A Sinless Betrayal by Cherie Benjamin (books to read for 12 year olds .TXT) 📖

they'd know we knew of their plan. It is best if we catch them off guard, with their walls down."

"We've abducted the whores from various kingdoms! Cassandra and Evalyn are from Pateros and Athenodora and Camellia are from Seattle." White Fire Sun points out.

Suddenly, Drinks of Waterfall jumps out of his seat. "Elle of the Moon is from Bellechester!" he exclaims. "She was only a maid, but I'm sure she can help."

As soon as he says something about his pregnant bed thrall, it instantly grabs my attention and draws me back to the only thing that I truly hold dear. Her. "So was Elizabella. She was courting a nobleman, I'm sure she'll know more than Elle." The men in the room both look at each other in interest. I impatiently slam my fist on the table, shaking the maps and models lying there. "Well don't just stand there, goddamnit, get my woman!"

Three Horses and Black Bear both rush out of the room to fetch Tiger Claw and one of the women from Pateros. They're only gone for a short while before the door bursts open and the two women walk in. I see my woman and instantly I feel my heart light up.

Her beautiful, shiny curls hang down her back, accenting her heart-shaped face. Long black lashes frame pretty doe eyes as she looks around the room. I try not to drool as I see her chew on her full pink lips in nervousness, hugging her arms below her breasts. The nervous action only makes her womanly parts easier for me to see.

Those full, round globes instantly catch my attention. She rocks back and forth slightly on the balls of her feet and I feel like I'm in a trance when I find that I can't rip my eyes away from her bouncing breasts. My eyes travel downwards over the flat plane of her stomach, and to those full, child-bearing hips. I can already feel my cock hardening inside of my pants and pressing against my breechcloth.

I readjust myself in my seat and snap myself out of my trance. I offer her to sit on my lap. Eliza looks at my lap hesitantly before going to sit down. Cassandra follows after Three Horses and sits in the seat beside him. "Why am I here?" Eliza is the first to ask, for she is the only woman that is daring enough to.

I look at her. "There is a war raging. Your kingdom has made an alliance with Pateros through the marriage of Princess Sera to Prince Titus. With their armies joined together, they plan to attack us."

I can see her eyes widen significantly as she gasps. "That's…that's horrible! Why would they…?"

"Probably because they got tired of us stealing their goods and them not being able to do a thing about it," snickers Iron Coyote. I shoot my brother a glare at the same time Eliza does. He laughs again.

I turn her face towards mine and kiss her nose. "We have twice, maybe three times as many men as those kingdoms do…alone. But together, they might easily match us. We have a good chance of winning, but we'll have an even better chance if you help us."

Eliza's face turns from worry to surprise in only a few seconds. "You wish me…a woman, to help you with the war?" She looks caught in her thoughts.

I nod my head. "You courted Cordell, you told me of the man. Did he never speak to you of the wars and their tactics? No strategies?"

She flinches a little when I mention Cordell. She thinks he is dead because Iron Coyote killed him in cold blood. To be quite frank, we wouldn't know if we killed someone's lover or brother or father. We don't write down or keep track of those who we kill—those that stand in the way of what we want.

Her tongue darts out to lick her lips. I can tell she's having a mental battle with herself. She is on our side…right? "Well," she begins. "I actually do remember some things. I think they might help you."

Drinks Of Waterfall places his elbows on the table as he leans forward. "Then please, Tiger Claw, do tell us. This could be the factor to help us—the factor that could win the war for us."

Eliza takes in a deep breath and nods her head. "I will tell you. My lord Cordell spoke gloriously of these pieces of machinery called cannons."

I point at Little Sea. "Cannons. Get a piece of papyrus and ink and write that down." The man nods and follows my orders. "Now tell us what the cannons can do, little one."

"The cannons are like long stone tunnels with only one side open; the top side. They sit on a pair of wheels and that's how the men are able to move it. It is incredibly heavy and large. It is able to move in any direction, whether it is east, northeast…south…any way you want. Then there is the object called the cannonball that you shoot out at the enemy. The cannon gets ignited with fire and…off it goes. Quite interesting really." Eliza gushes it all out to us, spilling every bean in the bag while Little Sea takes notes on the papyrus.

"Then there is contraption called a catapult. It is used for hurling stones of fireballs out at the enemy, or over tall walls. It is like a tall wooden stick with little bowl attached to the end of it in which you would put your stone. You would wind it back with a rope of some sort and then…let it go. It also sits on a set of wheels for keeping it steady and for easy movement."

