Zones of Alacria- The Dragon Gate Read online

  Contents

  Prologue

  1. Worst Thief Ever

  2. May You Be Forever Remembered

  3. Floating in Nothingness

  4. Death to the Bunny

  5. Cursed Bow, Anyone?

  6. Purple Haze

  7. Outcast

  8. Magic Mushrooms

  9. Never Say Never

  10. Oozing Charm

  11. Dragon Hunters

  12. Sore Head

  13. The Light Fantastic

  14. Bull Fighting 101

  15. Karma Beware

  16. Enlightening

  17. A Goopy Mess

  18. Ambushed

  19. Hidden Quest

  20. Talking About the Weather

  21. Mace Dodging

  22. Blinded by the Light

  23. Gift Horses

  24. Time to Get Even

  25. Hunting Wabbits

  26. Phoenix from the Flame

  27. Trapped

  28. Acid Shots

  29. The Champion

  30. Chocolate Chip Cookies

  31. Sanctuary

  32. Dangerous Ideas

  33. Earned Name

  34. Time to Have Some Fun

  35. Bombs Away

  36. War Party

  37. We Have Skills

  38. Death and Rebirth

  39. Lack of Wisdom

  40. Someone Is Here

  41. Of Mice and … Snakes?

  42. Expect the Unexpected

  43. Snake Charmer

  44. Flashing Red Dots

  45. Bonding Time

  46. Excuse Me for Trying to Kill Stuff

  47. I Don’t Like Heights

  48. How to Bluff the Enemy

  49. Give Me One of Those Beers

  50. Let’s Get This Party Started

  51. Morphing Sigils

  52. No Other Option

  53. Sparks Will Fly

  54. Don’t Be Ridiculous

  55. Just Us

  56. Experimental Alchemy

  57. Do or Die

  58. Party Line

  59. Next Level Serious

  60. Thank Goodness for Stamina Potions

  61. It’s Time

  62. Wait. What?

  63. Dismantled

  64. The Dragon Gate

  Epilogue

  Free Book, Mailing List & Reviews

  About the Author

  Dedication

  Other Books in the Series

  Prologue

  February 5th, 2175

  “Congratulations once again my Lord, my Lady. We are ready to start the Aberth Ceremony when you are. There are over 100 possible aberths for your new daughter in the courtyard beyond, waiting for you to make your choice.”

  “Thank you, vizier. We are ready to begin.”

  The wizened old man made his way to the huge double doors at the end of the hall. The two guards standing there in the vibrant turquoise and white of their house colors stepped aside to let the vizier through.

  He opened the doors with a creak and a wall of sound hit the hall’s occupants. All the men and women rushed forward and started shouting. The cries of babies that had been woken up and then thrust forward for the Lord and Lady to see punctuated the noise.

  The Lord stepped forward through the doors, the gold embroidery on his scarlet robes a stark contrast to the muted colors of the rags everyone in the crowd before him wore. He held up his hand for silence and the crowd quietened.

  “I thank you all for attending the Aberth Ceremony for my new daughter, Liandreth. As is customary, I will choose ten aberths for her and those chosen will grow up with every luxury, education and benefit my own daughter will have. Once we have chosen, the priests will bless them all in the hopes that they will all avoid the culling when they become of age. Just in case, however, they will also receive training in games, so they have every possible advantage if the worst were to happen.”

  “I will also compensate each of the ten aberth’s mothers with 100 gold.”

  An excited murmur broke out among the crowd in response to this welcome break with tradition.

  The Lord once again help up his hand for silence.

  “I will hand the proceedings over to my vizier. Please follow his instructions. I will evict anyone not doing so from the grounds.”

  The Lord sat down next to his Lady on a huge, high-backed, gilded chair, waiting for the vizier to bring over the first mother and daughter pair.

  Shouting erupted from the back of the courtyard and the guards rushed forward to take care of the offenders.

  “The first potential aberth, my Lord,” said the vizier as a grubby-faced woman in a torn, black dress thrust a pile of ripped and stained rags in front of him.

  Inside, sleeping despite the movement, was an angelic little baby.

  “Cleaned ‘er up best I could, mi Lord. I ‘as seven others, so can’t afford ta keep this ‘un too. She’s been real good though. Nice un quiet-like. Reckon she’d make a great aberth fer yer daut’er. ‘Er name’s Orianna. But if’n ya don’t like that, ya can always change it. She’s just four days old, so’s not like she’ll know.”

  As the Lord looked at the little girl, she woke up. She looked up at him with huge, bright blue eyes and a little smile.

  “We have our first aberth,” declared the Lord.

  1

  Worst Thief Ever

  “Orianna, put that stupid book down. I’m bored. You need to come do something with me,” Liandreth whined.

  I looked up and, sure enough, the pout she wore when she was at her most demanding was already on her face.

