Fantasyland 02 The Golden Dynasty by Kristen Ashley Read Free Book Online

not
responding.
    “Sucks?” she asked, sounding confused.
    “ It sucks, it stinks, it’s for the birds,”
I explained, rolling to my back again with my arm over my breasts
and I locked eyes with her. “It’s hideous, foul, vile, detestable…
it sucks. ”
    Her eyes got soft and she said quietly, “It
is their way.”
    “ Their way sucks, ” I returned and rolled back to my side.
    Her voice came back to me. “I understand
you see it that way. But, they know of our way, of wooing and
falling in love and waiting to claim your mate after your wedding
celebration, not the peasants doing that but soldiers doing
it, warriors, and they think that is strange.
Laughable. Silly. They think it is ridiculous, not to face a
challenge, best your brothers in order to earn a beautiful wife.
You don’t believe me now, but I promise, as unbelievable as it
seems, you will come to understand their way. I have seen, now, ten
Wife Hunts since my own. There are girls like you, girls who settle
in and enjoy their lives with The Horde. You will too. You just
need to get up and face it, learn their ways, be amongst
–”
    I cut her off. “I’m not getting up.”
    “You must.”
    “Well, I’m not.”
    I felt her get close, her mouth at my ear.
“You must Dahksahna
Circe. For your slaves, for your Dax, for The Horde and… for you. ”
    My body got tight and my head turned to
her. “My… slaves? ”
    I watched her nod. “The women who have been
seeing to you. Those are your slaves. The Dax has given them to
you. It is very generous. Most warrior brides receive a slave, at
most two. I have been with my warrior over twenty years and I only
have three.”
    I blinked then repeated,
“ Slaves? ”
    Her face flooded with understanding but
still she stated, “The Horde takes slaves. It, too, is their way.
In fact, this is the way throughout the Southlands.”
    Jeez, these guys were savages.
    “That’s insane,” I whispered.
    “It is their way,” she replied and I had to
admit, I was tired of her saying that.
    “It’s insane,” I repeated.
    “It is their way, Dahksahna Circe,” she
returned firmly. “And if you do not get up, the Dax will be forced
to intervene.”
    Uh-oh, I did not like the sound of that.
    I stared at her. She went on but she did it
looking like she really didn’t want to.
    “ He has bragged greatly about you. The
Lahnahsahna, a true warrior’s
wife.”
    Is that what Lahnahsahna meant?
    And…
    He bragged about me?
    She kept talking. “He told his people he
did not claim you. He told his people he battled you before he won you. He told his people you
challenged him. The warrior king’s bride fought like a warrior. She
did not lay back and accept her fate. She stood strong and shouted
in the face of a king. She fought and did not give up. Even knowing
she’d taste defeat, she fought on, like a true warrior. He told his
people you are not his queen. You are his warrior queen.”
    I stared at her not knowing what to say.
    She took this as her cue to keep going.
“He clothed you in gold before the rite. This is not their way,
Dahksahna Circe. A warrior, king or not, never but never covers the bride they claimed
before the rite is performed. It is important to them to display
their triumph in all its beauty.
Dax Lahn clothing you in gold was an announcement to his people
that you are more than his Dahksahna, you are the golden queen, the
warrior bride. This is not a simple declaration to make. A Dax
would not do this unless he believed into his soul that he had
claimed the golden queen.”
    “Wh… what,” I stammered, “is the golden
queen?”
    She gave me a gentle smile before saying,
“It is the Korwahk people’s belief that the mightiest Dax in their
history will find the golden queen, a warrior bride, fair of hair,
kind of heart, fierce of spirit. This story has been told for
centuries, millennia… the mighty Dax and his golden Dahksahna would
unite and the Golden Dynasty would begin bringing the