Read Online Requiem for Anthi: Anthi - Book Two by Deborah Chester - Free Book Online
Authors: Deborah Chester
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Anthi and no Bban uprising.
But regrets served no purpose. She walked alone; she would rule alone until Rim and Vauzier could be resurrected to join her.
At least now she had a child and a planet of her very own. Cirthe had been shaped and guided by Aural’s own rings in the last days before birth. It had been Aural’s bonds she had broken as she entered the physical world. It had been Aural who had felt the pain of that separation. It had been Aural who first gazed down into those small blue eyes and looked upon Cirthe with truth. Cirthe was unique. Her mental patterns were complex and powerful. She fed hungrily upon Aural’s mind, tapping knowledge as other infants suckled for food.
As for Ruantl…this miserable rock was all that remained of the once mighty Tlartantlan empire. The people here were a pitiable remnant of what had been a once-proud race. But she would rebuild the empire. The brief linkage with the human Saunders’ mind had told her about the worlds inhabited beyond Ruantl’s system. She would take those worlds and rule them eventually. The first step required bringing more humans here; thus, she had activated the distress beacons.
Now the humans had come, and she was ready to deal with them.
Glancing over her shoulder, Aural slipped a small vial of blue powder from her sleeve. She sprinkled some of it onto her tongue and pressed it against the roof of her mouth, closing her eyes against the bitter taste that gradually melted into a haze of comfort. Her rings steadied and grew powerful beneath the influence of yde . She was Aural, true leiis, Enchantress of the Winds and Keeper of the Blood. The ancient titles sang in her bones.
Swallowing the powder, she opened her eyes. She blinked slowly, bringing the world back into focus. Her sight was heightened on all levels, augmented by the drug. She could see molecular patterns, energy waves, and thought streams.
She smiled and closed her eyes, forming her rings into order. She quested the heavens for the ships and found one that contained no life. Puzzled, she found the second ship. Eight minds were there, some of them crudely receptive, some of them as blank and impenetrable as a force shield.
For a moment she considered seizerting there, but the distance daunted her. She could see and hear them; she watched them at work, sitting chained like slaves to consoles of equipment. They spoke to each other. Their voices were serious, high-pitched, and slow. She concentrated on their speech patterns, but those were difficult to understand. Monitoring their thoughts, chaotic and not ordered by rings, was not much easier. Frustration filled her.
She projected an image of herself into their midst. Several shouted. One jumped up from his chair, gesturing. His hand signals made no sense. He looked like an idiot. She frowned, displeased to find him in charge.
Then a second man, one seated apart from the others, unfastened the restraints around his body and rose to his feet. He was the calmest of the group. He spoke to the others, his voice sharp but controlled, and they quieted. He stared at Aural with a frown.
He was a short creature, matched in height to most of his crew, yet the top of his head did not come to her shoulder. His hair was the color of vegin wood—dark brown tinted with red—and cropped short to his head. His face was haired below his nose and across his jaw. His eyes were small and repulsively colored. She had never seen eyes that were dots of green in the center surrounded by the white of blindness. He could not have complete vision with such eyes. She wondered how he managed to do his work. Yet all the others had similar eyes and they seemed as unimpaired as he.
She let her image shimmer closer to him. His strange eyes grew wider, but he did not move. They faced each other.
Human , she said. Hear me .
She spoke to his mind. He winced and lifted a hand to his temple. Then he turned away from her and spoke sharply to one of his crew.
Human
But regrets served no purpose. She walked alone; she would rule alone until Rim and Vauzier could be resurrected to join her.
At least now she had a child and a planet of her very own. Cirthe had been shaped and guided by Aural’s own rings in the last days before birth. It had been Aural’s bonds she had broken as she entered the physical world. It had been Aural who had felt the pain of that separation. It had been Aural who first gazed down into those small blue eyes and looked upon Cirthe with truth. Cirthe was unique. Her mental patterns were complex and powerful. She fed hungrily upon Aural’s mind, tapping knowledge as other infants suckled for food.
As for Ruantl…this miserable rock was all that remained of the once mighty Tlartantlan empire. The people here were a pitiable remnant of what had been a once-proud race. But she would rebuild the empire. The brief linkage with the human Saunders’ mind had told her about the worlds inhabited beyond Ruantl’s system. She would take those worlds and rule them eventually. The first step required bringing more humans here; thus, she had activated the distress beacons.
Now the humans had come, and she was ready to deal with them.
Glancing over her shoulder, Aural slipped a small vial of blue powder from her sleeve. She sprinkled some of it onto her tongue and pressed it against the roof of her mouth, closing her eyes against the bitter taste that gradually melted into a haze of comfort. Her rings steadied and grew powerful beneath the influence of yde . She was Aural, true leiis, Enchantress of the Winds and Keeper of the Blood. The ancient titles sang in her bones.
Swallowing the powder, she opened her eyes. She blinked slowly, bringing the world back into focus. Her sight was heightened on all levels, augmented by the drug. She could see molecular patterns, energy waves, and thought streams.
She smiled and closed her eyes, forming her rings into order. She quested the heavens for the ships and found one that contained no life. Puzzled, she found the second ship. Eight minds were there, some of them crudely receptive, some of them as blank and impenetrable as a force shield.
For a moment she considered seizerting there, but the distance daunted her. She could see and hear them; she watched them at work, sitting chained like slaves to consoles of equipment. They spoke to each other. Their voices were serious, high-pitched, and slow. She concentrated on their speech patterns, but those were difficult to understand. Monitoring their thoughts, chaotic and not ordered by rings, was not much easier. Frustration filled her.
She projected an image of herself into their midst. Several shouted. One jumped up from his chair, gesturing. His hand signals made no sense. He looked like an idiot. She frowned, displeased to find him in charge.
Then a second man, one seated apart from the others, unfastened the restraints around his body and rose to his feet. He was the calmest of the group. He spoke to the others, his voice sharp but controlled, and they quieted. He stared at Aural with a frown.
He was a short creature, matched in height to most of his crew, yet the top of his head did not come to her shoulder. His hair was the color of vegin wood—dark brown tinted with red—and cropped short to his head. His face was haired below his nose and across his jaw. His eyes were small and repulsively colored. She had never seen eyes that were dots of green in the center surrounded by the white of blindness. He could not have complete vision with such eyes. She wondered how he managed to do his work. Yet all the others had similar eyes and they seemed as unimpaired as he.
She let her image shimmer closer to him. His strange eyes grew wider, but he did not move. They faced each other.
Human , she said. Hear me .
She spoke to his mind. He winced and lifted a hand to his temple. Then he turned away from her and spoke sharply to one of his crew.
Human
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