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

Korwahk
nation great wealth, abundant crops, fruitful women. Magic would
descend upon the land and the Korwahk people would be safe under
the strength of their king and the enchantments of their
queen.”
    “ That’s… that’s… that’s whacked, ” I told her, lifting up to sitting,
pulling the sheet over my breasts and when her face grew confused,
I explained quickly, “Insane. Crazy.”
    She shook her head and sat back, smiling
at me. “They do not think it is crazy. They believe it is true.
Every generation prays that the mighty king and golden queen will
reign during their time on this earth. And they believe when the
mighty Dax finds his golden queen, he will clothe her in gold
before the rite and install her at his side. This is what the Dax
did. And this is not something he would do unless he believed he had found his golden queen
and…” she leaned forward, “ this is what he did . And in so doing, he brought great joy to his
people. But you do not show yourself. You do not walk amongst them.
You hide in your tent and there are whispers. Whispers that you are
not what he said you were. Whispers that the Dax lied to them,
bragged with falsehood, claimed a Dynasty that was not his to
claim. And this is very dangerous, these whispers, dangerous for
him and for
you. ”
    I stared at her knowing my eyes were
wide.
    “Why?” I asked on a breath.
    “ Because, my dear, there is no dynasty
amongst the Korwahk now. A Dax becomes a Dax through challenge. He
does not inherit a kingdom, he seizes it,” she whispered.
    Oh boy.
    She kept speaking. “The Dax only stays the
Dax as long as he can defeat any challenge. If he is killed, his
reign transfers to the warrior who defeated him or, when he knows
he can no longer stand up to a challenge, he and his queen go into
exile and they do not live with The Horde of the Daxshee. But by
claiming you his golden queen, he claimed the reign for himself
until his death and then his son and so on until the Golden Dynasty
falls, if it ever does. This is not a trivial claim to make. It challenges their way of life.
There will be those who will wish to prove it wrong, there will be
challenges to the Dynasty and you, hiding in your tents and not
showing them you are their golden warrior queen, are putting our
Dax in jeopardy.”
    That I didn’t care about.
    No freaking way.
    “And?” I asked sharply and she blinked.
    Then she said softly, “And, if the Dax
decides he has been mistaken, he will need to make that known
amongst his people prior to any challenges being thrown. And he
will do this, my dear, he will renounce you and he will do it in a
way you will not like.”
    Shit.
    She kept talking, “But, if a challenge is
thrown before he does this and the Dax falls, you fall. They will kill him, my dear, but you they will not kill.”
    That didn’t sound bad, or at least the words
didn’t, the way she said them did.
    “And?” I asked a lot less sharply and a lot
more hesitantly.
    She studied me. Then she said carefully,
“And, they will burn your tent, they will murder your slaves… after
enjoying them,” she eyed me, “ repeatedly. ” I sucked in breath and she kept going. “They will loot
your belongings and you… you, my dear, they will mutilate in ways
and in places no woman wants to be mutilated. Then they will share
you; share you amongst all the warriors until they lose interest in
you. Then you will be cast out and it will be known that if anyone
provides you aid, they will be punished. You will die of thirst or
malnutrition, burning in the sun. They will not kill you but you
will die but before you die you’ll want to die. No death is pleasant, Dahksahna Circe, but that death would be far more
unpleasant than most.”
    Dear God, she had that right.
    Seriously, this… place… sucked.
    I stared into her eyes. Then I looked beyond
her at the five women who’d been serving me and caring for me in
kind ways for three days and had been so gentle with me that