Greetings all!
I am so glad this week is finally over! It has been a long week of constant rewrites for a book that the client just isn't happy with. I think my confidence has taken a hell of a blow because of how argumentative the client has been.
Oh well, at least I have my fiction to keep me happy, and a new project on the horizon. I can't wait to be done with this disaster!
Anyway, today is a short update, because I couldn't combine it with the next section without it becoming way too long-winded! More of Saasha's blood family is revealed at this point. I know many of you won't know of them yet, but this weekend I plan to work on Saasha's family line, which should make it significantly easier to follow who is who. But for now, enjoy this update!
Many of her advisors had been surprised by her proposal of a foreign troop in her Royal Guard but surprisingly none of them were against it. That was what had surprised Saasha the most. They were open to the idea. Clearly, her uncle’s hard work all those years ago was still paying off. Saasha had hoped that Saita would be thrilled at the idea, but the girl had had no idea what it was Saasha had been offering and it had taken several minutes to explain to her what it meant. Saita had asked for time to think on the matter and Saasha had granted that to her. She left the young woman to have a shower while she returned to the castle.
As Saasha got older, she found that she couldn’t sleep well at night and often found herself wandering the nights away. Much to both sets of parents’ dismay who hated the fact that she was wandering around at night with no protection. Inevitably one of the triplets was hot on her tail and today it looked like Gatex had pulled the short straw. Of the three he was the one that was the most silent and managed to meld with shadows nearly perfectly, now if only he could be broken of his habit of smoking when he wasn’t working.
“I can smell you Gatex,” she said softly as she walked.
She heard a chuckle off to her right. “Nothing gets past you, even at your age.”
Saasha snorted and said. “Age nothing, dear baby brother, you stink of your usual brand. I thought you quit.”
“Our brother died, so sue me.” the thin Saith exited from the shadow and killed his cigarette on the trunk of a tree.
Once he was sure that it was dead, he placed it in the pocket of his pants and grinned. “Fine evening for a walk Sister, shall I accompany you back to the palace?”
“If you wish,” she said as she half bowed to him.
Gatex curled his golden tail around his body and made to reach for another cigarette from behind his one ear when Saasha half growled at him. He shrugged his shoulders and instead put his hands in his pockets to continue walking with his eldest sister.
“Have you gone to see him yet?” asked Saasha as she looked at the twin moons.
“Who? The one that says he is Bolx?”
Saasha ignored the bitterness in Gatex’s voice and said softly. “It is Bolx. He is our brother, but he is not from here.”
“Can I speak as your brother and not a subject?” asked Gatex as he looked at his sister with his blue eyes.
“These are family matters, so I suppose so yes.”
“Are you God damned insane!” he demanded loud enough to have a few houses on Saasha’s left to turn lights on.
“Likely but you will need to jog my memory as to why I am insane this time?” Saasha grinned.
“He looks, sounds, and acts like Bolx but he is not Bolx. I pulled Bolx and his family from the rubble. He was dead. There is no coming back from that. This time travel garbage is something this man has made up to get in your good books. He is not Bolx and nothing he says or does will ever convince me of him being my brother.”
“So, then your answer is no. You have not gone to see him.”
“No, I have not.”
“You haven’t even bothered to follow him, have you?” Saasha stretched her arms to the heavens to stretch her sore back. “If you had you would know what I and Father already know.”
Gatex remained silent but removed a hand to fiddle with the cigarette behind his ear. “I haven’t even told Siar yet.”
“She’ll be back soon and then she can decide for herself.”
“You are not going to force us to bond with him, are you?”
“As you said Gatex, you were the one that dug his family from the ruins. You were the one that arranged the funeral so that none of us had to. You witnessed that horrific scene so that we didn’t have to. Siar was busy with her training and wasn’t here to grieve with us. You two are the ones that need to decide if you want to reach out. Father has made up his mind, as has most of my side of the family. I will not force you, our sister, or our mother to make a choice in how you want to go about treating Bolx. He will not reach out to you for fear of rejection, which is all he has known since he came here. All I ask is that you do not cause trouble.”
“What of this human?”
“Why don’t you tell me? You think I don’t notice those expense sheets being slipped in between your other work receipts?"
Gatex blushed, cleared his throat and said. “Well, I am a spy dear Sister.”
“So, what else have you found out?”
“She indeed has a young son, about six at this point. He has been shunted around from family member to family member in the human court as no one knows what to do with him. From what I have gathered he is spending time with Barik and his human wife as of this moment.”
“Kiai, her name is easy to say.”
“I was thinking of dropping a message to Barik to let him know about the Games, but I have a feeling you have something up your sleeve. I hear whispers that you want the girl on your Guard to keep an eye on her.”
“You do work fast Brother.” Saasha laughed. “There are various reasons why I took this approach. Anyway, did you look into what I asked of you?”
“The Dekai Edzeeker is a real person but gathering information about him has been somewhat difficult. He hides in dead worlds.” Gatex twirled the cigarette between his fingers. “Those are not places I can travel to and not be noticed immediately. If he's anything like Jethron then he will sniff me out quickly if he hasn’t already.”
“You think he is onto you?”
“I think he knows you are keeping tags on him because of Bolx.” Gatex then hissed under his breath. “Him.”
“I thought that would be the case.” she sighed.
They walked in silence for a moment or two before Gatex said. “He is nervous Saasha, and I am starting to see why.”
“Explain.”
“Dead worlds are nothing new. They happen all the time but there are more and more, and they are coming closer towards us. Something is draining the resources and life from these planets, forcing people to more highly populated planets. I’m under the distinct impression that life is being herded towards a central point.”
“Like a last stand?”
“Mom says it isn’t nice to read people’s minds.” snapped Gatex.
“I was a warrior long before I was Queen Brother. I know a herding strategy when I see one.” snapped Saasha. “It is just as Bolx explained with what happened to his time.”
Gatex, ignoring his sister's earlier growl stuck the cigarette in his mouth and lit it with some energy he pulled from the air. Saasha sighed loudly but he continued to ignore her as he took a long drag before blowing out several rings of smoke. He seemed to be thinking.
“Edzeeker will either come for the girl or the boy,” he said. “The humans are moving the boy so that he can never figure out where he is but you, you made it publicly known that a human of great strength is fighting in the Games. It is likely that the Dekai will show up here. Is that something you think you can manage?”
Saasha slapped the back of Gatex’s head, and he nearly dropped his cigarette. He knew better than to retaliate and simply shrugged off the assault but stood a few steps from his sister.
“I am not that decrepit that I can’t handle a single Dekai,” she growled. “But then again, having some backup would be nice. Time to have your nephew make an appearance. If he doesn’t know who Edzeeker is, then likely Sedeath will.”
“If this creature is a time traveller how would Sedeath know him?”
“That is an answer I am very much dreading.”
Stay turned for the next update, as Saasha will be addressing Pura about her intent with Saita. Keep in mind, the human king has no idea where his cousin is and has been looking for her. Should be a fun conversation.
For those of you just joining us, please note that this the third book in the Fell Dragon series. Follow this link to read the two earlier books:
Fell Dragon Book 1
Fell Dragon Book 2
As the series continues, it will combine with another book series I wrote. To avoid confusion about what is happening, introductory chapters will be introduced separately so that you don't have to be lost. However, these chapters will contain spoilers. You can find these chapters here:
Races Explained
Banishment
Royal Guard
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Haven't read the other parts yet? Follow these handy links:
Part 19>>You are Here>>Part 21