The Revenge of Excalibur Read Free

Where are my children?”
    Pohat gently restrained her. A process she'd gone through several times since the Queen's arrival in this death hole. “You must drink, my Queen, if you are to survive, and see them again.”
    Holding the bowl in her upper left hand, she dipped fingers from her upper right hand into the water, dripping the moisture onto the distraught woman's cracked lips. She greedily lapped at the liquid, opening her mouth for more. As Pohat repeated the process, she examined the Calen before her. Her once beautiful, flawless, pale skin was a mottled gray and bruised, with weeping open sores, and her long, bright, red hair was tangled, with the same mites crawling around that were nesting in Pohat's fur. Once her roommate's thirst was quenched, Pohat drank the remaining water in one gulp, then flung the wooden bowl against the cell door, where it landed with a clatter.
    She half walked, half crawled back to her cot, where she plopped down, exhausted. She shifted around, trying to find a comfortable position, but the narrow cot didn't have enough room to accommodate her four legs, so two of them were always hanging over the edge. With a sad sigh, she thought,
what does it matter? I will not survive this torture much longer.
    As fear, despair, and anger overwhelmed her, she threw one of her arms over her eyes, tears sliding down into the ratted, black and red fur covering her face.
Why did this happen to me and my family?
With the mental link all Tethians shared with their family members, she knew her two brothers had also been taken, and one of them, Ganga, had recently died. She wept harder for her middle brother, who would never again feel the warmth of the Tethian sun, or the embrace of his mate and children.
    “Stop!” she said out loud, angry with herself. “You cannot seek revenge if you are dead.”
    Restlessly picking and scratching at the mites living off her body, Pohat turned to look at the Queen.
Someone will be coming for her, and the King. I must keep her alive as long as possible.
Even though she had very little energy left, she reestablished her mental link with the Queen, bracing herself for the onslaught of memories the link caused. Pohat started infusing the Calen with her life force, once again being thrown into the Queen's jumbled memories.
    They have found us. She must stay, wait for Gray Eyes. The males are panicking, ships leaving, causing roof of cave to collapse, pinning her to the floor. Shalit, must not let Shalit escape. There, Gray Eyes. He has come to save her, save her people.
    Pohat had seen this memory several times already, so she knew Arthur called the Queen, Daisy. As Daisy's love for Arthur flowed through her mind, Pohat's tangled fur quivered all over.
Will I ever feel love this strong for my mate? Will I live long enough to have a mate? If I do survive, will a mate want me?
    Pohat shivered, pulling the tattered pieces of her robe around her, trying to contain what little heat remained. The Calen and Eilsel men who repeatedly raped her gave little thought to her warmth. Once she was gone, they had plenty of other females to choose from. Even as they called her horrible, demeaning names for being a Tethian, they were more than eager to push their breeding organs into her unwilling body.
    Daisy's memory shot off on another tangent, taking Pohat along with her.
    Belly round with child, beaming down at Arthur, love and joy flooded her soul. Arthur was kneeling on the floor, between her legs, head pressed against her belly, singing a silly song to the unborn child. Tearing, screaming, and pain, as she gave birth to her first child, a male .
    Pohat doubled up in pain, the memory racing through her. Two more rounded bellies, two more births, but each one a little less painful. Both were females.
    Wiping the sweat from her brow, Pohat marveled at the intense pain of childbirth.
Is it worth it?
she wondered, rubbing her own flat belly. Remembering the feelings of joy and