Janus' Conquest

An Ellora’s Cave Romantica Publication

www.ellorascave.com

Janus’ Conquest

ISBN # 9781419910715

ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.

Janus’ Conquest Copyright© 2007 Dawn Ryder

Edited by Sue-Ellen Gower.

Cover art by Syneca.

Electronic book Publication May 2007

This book may not be reproduced or used in whole or in part by any means existing without written permission from the publisher, Ellora’s Cave Publishing, Inc.® 1056 Home Avenue, Akron OH 44310-3502.

This book is a work of fiction and any resemblance to persons, living or dead, or places, events or locales is purely coincidental. The characters are productions of the authors’ imagination and used fictitiously.

Content Advisory:

S – ENSUOUS

E – ROTIC

X

–

TREME

Ellora’s Cave Publishing offers three levels of Romantica™ reading entertainment: S (S-ensuous), E (Erotic), and X (X-treme).

The following material contains graphic sexual content meant for mature readers. This story has been rated E–rotic.

S-
ensuous
love scenes are explicit and leave nothing to the imagination.

E-
rotic
love scenes are explicit, leave nothing to the imagination, and are high in volume per the overall word count. E-rated titles might contain material that some readers find objectionable—in other words, almost anything goes, sexually. E-rated titles are the most graphic titles we carry in terms of both sexual language and descriptiveness in these works of literature.

X-
treme
titles differ from E-rated titles only in plot premise and storyline execution. Stories designated with the letter X tend to contain difficult or controversial subject matter not for the faint of heart.

JANUS’ CONQUEST

Dawn Ryder

Dawn Ryder

“Permission to speak.”

Harkin looked up, barely controlling his surprise before it hit his face. Pressing his lips deeper into a hard line, he faced the veteran Hunter in front of his desk. Edric Tailrich was one of his best men. Seasoned and balanced, the Hunter was extremely valuable. Control was something he was a master at, so witnessing the flare of emotion in his eyes was cause for Harkin to stand. Edric’s rank surpassed the other Hunters, but only because he was content to be on patrol. The Hunter didn’t like the stale confines of an office that went hand-in-hand with higher command. That was worthy of respect because Edric Tailrich might be sitting at the command desk if he had any hunger for the position. It was a wise thing to remember considering Harkin enjoyed his newly awarded rank. Disrespecting Hunter Tailrich just might make the man reconsider his opinion on the matter.

“Speak your mind, Edric.”

A brief moment of satisfaction flashed through his eyes, but the Hunter never left his at-ease position. His feet were braced exactly shoulder-width apart and his wrists were clasped behind his waist. “The assignment should be mine.”

Harkin frowned. True to his nature, Edric didn’t bother to state that he was senior to the Hunter he’d just given a key assignment to. Edric didn’t waste time on a fact that he knew Harkin already understood. That was something younger recruits didn’t grasp. It was a skill that experience taught a Hunter. Cut to the goal. Don’t waste resources on chatter.

“You have a daughter.”

4

Janus’ Conquest

Edric winced slightly. “Correct. That does not change the fact that I am better suited to the assignment.”

And he wanted it. Harkin could see that Edric wasn’t happy about being pushed aside. An undercover assignment was rare. It was rich with danger and possible death, but Hunters proved themselves by such acts and Edric was as true a Hunter as any in the sphere wearing the black uniform. Harkin should have expected Edric wouldn’t remain silent while the assignment was handed to the next man in line. To do so was to admit cowardice. Harkin admired the grit in the Hunter, it was true service spirit. The sort every man under his command should envy. Harkin did.

“I harbor no fear.” Edric stated the words in a formal tone but only a deaf man could have missed the demand edging each word.

“I did not imply that you did.” Harkin clamped his next words behind a stiff jaw.

He hadn’t intended for Edric to be offended by his assignment choice, but a good commander anticipated every possible result of his decisions.

“I request the assignment.” Determination fired Edric’s eyes as he remained perfectly in his stance. Harkin wasn’t fooled by the look of the Hunter. The man was furious. His pride as a Hunter was stung and that was something Harkin held a great respect for. At the end of each day it was only pride that kept a man company. Your own judgment was far harsher than any man you served under or beside. To Edric’s mind, not demanding the assignment was worse than being denied it. The man was brave and willing to prove it.

Harkin couldn’t have respected him more.

“And your daughter? Taking an undercover assignment means that she will share your exile.”

A moment of hesitation flickered across Edric’s face, but it wasn’t true fear, only the concern of any parent for their child. “Fay will adjust. She is no longer small. It is time for her to leave childhood and its pampering behind. She will remain in the Hunter sphere.”

5

Dawn Ryder

“Yet she might choose to join you in the penal colony.”

Edric hesitated. It was a harsh truth that his choice would impact his daughter’s life.

