Read Online Shrouded: Heartstone Book One by Frances Pauli - Free Book Online Page B

For most of the women the food was some of the best they’d ever tasted. Most of them were eating their first meals free of a life of degradation and poverty.
    The candidates on board also found themselves without a sense of any real direction. Mr. Noll, their coordinator, tapped on the door at mealtime, but must have had other ship duties to occupy the rest of his day. The freedom, paired with the lack of information, spawned a heavy dose of speculation. The table buzzed with the low whispers as each girl tried to learn what she could from the others.
    Three days into the trip, Murrel had already achieved celebrity status. She had a perpetual cluster of intent listeners, and her stories shifted almost as often as the individuals around her. This morning, she lectured two of the younger women on the sexual habits of the Shrouded.
    “Are they really?” A girl called Jine blinked so fast Vashia couldn’t tell what color her eyes were.
    “Oh yes.” Murrel’s voice adopted the tone Vashia had come to recognize as the one reserved for pure bullshit. “And sometimes they…” she trailed off into a whisper. The girls giggled loud enough to get the rest of the table’s attention.
    Vashia stared at her mush and ignored the ruckus. By her figuring, she’d drained Murrel’s store of useful information their first night aboard. The woman’s tales got more elaborate and more fabricated with each telling. Her deceased father also changed careers on a regular basis. He’d magically morphed into a police officer, an ambassador, and, on one occasion, a senator.
    If any of the others noticed the lapses, they didn’t speak up. Murrel’s information, however flawed, was the only hint any of them were getting about their destination. Vashia chewed and swallowed, scooped up another spoonful and squinted at it. Unlike her companions, she remembered enjoying good food.
    “And they ride huge, winged beetles,” Murrel’s volume lifted. She’d exhausted her sex talk and moved on to more public topics. “That can see right through the clouds.”
    “You’re shittin’ us.” Another woman called Tarren leaned forward on both elbows. She always sat at the head of the table, claiming the position either through age or some unspoken sense of dominance. Vashia thought of her as the alpha prostitute on board. Now her sculpted eyebrows raised in tandem. Her permanently red-stained lips pressed into a pucker that wanted to refute Murrel’s story. Jealousy stained her face. “How can you know that?”
    “Because my father met the king once.” Murrel didn’t even skip a beat. Her ability to lie unflinchingly was damned impressive.
    “He didn’t.” Jine blinked from Murrel’s right, incredulous. “When? What did he look like?”
    “They’re big,” Murrel said. She gave Jine a suggestive glance before continuing. “Tall, and with long, dark hair.”
    “I don’t believe you.” Tarren found her nerve. She sat back and challenged Murrel with her eyes. “No one’s seen the Shrouded. Not even a Senator .”
    “That’s not true.” Vashia spoke up. She saw Murrel jolt and turn in her direction, but on this point, she felt qualified to lend some truth to the conversation. “They do allow traders on the moon base.”
    “How would you know?” Tarren turned the gaze on her. “I thought you waited tables.”
    Before she could reconfirm her alias, Murrel dove back in and seized the table’s attention again. “I told her,” she said, “of course. My dad did meet the king once. They had to sort out the trading agreements for Eclipsis.”
    “Which dad?” Tarren muttered, but everyone at the table heard her. Vashia had to stifle a snicker. She shared a room with Murrel and didn’t care to end up on the woman’s bad side again.
    “My father ,” Murrel said, “left the Senate to take over governing on Eclipsis.”
    Vashia’s head snapped up. She couldn’t help it.
    “You’re Governor Kovath’s daughter?” Tarren’s