Ruler's Concubine by Peri Elizabeth Scott

Author:Peri Elizabeth Scott [Scott, Peri Elizabeth]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Evernight Publishing
Published: 2016-08-30T21:00:00+00:00

Chapter Eight

Celeste huddled beneath the covers and stared at the ceiling through gritty eyes. Her bed was scant comfort, but she thought she might keep taking to it in an effort to avoid her life. Sleep had been long in coming, and then fractured by snippets of erotic dreams that ended the same way, with Lysett abandoning her after making a strenuous—and extremely pleasurable—effort to beget a child with her. She made an experimental stretch and, aside from a slight soreness between her legs, decided she felt okay physically.

Feeling a hot bath was in order, she threw back the bedding and swiveled her feet to the floor, sitting up to view the space—her lovely prison cell—with a resigned stare. Making her way to the cleansing room, she allowed the light nightgown to slip off and stared at her nude form in the mirror. She looked no different after her deflowering, then realized her face was set in a neutral cast, her eyes blank. Forcing her lips upward in a smile, she accepted the action didn’t do much to improve her appearance.

Soaking in the tub, her hair piled on top of her head, she reflected on the coming days and weeks. The years. If she let herself perseverate about the male she’d contracted with, and narrowed her life to the occasional ‘events’ she would attend with him, and the rarer moments in pursuit of conceiving a child, she’d likely be as crazy as those poor, brainwashed women back on Earth. Though if enough time elapsed between those efforts at conception, she’d hopefully forget the way he’d unleashed her sexuality and cease to long for it.

She’d never given up easily, and realistically, her lot here was far better than it had been back home, so she needed to get a grip and deal. She’d been spending far too much time thinking about the same issues over and over. Now the deed was done, she would make the best of things. Starting with getting out and about. She wanted to see Shirley and a few other women she’d come to know. She needed to find something useful to do, now that her studies—and the main event—were concluded.

After washing herself and drying off, she carefully chose a dress suitable for the day. She stared longingly at her boots, set neatly side by side in the closet, but Bast had ideas about what a royal concubine should wear, so that was a battle for another time. She had other, far more important things to deal with today. Ruthlessly braiding her hair, coiling it around her head, she affixed it tightly with some lovely jeweled pins the Ruler’s mother had gifted her. Her mom’s necklace looked so simple in contrast, so she tucked it into the bodice of her dress as a reminder of who she truly was beneath the trappings. Without another glance at her appearance, she stepped to the door and opened it. Instantly, her guard—Morat—was there.

“Lady Celeste?”

“I’d like to go to breakfast.”

With a deferential nod, he gestured her ahead, and she went down the stairs to the eating area.

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