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  Enari has never made a choice between fight or flight, it is fight all the way, even when she is given to a race of warriors as their Warlord’s prize.

  A stranger to her own people, Enari has never felt that she had a place on Fennar. When the lottery destines her to be a bride of the Asku she makes her displeasure known, even though her battle against a security unit has a predictable ending. Wounded and bleeding, she doesn’t consider herself a prime candidate for a mate, but the wife of the Overlord, and mother of Warlord Drion, has other ideas. Enari has all the characteristics of a prime female and as soon as the Warlord Drion returns from battle, he will claim his prize.

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  Warlord’s Prize

  Copyright © 2012 Zenina Masters

  ISBN: 978-1-77111-086-0

  Cover art by Martine Jardin

  All rights reserved. Except for use in any review, the reproduction or utilization of this work in whole or in part in any form by any electronic, mechanical or other means, now known or hereafter invented, is forbidden without the written permission of the publisher.

  Published by eXtasy Books

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  Warlord’s Prize

  Darkest Star Saga One

  By

  Zenina Masters

  Chapter One

  Wendi Halstead, Enari Morningside, Ireen Wingard…

  The lottery played her name over and over with the forty-nine other women summoned to the council hall for that very evening. If they thought she was going to meekly hand herself over to their overlords, they had another thing coming.

  Enari Morningside was one of the most skilled seamstresses on Fennar, but her value as a living being was to be shunted aside on the off chance that one of the alien oppressors chose her as a companion for the night. The very idea infuriated her.

  For ninety years, Fennar had tithed to those who overthrew their armies and government. This year, this new government had decided that the Asku battle armada did not really pose a threat, their forces were concentrated on the farthest ends of the solar system and they would not bother coming to claim the harvests of Fennar.

  Her government was dead wrong.

  When their battleships appeared in the skies, the population had gone mad with panic. The Asku had been calm as they destroyed two cities in punishment and from the capitol, Enari’s home city of Marker, they demanded fifty female virgins of majority. It was a basic punishment, taking those who would otherwise have had a future on Fennar, but it was not pleasant for those few chosen.

  When the lottery had been announced, any woman who panicked could be disqualified simply by walking into a tavern and hiking up her skirts on the table. Enari and many others had too much pride to engage in such a base dodge, but part of her wanted to run and hide when she thought of being fucked for the first time by a warrior of Asku.

  Keeping herself calm as sunset approached was awkward, but unpicking her embroidery occupied hours and by the time her shop was lit only by the electric lamp, she was shaking uncontrollably.

  She put the tools of her trade down and was doing inventory as she did every night when a knock sounded on her shop door.

  The light outside on the street threw six men into sharp relief. The uniforms of the city guard of Marker were unmistakable. She had sewn them herself.

  The knock sounded again and curling her fingers into fists, she approached the door. She opened it cautiously and said, “Yes?”

  “Enari Morningside?”

  She nodded at the older, nervous captain. “I am.”

  “You have been selected by lottery and are to be taken to the council hall.”

  “No.” She exited her shop and locked the door. She didn’t want any harm coming to the contents. Her assistant would be able to open up in the morning and all instructions were waiting for her on the desk.

  Two of the guards grabbed her arms and that was the final straw on her brittle nerves. She moved with grace and stealth, her elbows shifting, feet connecting with shins, flipping the guards and driving her fist into the abdomen of the guard captain. When she managed to get two clubs, things took on a more desperate turn.

  Bones cracked, men shouted and it could have been hours or seconds, but she felt a fist connect with her face, a boot with her ribs and then darkness came on her in a flurry of blows and pain.

  The ride in the back of the van was uncomfortable mainly due to the booted feet pinning her hands to the floor.

  Enari tasted blood. She felt a pulse at three points on her face and dozens of places on her body.

  After they stopped, she was dragged by her arms from the van into the council hall. They checked her in as the last and only missing lottery female.

  When Enari raised her head to look into the mayor’s eyes, he cursed. “What the hell?”

  “She resisted. She sent three of the guards to the hospital.”

  The mayor sighed and ran a hand through his hair. “Well, they didn’t specify the physical condition beyond virginity. You didn’t rape her, did you?”

  Her guards looked at each other with bruised and angry faces, not answering.

  It took her two attempts, but she managed to get out, “So this is how your plan turned out? Well done. Glad I never voted for you, you bastard.” She spit and a gob of blood marred his trousers. He raised his hand to strike her, but a shimmering gong sounded, announcing the new visitors.

  The mayor jerked his head and the men dragged her to the side of the room where forty-nine other women in their best gowns waited. Two others were in shackles and it gave Enari a painful smile.

  A cluster of women parted and surrounded her as the men dropped her to the floor. Enari winced as one of the women dabbed at the blood with a handkerchief dipped in water.

