Blurb:
The parents of royal Otharian twins Darius and Dyla
have been murdered; their cousin is stealing their throne, and they are falsely
accused of murder. Their only choice is to flee to the forbidden and
quarantined planet Earth, but it could turn out to be a one-way trip.
To return home, they must find an ancient crystal that once belonged to Merlin to power the return portal. When the twins stumble upon the location of the crystal, the local crime boss sends out his assassin to retrieve it. Can Darius and Dyla use their PSI powers to open the portal home and reclaim their throne before the assassin catches up to them?
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It
would be a good day no matter if it rained, snowed or was devastatingly
hot. Today was the graduation
ceremony for the School of Advanced Studies at the Otharian Institute for
Paranormal Studies. His only son,
Tyrian, was graduating from the School of Telekinesis in less than an hour and
he beamed with pride as he thought of his son graduating from the prestigious
program that produced the best of the best. Ty was an exceptionally gifted telekinetic and had finished
in the top ten percent of his class.
Rylee
had a detailed plan for his only son, methodically grooming Ty for the eventual
role of presiding over the Persing Duchy.
Now that the school lessons were finished, Rylee planned to continue his
son’s education with lessons on governorship and rule. Since his eighteenth birthday earlier
in the year, Rylee had been bringing Ty to the Governing Council meetings to
see first-hand the workings of government. Ty had matured well in the last few years and Rylee was
confident that his son would make a fine duke.
“Katelle,
dear, I do hope you’re almost ready.
We don’t want to be late for our son’s graduation.”
Duchess
Katelle Persing was sitting in front of the mirror in her dressing chamber,
fumbling with the clasp of her favorite necklace. She called out to her husband in frustration. “Please Rylee,
don’t hurry me. I’m almost ready,
but I’m having trouble fastening my necklace.”
“Yes,
yes, I understand, dear. Take your
time, I’ll be waiting.”
Rylee
paced around the outer chamber.
“Katelle,
I was thinking how tragic it is that Levon and Lilliana can’t be here to see
Darius and Dyla graduate today.
They would have been so proud of them. I still can’t believe that they’re gone. It’s utterly preposterous that the
accusation of them being involved with smugglers is still being bantered about
in the Grand Council after all this time.
The investigation that Avikar headed up was a travesty of justice. These times we live in are enough to try
a man’s sanity.”
“Rylee,
please. Let’s not talk about that
today. You know my feelings on
that subject.”
Rylee
stopped in front of the mirror to remove an imperceptible piece of lint off of
his jacket. He began to adjust his
sword and scowled at the way it hung at his side. “Yes, my dear, but I’ll never be convinced of their guilt, and
I have voiced my suspicions to some of our friends.”
“Really? I’ve asked you before not to talk to
anyone besides the family about that whole sordid affair. Who knows how people really feel or
think about such a delicate issue?
Besides, at the moment, I need you. Can you come in here and help me fasten this necklace?”
“Yes,
I’ll be there in a moment,” Rylee replied, still fussing with his sword.
Katelle
sighed and continued struggling with her necklace. If this wasn’t so
expensive, she silently threatened, I’d throw it away.
A
slight rustle of the balcony drapes behind her briefly caught Katelle’s
attention. If she had not been so
distracted with the intricate fastening, she might have seen the black-draped
figure slip through the window and hide behind the drapes.
“Wonderful,
there’ll be a breeze today,” she mumbled.
The
assassin peered around the drapes to locate his targets. The woman was sitting at the
bench. Luckily for him, her head
was down, her hands in her lap. He
moved with cat-like grace and within a few strides was directly behind
her.
“Thank
goodness you’ve finally came to help me,” she said without looking up. “Could you please...”
He
sliced the razor sharp stiletto under her chin, cleanly severing her throat
from ear to ear. She didn’t utter
a sound and her head slumped forward.
The assassin quickly moved away from the woman and stood behind the open
bedchamber door.
Rylee
strode into the bedchamber. “Are
you still fussing with that necklace?”
He
stopped short, transfixed by the scene in front of him. There was a large, red stain flowing
down the front of his wife’s gown. “Katelle, what’s wrong?”
The
grisly scene had its desired effect on the duke. The assassin silently moved behind him, snaking his arm
around Rylee’s neck, choking off any sound. He slipped the stiletto effortlessly between the duke’s ribs
and into his racing heart. He held
Rylee close before slowly lowering him to the floor as his legs gave out. The assassin shifted around to face the
duke, relishing his agony.
Rylee’s
eyes widened when he saw the assassin’s face hovering above him. A spark of recognition entered his
eyes.
“Nils,”
he sputtered.
“My
Lord Duke, I bring greetings to you from the Red Alliance. The Alliance has taken your suspicions
regarding the Telkur scandal very seriously. You should have been more careful about whom you shared your
opinions with. Goodbye, Duke
Rylee.”
Rylee’s
final thought was of his poor Katelle and how right she had been. He should
have listened to her.
5 stars - The Quest For Nobility is a classic science fiction/fantasy adventure with lots of fun characters (my favorite is Eclair) and a twist on the Arthurian legend. The action takes place on two worlds, contemporary earth and Otharia, a feudal world ruled by dukes - and one would-be ruler of all. Amazon Customer
5 stars - What can be said? A great fanasty novel. Very well written, with some sci-fi thrown in the mix. Wonderful characters. Held my attention all way threw out the story. Martin is an outstanding author. Amazon Customer
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