She inhales the hot, dusty air and calls it good. She closes her eyes and raises her face to the sky. Rinli will return and deliver me. I will accept her forgiveness. It is done.
She looks for the light, the light at the end of famar. “Rinli, I’m coming.” Darkness.
“Lisen.” Then more firmly. “Lisen.” A hand on her shoulder, shaking her.
Korin? No. Go away. I’m saving—
“Lisen, wake up.”
No!
“No.” She heard her voice and opened her eyes. “No.” Korin sat on the bench beside her, Titus right behind him. She couldn’t let them stop her. “No!”
“My Liege, drink this.” Titus offered her a spoonful of the dreaded drink.
“No!” She smacked his hand aside, and the spoon and its contents went flying.
“Korin, hold her down. She’s going to open her wound again if she continues to flail about.”
Lisen felt Korin’s hands encompass her upper arms to hold her in place. She was strong, but he was stronger.
“No!”
“Open your mouth, my Liege.”
Lisen pursed her lips and shook her head, fighting to twist free. Titus reached out and put a strong hand on her forehead. As he held her head still, he pinched her nose with thumb and forefinger. This was too much. Too much like Ariel and the damn anaca. All she wanted was to bring Rinli back. “No!!” But as soon as she’d inhaled and exhaled behind the scream, Titus poured the medicine down her throat, then covered her mouth with his other hand.
“Swallow and I’ll let you breathe.” Clearly, he’d managed this before.
She glared at him. She glared at Korin. But she swallowed, then took a breath.
“I hate you,” she sneered, then spat in Korin’s face, but Korin didn’t flinch. His dim-wittedness irritated her beyond reason, but she could do nothing. She was Empir and she still could do nothing. Useless, she went limp. It wasn’t the drug. Too soon for that. No, it was the burden of failure made her collapse, and she began to cry. “No, no, no, no…” Korin held her in his arms, trying to soothe her as she kept murmuring “no,” but he’d betrayed her. He’d stolen her one chance to save Rinli. I hate him.
She felt herself slipping away, but not into the death that Mantar had required. She said “no” one last time, and it was over.
Crouched over the shroud she’d brought back with her from the desert, her face buried in its soft fabric, Madlen keened, inconsolable, into its folds and crevices to avoid waking the others. For nigh on three weeks, she’d managed to keep the grief at a sweet distance, but her trip out to where Korin had given Rinli to the desert had reached into Madlen’s soul, ripped the grief from its safe enclosure and set it down in front of her. The Tribe had long ago moved past the execution of their so-called Protector and would view Madlen’s newly surfaced torture with contempt. Only her father would still love her; to everyone else, she, too, would be dead.
Rinli had been Madlen’s reason for rising in the evening and her purpose for returning to her pallet in the morning. Even during Rinli’s long absences in Garla, Madlen went about life with joy, knowing her beloved would soon return. Not now. Not ever again. The pain tore her heart apart and left her bleeding.
“Madlen?”
She looked up. Alert. Tears done. She turned to the entrance to Rinli’s cell and witnessed a welcome-but-hopeless hallucination. Rinli.
Despite blistered lips. Despite bloodshot eyes. Despite every inch of sun-reddened skin.
Rinli.
“Ah, Rin,” she murmured softly. “I wish. I wish.”
“Where…where am I?” the spectre asked, and Madlen noted the casual way the ghost held a shindah in its hand.
My mind is gone. It’s as though she’s really here.
“Madlen? I think…I think I’m lost.”
Madlen felt the warmth radiating from Rinli’s body, and she rose slowly, still cradling the shroud in her arms. Was she real? Or a dream?
“Who… am I?”
Madlen reached her beloved, and upon realizing this was no apparition, she wrapped the shroud around her nakedness. She brushed two fingers down the side of Rinli’s face and across her jaw line. She was real all right. “Rin.”
“I know you. How can I know you but not myself?”
“You are Rinli,” Madlen said, holding the shroud together at Rinli’s chest as her beloved seemed incapable of doing it for herself.