  The woman with black hair and matching eyes winced in sympathy. “Sorry about the lemon in the water, but you look like shit. Nice shot at the mayor, by the way.”

  Enari chuckled. The woman helping her was wearing a set of metal restraints and it appeared that fighting for freedom was more common than she had first thought.

  She lay still under the gentle ministrations, feeling the approaching footfalls of a large group of people. So, it seemed that fighting her fate had not allowed her to escape it after all.

  * * * *

  Radiance Velu, wife of the Overlord of the Asku paused and cast her gaze over the women assembled. They were as she expected, plain for the most part, several too timid to even look beyond the floor.

  “This is the offering that Fennar gives to beg forgiveness? You are short by two.”

  The mayor stared at her and his mouth opened and closed nervously.

  At her side, her bodyguard lifted his scanner. There were two life forms on the floor.

  Interested, she glided forward, her warriors keeping the tiny and feeble Fennar at bay. The crowd of women parted, though the few women in shackles hesitated before moving away from the warriors of Asku.

  Radiance couldn’t blame them. When she had first been taken by the Asku, their tattooed limbs and physical size had freaked her out.
But now, fifty-five years after she had spent her first night in Doron’s arms, she considered their outward appearance as a foil for their inner potential. With the right woman, an Asku man could be both man and warrior and she was here to find those women.

  As the women parted, the two on the floor were exposed. One woman was giving medical assistance to the other. The other woman had been kicked to hell and back.

  Radiance dismissed the dark-haired woman with a long look and assessed the creature on the ground. A brilliant dark blue eye gazed up out of the socket that wasn’t swollen shut. A river of blood red hair cascaded in a puddle beneath her and her hands bore the marks of bare-knuckled fighting and booted feet.

  “Who are you, child, that you would fight for your body with everything in you?” Radiance’s voice was soft, but the women in the vicinity gasped. The vibrations in her tone tended to unsettle people who were not used to it. It was the second set of vocal chords that did the deed.

  “I am a humble seamstress who wants to get back to work. My body is of no consequence. My pride is the thing I fought for. I wasn’t coming here without a fight.”

  Radiance smiled. “So, now that you are here, you will not fight?”

  The woman chuckled. “Who would want to screw a body like this? Even my bruises have bruises.”

  The mayor crept up next to her and a slight nod to her bodyguard let the man approach. “She fought her escort and put three of them in the hospital. They had no choice but to ensure her appearance.”

  Disgust at the weakness of the leader of these people curled her lip. “Vin, take her to my shuttle. As for the others, bring them to the warship.”

  The woman with the midnight hair moved to stop the warriors. “Where are you taking her?”

  Vin looked down at her as she glared up at him and Radiance stifled a smile. Apparently, this female was very good at recovering from shock. She looked ready to strangle the huge warrior with those cuffs on her wrists.

  “Take that one with us as well, Vin. She may be helpful.”

  The mayor was astonished. “You are taking them?”

  “Of course. They will be distributed amongst the stars to worthy warriors. What, did you think we were setting up a brothel here?” Radiance read his thoughts as clearly as if he said them.

  Vin was lifting the woman with the incredible hair. It was the only red hair in the entire room and Radiance had the idea that it was not a common colour here on Fennar.

  With the seamstress groaning in his arms, he turned and hooked a finger into the chains confining the brunette. They left immediately without a look back. The brunette was too busy trying not to trip over her own feet as Vin hauled her along using only the one finger on her chains.

  “Now, back to business. The rest of the ladies, if you please.” Radiance waved for ten of her men to escort the females.

  The slow egress of the women made the leaders a little uncomfortable. She looked to them and glared at each and every one of them. The hypnotic cadence of her voice washed over them. “Ninety years ago, your grandfathers agreed to tithe five percent of your harvests to the Asku in return for our continued protection. You decided that this year you would not pay and in return, we are taking ten percent of your harvests and fifty women. If you balk again next year when the retrieval ships come, it will be twenty percent and five hundred women. I am leaving you with that thought in your minds. Make a good decision.”

  She nodded to her bodyguards and they left the stunned and hypnotized leaders of Fennar, striding to her private shuttle where Vin waited with the two females.

  He had already hooked the injured woman up to IVs and gave Radiance a serious look. “She has internal injuries. They kicked the hell out of her.”

  “Fabulous. Get us to the flagship as quickly as you can while giving her a smooth ride.” Radiance stood near the battered woman’s head and whispered, “What is your name, love?”

  The hypnotic tone relaxed the woman’s form enough for her to accept the help of the pain killers.

  “Enari.” The word came out as an exhale.

  “A lovely name, Enari.” Radiance looked at the other woman and smiled, “And what is your name, pet?”

  “Ireen, Ireen Wingard. She’s Enari Morningside. Who are you?”

