Free The Tigrens' Glory by Laura Jo Phillips Page A

since arriving,” Glory said.  As she watched the ground car stop near the house, an unpleasant sensation began at the back of her neck and traveled down her spine.  An instinctive warning of impending danger that she always trusted.  She moved to stand slightly in front of Lariah, one hand on the hilt of her sword, another on one of her throwing knives.

 
     
     
    Chapter Seven
     
    Rollo Shorif sat stiffly in the back of the ground car, his pride severely bruised by the subterfuge he’d been forced to engage in just to be allowed onto the Dracons’ Ranch.  He had no idea who the Dracons were, or what a ranch was, nor did he care.  That’s where Princess Gloriani was, and as she belonged to him, he meant to retrieve her.  He’d planned, schemed, and maneuvered for too long, and spent far too much money, to allow a mere female to ruin everything at the very moment of his success. 
    That the female had never met him and had no knowledge of him, or his plans, was irrelevant.  He didn’t know much about her, either, aside from what everyone knew, nor did he care to.  All that mattered to him was the royal blood running in her veins, and his possession of it. 
    He, Rollo Shorif, one generation removed from a long line of dirt farmers, would be a member of the royal family, as would his children, and his children’s children, throughout time.  Third Princess Gloriani was the means by which he would achieve his goal, and may the Great Gods help anyone who got in his way because he most certainly would not.
    It had taken every ounce of self-restraint he possessed to hold his tongue when King Bashir had coolly informed him that Gloriani had been given a choice in the matter of her own fate.  It was ridiculous.  Outrageous.  She was female and therefore subject to the dictates of men, princess or no.  It was unfortunate that the King of Ramouri wasn’t strong enough to keep the females of his household in line, but he, Rollo Shorif, was more than up to the task.  The wayward woman would wed him this very day.  The return journey to Ramouri would give him plenty of time to give her a taste of her future should she dare to defy her lord and master in any way ever again. 
    She’d have to be stripped of her weapons first, of course, but that’s what the tranquilizer darts were for.  Since their dart guns had been confiscated his men would have to get within arms’ reach of the princess, but he had no concerns on that score.  Two trained men should have no difficulty handling one female, regardless of how skilled she was rumored to be.  Once she was disarmed, she’d be prohibited from ever touching a weapon again.  If she defied him, well, she didn’t need hands to bear his children.
    He glanced through the window as the car turned from one primitive gravel track to another, shuddering at the alien view.  The sooner he left this horrible planet, the better.  He turned toward the two bodyguards he’d been permitted to bring with him across the ranch border.  He had no idea why there was so much security around this miserable stretch of land, nor had he asked.  The demand that he venture forth with only two unarmed guards had been an insult so great that he’d been unable to form rational words, forcing him to remain silent, or risk being turned away altogether.  That both of his guards had been reduced to hiding bladed weapons, and tranq darts, about their persons as though they were filthy criminals in order to protect him was infuriating.  He was among the wealthiest men of Ramouri, and therefore due a much higher level of respect than these uncivilized heathens seemed capable of understanding.
    The ground car slowed, then came to a stop.  “This is River House, where Princess Gloriani is staying,” the driver announced.
    Rollo gestured to his lead guard and right hand man, Egis, who opened the door and slid out of the car.  He waited for the second guard, a huge boulder of a man named Boke,