War Angel Contingent (Everlasting Fire Series, Book 1)

by S. J. West

  I hear the sound of a sword being drawn and see Ethan has pulled his blade from its scabbard on his hip. When he takes a threatening step toward Manas, Anna holds out a hand to block his way.

  “Stand down, Ethan,” Anna tells him in a whisper. “Let me handle this.”

  Reluctantly, Ethan takes a step back and sheaths his sword.

  “What obedient little puppies you have following you around,” Manas says as he looks at the three War Angels with contempt. “Do they do tricks too?”

  A few people in the crowd laugh, but their laughter stops as soon as Anna casts her withering glare in their direction.

  Anna quickly returns her attention to the king and says, “I’ve heard that you take pride in your skill as a warrior and that you tend to enjoy games if the stakes are high enough.”

  This seems to pique Manas’ interest. “Are you suggesting that we play a game to see who wins my queen? Why should I wager her when I already own her?”

  “I’m saying that we should have a duel to see who is better with a sword,” Anna tells him, “and that the stakes shouldn’t be just for one person, but for each of our planets.”

  A collective gasp can be heard in the room, followed by excited, quiet whispers.

  “Are you saying that you will put up the whole of Earth on the outcome of a single duel?” the king questions, sounding as if he’s sure he heard her wrong.

  Anna lifts her right hand, palm up. A holographic picture of Earth from space suddenly appears hovering over her hand as she says, “Earth is a planet plentiful with natural resources. We also control quite a large number of outworld colonies on neighboring planets. Not only would you be able to add all of this to your own kingdom, but you would also gain the technology we possess to travel to distant galaxies.”

  “And you’re wagering your entire world just because I took one woman?” King Manas says incredulously. “Far be it from me to point out the mistake you just made. I accept your challenge, and I accept the wager of my planet against yours. However, what I will not do is fight a woman. There is no honor in beating someone so frail.”

  “I assure you,” Anna says fiercely, “I am the best fighter on Earth.”

  “You are an empress. Of course your subjects let you believe such a ludicrous fantasy,” the king scoffs. “If you truly want this duel to happen, I suggest you bring me someone worthy enough for me to fight.”

  “I’ll do it,” Ethan is quick to volunteer. “Let me fight the duel for you, Empress.”

  Anna looks over at Ethan and nods her head, agreeing to allow him to take her place in the challenge.

  “Then tomorrow we duel!” Manas announces excitedly. “But tonight is my wedding night, and I plan to take advantage of my fair haired bride while I can.”

  “Go right ahead,” Anna says, surprising not only me but also Ethan.

  “Anna …” he says in disbelief.

  I see Anna wink at Ethan, but I’m not sure anyone else was paying close enough attention to her subtle reassurance to him.

  When she turns her attention back to the king, she continues, “Our scientists have proven that sex before a fight can weaken a man’s stamina and reflexes. That’s why many of my ancestors would hire whores to enter the camps of their enemies on the eve of a battle. It made their adversaries weak and ensured a swift and satisfying victory. So, be my guest. Have your way with your new wife because it will make it all the easier for Ethan to beat you tomorrow so I can claim this planet as an extension of Earth’s domain.”

  Manas doesn’t say anything as he contemplates Anna’s words of caution. He realizes that Earth’s scientific knowledge far surpasses what the scientists of his own planet know. If he doesn’t at least consider what she’s said, he would be a fool of the highest order, and I can’t believe even he would be stupid enough to take a chance on losing his planet for one night of sex.

  “Fine,” Manas says. “I will forgo my husbandly duties this night and meet with your man in the arena tomorrow at noon. If you don’t show up, you forfeit the game, and I still win.”

  “Oh, we’ll be there,” Anna says with a beguiling smile. “And we’ll finally be able to rid Laed-i of the tyrant who rules it. There is one other thing though,” Anna looks over at me for the first time, “I need to have your word that your new queen will be cared for until the end of the duel. I can see your handiwork all over her face,” Anna says angrily. “I need your assurance that she won’t be harmed while she remains in your care. If I see that she is hurt any more than she already is by tomorrow, you forfeit the duel and hand over your planet to me willingly. Those are my conditions.”