  “What would you like to do?” I asked, putting aside my book about 20th century languages, a topic I found fascinating.

  “I don’t know, but I’m sick of just sitting around. Let’s go outside. Maybe the Duke will be in the gardens. He’s in talks with father about marriage, you know.”

  I did know, but she seldom required an answer once she started talking.

  “I’d love to have a summer wedding, they’re so much prettier than any other time of year.”

  I nodded. Liandreth loved to rub it in that, as an aberth, I couldn’t get married. There were only four of us left now, too. Liandreth had been extraordinarily unlucky in the lottery, having had her name called six times in the last seven years.

  It also didn’t help that the Templeton estate seemed to have suffered a lot of poor harvests. It was odd because the surrounding countryside never seemed to be affected, but the harvest yield from the local fields had been below our quota for the last ten years, which meant the estate had to participate in the monthly lottery.

  “I’ll have you be one of my bridesmaids, if you’re still around by then.”

  “Thank you,” I said, keeping my eyes down. This was not the time of the month to get on her bad side. With the culling coming up tomorrow, I didn’t want my name on her lips if she got picked in the lottery again.

  “Well, let’s go to the gardens then, I’m sure he’d love to sit and talk more with you,” I said. Plus, I’d yet to meet this Duke. I was curious to see who would willingly want to spend their life with someone as spoiled as Liandreth. In fairness, maybe he didn’t know her that well yet.

  “Just remember to keep your eyes down at all times. He is a Duke, after all, and very much above you.”

  “Of course,” I said. She was horribly jealous of my blue eyes. As far as I could tell, blue eyes had been very common two hundred years ago. Nowadays though, everyone, including Liandreth, had brown eyes, and she hated that I had something she didn’t.

  The other three aberths chose that moment to walk back into the room.

&nbs
p; “We’re going to the gardens to see the Duke,” announced Liandreth, “Come along, I don’t want him to think I’m chasing him or anything.”

  “Oh, hello, Your Grace. I wasn’t expecting to see you here,” Liandreth cooed.

  I glanced up briefly to see a tall man, with dark brown, shoulder-length hair, a fashionably pointy beard and the latest style of robes in deep purple, thick with gold embroidery. Anyone would think he was pretending to be a king, wearing that color.

  A leer slid across his mouth as he looked Liandreth up and down in her pretty yellow gown. Her long brown hair, which had been curled into ringlets, swung slightly as she looked up at him coyly.

  I quickly looked down at the ground and hoped I’d stay unnoticed as usual.

  The others twittered nervously, and the Duke looked in our direction.

  “Good morning, my dearest. I see you’ve brought your entourage with you. I’m delighted to meet you all,” he said in a rather deep, slimy voice. The others giggled as we all curtsied.

  “Oh, they’re just my aberths, Your Grace. I assume you’ve let yours go now that you’re past the age of culling.”

  “Yes, yes, quite,” he said, waving his hand as if he could dismiss the topic. “I’ve heard one of yours has blue eyes. I’ve always wanted to know what those look like,” he said, his eager eyes flitting between us.

  Liandreth glowered at me.

  “Yes, but let’s talk about more interesting things, shall we? What brings you to our town this time of year, Your Grace?”

  “I’m engaged in some business discussions with your father that I hope will bear some delightful fruit and increase my influence in this area of our fine country.”

  “Oh, I do hope you’re successful, Your Grace,” Liandreth simpered, batting her eyelashes at him so quickly she probably couldn’t tell he wasn’t looking at her anymore.

  “Yes, well, we shall see,” he said, waving his hand in the air as if to brush the topic away again. “Of course, I’m also here to give your father some tips on managing his land. I think it’s simply dreadful that you have to suffer the consequences of the poor harvest because he can’t manage his affairs better. After all, it’s you, not him, that ends up getting subjected to this frightful lottery each time he comes in under his quota.”

  Hardly, I thought bitterly. Like every other noble, she simply spent a day out, socializing. It was us, her aberths, that paid the price. If her name was selected, one of us died. The nobles arrogantly thought that they were the ones in charge, but in reality, it was the Cartel. They had deceived everyone when they’d arrived, but if you read between the lines, you could see who was really pulling the strings. The Cartel were the ones who set the crop numbers, they were the ones who ran the lottery and they were the ones who upheld the law. The nobles were simply the public faces of the organization.

  I took a deep breath and focused on the conversation going on instead of getting lost in my thoughts as I usually did.

  “…needs to do better. My lands never underproduce,” I could hear the smug smile spreading across the Duke’s face.

  I could feel his eyes boring a hole into the top of my head as I stood there, wishing the ground would just open up and swallow me. Unfortunately, since there was no such thing as magic, I remained standing there, looking at the ground as Liandreth tried her best to distract him.

  “Why don’t we take a walk around the gardens?” Liandreth finally suggested, holding her arm out, ready for the Duke to take the hint and start paying her more attention.

