Dark Lord (16 page)

She took the book and wandered outside.
Her thoughts were consumed with ideas of hybrid domination and she again thought of the winged hybrids.
Her whole way of life could change in an instant if they were invaded by hybrid forces.
She didn’t want to be anyone’s slave.
She wandered until she ran into her cousin and some of the other lords.

“Good day,
Briella
,” Valor said.
“You should really practice more often in the training room.”

“Why do you say that?”

Valor frowned at her.
“I heard what happened to you.
You should practice self-defense.
You are too weak and no male wants a defenseless woman.
You nearly lost your honor.
I know you are being mated to that Roman, but you would not wish to shame the Agrippa family.
Rome is full of vile beasts, including gladiators.
Females are expected to be able to defend themselves
and a proper lady never has to depend upon a male.”

“I do not wish to be lectured.”
Briella
had heard it all before, how weak and small she
was,
a virtual midget.
It didn’t matter how hard she worked in the training room, she was not built to be a warrior.
A few added muscles would not change anything.
“Did anything unusual happen in the harem last night?”

“Not really.
There are rumors circulating that Devereux is a hybrid, so some were making comments about that.”

Her stomach lurched as Valor told her about those rumors.
They had not been started by her, but she was afraid Devereux would not believe her.
She didn’t want that male to
think she had betrayed him and she didn’t need him to
come after her.
“Wh
o told you
this?”

“I cannot remember exactly.
Julian heard it from one of the ladies, I believe.”

“What do you think of it?”

Valor started to walk along a trail.
“The male does have hybrid coloring.
I think it bears looking into.”

“Maybe you should leave it alone.
He is the Queen’s grandson.”

Valor looked at her as he took a forked path.
“I’m not the type to leave anything alone.
That male is a problem.
Ever since Samantha
Honeybone
started to rave about his bed skills, the Countess has renewed her determination to have him.
She has not called me to service her in weeks.”

Samantha had been with Julian, not
Dev
, but
Briella
wasn’t about to educate anyone on that fact.
“She’ll lose interest in him soon enough.
I hear the male is impotent.”

“He wasn’t impotent when he was banging Samantha.
No, the male needs to go.
I’m tired of all those females panting
needlessly after the guy.
They only want him because he has royal blood.”

That wasn’t the only reason, but she stayed silent on that as well.
“He’s determined to stay.
How will you get him to go?”

“By any means necessary.”
Valor waved down the males in the path up ahead.
She recognized one as Prince Carrick.
“I hear we have hybrid
s
in our midst.
Briella
and I were just discussing what to do to protect Avenal against the alien threat.
She is the safety officer, after all.”

Briella
looked at Valor sharply.
“I did not say anything about hybrids.”

“Do not be so shy, cousin.
Tell them your plans to protect Avenal against invasion,” Valor said.

“I haven’t formalized any plans, Valor,” she said through clenched teeth.

“Where is that royal relation of yours, Carrick?
I bet he has some ideas on this,” Valor said.

“I’m not his keeper,” Carrick said.
He shot
Briella
a hateful glare.
“Some people need to leave well enough alone before they provoke others to unfavorable action.”

Briella
felt threatened by the look in Carrick’s eyes and the content of his words.
Valor had just signed her death warrant by making it appear that she had been telling tales.
She veered away from Valor and the others and walked rapidly through the woods, trying to calm her racing heart.
Hopefully, now that she wasn’t nearby, Valor would stop mentioning her name while spreading gossip.
She had enough stress in her life and she couldn’t deal with any unnecessary drama right now.

Briella
took
her
book
on hybrids
and found a quiet place to read outside in a secluded area.
She had just gotten to chapter four when she was confronted by Prince
Alyntine
, who had taken offense at her choice of reading material.
She did not know why he cared what she was reading about, nor did she appreciate the intrusion.
“Leave me.”

He picked the book off her lap and closed it.
“You were warned to stop this.”

She looked at him in confusion.
“I was reading a book.
It was getting interesting and I need you to give it back to me.”

“You were warned of the consequences of slandering the
Queen
.
Making inquiries of Lord Langley’s parentage is a dishonor to the
Queen
and her daughter, the Princess Crimson.”

Damn Valor and his scheming ways.
“I’ve made no inquiries and I’ve said nothing about
Dev’s
parentage, at least not since I agreed to drop the matter when I last talked with
him
.
”

He tucked the book in his pocket and pulled her off the ground.
“That’s not what
the ladies are saying.
I spoke with Lady Samantha and Lady Valencia and they told me that you were full of information about the hybrid lord.”

She stared at
Alyntine
in shock.
She had not conversed with those ladies apart from the introductory hellos.
She had spent most of the day in her room
moping
and she had spent the rest of it avoiding the visitors like the plague.
“I told them nothing.
You must be mistaken.”

“I cannot look the other way on this, Lady Avenal.
You were warned.
You’ll have to come with me now.”
He tugged on her arm, forcing her to walk with him.
“We will meet up with the other princes and then we will meet with Nefertiti.
As a member of the Queen’s Council, I am charging you with
sedition
.”

She looked at him in disbelief.
“You cannot do this.
I’m not guilty of any crime.”
She was dragged to the front of the mansion, where they were met by Caspar and Carrick.
“I didn’t say anything to those ladies.
There has been a mistake.”

Alyntine
pulled the book out of his pocket and gave it to Caspar.
“I found her reading this.”

“Reading is not a crime!
I was reading in private.”

Caspar studied the volume.
“You chose this book on hybrids.
I do not believe you took our warning seriously.”

She shook her head in denial.
“I took the book from the
Countess
’s library.
If you have a problem with the book, you should talk to her about it.”

“We’ll talk to her about it,”
Alyntine
said.
He pulled her into the mansion and demanded an audience with the
Countess
.
Several minutes later, they were admitted to a conference room.

Nefertiti looked at them in surprise.
“What is this all about, princes?
Do you
have a complaint to issue against Lady Avenal?”

Alyntine
continued to grasp her arm tightly.
“By order of the Queen’s Council, I have charged
Briella
Avenal of
sedition
.
She has persistently cast aspersions on the Langley name by questioning the parentage of Lord Langley.
Th
at
dishonors the
Queen
and Princess Crimson, his mother.
There are witnesses who heard her state that the Queen is involved in a conspiracy with the hybrids to place a hybrid puppet on the throne.
She has accused the Crown Princess of being a hybrid.
Such statements could politically damage the
Queen
.
She was also caught with suspicious reading material.”
He handed the book
titled
The Destruction of Mankind Perpetrated by Fiendish
Alien
Hybrid Races
to Nefertiti.

The accusations were ludicrous and unfounded, but
Briella
immediately understood the danger she was courting.
Sedition was a serious crime in
Flourda
.
“I
never made such statements.
Who are thes
e witnesses?
They are lying and I deserve the right to discredit them.”

Nefertiti took the heavy volume from
Alyntine
and glared at
Briella
.
“
You’ll have your chance to defend yourself in a moment.”
She perused the book in her hands.
“
Briella
had no need to read this book.
She’s not even involved in planning our defensive strategy against the hybrids
.
She has also proven uncooperative with helping me secure an alliance with the Romans, which I find troubling.”