Light returned to Rinli’s eyes. “Rinli, yes.” She paused, and Madlen waited. “I…remember. I was with…I was… Mantar. I can’t remember any more.”
“We need to tell the Tribe.”
“No. I…can’t. I don’t know who I am.”
Madlen nodded, put her arm around Rinli’s waist and helped her to the pallet. There, she eased Rinli down. Rinli stretched out, then reached up and grabbed a handful of Madlen’s tunic, pulling her closer. Eyes wide and full of fire, she spoke. “I am come to break the world.” And then the one risen of Mantar collapsed, asleep within seconds.
Thank you for reading Protector of Thristas. If you enjoyed it, please consider letting your friends know about it and/or leaving a brief review on Amazon or Goodreads.
CAST OF CHARACTERS
By Locality
(F) = Fractured
(T) = Tainted
(B) = Blooded
(PoT)= Protector of Thristas
e. = emerged
d. = died
YA = Year of Ariannas
YF = Year of Flandari
AVARET
Lisen (F), also Ariannas Ilazer, e. 3/14/YF4, age 34, Empir of Garla for the last 16 years.
Korin Rosarel (F), age 41, Lisen’s spouse, former captain in the Emperi Guard.
Their Children
Rinli (B), e. 9/22/YA1, age 15, first child (daughter) of Korin and Lisen and heir to Thristas.
Nasera Ilazer (PoT), e. 2/18/YA4, second child (son) of Lisen and Korin and presumed Heir of Garla.
Insenlo Rosarel (PoT), e. 7/26/YA6, third child (daughter) of Korin and Lisen, heir to the holding of Forn.
Elor Zanlot (B), e. 8/4/YA1, Lorain and Ariel’s son, nephew of Ariannas, who serves as his guardian, and judge in Akdor Ba’s trial.
Kerok Tanres (F), Commander of the Emperi Guard, appointed by Flandari.
Malaki Mira (B), holder of Sudas, member of the privy council and judge in Akdor Ba’s trial.
Pharaoh (B), Lisen’s beloved stallion.
Jal (B), Pharaoh’s caretaker.
Tazori Dors (B), holder of Carlasa and judge in the Ba versus Ba case.
Niko Dors (B), primate of Avaret and Tazori’s uncle.
Melanda Cabell (B), holder of Clandos and member of the privy council.
Sirin Tor (B), councilor and member of the expanded privy council.
Jazel Iscador (F), head clerk to the Empir.
Chesa Amador (PoT), head clerk to the Empir after Jazel retires.
Akdor Ba (PoT), age 21, twin brother of Mutar Ba.
Mutar Ba (PoT), age 21, twin brother of Akdor Ba.
Elak Ba (PoT), d. YA17, mother of Mutar and Akdor.
Fonmat Kiptor (PoT), Councilor from Bedel and judge in the Ba versus Ba case.
Rocan Sakal (PoT), Holder of Grimmal, Nalin’s cousin and judge in the Ba versus Ba case.
Telor Himlin (PoT), Councilor from Prea and judge in the Ba versus Ba case.
“Famzar,” true name unknown, (PoT), assassin.
Jeka Idom (PoT), Councilor from Carlasa and judge in Akdor Ba’s trial.
Mish (PoT), trainer in the Guard.
SEFFA
Nalin Corday (F), age 37, holder of Felane and Empir Ariannas’ Will.
Bala Tuane (F), age 33, holder of Minol, Nalin’s spouse and judge in Akdor Ba’s trial,
Their Children
Linell Corday (PoT), e. 10/9/YA3, age 13, first child (daughter) of Nalin and Bala and heir to the holding of Felane.
Alabar Tuane (PoT), e. 3/1/YA6, age 11, second child (son) of Bala and N
alin and heir to the holding Minol.
Lael (PoT), e. 11/9/YA17, infant, third child (son) of Bala and Nalin.
Tak, (F), Tuane servant.
Jokal Artet (PoT), Tuane vintner.
Benir (F), Nalin’s servant.
SOLSTA HAVEN
Eloise Tuane (F), hermit, sooth, Bala’s aunt.
