Dark Warriors: A Dark Lands Anthology (Darklands) by Autumn Dawn

means to see you returned. Lie with me, and I’ll take you home. My word on it.”
    Shocked, she gaped at him. He just sat there, as calm as if he hadn’t just proposed she whore for him. “No! Never! I don’t do that kind of thing.” Some friend. What would his buddy think?
    He gave a tiny shrug. “Is it not the thing you want most in the world? To go home? What is lying with me to that? You can be free.”
    She didn’t want to be free. Not if it meant becoming that. “No. And I really wish Dagon were here make you suffer for that.”
    “Do you think he would?” Serious now, there was nonetheless a mocking look in his eyes.
    Not about to be intimidated, she snapped with growing anger, “The man leaves the door open to prevent us being alone, or surrounds us with his brothers. Not a woman leaves the harem alone with a man, and partly by his orders. Yes, I do think he’d stomp you into a pile of slime if he ever heard you talk like that to me.”
    A wide grin split Kynan’s face as he sat back. “I’m going to enjoy seeing you become queen. You’re more loyal to him than he deserves, but I salute you for it. I’ll be certain to tell him that you passed the test.”
    Test? What test? She stared at him suspiciously, wondering if he was serious, or seriously calculating. “Did he put you up to this?”
    “No.” The way he said it invited her to ask more questions.
    “Would he stop you if he knew?”
    His smile got wider. “No.”
    “Are you really his friend?”
    “Since our youth.”
    Hm. Maybe she could trust him, or maybe not. Though she was still annoyed with him, he was answering her questions, so maybe she’d be bold while she had the chance. “Ellyn claimed that women aren’t allowed to practice martial arts here. Why hasn’t he said anything to me about it?”
    Kynan tossed a nut in the air and swallowed it. “No doubt he expects the nonsense will stop once you get big with a child.” He laughed at her expression of outrage. “Besides, did you ever think he’d allow you to get in a situation where you would have the chance to use your meager abilities? Trust me, you pose no threat to a man who has trained since his boyhood in the art of war. In truth, he thinks your obsession is rather cute.”
    “Cute,” she said, deadpan.
    Baiting her, he said, “And I think he likes what it does for your body. Why would he forbid your exercise, given that?”
    Grrr…Hostile now, she said through tight lips, “Since you are so knowing and all-powerful, maybe you’d like to tell me how you Beasts managed to bring us here. I’ve often wondered.” Not that he would explain, but she was so angry now that she was on autopilot, demanding answers, since she didn’t have the ability to get up and successfully attack him.
    He jumped up. “I’ll do better than that. I’ll show you. Boys, come here! I have something to show your mother.”
    It was like a dream. Vana couldn’t believe it as he led them deep into the Bride House, passing them through armed checkpoints as if he did it all the time. She kept expecting someone to stop them, to refuse to open the many doors, but it never happened.

    At last they stopped at the head of a set of steel grate steps leading down to a busy laboratory. Technicians wandered everywhere, and several fully armored Beasts stood at the perimeters, guarding the area. More interesting, two stood before a huge oval frame. It pulsed with blue light, interspersed with white flashes of lightning.
    Vana’s pulse quickened. Kynan didn’t have to tell her what it was.
    Kynan looked at her and smirked, waving her ahead of him. “Go on. You wanted so badly to see it.”
    Adrenaline made her shake as she slowly descended the stairs, her eyes fixed on the gate. Instinct demanded that she run and throw herself through it, but good sense kept her pace slow. They could stop her too easily. It might not even be pointed to her planet at the moment.
    But oh, what if it where? Hope rose up