Prologue
The planet Serange
The Golden Age
The Kingdom of Dxyriah—Castle Ashmir
“How peaceful our city seems when only a few months ago the cries of our people echoed with pain and despair,” a soft, feminine voice murmured.
Rah Blevinstoke, the most formidable Baron of Princess Shilah Symonrah’s remaining supporters, felt arrested at the sound of his former lover’s sensual tones. He missed everything about Megladine and coming to meet her now was highly perilous. But hearing her voice made him think the risk was worth it, though, if he could convince her to aid his cause would be the true reward.
He considered the facade of peace and prosperity that blanketed their kingdom. He moved a few paces forward on the stone ledge jutting from the caves beneath their castle, which was built on the highest mountain of their nation. He peered down to the thousands of glass, steel, crystal, and crystalline sky-towering buildings below. A hovercraft flew by, the Dxyrian blue and purple symbol of peace prominently emblazoned on the side of the sleek silver aircraft. A deliberate move by their new ruler, Crown Prince Quan, a hopeful reminder to the people that he governed with peace, fairness, and love. They should scrub from their memories that only three months ago, bodies had dropped from the castle in the sky, and blood had stained the mountains and the steel-plated streets as he had overthrown the Symonrah bloodline’s rule, slaughtering dozens.
“I will not forgive the pain Prince Quan has caused,” Rah murmured. A piercing agony lived and breathed inside his chest, one he feared would never abate. “And I do not accept him as our prince.” Without glancing at the woman by his side, he held out a robe stained with blood. “This belongs to our Princess Shilah who is the rightful ruler of Dxyriah. I want you to see if you can read her.”
Megladine inhaled sharply and glanced around furtively, her left hand dropping to the high-power beam anchored at her hips. A dangerous weapon only a few were certified to carry, and which had the power to melt his insides from a single blast. A hollow ache formed inside his chest that she would even dare to rest her hand on its grip.
“You’ve been searching for Princess Shilah? Rah, that is treasonous!” she hissed, and unaccountably the fear in her tone soothed the jagged pain tearing at his insides. Her concern for his wellbeing meant she still cared, that he might convince her to render aid.
He shifted closer to her, subtly inhaling her scent of ripe peaches and the woman herself. He glanced at her and for a moment could not remove his eyes as the sight of her lush figure clad in a yellow sari woke memories of passion in his mind. Her fair skin reminding him of its softness, her rich midnight black hair like silk between his fingers, her lips full and moist on his. Their eyes met, and her light blue orbs radiated with awareness.
“We shouldn’t, we mustn’t…we can’t.” Her fear was evident, and he hated it. Another testament to the veneer of peace in which their kingdom was shrouded.
Although they were ensconced within the caves underneath the castle, spies lurked in every corner, and it was not the right time to be found conspiring. Several layers of rocks formed the caves, and solidified crystals, and ice covered the floor. They should hear if anyone approached.
Their kingdom was in turmoil, the ruling family had been brutally executed, and the reign of the realm had been wrested from Princess Shilah before she’d even ascended to the throne. The sun dipped, slipping lower and lower in the sky before disappearing behind the mountains and the Black Sea. The steel and glass city below slowly glowed with light as the respective Prime Sentient Intelligence (PSI)-1.5, which powered and governed each household, illuminated them. Their capital was still unsure of the new order, for nary a hover zipped through the air, most of their denizens staying at home. Everything had changed when the crown prince had allowed greed to fester in his heart and rule his actions.
“My family has served the Symonrah family for over two thousand years,” Rah said, choosing his words carefully. “Seventy other Barons and myself pledged our lives, powers, and beams to Princess Shilah. The threat of death will not stop me from serving her. Our princess cares for her people and serves their needs and not her desires. The K’tair house has been loyal for years. The loyalty that’s borne from love and not fear or hatred. I cannot credit that you would so easily forget your vows of allegiance, love, and respect. Now, will you help, Megladine K’tair?”
She seemed to consider his request for several moments before a troubled sigh slipped from her lips. “You believe her to be alive, along with Princess Kala?”
The last sighting of Princess Shilah with her younger sister Princess Kala had been near the border leading into the Kingdom of O’andor. The reports said Princess Shilah had held a dying Princess Kala clutched in her arms, and when the ruler of O’andor, Crown Prince Tarik tried to take her, Princess Shilah had ripped into his mind and almost taken his life. The prince had teleported to his kingdom’s medical unit to save himself. No one had seen her since. “I hope it,” he said softly, not speaking aloud how desperately he had been hoping and praying to all the gods his princesses lived.
Megladine faced him, touching his arms lightly. “Rah, if she is alive we must report it.”
“We will not. And if you betray my confidence, I will end your life.” And it was one of the most painful things he had ever vowed, for he loved Megladine with every emotion in his heart.
The slight figure before him trembled, and he could feel her pain. He was sorry for it, but it could not be helped. His loyalty must always be first with the Symonrah family. He had been searching for their princesses now for three moons, and desperation turned him to his former lover, the one person he had vowed to stay away from during these turbulent times.
He glanced away from the tears pooling in her eyes toward the vast beauty of the Black Sea. Megladine was a foreseer, a rare designation for a Serangite, each of the three kingdoms of their realm possessing less than one hundred seers combined. Megladine was one of the most powerfu