The Pale Waters (#1 Reclaimed Souls) (13 page)

“My Lady Rahda, I am Theodore Jaucey,
Roland’s uncle.”

So this is the uncle.

He may be beautiful to look at, but
something about the man makes me ill at ease. There’s a curl to his
lips, just the touch of a sneer that lets me know how he feels
about meeting me.

It feels best to remain quiet, so I only nod
in his direction.

The uncle turns his attention to the
nephew.

“Rexus,” he says unaffectionately, as if the
name itself is distasteful to him.

“Jaucey,” Roland says in return, just as
distastefully.

“So it’s true, then? A Sevradan heiress…” He
aims a murderous look my way before he clears the expression,
resumes an air of indifference, and addresses Roland. “How
convenient. What’s it been, twelve years? Tough to run a kingdom
when you’re absent. Not that it matters much,” he continues,
shrugging. “The continent is going to hell anyway. Only citizens
left are beasts, half-humans, and robots. I heard that you were,
ah, injured some years ago. How
fortunate
to be proven
wrong.” Theo takes a swig from his champagne flute. “Did you get my
note?”

“I always receive your notes. Whether they
are welcomed or not is another matter.”

“You can’t put me off any longer, Rexus.
I’ve been—
we’ve
been—more patient than you deserve.”

Roland’s eyes narrow.

“You dare bring the girl into this?” Roland
asks through his teeth.

“You would deny her her birthright?”

Both men stare at each other with daggers in
their eyes. Jaucey finishes his drink and sets it down hard on a
nearby table.

“The birthright no longer lies with this
line,” Roland says, his tone final.

Jaucey looks sharply at me. His cruel
expression almost makes me take a step backward.

“Very well,” the older man says with a
clipped, barbed voice. “Then my ultimatum stands. I want you to
think about it. Think about what it means. Sleep on it. I’ll come
back in a day or two to hear your final answer.”

“My chief of staff, Ms. Evinas, will assist
you. She happens to be near the exit. Why don’t you stop by now,
set it up, and leave?”

Jaucey finds Cat in the crowd. The curl in
his lip deepens.

“You’ve always had a soft spot for wounded
exotic
creatures, haven’t you, nephew? They understand you
best, I think you told me once. At least you aren’t marrying a
half-human. It is lovely to have met you,
Lady
Rahda.”

Then he winks at me. A real bride-to-be
would have been highly offended the moment Lord Jaucey opened his
mouth.

The crowd parts again as he exits.

***

“So that’s your uncle,” I say dramatically.
“I’m seriously considering leaving you for him. It’s best if I come
clean now before the entire affair gets sordid.”

“Thanks for the warning, Lisbeth.”

“Lisbeth?”

“What about her?” his eyes darken.

“You just called me by your sister’s
name.”

“You are mistaken.”

I study his face, wondering if this small
episode is a side effect of the prototype. I notice tiny markings
pop on his face. A faint outline is drawn up, as if an invisible
hand and pencil suddenly began to sketch a map from his neck up. It
isn’t deep or dark enough to be visible from a distance, but up
close, like I am, I can clearly see that the prototype is beginning
to lose its properties.

“We need to leave,” I say urgently. “The
prototype is degrading. Is there a door there…” I point to the
corner behind us.

Roland turns, touches something, a door
creaks open, and shuts closed behind us. We are in a thin corridor,
brick lined, perhaps from an older building’s exterior that was
built over, but the designer, whoever he was, decided to leave a
small, crawl-like space intact.

Dust, cobwebs, and loose, crumbly bricks
heavily invade this secret hallway.

“This way,” he says in front of me.

We crouch and walk single file for a good
ten minutes. During this time, we catch snippets of conversation
from inside The Gardens. I hear my name mentioned almost non-stop.
What does it matter that my name is Sevradan? Their voices contain
excitement, awe, and wonderment, as if I’m the solution to some
long-suffering problem.

Other voices express their concern over
Roland’s long absence and how, even though he may be marrying a
Sevradan, it’s not enough to keep them on the continent. Many of
the royals, apparently, plan to leave permanently.

“They will conduct their own secret
meetings,” Roland tells me after the voices have died down. “Some
will stay, but most will go. An airship is scheduled to pick them
up in two days’ time.”

I’m not sure what to say to this, so I
remain quiet.

The floor lowers into a pseudo-staircase
that brings us a half floor down. Thankfully, the ceiling stays the
same height and we no longer have to crouch. I was getting tired of
stumbling.

