Dark Lord (22 page)

“Agreed,”
Belenos
said.
“I’ll let the
K
ing know.
You can go ahead and take possession of the prisoner.”

Nefertiti, Countess of Avenal, revealed
her aspiration of becoming the next Chancellor of
Flourda
.
She believes the Countess of Pembroke is the only obstacle standing in her way.
She ordered Valor to lead an assault on Pembroke Keep and
Briella
was forced to accompany them.
They equipped themselves as Romans so the attack would be blamed on Rome.
Briella
fled to the woods when she saw people being incinerated by flames; she then got captured by Roman soldiers.
While escaping from them, she was accosted by two masked males, who questioned her about the Pembroke attack.
She saw one of the masked men kill the Roman soldiers with a venomous bite.
Later,
Briella
learned about the alien hybrid threat.
Devereux, Lord Langley, was ordered to service Nefertiti, but he was physically unable to participate.
Nefertiti ask
ed
Briella
to investigate
Dev’s
sexual
preferences
.
Nefertiti
’s second attempt to get physical with her newest paramour fails.
Briella
witnesses
Dev’s
irises turn a red hue while giving a command; she starts to wonder if he is a hybrid.

Part Two

Harlotta
took a care package to Pembroke, but upon her return to Avenal, she gloated about the suffering she had caused by the burning of the keep.
Nefertiti indicated that she wanted to develop a relationship with the Crown Princess in order to ensure the house of Avenal was included as one of the thirteen chosen privileged families.
Amalie visited Avenal and poisoned the ladies in an attempt to gain a confession.
Amalie gave an antidote to Devereux and he administered it to
Briella
.
The other ladies suffered the effects of the poison and lost all of their hair.
Nefertiti bound Devereux to a bed to use him for pleasure, but he used his hybrid abilities to make her too sick for intercourse.
He compelled
Briella
to free him from his bonds after she wandered into the room.
Briella
worried that Devereux is a hybrid and she tried to convince him to leave Avenal.
The princes arrived for a visit and they told Devereux about the Brothers of the Sword organization.
Nefertiti held a special night of debauchery to honor the princes.
Briella
accidentally wandered into the lords’ private sanctuary and overheard private conversations.
She was caught spying by Devereux, who was displeased to find her there.
Nefertiti accidentally strangled a concubine to death during bondage sex, but blamed the incident on
Triniti
, who had given “improper instruction” on bondage and pain giving.
Briella’s
missing sister, Eden, miraculously reappeared.

Introduction

Flourdans
were ruled by their warrior queen.
The males of
Flourda
were hardened warriors as well; however, they did not own property and they were subservient to their queen, their noblewomen, and if lucky enough to have one, their
luxorem
(mate).
Females in
Flourda
, like the rest of the world, were limited in number.
Lands, titles, and wealth of noble families were always passed to the eldest daughter.
An aristocratic female with abundant wealth and property often took multiple
luxorems
(mates), along with paramours (lovers) and concubines.
These males formed her harem.
She had most of the power and she ruled over her household, including members of the harem, as well as all of the noblewomen of her family.

Countess Nefertiti Avenal had presided over Avenal for the past decade.