Kynon, at the head of the pack, hadn’t even heard the men before he’d rounded the corner and run straight into them. One night, the evening before the old duke’s birthday, they had been rushing down one of the narrow corridors in the keep. The birthday celebrations didn’t interest any of them, and they were very soon the scourge of Hailon Castle. After a few days of awkward overtures, they were all fast friends, politics forgotten. He’d been no older than thirteen or fourteen at the time and thrilled by the rumor that the fearsome warlord Brasius would be attending.īored with pageantry, Kynon had fallen in with a group of boys around his age. There had been dignitaries from more countries, kingdoms, and principalities than Kynon could count. Kynon and his mother had attended as the official representatives of Caralis. It had been in the duchy of Hailon, for the old duke’s birthday. Not today, though, Kynon thought regretfully. The Segasan senators had a wolf on a leash, Reiner had scoffed, and it would turn on them one day. That was what he was, everyone said, even though he ostensibly served the senate of Segasa. He wore simple, utilitarian clothes when he could have dressed like an emperor. The warlord was clean-shaven, lean and muscular. He was only in his early forties, impressive for a man who had conquered half the world.

Brasius did not look as terrible as his reputation.

Kynon risked a look at the man who was going to kill him.

Readers with a history of rape or sexual abuse may find elements of this story disturbing. It also contains explicit sexual content, graphic language, and situations that some readers may find objectionable: strong BDSM theme and elements, dubious consent, violence. Publisher's Note: This book is primarily LGBT m/m but contains one or more scenes of m/f sexual interaction. And, to be the tribute that Brasius wants him to be, Kynon will have to defy all the traditions of Segasa and risk the wrath of the senate that really holds his chains. On an enforced journey of self-discovery, Kynon learns that being the warlord’s tribute isn’t just about submission. The warlord might just want the man underneath: the prince, the soldier and the tribute, if Kynon can figure out who that is. He can live with the shame it’s the mind-blowing pleasure that frightens him.īut the warlord wants more than a tribute who will respond eagerly to whips and bondage. If his slavery will save his father’s kingdom, then he will be a slave and submit to every indignity the warlord and the senate of Segasa require of him. When the fearsome warlord Brasius chooses Kynon as his tribute, Kynon tells himself it’s the price of peace, and that he can endure anything.

Tribute by Lisa Henry