Greeting my Fellow Readers!
I hope the start of this week has been good. Mine has been alright for the most parts. Besides still dragging that one project, I have already completed a second one and will be doing a gardening book soon. I can't wait!
Please enjoy the next update as Saasha makes a very uncomfortable offer to Pura. For those of you that missed it, there was an update in the Introduction Chapters. If you want to know more about Saasha and her more direct family, you can have a read here
Pura had barely managed to complete his shower and get dressed before an urgent message was brought to him. The page seemed pale and nervous, and it took him a few minutes to calm down enough to say anything to his king.
“I was told to tell you that you have a message of great importance.” said the young man. “In the communications room.”
“Could this not have waited until after breakfast.” mumbled the tired human king.
“I was told to run here and simply state that the Saith have a message of importance for you.”
That woke Pura instantly. “Oh, what can it be now? I have halted all the fighting, there cannot be anything else that we are possibly doing wrong to have them bothering us again.”
He sighed and then said. “Please make sure that the trading guild is still keeping up with peaceful trading. The last thing I need is a race that is suddenly addicted to caffeine not getting their fix.”
“At once.” the boy spun and left his room.
Grumbling under his breath Pura made his way to the communications room. He had spent the majority of the previous day trying to convince Doran or Karesh to return to be his aids, but both had flatly ignored him. Doran had simply taken the call, and listened for about a minute to what the king had to say before simply putting the call down. Karesh had stoically listened to all the way to the end before shaking his head and giving the call over to Myla. She had agreed to help the tiring King who was now in charge of a race that was torn over the decision he had had to make. One he deeply regretted but could do nothing about. She said that she would arrive in the coming days. Even with that one small victory Pura was not prepared to have a talk with the Saith.
As he wandered the halls of the near-empty castle, he wondered who would be the one to talk to him. Mertz Iron Head of the Guard or some other soldier he was yet to meet. Perhaps he would be able to finally talk face to face with the King of Saith whom he had exchanged letters before but had not spoken to directly. Either way, he was truly in no mood.
Eventually, he made his way to where the communications room was and there several rather panicked men and women were standing around looking somewhat fearful. One simply gave a printed message to Pura and then brought a chair for him to sit down. At first, he wasn’t sure why but when he read who had signed the letter, he was glad to have the chair close by. He sat down heavily and dropped the letter before he rubbed his eyes furiously.
“When did this message arrive?” he sighed.
“A few minutes before we sent the boy to wake you.” said a worried-looking man.
“Establish contact with the Saith then leave me. I will deal with this alone.”
“But Your Majesty…”
“No buts! I will not have an incident occur now that we are this close to ending this bloodlust between our two species. Now do it!”
While those around him worked Pura was trying to mentally prepare himself for what was to come. He had had a game plan if it had been the soldier or the young king, but he was not prepared for what he was about to face. He only looked up as the door next to him clicked closed. He was alone with a giant monitor above his head. Right now, it was only showing static but soon the image of a Saith appeared, and it was one with a grin that seemed to only extend to a single eye.
“Well then Lord Pura, seems that you are an early riser. I was worried that I had the planetary time zones confused when your people said you were still sleeping.”
“Greetings, Your Majesty,” said Pura, not sure of how the royal titles worked on the Saith planets. “I am somewhat surprised that it is you that I am talking to, Queen Saasha. I expected...”
“Mertz or Brucel? No, they have other things they need to arrange and well, I wanted a private word with you. Things I want to talk about that I am not ready to share with either of them at this point.” the Queen was sitting with her feet propped up on a table and held a photo up. “Tell me, do you acknowledge this person as being human?”
She spun the picture around and Pura paled when he recognized Saita’s face. She looked like she had been through hell. Four fresh scars had been added to her face and her usually bright eyes looked dull and somewhat mildly annoyed that a photo had to be taken. He must have been staring at the photo for longer than he had intended because Saasha cleared her throat and repeated the question. “Is this person human?”
“She is.” he choked. “She is a full-blooded human.”
“Good, good. Says her name is S-AY-8-A, for a moment I thought she may be one of those, what do you call them? I can’t think of the human word for it...man robots?”
“Saita is not an android.” he snapped.
