Dark Lord (12 page)

“T
here
i
s a small storeroom not too far away that usually h
o
ld
s
spare robes.
I’ll rush to it and grab one.
I’ll go first.”

He watched as s
he raced
down the hall, which was thankfully dark and vacant of people
.
He waited a few minutes before he made his own exit
.
He needed to make another trip to Pembroke soon and speak to
Helsina
.
He needed to learn how to take control of his hybrid abilities
before there
was yet another
incident
for his mother to freak out about.

Chapter
7
:
Carnival of Sin

The morning brought a summons
to attend the
Countess
in her private chambers.
Briella
listened as Nefertiti complained about the hardship of losing
Triniti’s
assistance, as she now needed to find an additional lady to attend her.
The
Countess
did not think that Portia Fairley would be up to the task of filling
Triniti’s
shoes, as she was half peasant stock.
Harlotta
was about to embark on her first voyage and would be absent for some time.
Eden
seemed distant and apathetic.

Briella
watched
Eden
speculatively.
She knew Eden was hiding something and she seemed to be hurting emotionally, but it was clear she wasn’t ready to talk about it yet or try to deal with it.
She
acted like a shadow of herself.
She was withdrawn and sad.
She took no pleasure in anything and she did not want to eat.
Briella
was concerned that she was in a deep depression;
she
had
tried to talk to her about it, but
she
had
remained unresponsive and silent about her ordeal.

Nefertiti indicated that she had a special announcement that required their attention.
“As you know, a trip to Eros is being planned and I will need to send some of my ladies on this important errand.
I cannot bear to be so
deplete
of company so I have asked for aid.
My pleas were granted and I have the good news to announce that the Countess Valerie
Assheton
, her daughter Valencia, and their relation Samantha
Honeybone
will stay for a prolonged visit.
They also bring with them a very special guest, Markus
Honeybone
Agrippa.
He is a relation of the
Honeybone
family and he resides in Rome.
He is anxious to spend some time with you,
Briella
.
He is your intended huxor and despite the problems faced in the past, he still desires you.”

Panic gripped
Briella
full force as she contemplated this news.
The arrival of her
aunt with Markus
Honeybone
Agrippa
could only mean
one thing.
They were going to force this unwanted match upon her again.
The last time they had tried to arrange the
union,
Markus had been unable to complete the mating ceremony.
It was well known that he preferred males to females and he had dozens of young male lovers.
He had never lain with a female, and when he had attempted to do so with her during the public ceremony,
which had been required by his family,
he remained impotent and incapable
of penetration
.
He blamed the failure on her virginity, which he claimed was a barrier too insurmountable
to overcome
.
Her aunt, the Countess Valerie, had insisted on ridding her of her virginity to ensure the match.
She had had to spend three nights with one of Valerie’s concubines to ensure she was prepared for the next mating ceremony.
However, the second attempt was as futile as the first.
They had all blamed the problem on
Briella
, even though she knew the fault
lay with the Roman half-breed.
Her aunt had banished her from
Assheton
, claiming that
Briella
had shamed their house.
She had had no choice but to seek refuge with her sister, Nefertiti.
She had thought that her ordeal with Markus was over.
She would not consent to a mating union with him, regardless of the consequences.
She had no desire to make her home in Rome
, where Markus lived.
She also suspected that the Roman despised her for embarrassing him those times and she did not think he would treat her with any decency.
In Rome, the male head of the family, the
paterfamilia
, had the power over life and death.
She did not trust the Agrippa family and she knew that she would not be safe in Rome.
“When will they arrive?”

Nefertiti smiled.
“They should be here this morning.
It’s a nice surprise, is it not?”

Briella
dreaded the rest of the morning, knowing at some point she would be confronted with the family she had not
expected to see again.
She did not know how she would handle Markus.
She knew that he hardly desired a union with her, so maybe she could ask him to cry off.
He was cowed by his father, though, and his father wanted Markus to breed an heir.

Two hours later, she was enveloped by the arms of her aunt, who pretended to be happy to see her.
She greeted her cousin, Lady Valencia, and their relative, Lady Samantha.
She was disheartened to see Markus in their entourage; she had hoped he would not come.
He tried to give her a hug as well, but she backed away from him.

“I’m so glad to see you, Lady Avenal.
I’ve missed you,” Markus said.

She did not believe it for a minute that he missed her.
She studied his face for signs of deception.
He was fairly handsome, although short in build and stature.
He was dressed in the Roman way, wearing a white toga and gold sandals.
His hair was light brown and had a tendency to curl.
He spoke
with a high pitched whine and he walked like a woman, swaying his hips.
“Why are you here?”

“I’ve come to repair the damage done to your reputation when you failed the mating ceremony,” Markus said.
“I have come so that we may try again.”

The Roman bastard would blame the entirety of the problem on her.
How she despised him!
“You failed to complete the act, Markus.
Twice.
There will not be a third time.”

Markus patted her on the shoulder and smiled in a goofy manner.
“I’m sorry I failed you,
dearling
, but I will not fail this time.
I managed to practice on a few slaves and I was able to achieve full penetration with two of the females.
So you see
,
it will be different this time.”

She backed away from him further and shook her head.
“Did you
visualize young males as
you were
doing it
?”

He cupped his genital region in his hand and smiled.
“What does it matter?
I got the job done.”

She could not stop her moan of disgust.
“
It does not set my mind at ease to know you successfully raped someone.
You are not even attracted to me and I know you do not want a connection with me.
Have your father arrange a more suitable match.”

Markus stopped smiling and his face reddened in anger.
“My father will not consider matching me with another.
I begged him time and time again not to saddle me with you!
He told me to do my duty, and now I’m telling you to do your duty.
I do not care how you feel about the match.
All I need is for my father to stop harping at me and he will not until I bring you back to Rome.
He has forbid
den
me the use of my favorite slaves!
I have been tormented enough.
You will do your duty and your aunt and sister will ensure you do it.”

She paled and searched for the
Countess
, wondering if it was true.
Her aunt noticed her and approached.

“We will see that it is done right this time, child,” Valerie said.

There would never be a third time.
“I will not agree to this
match.
”

“A Roman alliance is needed,
Briella
,” Nefertiti stated.
“You recall what I said about the winged aliens.
They will come.
You will be safe in Rome by then, and with our families securely tied, we will have the might of a Roman army in our time of need.”

Briella
said nothing.
She fled to her room and paced frantically.
She could not think of any way out of the situation.
She could not tie herself to Markus.
It was a fate worse than death.
She began crying, fearing the situation was hopeless.

Hours later, she sat up in bed and wiped her eyes.
She couldn’t waste her time
crying like a child.
There had to be some way to escape this situation.
She could leave Avenal, but she had nowhere to go.
She wasn’t adept at military matters so she couldn’t offer her services as a mercenary soldier.
She could steal one of Nefertiti’s ships and become a smuggler, but that wouldn’t work without a crew.
She could ensure a fatal accident occurred to Nefertiti or Markus, but she wasn’t a killer.
She could make herself rendered unsuitable to take a huxor, but that was difficult to do.
She would have to get herself branded as a criminal
without committing a crime that would result in outright execution
.
She could conspire with Amalie.
Would that woman help her in return for information about the attack?
It was treasonous to think of reaching some agreement with Nefertiti’s enemy and rival just to get out of an unwanted mating contract.
There must be some other way.