“I do, too!” Gaius Prospero said excitedly. “It is a feeling I got the moment I looked at her, which is why I bid such a ridiculous sum. I did not want to lose her, Tania.”

“You were wise to act as you did, my lord. Now you have had a long day. Eat, then go and bathe so you may come to Shifra. Shall I ask your wives to remain in their own apartments tonight?”

“Yes! And they are not to go near Shifra. I do not want her spoiled and it would be like Anora to do so out of spite. She is such a jealous creature. It is no wonder she needs regular whipping,” the emperor said, licking his lips.

Tania arose from her knees. “I will deliver your message, my lord, and then I shall sleep by Shifra’s bed until you are ready to join her.” She bowed her way from the chamber, hurrying back to the women’s section of the emperor’s house.

The lady Vilia nodded wearily in response to her husband’s message.

“Of course. He will want to play with his new toy,” she said. “Perhaps I shall visit my villa in the Outlands for a few days. Do you think he would mind, Tania?”

“I think, my lady, you are as always gracious and understanding,” Tania murmured. “I am certain our good lord would fully approve your decision.”

Vilia smiled at the response. She was more than aware of how devoted the slave woman was to the emperor. And with luck Jonah would join her for a few nights. It was perfect. He had been spending so much time in Terah of late and she was eager for his talented cock. Gaius rarely, if ever, visited her bed any longer, and Jonah was a far better lover than Gaius had ever been. It amazed Vilia that she had been able to keep the secret of their illicit affair for several years now. But then, they were always careful.

The lady Anora was not as understanding of the emperor’s decision. “What do you mean I am to remain in my apartments and away from the slave girl? He will need me to ply my whip on his fat bottom if he is to have any success with her. And this Shifra will need a taste of discipline, too, if she is to pleasure him.”

“He says you are to remain here and away from Shifra, lady. I am but the bearer of the emperor’s message. The lady Vilia is going to her villa for a few days. Perhaps you would enjoy visiting yours. The Outlands are lovely this time of year, I am told.”

“I will remain. When he finds he cannot perform he will want me to come and assist him,” Anora said stubbornly.

Tania bowed her way out of Anora’s apartments and hurried back to Shifra. She pulled a mat from beneath the sleeping girl’s bed and slept, awakening only when the emperor touched her with his slipper. Tania scrambled up and gently shook Shifra by her delicate shoulder. “Waken, my child. Your master has come to be with you.” Then Tania hurried from the bedchamber.

Shifra had been sleeping on her side. She rolled onto her back, stretching herself like a young cat. Her violet eyes opened and she smiled slowly as she held out her arms to Gaius Prospero. “Come, my lord, and let me give you comfort,” she purred at him. She reached up to draw him down to her.

Mesmerized, the emperor let her lead the way. She settled him in a half-seated position, plumping up the pillows about him. Then seating herself upon his thick and hairy thighs, she leaned forward to kiss him. The touch of her bottom against him caused his eyes to dilate. Her small sweet mouth on his was incredible. She ran a pointed little tongue over his fleshy lips teasing them open and then her tongue slid into his mouth to play with his tongue. Gaius Prospero’s head spun dizzily. Reaching out he grasped her two small round breasts in his pudgy hands and fondled them.

She broke off the kiss murmuring softly, then leaning forward, her teeth began to nibble at his ear. Her tongue traced the shape of it, darting into it as she whispered to him, “Do you want to suck my nipples, my lord?” Then she nipped his earlobe with sharp little teeth. “Do you?”

“Aye, my beautiful Shifra, I do,” he groaned.

“I am your slave, my dear lord,” she told him. “I live to please you.” Then she knelt with her legs on either side of his thighs and lifting a breast pushed the nipple into his mouth. With her other hand she took his hand and encouraged his fingers to play between her nether lips. Then Shifra closed her eyes so she might enjoy the sensations of his lovemaking.

Gaius Prospero suckled upon the sentient flesh of her breast. He was startled to taste a liquid sweetness flowing from it into his mouth. It was delicious! He sucked harder and harder until there was no more of the honeyed taste and he whimpered a protest.

“No, my dear lord,” she whispered to him. “The other breast is full for you. Take it. It is yours.” She invited him. “My body is yours. Only for your delight.”

His mouth eagerly closed over the other breast while his fingers played frantically with her. When he had drained the second breast she pulled his fingers away and pushed them into his mouth. The taste was the same, and he licked them clean. As he did he realized that his cock was hard and ready for her. Shifra slid beneath him and kissing him again, smiled as he began to enter her. Her virgin shield was his only impediment. He thrust through it fiercely as she cried out.

Gaius Prospero could hardly contain himself. He could scarce restrain his excitement as he plowed her depths. Shifra wrapped her slender legs about him and whispered little words of encouragement along with her cries of delight. Her arms were tight about his neck. The emperor could not believe what was happening to him. His cock was performing as it had never before done. And he could feel the pleasures welling up in preparation to flow through him until he was weak and replete with satisfaction. The girl beneath him begged him to continue on. And he was able to do so!

And then she sobbed, “My lord! My lord! Ohh, I die!” Her supple body shuddered as she reached the peak of pleasures.

With a groan of delight he followed her down the path, his juices coming in great spurts as Gaius Prospero realized that for the first time in years, for the first time since Lara had cursed him, he was enjoying a woman to the fullest degree. He had not needed Anora’s whip turning his buttocks red and hot to perform. He had not needed to give the exquisite girl in his arms pain to raise his lust. She alone had made it happen. He rolled off her lest he crush her with his weight and gathered her into his arms.