“Ah! So, you are acquainted with one another. She isn’t too chatty about her connection to humans.”
Pura had been king long enough to know when a hidden barb was within a comment, so he remained silent and didn’t offer any more.
“Saita, you called her. Isn’t that the name of Karesh’s daughter? The one that started the war?”
“How did you come across that photo?” asked Pura quietly.
“Standard protocol when people come to our planet. We find that people of all sorts try to avoid trouble when their image is circulated to all of our enforcers.”
Pura felt his annoyance now change to anger as he asked. “What is Saita doing on your planet?”
“Not quite sure as to why you want to know. Were you not the one that banished her from human lands to wander the universe? Why would it matter that she is on my planet?”
He wasn’t sure how that sort of news would have reached the Queen of the Saith but with Bolx coming to look for Saita he wasn’t surprised. At first, he wanted to blame the boy for tricking him and taking Saita away from the only home she had ever known but he knew deep down he knew that he had been a willing participant.
“What do you want?” he asked the Queen as he rubbed his eyes.
“I’m not quite sure what it is you are asking.”
“Is she your captive or not?”
Saasha laughed and leaned so far back in her chair that Pura was convinced that she was going to fall over.
“Captive? The girl comes and goes as she pleases. Why would I imprison someone who has committed no crime except to save some people?”
This time the barb found its intended mark and Pura blushed heavily. Saasha put the picture on the table and continued. “I am not usually of the habit of picking up what others throw out but…”
“Enough!” Pura roared and slammed his fists down on the armrests. “I do not have to take this from you.”
He made to shut the communication off when Saasha crossed her arms and said, “The boy. How is he doing?”
Pura paused, sighed heavily and knew where this was going. “She isn’t allowed to talk to me, so she speaks through you?”
“Not at all. I am just curious if you are bothering to protect the only thing, she has left that still has value in her life.”
“The boy is safe but what do you want? Your words are like venom to me.”
“The girl is here to compete in the Saith Games. She has spent the majority of two years fighting to the rank of S-class and I felt it was an opportunity to reach out and make amends.” Saasha rocked her chair back and forth for a few minutes before saying. “Bolx tells me that you know.”
“Did he now? Was this a ploy to get your hands on her?”
“No Pura. I didn’t even know the girl truly existed until Bolx asked me to sponsor her. I have seen what she is capable of, and I am astounded at the technology that brought her to this point. But that is not why I am contacting you today. It is customary to invite the ruling person of a foreign fighter to my planet for the Saith Games. For three years the Games had been cancelled so this is going to be momentous.” she stopped rocking back and forth to look him in the face. “So? How much has your heart softened? And how much are you willing to risk?”
“Excuse me?”
“Will you come to my planet and make the amends that should have been done at the end of the war instead of us pussyfooting around trying to sign peace papers?” Saasha scratched at her covered eye. “Saita is not happy that I am asking this of you because of the harsh words you used. She was hoping to compete and leave. I am hoping that she does too, but I want her returned to you.”
“I banished her, never to speak to or set foot upon human soil. She can never return.”
“Unless you decree it.” Saasha set her feet to the ground and said simply. “We do not have time to squabble over a war neither of us wanted. Either you give the girl her home back or I will make use of the potential she has. It is that simple. I will give you a week to think about it.”
“Now hold on…”
“I wouldn’t mind meeting Karesh face to face, but I doubt it would be a good idea for him to come to the planet. Perhaps bring the girl’s mother or someone she had a connection with.”
“I can’t just make these decisions by myself. We have rules that need to be abided by, if I simply just go back on what I said…”
“Then you will lose her forever and the Serpent will consume all of us.”
Well now. Those of you who know Saasha will know that she doesn't panic. She is a soldier, a warrior, and a level headed ruler. The Fell Dragon greatly concerns her, and if she has access to a weapon to protect her people, she'll use it. It's up to Pura to decide whether her is willing to take her up on her offer or to let Saita go. I guess you'll all have to join us again as the story unfolds more.
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
Start of Book 3 here
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
Saasha’s Direct Family
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Haven't read the other parts yet? Follow these handy links:
Part 20>>You are Here>>Part 22