Chosen One by Kim Knox

Author:Kim Knox [Knox, Kim]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Goodreads: 8192018
Publisher: Ellora's Cave Publishing, Inc.
Published: 2010-03-09T19:32:37+00:00

Chapter Six

Iason stepped forward and the thinned skin of the wall rasped back. He strode out of the room. Ceta followed, the chain stretching between them. She kept a steady pace behind him through the twisting corridor that would take them to the throne room.

All too soon, the dimness ended in the bright, wide arch. Iason glanced at her, his face the hard mask of the paladin, before he led the way to the throne. Bodies surrounded the throne, most dozing, others rousing to roll away from Iason as he climbed the wide steps.

“Here again so soon.”

Their sovereign pushed himself from the dark throne, a hint of a smile lurking on his mouth. His beauty caught her again. She should be awed, but only distaste crawled down her spine. The strange sensation carried with it almost a sense of…hatred.

Ceta dropped her gaze, fixing her attention on the smooth floor. He couldn’t see her reaction to him, not if she wanted to live. Her heart pounded and a trickle of sweat had the smooth silk sticking to her spine. She dropped, the floor soft, spongy under her knees.

Fingers ran through her hair and she closed her eyes, willing her body still. It was Feodor caressing her and she couldn’t explain why terror made her mouth dry and every muscle tense.

“What did you do to her, paladin?” Something lurked under his cultured voice and her heart stopped until her slowed brain processed it as amusement. “They usually look to me for hope. But whatever you did to her has her terrified of being touched.”

“I did as I was ordered, Master.”

Iason’s cold voice sent a chill through her.

“My faithful paladin. We’ll have to see if the ship wants her to have you again.” The sovereign snorted and his fingers pulled free of her hair. The rub of his gloved hand against his thigh rasped through Ceta. “She seems to be sliding into perversion in her old age.”

The swell of anger caught Ceta by surprise and she fought to keep her breathing even. Her subconscious wanted her to lash out, to flare against the man who was ultimately responsible for killing her. Which would be crazy. She wanted to live as long as she could, after all.

“Stand up, Ceta Lars.”

She willed her legs to obey and pushed herself up. The sovereign had already dipped the golden spoon into the frozen dish, the milk of the living ship holding a pearlescent sheen in the stark white light of the domed hall.

“I should congratulate you, paladin,” Feodor murmured. “If this binding ends within the day, I can leave this miserable planet. They’re plaguing me with petitions.” He snapped his fingers at her mouth and obediently Ceta opened it. Her heart clenched as she tried to prepare for the rush of desire that would erupt with the melting of the frozen dessert on her tongue. “As if it’s my concern that there’s disease in the lands beyond the temple.”

Stabs of anger cut through her fear. He didn’t care about them at all.

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