Curse of the Alien Ring (The Sectors SF Romance Series) by Veronica Scott

Author:Veronica Scott [Scott, Veronica]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9798988096962
Publisher: Jean D.\Walker
Published: 2024-05-14T18:30:00+00:00

CHAPTER SIX

Dianora expected a grand banquet hall but the room where she and Garrin eventually arrived was a small dining room and the five men awaiting them were grim faced. After the saluting and the introductions, including a welcome to her from Bakuln, who she inferred was Garrin’s right hand man and had been in the dungeons with him, dinner was served and the servants withdrew.

“Can someone give me the short version of how this war with the Craadil began?” she asked as Garrin carved the roast and plates were passed down the table. She noted how he gave her the most succulent pieces from close to the bone. Garrin wasted no opportunity to show her she was cared for, which warmed her, given the strange situation she’d catapulted herself into with the ring’s help. “I’m afraid in my time, my realm as you call it, the details are sketchy at best.”

“Three ships arrived on my coast,” Garrin said, tearing off a hunk of the crusty bread and putting it on her plate. “The passengers claimed to be the only survivors of a great disaster on their own continent, far across the Storm Sea and begged for asylum.”

“The captains also burned their ships,” Bakuln added, handing her the butter crock. “Stating they wished to show their intent to remain as loyal citizens in our land.”

“Were there women and children in the group?” Dianora asked.

The men exchanged glances and Garrin shook his head. “A prescient question, my lady. No there were not, which also made us suspicious. Who flees a collapse of society without saving their families?” There was a murmur of agreement from the other men. “After the Craadil surrendered all their arms I granted them conditional amnesty and a chunk of good land, with hunting, fishing and farming possibilities. But of course they wanted more, much more.”

“We heard of raids on neighboring towns,” Bakuln said. “Despite the patrols I’d established at Garrin’s orders, the Craadil were able to carry out their depredations.”

“Unbeknownst to me, their leader was also plotting with one of my own against me.” Garrin’s tone was bleak.

“Fedorr,” said the man to the right of Dianora, speaking with such venom the name could have been a curse.

“He used to be a part of this council,” Garrin said, fist clenched. “So of course he was privy to all the plans.”

“What we didn’t know was a fourth ship had stayed out of sight offshore and then once the Craadil settlement was established, this vessel resupplied the enemy with weapons and more men.” Bakuln seemed reluctant to admit the cleverness of the ruse.

“You can no doubt guess the rest,” Garrin said to Dianora. “I was betrayed in my own castle by one I trusted, a man who was my heir since I have no children but who was impatient to take the throne, even if he was to be a puppet of the Craadil. When you arrived the first time and found us immured in the dungeons, their plot was this close to succeeding.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.