“You don’t look well,” Keetha said. “I’m sure I don’t,” Amnon replied, resting himself on the edge of his desk. He could feel the adrenaline flowing through his body. It hadn’t let up since he left Saw. He gripped the desk’s edge to keep his hands from shaking. Amnon wanted to appear strong for Keetha,…
Amnon Saxe entered the Chieftain’s office in the morning, unprepared for what he saw. Presumably, he had been called into a meeting with Zungher Dol himself of a matter so sensitive that the meeting needed to happen face-to-face and as soon as possible. Amnon had pushed all other appointments aside and rushed his schedule to…
Saw Yatha watched Dol’s interview with Lillian with disgust. His device alerted him to the cell’s activity a few minutes after it began. All of Saw’s suspicions of his Supreme Leader came into sharp focus. Saw had installed the hololens in Lillian’s cell during her first day on trial. He’d hoped he would be able…
Zungher Dol sat in his desk chair mindlessly flicking his thumbnail with his index nail. His lap cradled his device, on which showed the pasty visage of Saw Yatha flaunting his pride outside the courthouse. Saw was busy responding to the Department of Communication representatives about his testimony. This event was being framed as a…
Evan regarded Keetha’s demeanor. He knew he was in trouble, but he couldn’t imagine why. That’s not true; he would assume he was in trouble for getting outside without permission, but there was no way they knew where he’d gone. Even if they had the best surveillance system he could imagine, there hadn’t been time…
Escaping the safehouse for the first time since being deposited there, Evan was grateful to get away from Katherine and to get some fresh air. The air was crisp, and the streets quiet. Evan stood on the stoop for a few minutes, finally taking in the scope of Merlain’s capitol for the first time. The…
“Would you state your name and position for the record keeper?” the court representative asked. “Saw Yatha. Former Director of Prisons.” With his one good eye, Saw surveyed the courtroom. He’d never had this vantage point before. It was different than he’d imagined, but it was far from unpleasant. Every eye and every ear in…
Morning came much too early for Katherine Gold. It had been the first rest she’d had since allowing Evan to touch his mark to hers. Since that instant, she’d been dragged from one strange and frightening room to the next with hardly a moment of peace in between to get her mind around the reality…
Amnon sat silently next to Keetha as he navigated the transport to the outskirts. The day had been a success as far as his superiors knew. Lillian’s trial had begun without incident, which was the biggest thing to them, but being transported to and from her prison cell safely was the biggest thing to Amnon. …
As for Zungher Dol, he focused very little on the start of Princess Lillian’s trial that morning. He kept to his regular routine (awakened by staff at dawn, the first meal eaten alone where he could read that day’s briefing device, and then head into his office where he would spend the rest of the…