Shifra laid her head against his shoulder for a brief moment. “Oh, my lord, you gave me such delight. Thank you for permitting me to share pleasures with you.” She sat herself up against the pillows and drew him into her embrace. “Now you must rest yourself, my lord, for ruling such a varied realm such as Hetar cannot be easy for you.”

She stroked his thinning hair, kissing the top of his head.

“I will want you again tonight,” he growled at her.

“I am here for you, my dear lord,” Shifra told him. “But catch your ease for a short time and then we shall take pleasures again. To have your body joined with mine is so wonderful. I never dreamed I should find such happiness when I was taken into slavery, but in your arms all things are possible for me, my dear lord.”

Gaius Prospero was overwhelmed by her words. She had been torn from her family, roughly handled and sold as a slave, yet she thanked him. “My darling Shifra,” he said softly, “you are my treasure.” And he meant it. This petite and beautiful girl with her flowing hair was unlike any he had ever known. She was not strong and practical like Vilia. Nor was she cruel and greedy like Anora. She was grateful for his attentions and it was obvious that she cared for him, for his well-being.

Shifra looked down into his face and the emperor thought he would drown in the violet depths of her eyes. “Would I ever be permitted to love you, my lord?” she shyly asked him. “Could one day I be allowed to admit to such feelings, my dear lord?”

“Gaius,” he said to her. “You may call me your lord Gaius.” Reaching up he stroked her pale cheek, marveling at the soft texture.

“But may I be granted the right to love you, my dear lord Gaius?” Shifra asked sweetly. The smile she offered him now was tremulous and bespoke a vulnerability that made the emperor want to protect this girl from anyone or anything who would seek to harm her.

“Aye, my beautiful and sweet treasure, you may love me,” he responded. “I do not believe any woman since my mother has ever loved me.”

“Surely that is not so, my lord Gaius! You have two beautiful wives who certainly love you.”

“Vilia and Anora?” The emperor laughed harshly. “Vilia likes the power that comes with being my first wife and the mother of my children. If she could gain more power, she would. As for Anora, our relationship began in lust and what little is left of it is still no more than that. Neither of them loves me.”

“Then I will love you, my dear lord Gaius,” Shifra said ingenuously. “You are my world now. I want no more than to be in your heart and in your arms.”

“In the most trying time I have ever faced, the Celestial Actuary has rewarded me by sending you to me, my treasure. It is surely a sign that my endeavors will continue to prosper. The moment I looked at you, Shifra, you had my heart. Treat it gently.”

“I am yours,” Shifra told him. “Everything I do will be for you, to please you. Only for you, my dear lord Gaius.”

And the emperor of Hetar smiled a smile that none before had ever seen.

5

KALIQ OF THE SHADOWS LOOKED into the Viewing Mirror and was pleased with what he saw. The beautiful girl Shifra was performing just as he and his brothers had hoped. Her genuine sweetness, her innocence and her incomparable sexual skills were already bewitching Gaius Prospero. Hetar’s plans for conquest would be held in check for a brief time while Gaius Prospero reveled in his newly revived ability to enjoy pleasures. As much as Kaliq had regretted undoing Lara’s curse upon the Hetarian overlord it had been necessary if Shifra was to succeed and the girl was well on her way. The emperor was as bedazzled as a youth with his first love.

For the moment, his first wife, Vilia, didn’t care. She was too busy riding Lord Jonah’s lusty cock. As for Anora, the Shadow Princes had curbed her jealousy by giving her a rather uncomfortable and most stubborn rash that at first kept her sexual organs in a heated and itchy state. And just when Anora had managed to get this difficulty under control, the rash appeared anew upon her breasts, belly and face in the form of hard purple and red bumps that when they broke, oozed stinking yellow and green pus. Anora closeted herself within her chambers allowing no one but a single unfortunate servant to share in her misery.

Kaliq could not help but chuckle although he felt a small frisson of guilt. It was a harsh punishment, but Anora had a talent for mischief, especially when she felt she was being thwarted. If she irritated the emperor enough he would leave Shifra and all of his women, returning to his plans to go to war against Terah. The only thing that could stop him would be Lara’s return and that, Kaliq knew, was many months away. The Shadow Princes and the Forest Faeries would do what they must to keep the tenuous peace among the various worlds. And so Anora suffered a plethora of bumps and rashes keeping her from Gaius Prospero who was so besotted by Shifra he wanted nothing more than to be in her company all day and all night long.

Vilia, at her villa in the Outlands province, had a corps of spies among the imperial household who reported to her as necessary. She quickly learned of her husband’s deepening passion for the slave girl, Shifra, and considered how best to use it to her advantage. Vilia was a beautiful woman, with thick, lustrous, dark brown hair and amber eyes. Her best feature was her flawless creamy skin. She had given Gaius Prospero his only son and two daughters, but her form was still shapely. She was some years his junior, and he had divorced a wife to wed her. Hetarian law allowed a man of wealth to have as many wives as they wanted, but most of the magnates kept only two or three and usually cast off older wives to take younger.

When she had agreed to marry Gaius Prospero, who in those days was the head of the Guild of Merchants, Vilia had asked of him but one thing and he had agreed for he had been in love with her then. He could take no other wife without her express approval. And he had wanted no other wives until he had met Anora, a fair beauty, who plied her trade in one of The City’s finest Pleasure Houses. Vilia had agreed to his desire for Anora as she had long ago become bored with her husband and she had secretly taken a lover. A dangerous lover.