Free Dark Warriors: A Dark Lands Anthology (Darklands) by Autumn Dawn

carved from the stone for their birth month. When they were finished, she had two beads of jade, one of gold, and a winking ruby among her tresses. It felt good. The glow of family filled an ache she hadn’t known was empty.
    Maybe she had found a reason to stay after all.
     
    Dagon was polite to those at the banquet, though he said little, especially to Vana. Had she not been so distracted by the merrymaking, she might have paid closer attention.
    She might have feared.
    When the feast was over, she was summoned to his room.
    The door closed behind her. That was the first bad sign.
    Still dressed in black, though he’d discarded the red robe, Dagon advanced on her with the slow tread of a stalking cat. Dark rage shimmered from his every line. “I have never felt so much like beating a woman,” he breathed in her face. “How dare you cast Ellyn out?”
    Confused, but unwilling to be cowed, she said tightly, “The woman deserved it.”
    He made a slow circle around her. His size dwarfed her, his closeness made her feel the danger. “Do you have any idea how powerful an enemy you’ve made today? Do you have some hidden protection that I can’t see? Ellyn has reason now to despise not only you, but also your sons. You publicly humiliated her. She will never forgive it.”
    Bile churned in her stomach. Even her teeth wanted to chatter with her fury. The way Ellyn had turned her back was too much like her father. Vana could still see his face as he shoved her mother out of his way, gave his little girl a look of disgust, and left for good. “I hate the air she breathes! I don’t care if she does hate me.”
    Dagon’s teeth flashed in a snarl as he grabbed her and shoved her up against the wall. Face contorted with emotions she couldn’t fathom, he rasped at her, “She will try to kill you. Is that worth your revenge? Is death a high enough price to pay?”
    “What is that to me? You’ve already taken away everything I loved. My world! What’s it to you if you she takes my life, too?”
    He shoved away from the wall as if she’d burned him. “You are a fool.”
    Just then, she felt like one. Had she ever felt soft toward him? Where had this dark side of his come from? It didn’t take much to tell her that any move she made would ignite his shaky temper. And just then, she wasn’t sure she could control the watery burning that threatened to spill down her cheeks. Though they were born of wrath, she couldn’t bear to shed tears in front of him.
    He looked at her and his face hardened. “Get out.”
    Dagon watched her leave, furious at his shameful loss of control. He’d meant to chasten and warn her. Instead…
    He paced. The moment Ellyn had turned her back and Vana had looked at him with eyes that were open windows to her soul, he should have known. Every thought in her heart was bare to him, and his own had shuddered with impact of the connection. But it had still rocked him to hear the words that put her in mortal combat with a woman who had seen more than her share of opponents to their defeat. This time he feared the grudge match would see Vana in her grave.
    Unable to bear the memory, he cursed. She’d had no idea. That heart he’d pegged as too soft had led her. Without his guiding hand, she had leaped into the fire to protect the innocent.
    She was a fool.
    Dagon’s hand clenched. Blast her bloody disrespect for politics and overblown noble urges. The woman was the worst possible candidate for queen. Testing or not, he was not going to accept her. No woman who thought the way she did would survive the position.
    He left the room in search of Jen.

CHAPTER 5
    Vana adjusted the cuff on her left arm and spared a thankful thought for the slit harem pants and midriff-baring top. They were flexible and cool for working out. The metal cuff blared Queen’s “Who Wants to Live Forever” as she started to climb the revolving training wall. Sometimes she could almost thank the Beasts for downloading the