Creature Comforts

CREATURE COMFORTS CELESTE KING PROTHEKA PUBLISHING Copyright © 2023 by Celeste King All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any electronic or mechanical means, including information storage and retrieval systems, without written permission from the author, except for the use of brief quotations in a book review. Sign up for my newsletter at https://www.subscribepage.com/celesteking Join my Facebook group here! DEDICATION This book is dedicated to Kaylee, Emily, Taylor, Jordon, Melanie, Jamie, Jennifer, Hannah, Donna and the whole “Project Protheka” family. Thanks for believing in the world. CONTENTS Books in The World of Protheka The World of Protheka 1. Deknol 2. Poppy 3. Deknol 4. Poppy 5. Deknol 6. Poppy 7. Deknol 8. Poppy 9. Deknol 10. Poppy 11. Deknol 12. Poppy 13. Deknol 14. Poppy 15. Deknol 16. Poppy 17. Deknol 18. Poppy 19. Deknol 20. Poppy 21. Deknol 22. Poppy 23. Deknol 24. Poppy 25. Deknol 26. Poppy 27. Deknol 28. Poppy 29. Deknol 30. The Deceiver Preview of Mated to the Dark Elf 31. Amelie 32. Kral Ishiraya 33. Amelie 34. Kral Ishiraya BOOKS IN THE WORLD OF PROTHEKA Orc Warriors of Protheka Series Mates of the Burning Sun Clan Series Dark Elves of Protheka Series Thoruk’s Prize: A Monster Romance Naga’s of Protheka Series Minotaur’s of Protheka Series Demon’s of Protheka Series Vampires of Protheka Gargoyles of Protheka THE WORLD OF PROTHEKA 1 DEKNOL “You won’t do anything! You’re cowards! Mindless slaves to the khuzuth!” I scream. “The evidence speaks for itself!” I’m standing in the guard station, arguing with two of the guards and feeling like I’m getting nowhere. I ball my hands into fists. “Arrest the monster! We all know it was Arshico! He killed my sister! He killed her!” The guards roll their eyes at me, refusing to listen to reason. “You have no evidence, zagfer,” Fibulvo says, sneering at the word. “You would try to drag down a respectable k’sheng!” “She told everyone she felt unsafe working for him!” I argue back, ready to beat the guards into listening if I have to. “No one did anything about it! Do your damned jobs and arrest him!” “Where is the evidence?” Grendral raises an eyebrow. “Show me a shred of evidence.” “She told me that he was harassing her and wouldn’t take no for an answer!” I say, seething inside. “She felt unsafe! Next thing I know, she’s disappeared? That doesn’t sound like a coincidence.” “It’s obvious you’re simply trying to further your standing,” Fibulvo scoffs. “You’re nothing but a stain on the carpet next to someone as respectable as Arshico.” Grendral’s eyebrows narrow as he speaks up. “Your sister probably just ran off with some wealthy elf to be his kept whore,” he sneers. “You bastards!” I hiss, narrowing my eyes as I try to hold myself back from lashing out. “You are content to sit there and do nothing, acting as though you have no duty to those lower than you because you’re part of the miou. Your job is to apply the law equally to all! You’ve become useless because you’re too cowardly to speak out against those above you!” “The k’sheng are hardly above us,” Grendral laughs. “As miou, even the lowliest of guards has a higher standing than the wealthiest k’sheng.” “Status is all you care about!” I point my finger at them. “As the warrior caste, your job is to protect the rest of us! You care to do nothing for my sister simply because she is a “lowly zagfer”, a servant! You’re dripirs! Nothing but filthy dripirs!” I scream. “And you’re a gutter rodan,” Fibulvo snarls. “Always skittering amongst the refuse. You and your lot are all the same. You would try to advance your station by any means possible. We know this about you. Don’t deny that you’ve tried to accuse someone of improper behavior before, Deknol Warthizec.” “That was different,” I say, running my hands through my hair. I’m getting nowhere and it’s only driving my frustration higher. “He stole from my mother and no one believed me. But I told the truth then and I’m telling it now!” “Please. Get out of here with your wild accusations. You must really have a death wish to speak out against a hard-working merchant,” Fibulvo shakes his head at me. “He murdered my sister!” I shout, making a scene. Everyone around us is listening intently to the conversation. I hope my accusations get back to Arshico. I hope he knows that I know what he did. “Her blood is on your hands if you do nothing! You’ll be just as guilty! The gods will smite you down where you stand for letting a murderer go unpunished!” “That’s enough!” Grendral bellows. “Time to dump the pathetic rodan back into the gutter.” He and Fibulvo advance on me, grabbing me by the arms and hauling me backwards through the station and out onto the street. “And stay out!” Fibulvo yells as they toss me onto the pavement. “Don’t you dare come back here with your wild accusations unless you have actual evidence!” Grendral shouts. “We’ll report you to the Aldrirs if you continue to ruffle feathers over this,” Fibulvo adds. I sneer at them, spitting in their direction before leaving, my thoughts racing and my heart aching beyond belief. Narnoni deserves better than this. She deserves justice dammit! Screw the miou. Screw the system. Things have always been stacked against us. We were born and raised here in Vhoig. Though our parents were poor, they gave us a happy childhood. Papa suddenly took ill when I was only fourteen and Narnoni was nine. Mam died two years later. We know she died because Papa was gone. He was the love of her life. I did the best I could to support the two of us but when Narnoni turned thirteen, she insisted on getting a job herself. It was painful to be away from her after years of it just