by Fox, Jaide
He stopped suddenly because Ebony had thrown herself into his arms and was covering his face and mouth with kisses. “How is this possible?” she whispered, still kissing him. “We saw the firing squad. How can you be alive?”
Fallon smiled, and nodded towards Captain Zeta. “It was this man. He saved me. I would be dead right now if not for his courage and cleverness.”
Ebony pulled away from Fallon and ran to hug Zeta, as did all the other women, and he seemed quite pleased to have such affection from the four of them. “Now, that’s the kind of brother-in-law I don’t mind having!” laughed Ebony, and hugged him again.
Then Jane stepped forward. “If you are Fallon, then where is Kore?”
Fallon glanced over at her. “Dead.”
“Dead?” Jane repeated. All of the women looked at each other, and then back at Fallon and Zeta.
“Are you sure?” asked Cassie.
“We’re sure,” said Fallon. “I would have had him brought to trial, for Zeta’s men are far more loyal to their captain than they were to their evil king; but Kore tried to kill Zeta, and I could not allow that. No, my brother lies in the coffin meant for me, and I do not think there is one person anywhere who will miss him.”
“I sure as hell won’t,” said Ebony.
“Me, neither,” said all the other women at once, and then they all looked up at Fallon.
“Now what?” asked Ebony.
***
A few hours later, after the radiocameras broadcast the order, the men of the City of Anetahr gathered once again inside the city square--the same square where they had come to see Fallon’s execution earlier that day. As before, the plasma radiocameras drifted overhead and broadcast all that happened to the screens set up throughout the city.
But a firing squad was nothing compared to the sight that awaited them here in the square right now. Every last woman in King Kore’s harem, some one hundred fifty of them, stood gathered right in front of the low balcony. All of them wore long beautiful sari in bright colors, and the entire group was closely surrounded by Captain Zeta’s guards with long silver rifles in their hands--but this time it was to protect them from any overly enthusiastic males, not to keep them prisoner.
Ebony stood nearest the front in a long red sari which did, at least, cover her decently, and she--like all the other harem women--now wore a pair of fine leather sandals. Apparently there were sandals and soft boots for all of the women, and always had been, but Kore had forbidden their use and all the footwear had been hidden away until now.
Best of all, though, Ebony stood with Adrienne, her sister, and together they turned and looked up at the balcony as Fallon, with Captain Zeta close beside him, walked to the front of the balcony and stood tall with both hands on the railing. He wore the long black leather coat and black uniform of the guards.
“My name is Fallon,” he said. “You thought you saw me executed here today. But I did not die. I am here before you now, and I declare myself to be the king I was born to be.”
Immediately, loud conversation broke out among all the men who were watching. Ebony could see--and feel--that they were all very agitated and confused. “Where is Kore?” someone shouted. “By what right do you claim the throne?”
“Kore is dead. When he saw that I survived his firing squad, he tried to kill me with his own dagger. I fought him back, and won. Kore is dead.”
Zeta stepped up alongside him. “It is all true. I am a witness. It is all true.”
Behind Zeta walked a large group of his palace guards. “It is all true,” one of them stated, and then the others joined in. “It is all true,” they said together.
Finally, a dozen or so Zhala riders gather on the balcony with the others. “It is all true,” they said. “It is all true.”
Fallon began pacing slowly along the railing. “I claim the throne by my right as firstborn. Kore was my twin, but he was the younger twin. I am firstborn.” He stopped and looked out at the crowd, standing as tall as he ever had. “Are there any out there who dispute my right to rule?” Fallon cried. “Step up here now, or keep silent forever.”
Fallon and Zeta looked out over the crowd. The men looked back at them, their eyes darting from Fallon to Zeta to the guards to the Zhala riders, and then they all looked at each other.
“King Fallon!” yelled a man somewhere in the crowd, and then all of them began to cheer. “King Fallon! A new day! A new world! King Fallon!”
But Fallon only raised his hands up high to silence the cheering crowd, and then beckoned to Zeta. Ebony caught her breath as Zeta walked over to him and stood tall and proud before him.
Fallon addressed the crowd once again. “By my birthright, and by the trust you have given me today, I designate this man, Dezec Zeta, the captain of the guard, as the prince of the City of Anetahr,” Fallon says. “He is the most loyal and trustworthy of men, and from this day on he will be known as Prince Dezec. He will rule over you with his princess by his side--Princess Adrienne.”
Fallon turned and smiled down at Ebony, and nodded to her. Ebony held tight to Adrienne’s hand and helped her very pregnant sister climb the steps to the balcony. “You’re a princess!” Ebony said, barely containing her delight. “Imagine that!”
Adrienne beamed, and then walked to stand beside her husband--who was now himself a prince--and then Ebony returned to the floor of the square with the other women of the harem.
Just as she took her place among the women, Ebony heard a great cheering erupt from the city streets beyond the square. She stood tall and craned her neck--and then in the next instant cried out and pushed her way through the women and the men and fought her way to the edge of the square.
