Jenna Fairchild should be enjoying her new position as the chair of the Octavian/Adamis Alliance, but she isn't. With the last sound of Sardius' clenched teeth ringing in her ear and the AAMC officers trashing her palace, Jenna flees through midnight waters to Favel's underwater mansion to take refuge. If only her own military wasn't against her! If only she knew if Sardius was alive! If only she knew what she was doing!
Join Jenna as she crowns new diplomats, taunts the AAMC, gets new staff, and fights to protect peace in the universe the only way she knows how... By being fabulous!
Excerpt:
Everything that happened after Sardius’ earpiece was destroyed in the prison riot was a blur to Jenna. Her escape pod was inserted in a room that had air, but no opaque walls. Peering into the mansion, it was clear that there was no privacy there. There were only transparent walls and it soon became clear why. Octavians spoke through gestures, so they needed big screens to show the full intent of the speaker instead of hearing their voice. Each of the transparent walls could become a screen.
Jenna spoke into the panel inside her pod that did voice-to-text and her words were translated into Octavian and displayed on the wall for Favel to read.
She hadn’t gotten to the part where she explained that Sardius was gone before Favel was rushing to do damage control. She didn’t know what he did or who he spoke to. She was told to stay in the bed/pod. She lowered the glass and breathed the briniest air she’d ever breathed, but she didn’t slide off the bed.
The mattress hugged her as she played with her earpiece, hoping that Sardius would miraculously come back online.
He didn’t.
In the next minute, Favel was sending questions to Jenna about Sardius. Since the Octavians had stopped recording him, they didn’t know what had happened. They had to get the answers from Jenna.
She explained and Favel sent her a reassuring message that he would contact the prison.
Thirty tense minutes later, he poured himself into a halfway box. It was one of the things her grandfather had taught her about. Initially, the halfway box was filled with water. Favel got inside and closed the lid. Most of the water was then pumped out and replaced with air. When enough air had been added, Favel opened a hatch into Jenna’s room. He spread out his tentacles, lowering himself gently onto the floor that was nothing but a grate over a shallow drain.
“What did the prison say?” Jenna asked hopefully.
“They didn’t reply. However, the riot you mentioned was a catastrophe so serious that the women’s prison next to Sardius’ jail could tell me a few things. What happened was that the government Sardius opposed before his imprisonment lost the election. They lost big time!” Favel stretched out his tentacles, making himself into a huge pentagon (a few of his tentacles kept him in place before he continued). “When the new government was inaugurated, it meant that Sardius was no longer a criminal. In the past when he fought alongside them, they were the rebels. Now they’re the ruling government of his system. In response to the change, the guards in charge of the prison began executing all the political prisoners. They had to stop the new government from getting any additional power, and the prisoners fought back. It seems order hasn’t been restored yet.”
Jenna wrung her hands painfully before getting off the bed and sitting on the grate beside Favel. “So you don’t know if Sardius was killed by the guards?”
“No. We don’t know, but Sardius is a first-class killer, and he wasn’t bound inside his cell, so there’s a good chance he survived. I didn’t tell you half the things he was guilty of.” Favel paused and changed the subject. “We have good news from the Dahlia palace. None of your staff was hurt. Sardius got word to Smoothie fast enough that she was able to disarm the soldiers who entered the servants’ wing. She called the overland police and they just finished apprehending all six soldiers. They’ll be held in prison until they can be retrieved by the military. There is bad news though.”
“What’s that?”
“Not all the soldiers went to the servants’ wing. Some of them went to your room and they ripped the place apart looking for your unused crowns.” Favel showed her a view of her room from the palace’s security feed by projecting the video against the glass wall.
The room was a complete mess. They’d ripped the walls apart, tore her mattress to shreds, pulled up her carpet, and left the room in utter turmoil.
“Would you like to stay here tonight or would you like to join Excelyn in the Stone Palace? It’s quite late,” he said kindly.
“I feel sick, Favel. Sick!” she almost screamed. “This is worse than those damn liplo fruits squirming around inside me. This is worse than puking them up. I can’t stand this. Sardius protected me like a bulldog: all night and all day. He protected my whole staff. He was the one who chose Smoothie and Misha and Vash. And they’re great people. I was such an idiot. I completely took it for granted that he was safe in his maximum-security prison. You would not believe the unkind things I said to him when no one was around. I didn’t even tell him how much I… needed him,” she finished feebly.
Favel made a sound.
Jenna wasn’t sure what it meant. Her head shot up. “Are you laughing?”
He blinked. “No. I’m not. I’m sure Sardius knew you needed him. That was why he wanted the job. Sardius wasn’t the kind of guy who wanted to do an easy job. I think he was torn in half about you. One side of him wanted to protect you from anything awful that could happen and the other side wanted you to have it tough, so you could get stronger.”
Jenna wiped at her face. Whether her cheeks were wet from sweat or tears, she didn’t know.
“It’s certain he cared about you no matter what words you said to each other. He made sure I submitted the paperwork to register your marriage… Now if you want my opinion, I should escort you up to the Stone Palace.”
“Why can’t I stay down here? For now, I feel like I would be safer here. If I were someone looking to undermine me by stealing the crowns, I wouldn’t have only planned the one attack. I would have planned to hit the Stone Palace next, but I wouldn’t hit it until after I had joined Excelyn. I feel like everyone will be much safer if I stay down here tonight.”
Favel lowered his head. “All right. If you think that’s better.”
Jenna placed a kiss on his mantle, just above his eye. She pulled away and smiled at him.
His eyes cut to a spot to his right.
Jenna looked there too. A cluster of octopi had eyes pressed up against the glass.
“I think perhaps you are not used to living in a house with glass walls,” he said, making a heroic attempt to sound lighthearted.