Dark Lord

This is the
third
installment of Dark Lord.
For a
brief summary of the first book
, refer to
The Story So Far
and the
Introduction
sections at the end of this e-book
.

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Chapter 1: Intruders

Chapter 2:
The Most Ultimate Pleasure

Chapter 3: Safety First

Chapter 4: Circus of Depravity

Chapter 5: Compelled

Chapter 6: Control

Chapter 7: Carnival of Sin

Chapter 8: Addiction

Chapter 9: Criminal Acts

Chapter 10: Decisions

Excerpt from Deceptive Lord

The story so far

Introduction

Chapter
1
:
Intruders

Devereux snuck out of the
harem in the middle of the night and headed toward Pembroke.
He needed to talk to Sebastian
and he had sent him a note via messenger.
The conversation he had had with his uncles weighed heavily on his mind.
He had suspected
that he was a hybrid, but to actually hear the words spoken had still stunned him.
Talking to his friend would help him process the information and make some sense of it.
He was having difficulty accepting the truth about himself, even though he knew there was not another explanation.
He was not only a freak with fangs
, but
an enemy of the human race, an alien hybrid.
He was the spawn of some unknown alien bastard who had raped his mother.
It was no wonder
she
had so little love for him.
He had thought
she
was embarrassed and ashamed by his “defects,” but it was worse than that.
He was a walking
advertisement of her traumatic rape.
Since many products of rape were euthanized, h
e was surprised that he was allowed to live, especially
given the identity of his father.
All
breedings
of
Flourdan
females were strictly regulated by the Selective Breeding Program to ensure genetic purity.
He
was as far from pure as one c
ould
get, since he
was a mongrel and not even fully human.

The book his uncle had given him about hybrids had been enlightening.
Hybrids had once been hunted to near extinction because they were seen as a threat to mankind.
An earlier
Flourdan
queen had stripped the history books of all information pertaining to the
Asstrum
race, and after the passage of hundreds of years,
most
people had forgotten
their existence.
More recently
,
Asstrumnians
had started to venture outside their own territories in response to Roman aggression.
If tensions were to escalate between the Romans and the
Asstrumnians
, the implications would be frightening.
Hybrids would be hunted once again.
He
could not help but be concerned.
Would his own people be so afraid of him that they would order him killed or imprisoned?
Would his family sacrifice him for the good of
Flourda
, to alleviate unwarranted concerns?
He was hardly a threat to any
Flourdans
, since he had never met any hybrids and he had no alliances with
Asstrumnians
.
He doubted he would ever know his hybrid family, and given the circumstances, he wasn’t sure he would want to know them.
The thought of living as an outcast apart from everyone he knew left him uneasy.
He
wished he
didn’t have
to hide a major part of himself from the world.
In the past, he had felt pressure to conceal his eccentricities so his family name would not be shamed or dishonored, but now he had to do it just to stay alive.
He would have to strive harder to stay hidden.

He
met
Sebastian
in the woods outside the keep.
“Much has happened since we last
saw each other.”
He filled him in on the latest events, including the information that he was a hybrid.

“You cannot tell anyone else.
It would be far too dangerous for you.
Do not even tell my sister,” Sebastian said.

He wondered if his brother Evan knew that he was a hybrid, but he didn’t think so.
“How is Amalie?”

Sebastian set a path deeper into the woods.
“She was disappointed that Nefertiti lived through her ordeal, although she
was happy to hear about her massive hair loss.
Have you learned who carri
ed out the attack on Pembroke?
”

If he voiced his suspicions, Sebastian might carry out executions without bothering to complete the investigations.
“I don’t know for certain.
”

“I notice that you no longer deny Nefertiti’s involvement.”

It was easier to picture the
Deranged Dominatrix as a murde
r
ess
now that the woman had strangled one of
her
concubines to death during bondage sex.
“Nefertiti needs to be replaced.”

“With her sister
Briella
?
Would that even be an improvement?”

He wished Sebastian hadn’t taken such an instant dislike of
Briella
.
“At least the sister wouldn’t strangle the harem residents during sex.”

“You cannot know what the lady would do during sex.
She may have a dozen different fetishes.”

Dev
wouldn’t mind knowing what
Briella
would do during sex
.
“My point was that she is not the murderous type, nor is she overly ambitious politically.
She would be a better Countess.”

“You only say that because you wish to be her paramour.
Nefertiti needs to be removed, but not simply replaced with
another Avenal.
That family line needs to be extinguished.”

“That would be taking it too far.
It would be unfair to judge the entire Avenal line so harshly.”
Like her, he was bearing the genetic stamp of an inappropriate line.
“Besides, the Queen would never agree to dispossess the Avenal lands.”

“No, the Queen would not, but she is ailing.”

Dev
caught the implication.
Princess Coral would not think twice
before doing it.
He followed his friend deeper into the woods, having no difficulty seeing him in the darkness.
Another one of his hybrid peculiarities, he guessed.
Just then, he heard a sound in the distance.
He veered in the direction of the sound and saw three people materialize in a clearing.
One second, the space was empty of people, the
next,
it was filled with two large males and one woman.
The
female
appeared to be struggling.
He
silently
crept closer and observed them at a distance.