“Damon! Oh, Damon!”
Ebony threw herself into his arms, and he caught her and rested his head on her shoulder for a moment. She pushed herself back and raised her head. “Oh, let me look at you! What happened—what--” Then she stopped. It was clear, from the cuts and burns and dried blood all over him, that he had been tortured. “Oh, Damon,” she whispered, “Kore lied about that, too, didn’t he?”
“It doesn’t matter now.” Keeping one hand on Ebony’s arm, Damon looked over his shoulder– and to her tremendous relief, she saw all of the men who’d been on the flyer with her and the other three women when they’d left the mine. The two pilots were with them, too.
Damon walked Ebony up the stairs to the balcony, and only released her to grasp Fallon’s hand and hug him like a brother. “I am so glad to see you,” Fallon said. “I’m going to need you.” Then her turned and faced the crowd again.
“I will be a king,” Fallon said, “but it will be in a new place, the one called New Chalcydon. This man, my most trusted friend, Damon, will help me there, and he will have the title of prince and be known as Prince Damon. And my queen will be this lady, Ebony, known from this day forward as Ebony Starlight, the queen of New Chalcydon.”
Ebony stood between Fallon and Damon, holding one arm of each man and smiling up at them through her tears. She looked out at the crowd and raised her voice to them.
“Now there will be two great cities to bring about freedom for all who live on this planet,” she said, and then grinned. “To say nothing of bringing in a whole lot more women just as soon as we can arrange it!”
The crowd cheered, and then all of them looked up and waved as the two silver-grey flyers slowly moved overhead--the flyers that would take the settlers, and their new king and queen and prince, all the rest of the way to New Chalcydon.
EPILOGUE
“I’m an aunt! I’m an auntie! Oh, I’m Auntie Ebony!”
It was twilight at the palace in New Chalcydon. Ebony hurried down the long covered balcony overlooking the desert, and ran directly into Damon. “You’re a--you’re a what?” he asked.
“An auntie!”
There were heavy footsteps behind her, and she turned with a delighted smile to see Fallon standing there. “I’m Auntie Ebony!”
“I heard you
,” he said, returning her smile. “I suppose that means your sister has--”
“Yes! We just received word. She has had twins, and oh, Fallon--Damon--they are twin girls!”
She stood between the two men, and they embraced her. “That is wonderful,” Fallon said.
“There is nothing this poor world needs more than strong females,” added Damon, and all three of them embraced each other.
“Now, come with me,” Ebony said after a moment, and she walked to the stone railing of the balcony and looked out into the peaceful sunset. “I have something I must tell you.”
The night was clear, and the deep twilight sky over the desert was softly lit with thick clusters of sparkling red and blue stars and by two of the planet’s five moons--the large yellow moon and the small, bright white, tumbling moon.
She looked at Damon and Fallon, and smiled a little shyly. “But I’m not the only one who’s an auntie. Adrienne will be, too, because--because now I’m the one who’s pregnant!”
Both of them hugged her, smiling, laughing, and maybe even shedding a tear. “I have wanted children in our house for so long,” whispered Damon.
“There is no blessing like new life,” said Fallon, and kissed her cheek. Damon quickly did the same.
“Oh, I do love you both,” Ebony said with a laugh, and they hugged her again. Then she glanced back at the glittering red and blue stars and at the two strange moons that slowly traveled across them.
“Do you remember when I first saw those stars? I wept because they reminded me that I was so far from home,” she said. “But now, all of that has changed. Now these stars and those moons tell me that I have come home at last, right where I belong, and that I can make a life here together with the people that I love.”
THE END
“Now that you have finished my book, won’t you please consider writing a review? Reviews are the best way readers discover great new books. I would truly appreciate it.”
Other titles by Jaide Fox:
Beastmen of Shadowmere Book One: Marked by the Beast
Beastmen of Shadowmere Book Two: Seduced by the Beast
Beastmen of Shadowere Book Three: Conquered by the Beast
Beastmen of Shadowmere Book Four: Tempted by the Beast (Coming Soon)
Beastmen of Shadowmere Book Five: Captured by the Beast (Coming Soon)
Pleasure Masters 1: Ravaged
Pleasure Masters 2: Dominated
Pleasure Masters 3: Mastered (Coming Soon)
Dark Lords 1: Captured by the Dark Lord
Dark Lords 2: Seized by the Vampire Lord
Dark Lords 3: Ensnared by the Dream Lord
Misadventures in Pleasure 1: PleasureBot
Misadventures in Pleasure 2: PleasureBots
Misadventures in Pleasure 3: StarCaught (Coming Soon)
Misadventures in Pleasure 4: StarRomped (Coming Soon)
Summoner’s Captive (Coming Soon)
Earth Girls Aren’t Easy
His Forbidden Fruit
Captured by Aliens 1: Alien Captive
Captured by Aliens 2: Alien Abduction
Heart of Darkness
An unedited excerpt from MATING RIGHTS by Jaide Fox, coming soon:
MATING RIGHTS
JAIDE FOX
Chapter One
The wind shrieked through the trees like the dying call of a hunted bird, a gasping, eerie sound that raised the hair along the back of her neck in warning. The great wolf halted her progress, crouching low in the brush, tilting her head toward the sky as though she could find its source.