  “She will not be harmed,” Manas promises, sounding bored by what he seems to consider an unnecessary threat by Anna. “You have my word.”

  “Then we will see you at noon in your arena,” Anna says before turning her back on Manas and walking out of the room without even a backwards glance in my direction. Xander, Zane, and even Ethan turn sharply on their heels and follow her out. I thought at least Ethan would give me some encouraging words or even a smile before they left. Perhaps they thought showing me any more favoritism would incense Manas to violence. I’m not sure, but I am disappointed.

  The king turns to face me.

  “I suppose our first night together will have to wait,” he tells me as his gaze travels the length of me. “Go back to your chambers for now, and I will call on you when I’m ready to bed you.”

  Barbaric much?

  “Can I make a request?” I ask him, seeing no reason not to ask for what I want. All he can do is say no because Anna has already laid down the law about hitting me any more before the duel.

  “What is it that you want?” he asks gruffly.

  “Can I attend the duel? I would like to watch it for myself since it will be determining my fate.”

  “You can come watch me kill your friend, if you wish,” Manas says off-handedly.

  “Kill?” I question him. “I didn’t hear the empress say that the duel was to be to the death.”

  “Neither did I,” Manas grins cruelly. “I’m sure she’ll mourn the demise of her champion just like she’ll mourn the loss of her planet.”

  “Are you at least going to tell them that the duel is to be to the death?” I ask.

  “I’m sure they’ll be able to figure it out on their own once it starts.” Manas looks toward the entrance and yells, “Guards!”

  My two faceless guardians come running up to the platform and bow before their king.

  “Take your new queen back to her chambers,” the king orders. “I will instruct Lady Maya to watch over her tonight, but no one else is allowed inside her room. Is that understood?”

  The guards bow again to their king, silently letting him know that they understand his instructions.

  Before they can reach me, I stand on my own because I don’t particularly want them to touch me again. All I need is to be dragged out of the room by them like I was from the courtyard. We exit the room just like we entered it—with one guard in front leading the way and one guard following to prevent me from escaping.

  “Sweet dreams, Julia Manas,” the king calls out, reminding me that I am now his wife, at least according to the laws of this world. As far as I’m concerned, I didn’t sign anything, so this so-called marriage is a complete sham. I have to wonder how many “wives” the king has had over the years. Uwe did mention that I would become a part of the king’s collection. If he collects wives, that has to mean that he has had at least two, more than likely more. I pity the women who came before me and wonder if they had to commit suicide like the previous queen did tonight in order to make way for a new queen to take their place. I don’t want to die, but if something unforeseen happens and Ethan loses the duel, I would rather be dead than let Manas touch any part of my body. He doesn’t seem like a man who would care much about a woman’s needs. I’m sure he’s as selfish in bed as he is to the people of this world.

  Once we reach my quarters
and the door to my room is closed behind me, I breathe out a sigh of relief.

  “I’m so sorry, Jules,” I hear Ethan say from the doorway of the bathroom, presumably where he was hiding until the guards left.

  We walk toward each other, and I soon find myself wrapped in his arms. I needed this. I needed to feel the warmth of his embrace to be reassured that everything will be all right.

  “How did you know this was my room?” I ask him.

  “Verati knew the basic layout of the palace. She told me this was more than likely where the king would be keeping you.”

  “Can you phase me out of here?” I ask him, holding him even more fiercely to me.

  When Ethan doesn’t answer, I pull back slightly and look into his troubled eyes.

  “I wish I could,” he says with a great deal of regret. “But Anna wants to use this duel to not only set you free but to set the people of this world free from Manas’ control. You should be perfectly safe here until after the duel.”

