Free To The Princess Bound by Sara King Page B

“I’m the next ruler of Mercy.  They can’t stop me.”
    Her slave made a pointed glance at the chain linking the two of them together.  “One of them can.”
    Victory narrowed her eyes.  “You stay right there.”  Getting up, she turned to the door to her servants’ quarters and shouted, “Kiara!”
    The prim and proper woman who had once been one of Victory’s tutors, before her fateful trip to the Imperial Academy, opened the door.  She now functioned as her butler.  “Yes, milady?”  She was wearing her nightclothes, obviously about to go to bed.
    “Tell the Constable of Numbers that I wish to see this year’s copy of the current tax order.  Now.”
    If her butler found anything out of the ordinary with Victory’s request in the middle of the night, she didn’t let it show.  Bowing, she said, “As you say, milady.”  Then she quickly shut the door once more.  Victory heard a few thumps in the second room, then the outer door open and shut, with whispered words in the hallway as a set of stockinged feet ran down the corridor at a sprint.
    Victory turned back to the man kneeling on the other side of her bed.  “Talking about trust…  If you’re lying to me, you’re dead, you know that.”
    He sighed, looking more perturbed than fearful.  “Lady, you have every reason to trust me.”
    Victory snorted.  “And why’s that?”
    “Because,” the man growled, “If I’d wanted to, I could’ve shut off your flow of gi the moment I stepped into this room.  Could’ve done the same to your brother, when he was beating me senseless, and to your Praetorian, when they tugged me along by this pretty titanium chain like I was a dog on a leash.”
    Victory froze.  “You’re lying.”
    “You know why I didn’t?” the man growled.  He pushed his feet underneath him and stood, his massive naked body growing ever-taller.  “I didn’t because I don’t believe in coincidences.”  He was glaring down at her, now.  “And, no matter how frustrating, painful, or utterly unfair and humiliating the last five days have been, I believe Life has a reason for it, and I’m going to see that reason through.  Whether that reason is to help you, or kill you, or merely find a more dignified way to end my miserable existence than swinging from a tree, I’m going to figure it out and do it.”
    Victory stared at him.  “Did you just threaten to kill me?”
    “No,” Dragomir stated.  “I simply told you I could.”  He cocked his head at her chest.  “But looking at your ramas right now, I’d say that your time is already pretty limited.  You’re barely taking in any outside energy at all.  You feel tired a lot, yes?  Exhausted?”
    Victory stared at him.  Suspiciously, she nodded.
    “That’s because most of your ramas are closed,” he said.  “I can see the energy in there right now.  It’s stagnant and…chunky.”
    Peering at him, Victory said, “…chunky.”
    He shrugged.  “It clogs the gi-channels.  Probably residues from your trauma as a captive this lifetime, but it could belong to a past life.  I’d have to get a better look to be sure.”
    Curious, despite herself, Victory said, “You can see my past lives?”  Her father had never allowed her to meet with any of the fortune-tellers that her maids had so giggled about.
    Dragomir gave her an irritated look and snorted.  “It’s just my own delusion, anyway, so what does it matter?  Just psychosomatic.  My brain trying to make sense of new energy pathways.”  Grunting, he flopped himself onto the bed and used his shackled feet to scoot himself backwards until his back was pressed against the headboard. 
    “Get off my bed!” Victory cried, horrified that he was touching it with his naked body.
    He gave a huge, pleased sigh and leaned his head back against the wall.  “It’s just as nice as I thought.”  Giving a pleased smile, he said, “Cushiony.”  Then a small frown as he looked down at his