He thrust that guilt aside. All children had to shoulder the realities of who their parents were. Fay should be proud of his dedication to duty. While she would not know the details of his coming assignment, it did not change who he was. It was a fact that he was looking forward to the coming hardships because there would be no doubt just who he could call friend. All the Hunters who socialized with him would be tested because only the men in his immediate battalion would know of the assignment. For the rest, he would be the lowest of criminals. A Hunter turned by greed. Only murder ranked lower.

Of course he would proclaim innocence. That fact would test his comrades completely. It would also allow him to infiltrate the penal colony and search out the underground mastermind who was bleeding off resources. Between the spheres that offered the population protection from the sun gone nova, resources were tightly controlled. Criminals were forbidden to use more than their fair share, but someone was siphoning off food, power, even water. Whoever they were, they were clever.

Command was stumped, making them resort to placing a Hunter in the penal colony.

He was larger and stronger than the criminals sentenced to incarceration. There was no way to hide his Hunter heritage. Too many generations of sons following in the paths of their fathers had led to Hunter children growing larger than most civilian males. It was partially due to better food, but a great deal resulted from training. A Hunter’s sons began training at age three. The body responded by surging forward as more muscle was needed and tested by the young boy’s regimen.

His daughter flashed through his thoughts as he considered that she was slim and well formed, but not huge. Female children grew tall but not stocky. It was his own failing that had allowed her to become as pampered as she was. That was something that the assignment in question would help him correct. Fay clung to girlhood too 6

Janus’ Conquest

tightly. She was well past her tender age, and while he was not in a hurry to see her in a male’s possession, he did not care for the disdain she leveled at them. Interest between the genders was natural. There was no shame in it, and Fay needed to respect the Hunter who blatantly applied to her for attention. Only inexperienced girls spoke to Hunters with such haughtiness. It was disrespectful. His daughter needed a dose of humility, and his coming assignment would be a harsh lesson for her. However, sometimes the best instructor was the harshest one. The student absorbed the lesson deeper due to their respect for the master.

In a way, Edric looked at his own journey into the pit of dishonor as a penance for not parenting Fay with a firmer hand. He was her father, the task his to accomplish. Yet he had always savored their time together, lavishing too much affection on her due to the fact that her mother had passed from this life far too early. That did not excuse his laxness. Returning his attention to Harkin, Edric focused his attention on the matter in front of him.

“Fay is a Hunter’s daughter. She will honor her blood no matter the choice.” She would have to wait a full week before choosing. That was custom among Hunters. The black uniform he wore separated him from normal families. When a subject was convicted of a crime in any of the outer spheres, the family had to choose instantly to either follow them into a penal sphere or remain behind to face their community as the blood relative of a criminal.

A Hunter sphere was different. It was extremely rare that any Hunter fell from grace. Often they chose death over dishonor. Fay would be held in the Hunter sphere for a week before being offered the chance to follow him into the penal sphere. It would allow her time to make a choice that was not fueled by emotion. It would be the longest time they had been separated. There was a part of his heart that ached, but the need to prove his worth as a Hunter invaded his concern. A deeper need to push Fay from her comfortable perch reinforced his decision to be the Hunter who endured being sentenced to a penal sphere.

7

Dawn Ryder

Life was not easy, and he had allowed his daughter to blind herself to that fact. It was time for them both to face the harsher side of life. It would enable them to savor the good moments even more once they had been tempered by the flames.

“I stand ready for my assignment.”

* * * * *

It was only coincidence.

Fay tried to lie to herself and failed. She had been plotting for far too long, looking for a reason to see him. Her lower lip went dry as she peeked into the male training area. It was not a forbidden thing, but it was frowned upon for chaste females such as herself to be in an area where Hunters trained.

The reason was clear. There were no black uniforms secured to these Hunters’

chests. Each muscle was in sight as they strained and pushed their large bodies to the limit. Her gaze moved around the area, trying to linger over the hard chests but they didn’t hold her attention.

That only stirred her temper. Her fickle mind wanted only
him
. Her mind should be stronger, her will able to influence her thoughts because
he
wasn’t a good choice. In truth,
he
was the worst possible male she might be spying upon.

She hissed at her own stupidity and pushed against the wall to get her foolish body moving away from temptation. Disappointment flashed through her because she had yet to lay eyes on Janus.

Very well. That was exactly what she deserved. Janus was too harsh for her to be seeking out. The Hunter desired her. He’d made it plain during the weekly meetings in the Hunter gathering hall. She didn’t know what his relationship was to her father but younger, unpledged Hunters often visited different sections as they searched for unpledged females. Janus had been coming to her section for half a year now, his blue eyes challenging her to step up and speak with him at the border between the male and female sections.