  “He plans to kill you. So don’t go into this fight thinking he will fight fair,” I warn Ethan, not in the least bit angry about his reason for not phasing out of here immediately. I agree that if Anna and Ethan can force Manas off the throne in such a way that his people will readily accept a regime change, they should take advantage of the opportunity.

  Ethan raises his left hand and cups my right cheek where Manas hit me.

  “I would be within my rights to kill him for doing this to you,” Ethan says in a low, menacing voice. “I can’t believe Helena put you in this position in the first place. It just gives me another reason to hate her.”

  I don’t want to admit it to Ethan, but I feel kind of hurt that Helena would use me as a pawn in her game with him and Anna. Or maybe she did it to distract Ethan in order to keep him off her trail for a little while. Speaking of Helena …

  I take a step back from Ethan and slide my right leg through the slit of my skirt. It doesn’t take me long to pull the tracking device off my thigh and hand it over to Ethan.

  “I want you to have this,” I tell him. “I don’t want Manas to take it away from me, or worse, destroy it. It’ll be safer with you.”

  Ethan tucks the device inside a pocket of his leather jacket. “Are you kicking me out of your room so soon?”

  “I don’t want to,” I say regretfully, “but Manas is sending someone to keep an eye on me until the duel. I talked him into letting me attend it, so I’ll see you again in the arena tomorrow.”

  “That’s where Anna and the others are right now. They asked one of the guards to show them where the arena is located, and I made up an excuse that I needed to prepare our shuttle for departure. Do you hate me for leaving you here?” he asks. “I’ll take you away, if that’s what you want. I’ll go against Anna’s orders and phase you anywhere you want to go. You’re only in this mess because of me.”

  “No, I’m in this mess because of Helena,” I remind him. “And I honestly think she just did it to make you stop looking for her for a while. I’m sure the pregnancy is taking a toll on her, and she just wants to rest since she’s so close to giving birth.”

  “I have to find her before the baby is born, Jules,” he says desperately. “I can’t let her keep him.”

  I don’t want to argue about this with Ethan again, so I just wrap my arms around him one last time.

  “You need to go,” I tell him, squeezing him around the waist in a direct contradiction of my words.

  I feel him kiss the top of my head. “He won’t hurt you. He knows Anna would take this planet in a heartbeat if he breaks the rules of their deal.”

  “I’m sure we can at least count on his greed to keep him honest.”

  Ethan hugs me tightly one more time before letting me go. Reluctantly, I do the same and even manage to force myself to take a step back.

  “All you have to do is make it through tonight,” Ethan tells me. “I wish I could give you one of the communicators they use on this world in case you have a problem so you could call Zane, but Manas has a force field up that prevents digital signals from coming in or going out of this fortress.”

  “How did the four of you even get here?” I ask. “This place is out in the middle of nowhere, and Uwe told me that neither Xander nor Zane have ever been here.”

  “After we told Anna what was happening, we took one of the pods from Cirrus, phased it to this world, and flew it here. Zane and Xander knew where the palace was. They’ve just never had a reason to come here before now. I told Anna I couldn’t leave here without making sure that you’re all right.”

  “I’m glad you came,” I tell Ethan, reaching out to take hold of his hand with mine. “I prayed that you would. Maybe prayer really does work.”

  Ethan squeezes my hand as a tender look comes into his eyes. He pulls me in closer to him until our bodies touch. I watch expectantly as he lowers his head, making me think that he’s about to kiss me on the lips. Instead, he turns his head at the last possible moment and kisses the cheek Manas hit.

  “I’ll make him pay for doing this to you,” Ethan promises, kissing the cheek again but a little bit closer to the corner of my mouth this time.

  “Do you always tease your women this unmercifully?” I ask him breathlessly, hoping he gives me a third kiss that will actually land on my lips.

  “I don’t normally tease,” he whispers, “but I like knowing that you want me to kiss you.”

  “Am I that obvious?”

