While he was still a few houses away, Evan stopped, set down his toolbox, and reached into his back pocket for his work gloves. He’d performed this ritual ever since the events with the Eye Patch and Lillian, every time he went out in public. This ritual, this covering up of the shimmering mark on…
Katherine Gold walked up the steps of her front porch, crossed the veranda, and placed her hand on the knob. She paused. Her mind was hit with the vision that likely waited to greet her. For months it has been the same thing and decomposing with each day. Her once bold and principled and courageous…
The sun was dipping below the horizon when Keetha arrived at Amnon’s home. He opened the door, looked at her, and whispered, “Are you alone?” Keetha smirked and made a show of looking down both ends of the very empty corridor before saying, “I think so,” she took a step forward, but Amnon didn’t budge….
The drone of the normal office activity was a comfort to Amnon as he strode toward his new office. Keetha was already at her desk looking very productive. He wanted to catch her eye to see if his memory of the night before had been a wacky dream, though his mind didn’t register it with…
Amnon Saxe found it impossible to focus on his work, his mind consumed by his encounter with Lillian. He retreated to his office, realizing that the more he engaged with the outside world, the sooner he would reveal what Lillian had asked of him – and what he had agreed to. Time slipped away as…
Zungher Dol sat slumped in his chair, looking at his reporting device. The images that flashed back showed the interrogation of Princess Lillian. When Lillian clawed Saw Yatha’s face, he reflexively chuckled. Suddenly concerned he might have forgotten someone in the office with him, Zungher swiveled his head to ensure he was alone. When that…
Once Amnon’s hand came in contact with Lillian’s, his mind was transported far away from the prison and far back in his memory. His vision was taken to a time just before he entered the prison service. Amnon was home, and his father had just returned from work. He couldn’t make out what anyone said,…
The next morning, Amnon Saxe was pressed and ready the moment Saw Yatha entered the prison facility. To keep publicity and gossip as low as possible it was arranged that Saw would enter from the docks at the rear of the building. The added advantage of this plan was that it placed Saw and Amnon…
It had been three cycles that Amnon and Keetha had been seeing each other over lamp light and a quiet meal. Three cycles of swapping stories and dreaming together. If one is observant, three cycles are plenty of time to notice if someone is distracted or on edge. Amnon rested his utensil on his plate…
It was, however, not until the next morning that Saw’s meeting with Chieftan Dol could take place. And Saw was not comforted by how the meeting began, for it was apparently not to be a private meeting between him and his Supreme Leader, but also with Amnon Saxe. “All hail the conquering hero!” Zunger Dol…
