Sold AS The alpha King's Breeder

Sold as the Alpha King’s Breeder Chapter 819

Chapter 30 : No One Else but Me

The trio of maids tittered around me like little songbirds. They were used to my presence now, especially since we spent nearly four days at Aeris’s castle now. One of them was undoing the laces on my dress while the others tidied up my room. A lunch tray sat on the edge of my bed as I kept my hands on the desk by the windows, guarding the stolen treasures that I’d hidden in the drawer before the maids came in.

I played the role of docile, submissive, high-bred female as the maids continued their work. They gossiped as if I wasn’t standing there listening to their every word.

Someone within Aeris’s court was getting married soon, but there were rumors of a mistress causing issues for the betrothed couple. One of the kitchen maids had just found out she was pregnant, and was mum about who the father was. Two scullery maids had scrapped so badly one of them needed stitches and the other had a broken wrist. A warrior had been caught trying to steal from Aeris, and was currently in the dungeon, facing death.

So on, and so forth… nothing useful for my current situation, and nothing about the mystery behind Jared’s whereabouts the past day.

They left the room as quickly as they’d come after dressing me in what they called a “day dress,” which was really just a long skirt and tapered blouse. I let out the breath I’d been holding as I padded to the door, listening to their footsteps and chatter retreating down the hallway as I turned the lock.

I was starting to feel like a prisoner in this room. But, I was following Archer’s instructions. Lock the door. Stay inside. Wait.

Wait for what, exactly?

I took a deep breath, closing my eyes for a moment as I turned back to the desk. Gray afternoon light filtered through the windows. It was raining now, little specks of water speckling the glass. I walked to the windows and cracked open one of the panes, letting the sweet scent of a wet early spring day cut through the snug room against the smell of the wood burning in the hearth.

I’d snuck both the map and the Cryptex back to the room. It had been far too easy, and I knew without a doubt that Aeris wouldn’t know anything was missing. How could he? That place had been a mess. Just being in his vault had given me a terrible headache and had me choking on dust within minutes.

But I had a newfound curiosity about Aeris. Sure, he wanted to keep me here and use me as a breeder. He also had a treasure trove beneath his castle, artifacts and scrolls and books I’d never seen or heard of before. How had he acquired them? He obviously didn’t know what he had.

I pursed my lips as I caught my reflection in the full-length mirror across the room.

The little demon who my mother told me was permanently fixed on my shoulder said, ‘Would being his breeder really be all that bad if you had access to every shred of knowledge about the Dark Realm you desire?’

“What is wrong with you?” I told myself, shaking the thought from my mind.

I opened the desk drawer and gingerly pulled out the Cryptex, setting it on the desk before the powers within could penetrate my skin. I carefully lifted the map and laid it out flat over the desk, peering down at it.

It was a map of Egoren of course, but a very primitive version. Large chunks of the land were missing, likely unexplored during the time when the map was created. What was interesting about it was the script on the map, however.

The modern written language of the Dark Realm was the same as the Realm of Light. A few things were spelled differently or had different meanings, of course.

But the script on the map wasn’t any language I’d ever seen written before.

I took the scroll from the drawer and spent the next several hours matching up the symbols on the map to the symbols on the scroll, the lunch on the edge of my bed all but forgotten.

in code, a mix of two ancient written languages. I leaned back in my chair and rubbed my eyes, blinking back fatigue and

had no idea what I was even looking for, or why. I sighed as I flexed my aching hands. Everything would be fine once we were back in

turned around, staring at the

said, pounding on the door

the doorframe, panting as he looked down at me. My body tensed with sudden desire as his eyes met mine. It was

I saw his split lip

grabbed my arm and hurried me across the hallway into his room, where Brandt and Archer were waiting, all of them

a black eye, and Brandt’s nose was definitely broken, among a variety

from man to man before settling my gaze on Jared. “Is anyone going to

tonight,” Jared said, wiping a trickle of blood from

“…Why?”

weight like he was uncomfortable, his eyes still locked

asinine idea was this?” I choked,

said

a start as I glared at him, then Archer, and

on? Where the hell

we take care of some… business,” Jared said firmly as he straightened up and crossed his

“It looks like you’ve been taking care of business all

here, Eliza,” Brandt said, wincing a bit as I went rigid,

said through

what happened to you,” Jared cut in, taking a

chewed the inside of my cheek, then shook my head. Fear ripped through me, making

I asked, unable to stop my

his nose, nostrils flaring

all beat up?

was answer enough, “how you ended up at the breeder auction. The man says he has

myself. “He has the captain’s logs, but I went aboard under

gazes on me, unflinching. I knew I wasn’t getting out of this, not now. How much could I tell

my cousin

of a research team conducting an excavation at Dianny in the Southern Jungle, the southernmost tip of my realm.” I sucked in my breath, closing my eyes as the memories of that last day in my realm rushed back to me. “The people of Dianny were Lycaonic people. No one knew they

packed up and came here?”

in the capital,” I admitted, meeting Jared’s

colored momentarily but he maintained his composure, his arms crossed over his

I was told no. They made me promise. I went anyway. I boarded a trading vessel that was docked

asked flatly, not a single shred of emotion in his voice. He was all business, but I could see the