard hoof beats.

My head turned, my heart clenched, my
stomach dropped and I stared at the Dax astride a huge,
dark-colored horse bearing down on us.

Fuck, fuck, fuck, fuck,
fuck!

The warrior chained to me roared in fury,
pulled out both knives from the sheathes at his waist, took a
battle stance but the horse kept coming, it came fast, so
very,
flipping
fast
and the rider clearly wasn’t going to dismount.

He didn’t.

At the last instant, his muscular arm came
up, he tore the sword out of the scabbard across his back and with
a almighty downward strike, the second his horse jumped the chain
connecting me to the warrior, with a spark and hiss of steel
against steel, the chain was severed and I flew back, again, on
my
fucking
ass.

The other warrior again roared his fury,
this time, if it was possible, it was clear his fury was
seriously
furious
as the
Dax instantly rounded his horse in a tight circle and charged the
standing warrior.

Oh shit.

Forget this crap. I was
out of
there.

I got to my feet and I freaking
ran
.

I had no idea where I was going. I had no
idea where I was. I had no idea what was out there. And I didn’t
care.

I just headed away from the lights of the
Daxshee into the bright, moonlit stone and dark brush of what
appeared to be mostly wasteland around it.

I had no plan. I had nothing on my mind.

Except escape.

My side hurt. My feet hurt. My neck hurt.
My ass hurt. I needed a fucking
bra.
But I didn’t care. I just ran.

And ran.

And freaking
ran.

Then I heard the hoof beats behind me,
steady, fast, pounding into the rock and I knew the Dax had
triumphed against scary, huge, cruel warrior.

I didn’t have to look.

The Dax was coming after me.

I knew it.

I ran faster, sprinting, the pain in my side
agonizing but I kept going as fast as I could.

The horse’s hooves got closer; I knew they
were almost upon me. Frantic, I glanced back and saw I was right.
Not only were they close, the man, the rider, so huge he seemed
giant, had leaned so deeply to the side, his body was in line with
the horse’s middle.

And his long arm was stretched out.

I faced forward and tried to run faster.

But I couldn’t go any faster and I certainly
couldn’t go faster than a horse.

I cried out when the arm hooked me at the
waist, closed around and lifted me clean off my feet before my ass
was planted on the horse in front of him.

Without thinking, I screamed bloody murder,
twisted on the still running horse and prepared, instead of running
for my life, to fight for it.

He had an arm around me, the other hand
dropped the reins and he went for the chain at his waist.

I lifted my hands, nails bared, and went for
his eyes.

I caught the flash of the surprise that
slashed across his dark, painted features before he abandoned the
chain and his hold on my waist, he reared back and caught my wrists
before my nails reached their target.

I took that opportunity to slide off the
slowing horse.

Doing this, he was forced to let go or come
down with me. I hit feet first, pain shooting through my ankles and
up my calves and I dropped because of it, rolled, found my feet
again and started to run.

The horse came back at me but this time, I
was prepared. When I glanced back and saw him
this close
, I ducked under his arm. Him and his
horse shot passed me and I instantly changed directions and ran the
other way.

I seemed to be making some headway and I
heard no horse but was stopped when a steely arm wrapped around my
waist, lifted me off my feet and whirled me around.

Shit, he was off his horse. And shit
again, he could run
without sound.

I bucked violently then kicked my feet out
even more violently. His arm loosened, my feet hit stone and I
tried to run but he caught me up again. I whirled in his hold and
lunged in the small space, bracing against a foot I planted behind
me, I shoved with all my weight.

His torso rocked back, his arm loosened
again, I took three quick, giant steps back then
he
lunged. There was more of him
than me and it was more powerful. He tackled me and I landed on my
back, him on top of me.

Grunting, straining and struggling, I
fought, pushed, kicked, scratched and bit.

I was no match.

Not even close.

Subduing me with his body, one arm and his
heavy legs, his other hand came up and he hooked his chain to my
necklace.

Damn it all to hell, I knew what
that
meant.

My back arched and I screamed with all my
might the frustrated rage that surged through my system.

But even chained to him, knowing it was a
fight I’d never win, I didn’t give up.

My hand went to his waist, I found the hilt
of the knife and pulled it free, whipping it back but he disarmed
me before I could take that first slash. Then his own hand went to
the other knife, pulled it out and tossed it away.

Damn.

I still didn’t give up. I kept fighting.

Nails, teeth, screams, punches, bucking,
kicking… nothing worked.

He succeeded in positioning himself, hips
between my legs then he yanked the edges of the material covering
me aside so roughly, both sides tore away from my necklace, leaving
me fully exposed

My back arched again as I screeched,
“
No!
” right in
his face and didn’t give up.

His hands caught my wrists, yanking them
over my head, one hand transferring both of my wrists to be
imprisoned in just one of his big hands, his other hand went down
between our bodies.

“Please, no!” I cried as I kept struggling,
his hand worked at his hides and I knew what he was doing, I felt
him hard against me. “Please, please, please, no.”

His head came up, his eyes caught mine, the
whites so white against the black of his paint, his hand at my
wrists squeezed hard, causing pain, my back to the stone causing
more, I gave him the only fight I had left.

I glared at him.

He held my glare for long moments.

Then, his eyes never leaving mine, he
whispered, “Lahnahsahna.”

Then his head bent, he shoved his face in my
neck and he violated me.

* * * * *

The second he entered me, I didn’t see it,
my eyes had squeezed closed, but a flash of lightning rent the dark
night.

The Rite

I was bloody and naked before him on the
massive steed, his arm around me, his big, hard, heated body all I
could feel at my back, the horse moving all I could feel under
me.

But I felt something else. I felt the aches
in my muscles, the pains on my skin, both seemed to cover every
inch of my body, inside and out.