Warlord (Mine to Take 1) by Jacquelyn Frank

Warlord (Mine to Take 1) by Jacquelyn Frank

Author:Jacquelyn Frank [Frank, Jacquelyn]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: 08302-02681
Publisher: Changeling Press LLC
Published: 2018-01-04T18:30:00+00:00


Chapter Four

Melena stared at the man in amazement. Surely he didn’t do this with all of his women… did he? Clearly not every woman every night. But when they were with him, did he always feed them from his own fingertips?

She opened her mouth and he slipped the warm tidbit in. She began to chew and was delighted by the savory flavor. Her stomach rumbled loudly as she chewed. He laughed at the sound. She was surprised to realize he had a very nice laugh. It was not mocking or cruel as she had imagined it would be. It was warm and welcoming.

The rest of the meal continued like that. He ate, and in between bites he fed her. He fed her until she had to shake her head in denial.

“I can’t eat another bite,” she said.

She had not been this full in months. The Jorku food had been savory: warm and delicious. She had not eaten well even before she had become a slave.

“Is your brother like you?” she asked him suddenly. “We hear he is cruel and unyielding. His armies decimate the lands he marches through.”

“He can be very cruel. And very unyielding. He makes war for the joy of it… for the opportunity to subjugate those around him. Especially those who would defy him.”

“And you are not like that? You who command his armies?”

“I do as my brother asks of me. But… if it were me, I would choose another way. I would not extend my reach so far into other lands. I would spend time tending to that which we already have. I would spend time eradicating things like crop blights and the famines that follow. I would manage trade better… so all are treated fairly and more things are available to more people at a fair price. As it stands right now the wealthy hold power over the poor. They dominate to the point of cruelty. My brother favors those with money and forgets about those without.”

“What would you do differently?”

“I would tax the wealthy more strongly than I do those who cannot pay to begin with. Right now it is the working class that bears the brunt of taxes while the wealthy get away with taxation forgiveness as long as they are in good stead with my brother. But it is not as simple as that. Those wealthy men also provide the soldiers that keep our army strong. If we tax them too heavily all of a sudden, they will withdraw the lending of their troops.”

“But that would not be so bad if you no longer needed to keep so large an army, if you were content to stay within your own borders.”

He raised a brow in surprise. “Exactly,” he said. “You are a very intelligent creature. Can you read and write?”

“Yes. And cipher.”

“Good. I like for my women to be well-read and well educated.”

The reminder that she was but one of many made her stomach clench unexpectedly. She didn’t know why. Maybe it was because she did not like the idea of being one of many sheep who willingly did his bidding.



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