The Darkest Sword by Samantha Kroese (ebook voice reader txt) 📕

Ashiyn crossed his arms as everyone in the room stared. His Rizaron escort retreated with haste, leaving him alone in this room of odd creatures. There were men and women of every race lounged about the room, but none were quite as strange as the man before him. “And you are?”

The man laughed, mirth filling his oddly glowing blue eyes. He bowed deeply to Ashiyn with a flourish. “I am Diredin, the Seducer. Trainer of all proper young men and ladies in the ways of…delicacy, shall we say?”

“Why not just say it plainly? I am here to learn to seduce. So let us be on with it,” Ashiyn said, irritated. He was far from home among these strange people, and he wanted nothing more than to be back commanding his armies, riding Illusion, and visiting with Soryn. Now he was so far away from Soryn it would be difficult to use the shadows to travel there.

“Such a brute, he is,” Diredin said to his crowd, stroking his smooth chin and clucking his tongue in displeasure. “Who will be the first to try to tame this wild stallion, hmm?” Diredin’s gaze traveled over the eager people gathered in the room, then he pointed at two young women lounging half naked in the corner. “There, the sisters shall teach you manners, my lord. You are not here to be a brute and take what you want whenever you want it. You are here to learn how to make people beg you to take them with no more than just a look.”

Ashiyn snorted, skeptical, at least until the two girls came up to him. Then he found himself quite pleasantly distracted.

CHAPTER FIVE

The things Ashiyn learned over the next several months had little to do with what he had witnessed growing up. He learned quite quickly that seduction was different than the brute force with which Rhadamanthus took his women, or even the spell-induced trance that Rurik had used on Soryn. His teachers were patient but harsh if he crossed the line or got impatient. And he was very impatient. The sex was the fun part after all, why not just jump right to that?

Diredin sighed when Ashiyn voiced that question. “My very young and naïve friend. Seduction is an art. You are physical perfection, so you have an unfair advantage over most as it is. You may be used to people throwing themselves at your feet. Or worse, judging by the habits we’ve broken you of, you’re used to your brute of a Master just taking anything he wants.”

“I am Prince of the world. I can take whatever I want,” Ashiyn grumbled, as he sipped at the rich wine in the fancy goblet he held. At first, he found the elves odd with their flaunting of wealth even on simple things like goblets. He was starting to enjoy it, though. He’d decided he would have a goblet like this fashioned for him when he went home.

Diredin reached over and smacked Ashiyn’s hand resting on the table with a rod, stinging yet not really harming. “Wrong. It is wrong to force yourself on people. Would you enjoy it if I bent you over this table and took you just because I wanted to?”

Ashiyn nearly dropped his goblet, horrified. Then he sputtered, “You’re not the Prince.”

“I rule this place. As long as you are here, you do as I say,” Diredin said, his eyes narrowed. “So, tell me, young Prince. Do I need to teach you a lesson, or do you understand now why it’s wrong?”

Ashiyn glared down at the table and clenched his fists, determined not to let his cheeks color. He wouldn’t give Diredin that satisfaction. “I understand quite clearly,” he mumbled.

Diredin sat back in his chair, tapping the rod on his thigh absently to the tune of the music in the background. “I wouldn’t do that, you know. I’m not a brute like your Master.”

Ashiyn pushed his goblet and his food away, feeling sick to his stomach. Not only at the thought of someone trying to force themselves on him, but also the fact that he’d seen it done so many times. That was what Rhadamanthus and Rurik did. And the fact that Soryn had to endure that humiliation seemed even worse than the thousand deaths he’d suffered at Rhadamanthus’s hands. “May I be excused?”

Diredin’s ears flattened and he looked instantly concerned. “Yes. Are you all right? I was just making a point. I did not mean to upset you.”

“I’m not upset,” Ashiyn growled, then stormed out of the room. He ignored the calls of the girls wanting to practice and shut himself away in the chambers they had given him to be alone with his thoughts.

He sat by the open window, watching the sun set over the dark land of his Master and wishing he were back there. Almost. At least he was enjoying not having to die every few days, and the girls were pleasurable. But things here didn’t make sense.

“May I come in?” Diredin called through the closed door.

“It’s your house; you can do whatever you want, right?” Ashiyn retorted, glaring at the door.

“Technically, yes. Unlike you, though, I am polite. If you would prefer to be alone, I shall leave you to your thoughts,” Diredin said, sounding slightly irritated. “Though, I would encourage you to stop acting like a spoiled child.”

Ashiyn looked back out the window. “Fine, you can come in.”

Diredin opened the door slowly, then stepped inside and closed it behind him. “What I said quite upset you. Why?”

Ashiyn continued to glare out the window, refusing to face Diredin lest his face betray his emotions again. “Does anyone enjoy it? That was the point you were making, right? That forcing someone to do that is wrong because, when it is against their will, it is not enjoyable?”

Diredin