Read Starfall: A Starstruck Novel for Free Online

 
    “We’re working on it.” Mr. O smiled reassuringly at him. “The Sovereign has discovered something that may be of assistance.”  
    I nodded, since Nels clearly needed reassuring. “We think previous Sovereigns may have left information that will tell us how to proceed without, er, aggravating the situation.”  
    Seeming way more relieved than my vague reassurance justified, Nels bowed his way out.  
    As we left the Audience Hall, Mr. O informed me I had forty-five whole minutes before my luncheon. I headed back to my apartment as quickly as my stupid formal gown would allow, eager to experiment with the Scepter before mentioning my new theory and possibly giving anyone false hopes.  
    Molly helped me change from my court dress into a simpler outfit in shades of green for the luncheon, then I asked her to give me a few minutes alone. Retrieving the purple Archive stone from the secure cubby where I’d stashed it, I held it up to the Scepter’s pink stone. Except for color, they were identical. Did that mean they were both Archives?  
    I wouldn’t know until I could figure out how the darned things worked. Setting down the purple stone, I covered the pink one on the scepter with my hand, since that seemed to open all the genetically coded locks. Nothing happened.  
    Keeping my hand on the stone, I experimentally said, “Activate?”  
    Nothing.
    “Open?”
    Nothing.  
    “Access Archive.”
    Nothing. Hm.
    Plucking my electronic scroll-book off my nightstand, I flipped it flat and called up my English-Nuathan dictionary. Picking up the Scepter again, I tried various combinations of Nuathan words while touching the pink stone.  
    “ Gnomhachtaigh! ”  
    Nothing.
    “ Farsaing! Farsaing chartlann!”
    Nothing. Maybe it wasn’t even a verbal command at all?
    “Chartlann rochtana?” I tried without much hope and suddenly the whole Scepter vibrated. Then, emanating from the pink crystal orb at the top, a hologram of a man appeared in front of me—a man I recognized from textbook pictures as Sovereign Leontine. My grandfather.

4

Random access memory

    “Oh!” I breathed, gazing wide-eyed at the perfectly lifelike image now standing before me.  
    At my faint sound, the incredibly real-seeming Leontine turned toward me, like he was actually looking at me. “New Sovereign?”
    “Yes?” I had no clue what the protocol was for something like this.
    “You are alone?”
    “Yes.”
    “Name and lineage please, for integration purposes.”
    “Um, Emileia. Daughter of Mikal and Galena.”
    There was a brief pause, then the image of my grandfather smiled. “Emileia. My granddaughter. All grown up now?”
    “Uh, sort of. I’m sixteen.”
    He frowned at me. “My son, Mikal. I find no record of him in the Archive. Why is that?”
    “I’m sorry, sir. I was told he never became Sovereign. He and my mother escaped to Earth—with me—when Faxon took power, but they were both killed there. Murdered by Faxon’s people. I was only Acclaimed a few days ago.”
    “I see. You came to Mars from Earth?”
    “Yes, just three weeks ago. And I just this minute figured out how to access this Archive. The pink stone in the Scepter is an Archive, right?”
    He nodded gravely. “It is. Normally you would have been shown how to access it by your predecessor. But as that predecessor seems to have been me, it appears I never had that opportunity. The first thing I would have told you is to guard the contents of this Archive carefully. Its very existence is known only to Sovereigns, their Consorts, and occasionally one or two of their most trusted advisors. The Sovereigns have felt it wisest for that to remain the case.”
    “Oh. Okay. I’ll, uh, keep it as secret as I can.” Good thing I hadn’t shared my theory about the Scepter with anyone yet .  
      Leontine’s expression was kindly but serious. “How old were you when your parents were killed, Emileia?”
    “Less than two years old. Earth years, that