Free Meri by Reog Page A

head, Meri once again forced herself to admit Ban was the best-looking member of her extended family. Her cousin Bandalardrac was a very attractive man—too damn attractive for his own good. Even without the tail his Drakian relatives possessed, half the women on two planets wanted him in their beds, and, according to gossip, he’d been in most of them. Who better to ask about kinky sex?
    She pursed her lips. Was Ban right? Did she think about sex too much? It wasn’t like she’d had all that much experience. Being a Medirian princess made casual sexual relations hard. There was always the chance her partner would begin to get ideas about becoming her consort, and she had yet to meet a man who she’d even consider marrying. Her grandmother’s choice was definitely unacceptable. Oh, Tendallis was handsome enough by Medirian standards, but he was also pompous and arrogant. She could never marry a man who thought he was better than almost everyone else.
    Ban’s voice pulled her from her musings. “By all the seven hells, Meri,” he finally gasped. “Who taught you to punch like that?”
    She snorted. “I spent six months with the Aradab Matriarch. She said I needed to learn a few things.” Meri didn’t even try to keep the satisfaction from her voice. Grabbing Ban’s arm, she pulled him forward. “Come on. Father and Mother will want to know you’re back.”
    Rounding a corner, she plowed right into a portly figure and bounced back into Ban’s arms. As the familiar aroma of his favorite salty cologne surrounded her, she blinked up into her Uncle Kavlalardrac’s face.
    “Uncle Kav, what are you doing here?”
    Smiling broadly, he pulled her into his arms and hugged her tightly. “The Matriarch summoned me. I, for one, am not going to ignore a summons from her.”
    Frowning, Meri untangled herself from his arms and stared at him. “The Aradab Matriarch has never summoned an ambassador back from his or her post. That’s Father’s prerogative. What’s going on?”
    Her uncle shrugged.
    Meri glared at him, tapped her foot and continued, “Come on, Uncle Kav. You’re the head of Father’s spies and assassins. You know everything that’s going on.”
    Obviously taken aback, her uncle simply stared at her.
    “Oh, come on, Uncle Kav. It wasn’t that hard to figure out, and I know Ban is one of your spies too.”
    “Not just any old spy, Cuz,” Ban answered with a grin. “I’m the Monarch’s Assassin.”
    A chill ran down her spine, and for a moment Meri gaped at the two men. Then her common sense asserted itself and she burst out into laughter. “Monarch’s Assassin? You? I was wrong, Ban. You are an idiot if you think anybody would believe that. I have no doubt you’re a spy for Uncle Kav, but an assassin? Never! You’d have to give up sleeping in too many women’s beds for that.” Spinning on her heel, she sauntered back down the corridor toward the throne room instead of her parents’ apartments, her chuckles rolling back over her shoulder.
     
    “That was a stupid thing to say,” Kavlalardrac murmured in a low voice as they followed Meri.
    Ban grinned. “Don’t worry, she didn’t believe me. And if Meri, the most intuitive member of the family, doesn’t think I can be an assassin, neither will anyone else. You really should have talked Uncle Findal into letting her be trained. She’d have been a very good assassin.”
    His uncle sighed. “I tried. Her mother wouldn’t allow it.”

Chapter Two
     
     
    Followed by her uncle and cousin, Meri slid quietly through the slightly opened door to the smaller of the palace’s two throne rooms. Once inside, she stopped short and looked around in surprise. The room was full of people—mostly Aradabs.
    “I’ve never seen so many Aradabs here in the palace. What’s going on, Uncle Kav?” she asked in a low voice.
    “Honestly, Meri, I have no idea,” he answered with a puzzled tone. “You know the Aradabs never involve themselves in