I'd never heard of these devices before in my entire life. The way of war was with arrows and spears and sharp metal objects to hurl at people. But she's not finished. "Oh! I remember that Cordell said once that the king had ordered to cannonballs to be chained together. They can take out crowds of soldiers, and easily tear down walls. It is certainly a sight to see, and a gruesome one at that."

I lean back in my chair, satisfied with the results. "Little Sea, have you documented the weapons and their uses? What they look like?" I ask him. The young man nods and shows me his notes. I stick my cigar back in my mouth and let smoke fall from my lips. Eliza looks back at me, her pretty eyes roaming my half naked body. "I want these devices made. I want every blacksmith, silversmith, every craftsmen to help create these cannons and catapults. It will be done in one month."

The men look around in the room as if they doubt the skills of the craftsmen. Cassandra looks at me from across the table. She blushes and smiles at me, an obvious invitation if I would only accept it. I look away. I will not mount her, for her whorish ways disgust me. She is spoilt goods, having been willingly passed around to the other men. She takes pride in being a whore, unlike Elizabella, who fought so strongly for her free will.

Before Elizabella, I'd never cared for the feelings of a harem girl. I would mount her like a hound does his bitch and then dispose of her, not caring if she was hurt of if I impregnated her. I had lived up to the name of "Barbarian King" in my younger years, before she arrived. But I find myself to be slowly changing as the days pass by. Every morning I wake up with her fragile body next to mine in the bed, I feel a bit of the blackness of my heart being chipped away by her chisel.

I don't know why Three Horses had insisted upon bringing Cassandra. I already know the tactics of Pateros. Her steamy gaze is only making me sick, and the way her clothes accent her curves and show off her erect nipples makes me want to do some pretty horrible things to her. The beast is still inside of me, gnawing at the cages Eliza had put up. He wants to be let out, and he wants to seriously hurt Cassandra.

She fucked Three Horses while my sister was dying. It only makes the hate worse.

I look away. "Take the prints to the craftsmen, post them everywhere. Let the people know of the war and how they must contribute. We will draft every boy and man and teach them how to fight. Brother, you will lead camps and troops and teach said people. Let them know of the consequences of espionage and treason, for I have heads mounted on my walls before and I will do so again."

I can see the fright in Elizabella's eyes as I say that. It makes me feel slightly ashamed, but right now I have to be a king to my people and prepare them for the worst-case scenario. I stroke my fingertips down her arm and feel her relax beneath me.

When I look up, I see the men staring at me as if they don't know what to do without my command. "Leave me," I growl. They all scurry out of the room like frightened field mice after seeing a hawk scouring the area. All except for my brother, who is eyeing up my woman like she is the mouse and he is the hawk.

I bare my teeth at him and he backs off, lingering out of the room casually. She gets up off of my lap and looks at me. "I have never liked war," she murmurs softly. "They result in massacres. Blood bathes the street, corpses litter the forests, and the smell of death lingers in the air for weeks."

I too, hate wars. I use my hands to work out a kink in my jaw. It fixes itself with a satisfying 'pop' and she cringes at the sound. "We all die, Elizabella. The gods of this world can be merciful, but when your time comes, you must accept that fact. The greatest death a man can know is while in battle, fighting for his country."

"But I don't understand," she whispers to me, clutching my hands in hers. I look away from her face as she draws herself closer. She will never understand the ways of war, but never will anyone. "Why not just make peace with one another?"

This statement draws my eyes back to her face. "Peace? I have never known peace. The only peace I have is when I am with you. If it's war they want, it's war they'll get."

0o0o0o0o

BELLA'S POV

I claim that I despise war, but yet I still gave away precious information from my kingdom. Where does my loyalty lie? With my brothers and sisters back home, or will the beasts that raided my home and stole me away from my lifestyle? Ask me five months ago what I thought about the barbarians and I would have told you they were a damned race, a merciless species that deserved to burn in the four fires of hell for all the wrong they'd done us and other kingdoms.

Ask me five months ago about what I thought of their king—I would have said that the king of the barbarians would be the devil himself. Ask me today and I will tell you that the king of the barbarians is my lover and I will do anything for him. His kindness has changed me, but the ways of his brooding men still have not changed the minds of the other kingdoms.

The only way to stop the war was if they would stop raiding, but unfortunately that was out of the question. Raiding, stealing and killing are all they know. I feed Scar the piece of meat in my hand and welcome the pup into my lap. The little runt of the litter was mine, and I plan on treating him like an alpha.

I hear footsteps behind me. I look back