  “Your breathing is a little faster, and there’s a rosy flush across the top of your cheeks that I find beautiful. Do you really want me to kiss you, Julia Grace, or do you find the anticipation of such a kiss to be more enjoyable?”

  Unfortunately, I don’t get to answer that question, because before I know it, Ethan is gone and Lady Maya is walking into the room.

  I sigh in disappointment. A part of me wishes I could have answered Ethan’s questions, and a part of me is glad he left when he did. Otherwise, our first kiss would have happened in Manas’ fortress, and that’s not really how I want to remember such a life-altering event.

  All in all, Lady Maya’s arrival was fortuitous because I can now look forward to a first kiss with Ethan knowing that he wants it as much as I do.

  CHAPTER 16

  I never knew a person could be so meticulous about their personal hygiene regimen. Lady Maya ends up spending most of the night preening herself in the bathroom. I’m not completely sure what all she ended up doing to herself while she was in there, and I feel certain I don’t want to know. When she comes back out into the bedroom, I don’t see much of a difference in her appearance. She quickly declares that the bed is hers for the night and that I should make myself comfortable in one of the two chairs in the room.

  “I thought I was the queen,” I protest. “Doesn’t that mean I should automatically get the bed?”

  “Being called a queen here doesn’t mean the same thing as it does on other worlds,” she quickly informs me. “The title should actually be royal concubine, because until you give the king a son, that’s basically all you are.”

  I plop down onto one of the chairs, finding the hard plastic quite ungiving.

  “Seems weird to have these chairs here. Is there a reason why they’re facing the bed?” I ask, as I watch her bury herself underneath the black covers and fluff her pillow.

  “They’re for the royal observers to sit and record each of your sessions with the king while you try to produce an heir.”

  “You have got to be kidding me …” is the only response I can come up with, because what she just said is absolutely ludicrous.

  “I am not … kidding … as you call it,” she tells me haughtily. “How else will they know each time the king fertilizes you and when to expect a positive result?”

  All I can do is shiver in revulsion and thank my lucky stars that this will be the one and only night I have to stay in King Manas’ palace. I begin to wonder if the people of this planet are even worth rescuing,
but then I remember Verati, Zane’s wife. She’s a native of this world and one of the kindest people I’ve ever met. It has to only be the privileged on this planet who are so arrogant. It makes me ponder who Anna will place on the throne after King Manas loses the duel. Whoever it is, I pity them.

  By the time morning rolls around and Lady Maya has prepared herself for the day’s events, she sets to work on me. I don’t need much done. The makeup she put on me yesterday is still on my face, looking flawless. All she does is take my hair out of the braid and allow it to flow naturally around my shoulders. She gives me a dress made from a peach-colored, chiffon-like material to wear to the duel. It’s a pretty halter top style dress with a long full skirt. After I’m ready, I ask Lady Maya for something to eat.

  “I’m afraid you can’t have anything until after the consummation of your marriage to the king,” she tells me, obviously gaining a small bit of pleasure from denying me food.

  “And why is that?” I ask since the monster that needs to be fed in my belly demands to know.

  “It’s simply tradition,” she replies. “Normally after the king takes a new wife, there is a royal feast afterwards. Since your friends interrupted the festivities with their nonsense, the feast has been postponed until after the king has won the duel.”

  “Exactly how many wives has the king had?” I ask. If the feast is a “tradition,” that must mean it’s happened multiple times.

  “You are his tenth wife,” Lady Maya informs me.

  “And how many children does the king have from these ten wives?”

  Lady Maya looks nervous all of a sudden, and I’m not certain she’ll answer my question.

  Finally, she does.

  “The king has no heirs yet. We are all hoping that you will be the one who breaks the chain of his disappointments.”

  I don’t dare say it out loud, but if Manas hasn’t been able to father a child after bedding ten wives, odds are it wasn’t the fault of the females he chose. Sounds to me like the king is shooting blanks and no one here has the guts to tell him that.