“After you, Empress,” Dyara replied.
* * *
Cassandra sat in the front seat of Evos’s hover car as he flew circles above the palace courtyard to show off his work. He and hundreds of others just like him had been working tirelessly on this project for the past six months. There, standing in front of the palace, with arms wide open to welcome all who might come through the palace gates, was a two-hundred foot statue of her father, serving as a massive headstone to conceal his actual grave. The sculptors had done amazing work. The statue looked just like him—but not as he had been in death, rather, the way she remembered him. Kind green eyes, a warm smile, and an expression that radiated nothing but love.
“Take us down,” Cassandra said, her voice sounding hoarse even through the distortion of her mask. “I want to read the inscription.”
“Of course,” Evos replied.
Dyara leaned forward from the back seat and placed a comforting hand on Cassandra’s shoulder.
As soon as they landed in the courtyard, Cassandra strode out to the base of the statue. There was a solid gold plate as tall as her that read:
Here lies Emperor Darius Drake, Destroyer of Worlds, Savior of The Galaxy.
“Be better than me.” -Emperor Drake 2015 AD - 1521 AU.
“Cryptic. Do you think people will get it?” Dyara asked, stopping beside her to read the inscription as well.
Cassandra turned to her. “Maybe not, but they can always read about it in the history books. In my time we had a saying about good intentions. My father had plenty of those, but the truth is you can’t do evil in order to accomplish something good. You’ve got to start with the good.”
“Wise words. Maybe that should be on the inscription, too,” Dyara said.
“Yes,” the sculptor agreed, coming to stand with them at the foot of the statue. “I agree. Start with the good.”
“But where is it?” Cassandra asked, slowly shaking her head.
Dyara placed a hand on her shoulder once more, and their eyes met through the visors of their helmets. “We’ll find it. It’s easy to look at the mess and see everything that still needs fixing, but that just blinds you to the things that are already fixed. We’ve made a lot of progress, and we’ll make a lot more before we’re finished.”
Cassandra nodded. “You’re right. I just wish...” she turned back to the statue and peered up at it. “I wish he was here to see it.”
“Maybe he is,” Dyara said, and jerked her chin to indicate the pale blue sky.
Cassandra followed Dyara’s gaze. There, gleaming against the blue, she could have sworn she saw something—a glowing, sparkling mass of Sprites. As she watched they swarmed into the shape of her father’s face. Whispering voices crowded in at the edges of her hearing, and for the first time, she heard them plainly, as if the Sprites had suddenly learned to speak her language.
I love you, Cassy, they said, and then that shimmering face in the sky smiled.
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OTHER BOOKS BY
JASPER SCOTT
Suggested reading order
Rogue Star
Rogue Star: Frozen Earth
Coming August 15th 2018!
Broken Worlds
Broken Worlds: The Awakening (Book 1)
Broken Worlds: The Revenants (Book 2)
Broken Worlds: Civil War (Book 3)
New Frontiers Series (Loosely-tied, Standalone Prequels to Dark Space)
Excelsior (Book 1)
Mindscape (Book 2)
Exodus (Book 3)
Dark Space Series
Dark Space
Dark Space 2: The Invisible War
Dark Space 3: Origin
Dark Space 4: Revenge
Dark Space 5: Avilon
Dark Space 6: Armageddon
Dark Space Universe Series (Standalone Follow-up Trilogy to Dark Space)
Dark Space Universe (Book 1)
Dark Space Universe: The Enemy Within (Book 2)
Dark Space Universe: The Last Stand (Book 3)
Early Work
Escape
Mrythdom
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Jasper Scott is a USA TODAY bestselling science fiction author, known for writing intricate plots with unexpected twists.
His books have been translated into Japanese and German and adapted for audio, with collectively over 500,000 copies purchased.
Jasper was born and raised in Canada by South African parents, with a British cultural heritage on his mother's side and German on his father's, to which he has now added Latin culture with his wonderful wife.
After spending years living as a starving artist, he finally quit his various jobs to become a full-time writer. In his spare time he enjoys reading, traveling, going to the gym, and spending time with his family.
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