The Pale Waters (#1 Reclaimed Souls)

by Della Roth

  “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 della@smallfiction.com.

  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 della@smallfiction.com.

  sp; Della Roth, The Pale Waters (#1 Reclaimed Souls)