  “Hmm, yes, I suppose we could,” he said absentmindedly.

  After an agonizing two hours, in which I’d seen little more than the ground and the Duke’s gaudy, purple velvet slippers, Liandreth finally took her leave and we headed back inside.

  Why hadn’t I just stayed indoors with my book? I could have uncovered all sorts of fascinating information in that time. Instead, all I had to show for my afternoon was a bit of a headache and an extremely irate Liandreth who would no doubt be taking her frustration out on me for the rest of the day. I just really hoped that this frustration would be forgotten by tomorrow or I could be in trouble.

  “I want us to eat in my suite tonight so we can all be up early for the lottery tomorrow. Orianna, go tell the kitchens to make my favorites in case my name is picked and it’s my last meal. Well… someone’s last meal.” She said, waving her hand dismissively in my general direction.

  I nodded to the two guards as I walked out, closing the door behind me. As the Lord’s only child, Liandreth would inherit all her father’s lands and title one day, provided she made it past culling age, or got herself pregnant. So, the guards were always around.

  “Would you two like anything special from the kitchens?” I asked with a simple smile.

  “Got ya running errands again, has she?” the younger guard said.

  I nodded.

  “Well, ya know we’re not ‘sposed to, Miss, but if ya happen to get yer hands on any sweets, I won’t be telling no one.”

  The older one just smiled while looking straight ahead. It was a game we’d been playing for as long as I could remember. One day, I’d get him to talk.

  I strolled down the corridor, walking on the plush, blue carpet, heading toward the servant’s stairs that were the fastest route to the kitchens. Thankfully, the door to the guest suite where the Duke was staying was closed.

  A few minutes later, I slipped into the kitchen, unnoticed.

  Everyone was busy running about. The head cook was in the center of the room, directing everyone with a wave of his wooden spoon. He reminded me of a conductor, organizing the chaos. His practice of tasting everything before it left this room meant that he was almost as round as he was tall. And yet, just watching him work made you feel like everything would be all right.

  I waited by the doors, basking in the warmth that made everything feel like home. Sitting on a stool by the door, I knew better than to interrupt him, and more time here meant less time in the suite. So, I was happy to wait.

  “Orianna, what did Liandreth send you for this time?” he shouted across the room.

  “She wants all of us to eat in her suite tonight, and she wants all her favorite foods brought up.”

  “Consider it done. Now scram. You’re in the way, sitting there,” he said with a smile.

  I glanced at the table by the door, laden with food ready to be picked up and taken to the dining room. I quickly grabbed a small cake before running for the door.

  “Stop stealing the cakes…” I heard as I hurtled through the doors and out onto the servant’s staircase, laughing as I ran.

  I was so preoccupied with the cake and having finally gotten away with it that I missed the fact that the Duke’s door was open.

  “It’s Orianna, right?”

  This was so not what I needed with the lottery coming up tomorrow. Considering there was no one else around, it wasn’t like I could pretend he was talking to someone else, either. “Yes, Your Grace.” I kept my eyes firmly fixed on the floor like a good aberth and turned away to leave.

  “Do come in.”

  “I can’t, Your Grace. House rules. Plus, I’m on an urgent errand for Lady Liandreth. I need to get back to her.”

  I managed to take a step toward the corridor before he grabbed my arm. My eyes felt like they were about to pop out of my head. No one touched someone else’s aberth. It just wasn’t done. Yet here he was, with his hand on my arm. I looked up at him, mouth agape.

  “Blue, I knew it!”

  Before I could say anything, he moved toward me, licking his lips like I was some kind of exotic dessert.

  My entire body went numb and cold, like I’d stepped into a freezer. All I could do was watch his face getting closer to mine. Suddenly, my brain kicked into gear. I screamed. Throwing the cake at his face, I pulled my arm out of his grip.

  He let go to scrape the thick, gooey icing off his face. That’s when I ran for it. My vision narrowed to nothing but the
floor in front of me, my arms and legs pumping faster than ever before. The Duke’s cursing sounded farther and farther away as I ran. I felt like I had an endless supply of energy as I pelted down the corridor.

  “Welcome back, Miss.”

  I looked around and realized I’d made it back to the suite without being caught. The rest of my vision started to return.

  “No cake, eh Miss?” the younger guard asked with a smile on his face. My heart sank. I’d finally managed to sneak some cake out of the kitchen, and I hadn’t even managed to keep hold of it. I was the worst thief ever.

  2

  May You Be Forever Remembered

  “Lottery day today,” Liandreth said, clapping her hands in glee. “Orianna, tell the guards to get the carriages ready. I’ll be traveling with the Duke. He wants to be there to support me and help me through the stress.”

  My heart sank. The Duke was coming with us today? After what had happened yesterday, that was not good news for me.

  I poked my head out of the suite door to tell the guards.