The Last Immortal : Book One of Seeds of a Fallen Empire

by Anne Spackman

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  A few days later, I decided to leave Orian. Beren had learned of my close friendship with his nephew and thought to use this attachment for his own ends. Beren had thus devised a plan to persuade me to join sides with Orian and orchestrate a colonization attempt, using Selesta as the major civilian transport vessel.

  I decided to thwart Beren’s secret plan by leaving Orian immediately. I didn’t tell Sargon about this decision at first nor why I was going. Why I couldn’t tell him I wasn’t sure. I believe I was afraid he would persuade me to stay, or that by the time I found him, it would be too late to escape Orian and Beren would have already had me brought to the Aiolan Central Command to try and coerce me into joining his side.

  However, Sargon arrived at my temporary quarters in the midst of my packing and knew at once what I was doing. For a long, awkward moment, he eyed me carefully, his face a blank in thoughtful calculation.

  “What are you doing?” He demanded. Gradually it dawned on me that he had no intention of leaving me alone. He knew, though I hadn’t said it, that I was leaving and I wasn’t coming back. Of course, he couldn’t physically stop me from going, so he didn’t try, but it was clear he wasn’t going to let me go anywhere without him.

  “I’m leaving Orian,” I returned. I felt abruptly guilty about abandoning him without an explanation. Without a word, he watched me nervously finish my packing. All the while, his eyes were cold, and his posture seemed strained.

  I didn’t know what to do. The tension between us was unbearable.

  “Are you still interested in taking a tour of Selesta?” I asked suddenly. The cold look in his eyes vanished into oblivion. My question subtly indicated that I was asking him to come with me.

  “I’m ready to go, too,” he said, though he carried nothing at all with him. After a moment, I wasn’t sure why I had invited him back to Tiasenne with me. I told myself I wanted to keep an eye on him, to monitor his continuing recovery.

  In minutes Sargon had contacted the OSRD’s resource manager from the communications center in my quarters and asked for some time on leave. I watched him throughout the conversation, struck by how complete the change was in him from a moment before. There was nothing in his voice but light-hearted enthusiasm, and excitement showed in his eyes, and in his every gesture.

  After he had procured time on leave, I managed to persuade a freighter carrying minerals from Nayin to Inen to transport us along with the other goods in the cargo bay. Then we left my quarters together and headed to the OSRD transport center. Ai-derian had gone back to Tiasenne, and so we had no one to whom we might wish any good-byes; our departure from Destria was unceremonious, and it hardly seemed as if I were leaving Orian for good. We set off that afternoon for Nayin in a ground conveyance, leaving the sparkling buildings of Destria behind as we passed over a hill and into unknown territories.