A canopy of leaves shrouded her view of the moon, but naught more than air stirred the silent sentinels. Pine needles rustled under the heavy brush of air--scraping, rasping sounds that drew her nerves taut.
Her hide itched with warning, a sting that increased the tempo of her heart and the breath of her lungs. Mali panted, shaking her skin as though throwing off biting gnats. She stilled, listening once more, heard only the faint puff of her own breathing and no sound of a living thing. The feeling persisted, as though a light shone down, revealing her position. ‘Twas a foolish thought. She knew she blended with her surroundings, for her fur was sleek and black as the sky above, and yet she knew ... she knew he had found her.
He played a game. The twisted bastard had been trailing her for days into the Blackhaunted wood and the Pine Barrens.
Mali remained tense, awaiting attack, watching her breath freeze in the midnight air. Her eyes soaked up the light, watching the silhouettes of brush and tree alike. Long moments passed, and nothing befell her.
Had she imagined the danger? Had she not scented the stranger in the air?
By finite degrees, she relaxed. Perhaps it had been only the wind. She could not admit, even to herself, how much he had rattled her. Bastard.
With deliberate slowness, she pushed through the dried, dead brush, wincing at each crackle of leaf, each snap of twig.
Mali padded along the ground, keeping her head low. Her fur whipped as a sudden wind bore down on her, and a howl rent the air with a piercing wail.
Mali twisted away--too late. He crashed into her, pinning her body to the ground under his superior weight.
A growl of fury erupted from her throat, forcing the air from her lungs. She sucked in a breath and screamed, thrashing, churning the dirt in her struggles. He grunted above her, his fingers digging into the narrow blade of her shoulders, forcing her down.
“Do you yield to me? Do you yield?” he shouted in a voice, deep and chilling as a bottomless well…
***
Mali awakened with a gasp. Her belly contracted, the muscles hardened. A sheen of sweat beaded her skin despite the warm air seeping through her loft from the kitchen below.
She lay there, willing her racing heartbeat to return to normal, for her breathing to slow.
For a week past, the nightmare invaded her sleep. Over and over again, she’d attempted to escape pursuit from the stranger in her dreams, to no avail. She couldn’t remember his face or form, only that he disturbed her more than anything else in her life ever had.
Her mother had commented on the dark circles beneath her eyes, and both she and her father said it must be the coming of the Moonlight Festival causing Mali distress. That or she was going into heat, which was just as unsettling. As much as she wanted to believe herself immune to the cycles of the wolf clan, she couldn’t deny that she felt a subtle change growing within her.
Never leaving the shelter of her parents’ home and small farm, Mali was forbidden to attend the annual festival where others of their kind found their mates. Once upon a time, before she’d come of age, her parents’ decision to remain secluded in the woods with almost no contact from the outside world had greatly distressed her.
As the years passed, she grew to understand her limitations and how those limits would be perceived by the rest of the clan. Now that she understood her parents’ reasoning in forbidding her attendance, she’d come to a measure of peace with their decision, even if it meant she would never have children of her own.
Perhaps the imposed seclusion was finally getting to her in spite of that, causing the anxiety that consumed her night after night. Perhaps it was the waxing of the moon and her body responding to nature’s call.
She hated it, but the mystery would have to wait another day.
“Mali, the chickens need feeding and the cow is lowing out back. Get your head on straight and do your chores,” Abba, her mother, called from the kitchen.
The scent of bacon frying and biscuits rising in the oven mingled together to make a scent that lured Mali from the bed and dispelled the disturbing thoughts from her mind.
Slipping from her bed with a groan and stretch, Mali walked to her hope chest which was filled with broken dreams rather than the niceties which would start her own household. She’d long ago stopped sewing baby clothes and embroidering tapestries, pillowcases, and sheets in favor of mending her faded work clothes instead.
Removing her nightgown and flinging it across the bed, Mali slipped her worn but favorite lilac gown over her head. Attempting to drag her comb through her coarse hair, she finally gave up after a few minutes and pulled her unruly curly hair back off her face with a ribbon, and stuck her feet in her wooden clogs. The daisies painted across the toes had long since worn away with trips through the woods and daily chores.
Descending the ladder from her lonely loft, Mali dropped down into the kitchen below. The cottage had only two rooms: the common room where they cooked, ate, and gathered before and after meals, and her parent’s bedroom. She was fortunate the high peaked, thatched roof had allowed the addition of her sleeping area, which her father had graciously built for her after re-thatching the roof a few years ago.