Captive Fire Read Free

my
chambers,” he declared.
    Drakon laughed softly. “I would prefer food, if I am
to have a choice regarding my survival.”
    Ryuu stared at Drakon, then wrenched his gaze back to the land in front of the flitter. “When was the last
time you ate?”
    “Four days ago.”
    Anger burned through the unease in Ryuu’s stomach.
“That’s barbaric!”
    Drakon laughed again, more softly this time, but
didn’t say anything more.
    Ryuu didn’t need an explanation. He knew what the
slave thought of him. And I know what he thinks of the Arethuza. My poor, deluded people. Instead of speaking again, he
concentrated on getting the flitter to the underground hangar bay as quickly as
possible.
    ****
    Of course,
nothing about the citadel is simple ,
Ryuu thought angrily as he strode along the hall that led to his chambers. He’d
had to take up Drakon’s chains and lead him about, like an animal on a leash,
much to his disgust. He had no key for the bonds, and would have to burn them
off when he reached his rooms. Once a slave, always a
slave . The shackles were meant to be permanent.
    “It’s not much further,” he murmured as Drakon
stumbled, clearly reaching the end of his strength. His slave grunted, gaze on
the ground. Ryuu sighed and steered the man into a less well-used corridor. Too
many warriors and administrators had already stopped them to inquire about his
new purchase, and far too many sneered at him when they realized he’d been forced
to buy Drakon against his will. His father’s soldiers were particularly
unpleasant, making insinuations about his masculinity. Bastards, all of them.
    Eventually, he’d given up and resorted to growling at
anyone he passed. He’d sensed Drakon’s growing tension and he could ill afford
to have the man lose his temper in the halls. The slave might be starving and
filthy, but he was as tall and muscular as Ryuu himself. If
he went berserk…
    Ah, that
would be a disaster. Ryuu refused to
contemplate the rest of that thought. They emerged from the dim hall and Ryuu
breathed easier. They’d reached the black-metal clad doors of his chambers.
Happily, his personal guards, Zinan and Svana, had done as he’d asked and taken
the day off. He pressed his hand to the center pad and sighed when the lock
snicked open.
    “You lock your doors in your own citadel?” Drakon
asked curiously, standing tall despite his obvious discomfort.
    “ Especially in the citadel,” Ryuu replied. “I
usually have guards, as well, but I convinced them to leave me be today.” He
supposed he should be angry with the man for speaking out of turn. No true
slave would behave so independently, but then, he’d known all along the man was
no such thing.
    “Ah,” Drakon said, eyes going dark.
    Ryuu smiled grimly and pushed open the heavy door. The
artificial lights in the chamber were dimmed, but it didn’t matter. As heir to
the land of Arethuza, the ceiling of his chambers contained the crystal tubes
that permitted his people to prosper in the midst of the most unforgiving
desert on the planet. Light from the setting sun gleamed through the reflective
and translucent rock, magnified threefold, enough to illuminate every last
corner of his chambers with golden-tinged light. He motioned Drakon inside,
then closed and locked the doors behind them.
    Drakon stopped just inside the doors and stared.
    Ryuu’s lips twisted. “Like what you see?”
    “It is beautiful,” Drakon admitted gruffly.
    Ryuu shrugged. “I had no choice regarding my chambers.
These are the heir’s rooms.” He unbuckled his weapons harness and draped his
knives over the rack near the door. “Come. The bathing room is beyond the
sleeping platform.” Beckoning to Drakon, he led the way around the curve of the
natural stone walls and into the room with his private pools. “There is hot
water in that pool.” He pointed to the smallest of the three pools. “It is
automatically refreshed and recycled. There are soap
and lotions near