Titus (F), hermit, healer.
Opseth Geranda (F), Ariel’s watcher, responsible for pushing Flandari’s assassin, once trained as a hermit and necropath but left and went rogue.
PASS GARRISON
Garin Kopol (B), Under-commander at Pass Garrison, later Commander of the Guard succeeding Commander Tanres.
THRISTAS
Madlen Por (B), age 18, Rinli’s beloved.
Arma Por (B), Madlen’s father.
Regat Bidu (PoT), Madlen’s mother.
Gatik Bidu (PoT), Madlen’s brother.
Tinlo Randa (PoT), age 19, Madlen’s rejected suitor.
Gema Etos (PoT), accompanied Korin to the Khared to save Lisen.
Mesa Terses Elders
Hozia (T), supporter of Rinli.
Raakon (PoT).
Bota (PoT).
Folzon (PoT).
Ninal (PoT), son of the late Elder Tronin.
Rostor (PoT), Tinlo’s grandfather.
Oku (PoT), daughter of Elder Barok who was killed by Lisen.
EARTH
Daisy (Dr. Marguerite) Holt, neurosurgeon at UCLA Medical Center, married to Simon Holt, Lisen’s co-guardian from age 10 to age 17.
Simon Holt, Ph.D. in linguistics, professor at UCLA, married to Daisy Holt, Lisen’s co-guardian from age 10 to age 17.
Betsy, Lisen’s best friend.
Rusty, Lisen’s other best friend, got her into Sci-Fi and Fantasy.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Hart St. Martin lives in Southern California. You know, the place that’s drowning in drought? But while her physical body inhabits an apartment in a quiet suburb of Los Angeles, her soul resides in Garla, or Thristas, depending on what scene she’s working on in this saga she calls Lisen of Solsta.
With the publication of Protector of Thristas, she’s confessing that the world and characters she’s created are not prepared to let her be quite yet. They still have more story to tell, so a little over a year ago, she surrendered to their desires and handed over the computer. They did a lot of stuff as they danced over the keyboard, most of which Hart used, some of which she tossed. Not in an effort to assert control, mind. No writer who responds to the muse can ever claim control over characters nor plot. Both seem to spring from a magic place within the brain, a place they will undoubtedly identify one day with FMRIs. But until then, writers remain mysterious creatures who live in imaginary worlds and invite you to join them there.
Welcome to Hart’s world, a world she has spent nearly forty years perfecting. The world isn’t perfect, nor are its inhabitants. Nothing interesting can come from actual perfection. The perfection of imperfection is the goal. But Garla and Lisen have become a timeless machine—starting up, kicking into gear and traveling hours, days, even weeks without refueling.
Here’s how to find Hart on the internet:
Web page: https://www.dhartstmartin.weebly.com
Facebook: https://facebook.com/dhartstmartinauthor
Twitter: @hartstm
Blog: http://dhartstmartin.wordpress.com/
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
Writing the acknowledgments page for a book must be like winning an Oscar and then trying to figure out who to thank. Many people have contributed to my growth and development as a writer over the years, and I’ve thanked most, if not all, of them in previous volumes. So what do I have left to say when confronted with the intimidating “Acknowledgments” that heads this page? This…
To my beta readers, authors all, each of whom came to the book with unique offerings. Thank you for your time and commitment.
Laura Saint Martin, my sister, who promised to be tough;
Jim Proctor, a friend and colleague, who gives far more than he gets;
Wendy Steele, whose best comment amongst many good ones regarded a bit of nasty British slang, now corrected;
And Camela Thompson, who provided a “virgin’s” look at Lisen’s story from this book alone.
To the Claremont Writers Workshop who provided support through the process.
Once again, to Daniella, my canary in the mine, ever watchful as I share every aspect of the story with her.
To the people who invented computers, making self-publishing a viable financial option in this author’s life.
And to Taylor Swift who provided this book’s theme song, “Out of the Woods.” Take that as you will.
MAP OF GARLA
Protector of Thristas: A Lisen of Solsta Novel Page 44