“I think there is a service robot door over
here. We’ll have to crawl out.”

I hear a sliding noise and see a spot of
light. Roland crawls out first and then assists me. At first, I
consider taking off the sterling silver, diamond-encrusted
fabriskin robe, but in the end, I yank it up over my knees and
shimmy out carefully. I dust myself off and straighten up.

I have no idea where we are. After a couple
of stairwells, short and long hallways, and one interesting-looking
decrepit bathhouse, Roland turns down a familiar hallway and looks
at me after I give off a sigh of relief.

My door unlocks as I near it. Roland stands
back as I open it.

“I should apologize for—” he stops. “We can
make it real, you know.” If I didn’t know any better, I’d think he
is being serious.

“The engagement? I…” My voice trails
off.

“All I’m asking you to do is think about
it.”

“I’m exhausted, Roland.” This conversation
can wait until morning.

“I understand,” he says softly, capturing my
hands in his own. “You have no idea what you achieved tonight. I
will
fix all the wrongs my father and his father created.
Because of you, Rahda, I can now get started. I needed you, can’t
you see that? And this.” He holds up the prototype and hands it
back to me. It’s no longer white, but murky black. “It only worked
because of you. There’s so much you don’t know. You’re brilliant.
You’re beautiful… my sweet, wonderful Rahda.” He pauses and then
stuns me when he says, “I’ll earn your love the right way. One day,
you’ll tell me you love me, and on that day, I’ll know that I’ve
become the man I am supposed to be.”

He lingers by my door and just when I think
he’s about to say something else, he quietly turns away, tells me
goodnight, and walks away. His back is straight and his head is
held high.

It’s like he’s a different man.

I smile a little. A part of me knows he’ll
be the death of me, and a part of me accepts it. I close the door,
shed the outrageous fabriskin robe, and climb into bed. It feels
like ages since I slept.

I sink deep into the soft mattress.

I fall into a heavy sleep and dream about
horrific metal beasts, Cat’s tongue—an explicitly vivid dream—and a
man with piercing green eyes desperately calling for me to save
him.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Della is the author of multiple short
stories, novellas, and novels to include "Reclaimed Souls", a
four-book romance, science fiction mash-up Series.

She has several stories out on submission
with science fiction and fantasy magazines. One of her stories was
recently bought by WMG Publishing for a FictionRiver Anthology due
to be published in Dec 2015.

Della writes romance under the pen name
Kelly Washington.

Della can be contacted via her website,
http://smallfiction.com, or at [email protected]

AUTHOR’S NOTE & BONUS MATERIAL

Reclaimed Souls started off very differently
from what you have read thus far. When I started writing the story,
I intended for it to be an erotic short story based on a
conversation I had with my friend C.B. about Masters and
Slaves.

My theory (out of this conversation) is that
the Slave is the Master and the Master is really the Slave. I
wanted to explore this theory of mine through a short story.
Originally, I called it LOVE ME and it was going to be about a
young woman interviewing for a position with a secretive, dark,
misunderstood employer. From outward appearances, the young woman
would appear to be the Slave and the employer the Master; but I
wanted to turn this on its head and show how the woman—the
Slave—was really the Master of the relationship.

However, after about the first ten thousand
words, the story morphed into what you are reading, and I realized
I had a bigger, deeper, story on my hands. I scrapped the first
three chapters, but you’ll see that I kept the interview (Chapters
2-4), though tailored for the story.

So, why am I telling you all of this? Why
should you care?

Even though the story changed theme, I wrote
the entire four-book series with erotic scenes that have been
“cleaned up” for the final version. I didn’t delete those original
scenes. Each book as one erotic, explicit scene. Book One’s scene
involves Rahda and Cat near the end of the book (Chapter 23) where
Cat helps Rahda dress for the Ceremony in The Gardens. It’s pretty
damn steamy. And considering that Cat is a half-human (with unique
sexual capabilities that you did not get to read in the final
version), I had a lot of fun creating her for this scene.

Again… where am I going with this?

I’m offering you the chance to read this
scene if you want, completely free of charge, on my website. But,
be warned, it is explicit and intended for mature, 18+ audiences.
If you are offended by explicit sex scenes, strong curse words, or
are under 18 years old, then please do not read it.

Here’s the direct link:
http://smallfiction.com/catandrahda
.

If some reason you click on it (or type it
into your browser) and it doesn’t work, send me an email and I’ll
email the scene to you. My email is [email protected]