Ellina felt her stomach roll over and she had to fight not to gag. Let herself be bred by this disgusting bastard—this horrible excuse for a person? For a moment she couldn’t even talk, she was so disgusted.
“Of course, the High Priest becoming the Potentate’s consort isn’t a usual practice,” Kikbax went on, clearly taking her silence for ascent. “But it’s not unheard of, either. And once I get an heir on you, no one will care how it came about…”
“I’d rather be bred by a diseased toldr,” she said flatly. “So you can forget it, Kikbax.”
“Oh dear…” He shook his head sadly and made a tsking sound with his tongue. “I think you’ll change your tune once your Heat Cycle begins to ramp up, my dear. Once it does, you’ll be begging for my shaft inside you—anything to stop the dreadful breeding pains, you know. But since you’re not inclined to be respectful right now, I think we ought to put you away for a bit until you’re feeling, shall we say, a bit more cooperative.”
He made a hand motioning to Fundreg who grabbed Ellina by the arm again. With the High Priest leading the way, they hustled her down the corridor and around a corner, deeper into the dungeons.
“Let me go! Let go of me!” she shouted and struggled but then another guard took her by the arm and she was being dragged helplessly along with no chance of escape.
“You’ll be safe in here,” Kikbax said as Fundreg shoved her into a small cell made of thick, rusted plasti-steel bars. “I’ll come back for you in a little while—once the dust has had a chance to work.”
“You bastard—take your hands off her!” a familiar voice growled.
Ellina turned her head and, in the flickering torchlight, saw a face she had never expected to see again.
“Ty!” she exclaimed. “What are you doing down here?”
“Let’s call him leverage,” Kikbax said smoothly. “I have you exactly where I want you now, Your Majesty.” He spat the title as though it tasted like mud in his mouth. “You’re going to do everything I tell you to do from now on. If you don’t, your Kindred dies. Do you understand?”
Ellina felt a sinking in the pit of her stomach. Apparently the High Priest had decided it would be much easier to rule the planet through her if he had someone to dangle over her head—someone she loved.
And he was right, she thought despairingly as she looked at Ty through the bars of her cage. I love Ty far too much to ever let him come to harm. But what can I do? I can’t let that horrible Kikbax breed me and become my consort! I’d rather die first!
But it wasn’t death she had to fear now but her own body—once her Heat Cycle started she was going to be in terrible pain and craving male seed. Soon she would have to make a choice between the man she loved…and doing something she hated.
Gods and goddesses, what was she going to do?
Chapter Forty-six
“Ellina, are you all right?”
Though Kikbax and Fundreg had gone, taking the torch and the only available light with them, Ty reached through the bars to her. After a moment, he felt her small hands in his.
“Ty? What are you doing here? I thought you’d gone.” Ellina sounded upset and worried as she grasped his hands tightly.
“I was going to,” he admitted. “But that bastard Kikbax had someone shoot me with a poisoned dart and then dragged me down here. But are you all right? I’ve been worried sick about you, little one!”
“Don’t call me that.” Ellina abruptly withdrew her hands. “Not now. Not after…the way we parted.”
“We parted because I’m a damn fool,” Ty said harshly. “I know that now. I’d like to ask you to forgive me but I understand if you don’t feel like you can.”
“I found out that you could be my consort after all, you know.” Ellina’s voice was sorrowful in the darkness. “Grandmamma told me that the gene for Sacred Blue always breeds true—meaning I will have a Sacred Blue daughter by anyone I choose for my consort—even an off-worlder, Ty.”
“I heard Kikbax and Fundreg saying the same thing,” Ty told her. “Apparently the Priesthood of Thufar has been suppressing that information for generations so they can guide the Potentate’s choice of consorts. What else did your grandmother tell you?”
“That…that was all she had time to say—besides that she loved me—before she…” Ellina let out a little sob. “Before she died.”
“Oh, sweetheart, no! I’m so sorry!” Ty wanted badly to hold her and comfort her. The sound of her sobs from the other cell were almost more than he could bear. “Please come a little closer—I know you’re mad at me right now and you have every right to be, but let me at least hold your hand,” he begged softly, reaching through the bars.
After a moment, he felt Ellina’s hand in his again. He squeezed it, trying to reassure her, wishing he could be holding her in his arms as the sobs wracked her instead of only holding her hand.
At last she stopped crying enough to speak.
“I’m sorry. It just happened and I feel…I don’t know how to feel. I miss her so much already and I don’t know what to do.”
“You’re going to get through this is what you’re going to do,” Ty told her gently but firmly. “We both will.”
“But how?” Ellina demanded. “We’re locked in here, Ty. And I know you well enough to know that you’ve already tried to break out, but these bars are too strong for even you to bend.”
“That’s true,” Ty admitted reluctantly. “The lock seems to have possibilities, if only I had something small enough to reach in and wiggle the
