Read Terran Times Second Wave # 10 - Liberty for Free Online

just after she left us. I tried to explain what I had seen, but they told me to be quiet as they grieved their daughter. I wanted so desperately to explain what I had seen.”
    “Did anyone listen?”
    “My parents, my brother. They listened to me and told me that if I saw anything else to keep telling folks. Eventually, someone would listen. Some did. Some didn’t. I saw death daily for a few weeks, and then, they blamed me. Still, I kept telling them what was coming. I had to. There was no other way.”
    Rajon reached out and took her hand. “Sometimes there is no other way. I took power here because there was no one else who could lead this world in the right direction. Corruption was rampant and there were many hard decisions in the early years of my reign. If you ask why I did not take a mate in the early years, it is because I have been waiting for a woman I could trust. You have no ties to the noble families; you have no social position that does not involve who and what you are.”
    He rubbed his thumb along the back of her hand. “You are a woman I can trust, and when you come to me, I know it will be because you want me and nothing more.”
    The sincerity in his tone struck a chord in her. She felt a warmth shimmy from the injection site and across her body.
    She turned her hand to grasp his, but they were interrupted by the arrival of Shoklek.
    “Your Grace, the Yinshin ambassador has arrived. He has a peculiar proposal for you.”
    Rajon got to his feet and nodded. “Of course he does. They never do anything the easy way.”
    He offered his hand to Libby, and she let him help her to her feet.
    Shoklek trailed behind them as they walked the halls but slipped ahead of them to announce them as they returned to the audience chamber.
    “His Grace, Duke Rajon Nor Gweahkin and his Death Seer, Liberty Trout.”
    The room went quiet and a path divided for them so that they could return to the dais where the duke held court.
    The Yinshin delegation was standing near the edge of the crowd, and they gasped and spoke amongst themselves when Libby was settled next to the duke’s seat.
    Shoklek tapped his staff on the ground. “His Grace will now hear your request.”
    A pasty yellow-green man with straw-like hair and a solid physique stepped forward. He bowed low to the duke.
    “Ambassador Ubracki, here to announce his petition.” Shoklek spoke slowly and tapped his staff. “Begin.”
    Ubracki bowed again and stood with his head high. “Duke Gweahkin, as you know, the Yinshin have no psychic talents in our bloodlines. It has come to our attention that there is a new species that is able to breed with ours and they have a heavy streak of developing talent.”
    The duke kept his hold on Libby’s hand. “I am aware of it.”
    The ambassador looked a little nervous as he stared at the duke. “We have a proposal for you that will grant you mining rights on three worlds.”
    “What is your proposal?”
    “We wish to purchase your Death Seer and breed her to one of our people. We wish her to become the mother of a new portion of evolution for our race.”
    Libby’s knees buckled, but she kept herself upright. They were trying to buy her.
    “My Death Seer is not for sale. She is a contract employee, not a possession.” The duke tugged her closer.
    Her thigh pressed against his throne as the Yinshin ambassador began to weave an increase in the offered trade and minerals. To her relief, Rajon was standing firm. He was not parting with her.
    It should have worried her, but she found it extremely comforting under the circumstances. When her vision came, it broke the tension of the moment and added more.
     

 
     
     
Chapter Six
     
     
    Libby bent and whispered frantically in Rajon’s ear. “The short Yinshin is carrying a weapon, and it is about to go off. When the servant drops the tray, get out of your chair. The weapon will blast the area behind the throne, and two of his own people will suffer from the