  Smiling, she smoothed the hair from Enari’s bruised forehead. “I am the wife of the Great Overlord of the Asku and once, I was just like you.”

  “Freaked out and scared?” Ireen was biting her nails and her manacles were clanking.

  Radiance nodded, “And taken from my home and given to an Asku warrior. I survived it and so will you.”

  “You, this happened to you?”

  Ireen’s waved hand took her in from head to toe and Radiance looked down at her elaborately beaded gown, the six pounds of jewellery and the heavy jewelled belt. “Well, it was a while ago, but I believe I remember how awkward meeting the Asku can be. They are a little creepy looking, aren’t they?”

  Vin and the bodyguards looked back over their shoulders and scowled at her. She waved brightly at them.

  “Each tattoo is the mark of a battle, their family name and the names of their homes, wife and children.”

  “What about the freakish height?”

  “That is a trait of the Asku warriors.” Radiance shrugged and rocked as Vin left the atmosphere, heading for the flagship. The other shuttles were scattering throughout the collection fleet.

  Enari opened her glowing blue eye. “So, I am just going to be handed over to a random warrior?”

  Radiance smiled and stroked the hair the colour of blood that framed Enari’s face, “Oh no, dearling. You are the woman I have selected for my son.”

  Chapter Two

  Enari woke from the strangest dream. Men with tattoos on every available inch of skin were hovering around her and prodding her from every angle. When she moved to sit up, the tubes in her arms and ribs tugged and she winced.

  “Stay still, miss. You are still recovering. The wounds you suffered would have killed you.” A man with a white wrapped sleeveless shirt, a clipboard and two arms loaded with markings was standing a few feet away.

  “Ow and fucking ow.”

  “Language.” He tsked and came over to check her pupils.

  “How is it that my eye is open again? It usually takes close to a week.”

  He shrugged and made notes on his clipboard. “It has been close to a week. We left the tubes in to continue your drainage and to keep your lungs inflated. Do the city guards of Marker have steel-toed shoes?”

  “It felt like it.” She was naked under the sheet and the fading but still-purple bruises were speckled across her torso. “Ow.”

  He chuckled. “An understatement. I have seen apprentices lapse into comas with beatings like the one you took. No wonder you are destined for the palace.”

  She frowned and held one hand to her sheets while the other rubbed her forehead lightly. “I remember something about that. There was this woman and her voice was so soothing…”

  “The Radiance. Yes, she has a talent that made her folk hunted throughout the stars. Doron was lucky that he was the one to catch her. She has not only provided him with seven children but has helped him secure the highest honour the Asku have.”

  Enari processed that before her eyes widened, “Seven?”

  He misinterpreted her alarm. “Don’t worry. Your biological processes have been halted until you marry.”

  She nodded as if she understood but asked, “What?”

  “Your woman’s cycle will not occur again until an Asku has taken you for a life mate. He will be given a manual release and during your first mating after that point, you will be able to get pregnant.”

  “Oh, goody. I can’t wait. Oh wait, I can wait.” She tried to boost herself off the bed, but the doctor pressed his hand to the centre of her chest.

  “Don’t make me tie you down.”

  She grumbled, but he started to withdraw the tubes from her, one by one. He sea
led each one with a small instrument that burned slightly but left her with shiny, pink skin where the hole had been.

  “Now, since you are in such a fabulous mood, you will be able to dress and disembark on your own feet when we land.”

  She swallowed and held the sheet tightly to her breasts. “We are landing?”

  “Of course. The medical ship has remained in orbit because we didn’t want to disturb you before we had to.” He opened a cupboard and withdrew a folded pile of fabric. “I will leave you alone to get dressed.”

  She took the fabric from him and shook it out. It was plain, white and had a style that she remembered seeing in the clothing of the woman with the silver hair. The Radiance.

  Raising her arms to squirm into the dress was the hardest part…until she tried to pull the gown into place. Her high-pitched squeak of pain didn’t slow down her motions or stop her from dressing. The moment that she had the hem of the skirt down to her ankles, she gasped for air, the snug feel of the fabric against her ribs giving her a comforting squeeze.

  There was probably a closure that she hadn’t seen, but she was decently dressed now, even if it was rather drafty when she took a few tottering steps.

  The doctor came back and took her by the arm. “Come along. We will be landing soon and you need to be the first person out of the ship.”

  “What?”

  “You will walk alone from the ship to the palace and the medical staff within will take you immediately to palace medical.”

  “Why alone? I can barely stand on my feet.”

  He sighed and leaned down to whisper to her. “You are the primary sacrifice from your people. You have to be unsupported and to walk with your head high. If you keep your chin up, you will have higher status when you live inside the palace. Show weakness and you will end up scrubbing floors.”