Nikol's Surrender (A World Beyond #10)- Michelle Howard
Chapter 1
“It’s done, my son.”
His chest hurt, his lips were numb, but Nikol masked his expression as much as possible, hoping his father wouldn’t sense the pain.
“Did you hear me, Niko?” Lothar snapped.
Nikol firmed his stance. He hated when his father called him Niko. It meant dishonor but his mother had chosen his full name and registered it with the Majad before his father was aware. One of the many transgressions his father, Lothar, blamed on Nikol’s mother. Nikol didn’t care. He was Nikol Wulven and that’s the name he stood by. Nikol meant honorable warrior.
“I heard you, Father.”
Lothar smiled, the cruel twist of his lips matching the evil glint in his eyes. Nikol swallowed back his grief and rage. He was nine. Almost grown. How many times had his mother called him her little warrior? She may have been nothing more than a slave to Lothar but her heart beat with the strength of a warrior.
Had beaten. The lump in his throat thickened.
“Perhaps now you will lose the soft edge your mother fostered in you.”
After another stare, Lothar left Nikol alone. He waited long enough to assure himself Lothar was truly gone then snuck away to the room he’d once shared with his mother. A room Lothar banned him from at the age of five when he realized Seri encouraged the very traits Lothar despised. Honor. Integrity.
Those words were considered insults to Lothar. In his mind, a proven soldier—a Marenian to be respected was one who could lie, cheat, and steal. Marenia may have supported a lifestyle of oppression for their women but the culture Lothar cultivated in their home was built on treachery.
Nikol peered around the corner and down the hall. The corridor toward the kitse remained empty. His father’s harem.
Nikol inched along and knocked on the door. When one of the many women housed in the rooms opened the door, she stared at Nikol. Face blank, she stepped back and let him in. Others watched his approach. He didn’t recognize them. The tutanis and servants his father rotated through the kitse changed often.
Heart pounding, Nikol ignored them and didn’t stop until he reached the last alcove. The dark blue curtain was partially open. He pushed it all the way to the side and red filled his vision.
Streaks ran down the wall. Streams of liquid dripped from the torn sheets.
No not red liquid. Blood.
His mother’s blood. Nikol choked and edged closer. Someone grabbed his arm.
“No. Nikol. She’s gone.”
Gone. His mother. A good woman. A beautiful tutanis. Gone.
Nikol lifted his gaze and recognized Mirim. One of his father’s newest acquisitions in the kitse. A sex slave, too. Her brown eyes gazed down at him in gentleness and with a slight tug she pulled him in close. Her curved horns butted against his own as she murmured words he couldn’t make out.
Nikol stood frozen in her embrace. His father had just killed his mother after learning the reason she hadn’t gotten pregnant again. Seri had taken matters into her own hands and made sure she would never have another child by a monster. Lothar had three daughters by his other tutanis, older than him, but Nikol was his only son and he hoped Seri would provide him with many more.
Now that was no longer possible because he’d killed her.
“Come, Nikol. Your mother wouldn’t want you to see this.”
How would she know what his mother wanted? All of the females in the kitse fought for Lothar’s attention, each one hoping to gain his favor to improve their situation or become First Placement. Nikol glared at them as Mirim led him away. As if being favored by Lothar was an improvement.
***
“I have some good news to share with you.”
Nikol leaned against the wall of Mirim’s alcove, one leg bent, his booted foot propped on the wall behind him. It was a studied casualness he’d learned to master. “Good news?”
Mirim ignored the indifference in his voice and crossed the room to hug him tight. Nikol held still for the touch as he did each time she showed him affection. Even after all these years, he struggled with how to process positive emotion.
“Relax,” she whispered, pulling back. “No one is around.”
“My father has spies everywhere. It’s best to remember at all times.” If Lothar discovered how close they’d grown, Nikol and Mirim would both end up paying a steep price.
Mirim grasped his hand, smiling. Nikol eyed her warily, but she only placed his hand on her puffy belly. “I’m breeding.”