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wide.
    There was no missing the satisfied gleam in his mother’s eyes. “Peel his armor off.”
    “Love you, too, mum.”
    She didn’t respond as they tried, only to learn it was held in place by the spell he’d put on it inAvalon. Since his magick was now missing, he couldn’t have taken it off if he’d wanted to. “It won’t come off.”
    She narrowed her eyes on him as she crossed the floor and tried to remove it herself.
    “I’m not that stupid, mum.”
    Shrieking, she struck him hard against his back, forcing him forward so that his arms were wrenched by the chains. She turned to the others. “Fine, then, fetch us two mandrakes and sledgehammers.”
    Varian forced himself not to react to that. He had to give her credit. Even in armor, a sledgehammer would hurt. Given the fact that it would be wielded by a mandrake—a half-human, half-dragon fey creature, it would hurt a lot.
    He locked gazes with her, but there was no compassion to be found there. Not that he’d expected it. No Adoni had ever possessed an ounce of maternal instinct. It just wasn’t in their genes.
    “You might as well kill me now, mum. I won’t join you.”
    She ran a cold finger down his cheek and eyed him as if measuring his strength. “You say that now, Varian. Let’s see what you say in a few hours.”
    “I will still say it.”
    The door opened to show him two large, stout mandrakes. As was typical of their breed, they were extremely tall and well muscled. Their silver eyes flashed with eagerness as they took thesledgehammers out of the hands of the servants who came in behind them.
    Varian pulled against the chains and tried to use his magick to get out of this, but it was useless.
    His mother tsked. “Words are so easy to say. Now, let’s have a go at that conviction of yours.”
    And as the first mandrake slammed his hammer down on Varian’s shoulder and he felt it all the way to the marrow of his bones, he knew this was going to be a seriously long day.

Chapter 4
    “Are you ready, chit?”
    Merewyn looked away from the mirror at the sound of Narishka’s voice. She’d been mentally preparing herself for this for hours. Her job was to seduce Varian, which, given how randy the Adoni were as a rule, seemed an easy enough task.
    The only part that gave her pause was the fact that she’d never been touched by any man. Her father had kept her carefully sequestered as a child, and once Narishka had turned her ugly, her father had cast her out, and no man would look at her, never mind touch her.
    But that didn’t matter. Her virginity was a small price to pay for freedom.
    “I’m ready.”
    “Good.” Narishka motioned her to follow. “Now remember, you have to weaken him. He’s strong. Too damned strong, honestly. I doubt we’ll gethim to break without you. Your goal is to be nice to him. Take him food and water.”
    Merewyn paused at the unexpected order. “Am I not supposed to do more than that, mistress?”
    “No.”
    Still, she was baffled. “I thought you wanted me to seduce him.”
    Her brow furrowed in aggravation, Narishka turned on her with an impatience that would normally result in a vicious slap. But her mistress must have feared marring her face. “That is seducing him, chit. Trust me.”
    Trust her? That would never happen.
    But as she started after her mistress again, she was greatly relieved by this turn of events. When Narishka had said “seduce,” she’d naturally assumed intercourse. This bargain was looking better and better.
    Merewyn frowned as they started down the back stairs that led to the dungeons. Fear shot through her as the hallway narrowed, and she could hear the screams and pleas of those being tortured.
    Was Narishka lying to her? Servants who came down here seldom returned, and the last thing she wanted was to die in one of Morgen’s torture rooms. “Why are we going this way?”
    Narishka raised her arm as if to strike her, then caught herself. “Relax, simpkin. This is where