Page 29 of Seduction

“But I warn you. If you fail, I will lock you away in my dungeon until I send Atun to the underworld. Then I will punish you in front of all the Tabun before I toss your body into the fire with his while your heart still beats.”

As soon as he opened the door, she smelled it. Even cold as it was down here, the odor nearly gagged her.

In the center of the room beyond, a young Tabun male lay on a stone altar four feet high, arms crossed over his chest. Torches high on the walls all around the room flickered, making it seem at times as though his chest rose and fell.

Four young women knelt on the floor at the corners of the slab, facing him. Heads bent, naked except for chains that led from their necks to iron stakes driven into the stone. They looked up at Selena, terror in their eyes, silently beseeching her to rescue them from this dungeon of horror.

Balam leaned over, kissed his son’s forehead.

“She is here, my son. You can awaken now. Your time of waiting is over. You will take your rightful place one day as ruler of the Tabun. Your cock will swell and grow again. You will make strong sons to carry on my blood.”

He turned to Selena and smiled. His voice was even, his face placid, giving no hint of the madness that lurked underneath.

She would die here on Skhul. She knew it now.

“Behold Lord Atun. I promised I would bring you to him. He sleeps. He waits. Slaves from his harem have been with him night and day, keeping watch so that when he wakes, they may see to his every need. Now you are here. You will heal him. Restore him to health with your magic.”

Balam stepped aside. Waved a hand at the rotting corpse.

“Begin.”

Chapter Sixteen

“It would be my honor to be the first to volunteer to accompany you, Haldor.”

The conference room had grown still, everyone afraid to speak, or even move, for fear of provoking the Viking’s wrath any further. David stepped forward, arms outstretched with one fist clenched in the other, the Gadolinian symbol of solidarity.

Haldor sighed heavily.

“I thank you, David, for your valor. But the battlefield is no place for a scribe.”

Instead of answering, David picked up the nearest chair, an elaborate carved piece as old as the conference table. He tossed it in the air above his head. In one continuous motion he jumped and whirled, kicking out with first one foot then the other, and reduced it to splinters before it hit the floor. Minister Jordan covered his head as broken bits of wood rained down on him.

“I’ve trained in ancient combat techniques all my life. It’s my passion. And I spent ten years studying the greatest battles in the history of the galaxy at the same military academy as Ambassador Anderson.”

Haldor bowed his head. “Welcome, brother.”

Three hours later, they were on board a Class VII vessel, outfitted with a skeleton crew consisting of a captain, engineer, and navigator along with David and two other men he’d recruited from his days at the academy.

“Haldor, I’d like you to meet Will,” David said as one of the men stepped forward. “And this is Rob.”

The two men could have been twins. Viking twins. Broader and more muscular than most of the male Earthers Haldor had seen, they had blue eyes and blond hair clipped short. They inclined their heads.

“James fitted them with Tellex chips before we left,” David added. “By the time we get to Daan33, they’ll be able to understand everything you say.”

Haldor nodded. “It would be impossible to lead men into battle if I could not communicate with them. In my haste, I did not think about that. You keep your head under pressure, David. Though I have no Gadolinian warriors by my side, I thank the gods for sending you to me.”

David smiled. “Bare is the back of he who has no brother.”

“That is one saying that never passed my grandfather’s lips.”

Haldor caught a flicker of disappointment in David’s eyes. It was clear the Earther wanted to impress him with his knowledge of Viking culture.

“But I said it myself, to Kylar,” Haldor added, “on the day we fought side by side to rescue his father – our father.” He clapped David on the back. “As you’ve learned, my ancestors had words to fit a man’s mouth in time of need like a good boot fits his foot. Surely you have heard this one as well. ‘Fear not death, for the hour of your doom is set and none may escape it.’”

They spent the next few minutes exchanging old Norse sayings, trying to top each other. Finally, Haldor called a halt. “This game is better played with a mug of ale to toast every one. By Odin’s beard, I never thought I’d say this to an Earther, but you have bested me, brother. You know as many of our old sayings as the toothless old crone who sits by the bonfire at the summer solstice. Each year she’ll come up with ones I’ve never heard. Blessings for those who toss her a few coins – and ancient curses to heap on the heads of those who pass her by.”

Haldor spent the journey preparing his men for what they would face. They knew nothing of wielding broadswords. He wasn’t concerned. Neither did the Tabun. Heavy and squat, their arms were too short to handle the long blades. But their strength was fearsome in hand-to-hand combat.

---