by Viola Grace
Brenn knows that her survival is up in the air because she is under threat from her own parent. Blood is hard to fight.
Brenn has spent her life being quiet and avoiding the attention of her father, the psychopathic emperor. He keeps her close and anyone who befriends her is in immediate danger.
When she is offered a chance to leave on a design mission and she is given one year of freedom, she is not going to waste a minute. She is preparing to return to defend herself with everything in her.
Designing a Citadel is right up her alley, and watching it being built is a dream come true.
The Drai acting as host shows her that her father’s people can have more than a homicidal personality—they can be kind and bring a sparkle to her soul.
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Hard to Fight
Copyright © 2015 Viola Grace
ISBN: 978-1-4874-0527-4
Cover art by Carmen Waters
All rights reserved. Except for use in any review, the reproduction or utilization of this work in whole or in part in any form by any electronic, mechanical or other means, now known or hereafter invented, is forbidden without the written permission of the publisher.
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Hard to Fight
Tales of the Citadel Book 51
By
Viola Grace
Chapter One
Brennika hunkered down as the thud of artillery shattered the walls around her. She put up a wall of protection before her and the others in the bunker.
The collision of ordinance on stone seemed never ending, but finally, it stopped.
Brennika collapsed to the ground next to her mother. Her mom stroked her hair. “You did good, Brenn.”
Brenn stared at the rest of those in the bunker who were staring at her like she was radioactive and they were more afraid of her than the incoming army.
Her vision was blurry and her head was throbbing. Her mother stroked her hair one last time, and then, the boots came toward them.
Brenn tried to fight. She tried to lift her head and defend her people. She was just too tired. She heard the guns and the screams. Her body did what it could and put a barrier around her. She felt the impact of the weapons, and her mother fell beside her.
“Mom!” She reached out, but her protection wouldn’t let her touch her mom.
A soldier came up and wrapped her in a blanket, lifting her into his arms.
His companion said, “Notify the general. We have his daughter.”
She struggled to look at her mother, but she couldn’t get past the man who was holding her.
“How did he know that the falling building wouldn’t crush her?”
“He knows his daughter.”
“She’s so tiny; how old is she?”
The man carrying her looked into her eyes. “I believe she just turned six.”
She stared at him as he carried her out of the broken building. He was wrong. She had just turned five.
* * * *
“Emperor Michkin would like to see you.”
Brenn looked up from her studies and scowled. “Why?”
Vice Admiral Denkin shrugged helplessly. “He did not share that with me.”
Brenn got to her feet and brushed at her trousers. “I will come with you right away.”
She rubbed her hands together to try and get some of the ink and graphite stains off. She had been designing another city that would never be built.
She would come back, and the schematics for the waste and electrical systems would be gone. They always disappeared.
The vice admiral led the way until they approached the throne room. With her head slightly bowed, she entered and passed the courtiers who liked to spend their time kissing her father’s ass.
“Here she is. Brennika, what kept you?”
Her father was known for his impatience, but she kept herself calm. “I was in the middle of something I consider important, Father.”
He leaned forward. “Come closer.”
She took a few steps up to the dais, and he reached out, touching the smudge on her cheek. “You have been drawing again.”
“Yes, Father. I was designing another city.”
“Now, you know what I think of that.” His voice was grim.
“I know, Father, and yet, I cannot stop. It is as much a part of me as breathing.”
“Look at me, Brennika.”
She lifted her head and saw the reflected image of her own features in a more masculine and aged setting.
“I have had a request for your unladylike services, but they require you to leave the court for a period of time. I do not like the thought, as you are my only heir, but the offer is too good to pass up.”
“May I know what you will receive in return for my services?”
“Of course. The owner of a small planet wishes to build a new city, a Citadel, with your help. In return for your assistance, the empire receives right of passage through his space. He has a claim to the entire star system, so this would definitely be a boon.”
“He owns a jump point.”
The emperor smiled. “Three.”
It was understandable. That much free movement would be invaluable to the empire.
He leaned forward and the leathery wings flared slightly. “He is one of my kind. He is an ancient. He will have an interest in you that goes beyond your design skills. I would send you with a protective detail, but he is vouching for your safety. If you die on his territory, he forfeits his planet, and none of my kind wants that.”
Brennika nodded. “I understand.”
“I hope you do. I am expecting you back by the end of the year. Your betrothal is pending, and the year-end gala will be the perfect time to announce your engagement.”
The previous gala had been a week prior. She had sixty-three weeks to design and supervise the building of a city.
“When will I be allowed to leave?”
He sat back. “Take what you need to live for a year and be back before the gala or I will send a warship to reclaim you.”
She nodded. “I understand.”
“Now, give me a kiss and be on your way.”
Instead of the hand he turned to everyone else, he turned his cheek toward her.
She pressed her lips to his skin quickly and backed away, her head remained down as she backed out of the audience chamber and through the doors.
The moment they closed, she ran to her rooms, started making notes for the amount of food and water she needed and made arrangements for her private shuttle to be fuelled and ready. A year out of her father’s reach was a boon.
He had already proved that he would come after his only child no matter what.
Her mother had been one of sixteen concubines that her father had possessed. She had been the only one to conceive, and when genetic testing proved General Michkin to be the father, he had been delighted. Her mother had been terrified, and she ran back to her peo
ple, trying to hide herself and her daughter.
The rubble of her home city still remained as a warning to those who would thwart him. What was his was his.
Brennika Michkin packed practical clothing for the trip. Her father hated it when she wore trousers, but they were more useful than the long court skirts and far better than the gauzy gowns the ladies wore during the summer months.
The order for the rations was sent through an imperial courier, and when the reply came, she smiled. It would only be a day before she could escape. A year of freedom was worth any price.
The flight to Dharthom was three days of bliss. Brenn played music, ran around in her underwear and generally did all the things that she could never do in the palace.
The thought of another Drai on the world she was to examine was a little scary, but she was used to the temper of the most dangerous Drai in seven sectors.
Brenn watched the navigation computer and smiled as the world she sought finally showed up on her screen. There were still hours to go before she landed, but she sent a signal that she was on her way.
An hour later, she got the reply. It was coordinates on the planet’s surface. She had her landing site.
She got dressed and settled in the pilot’s seat. Brenn keyed in the landing details, confirmed them and went to eat her lunch. Four more hours to landing, so she had time to finish her vacation.
Four more hours until she met her father’s client. The man she had been sold to for one year.
Chapter Two
The silence of the world was the first thing she noticed. On the imperial seat, there was always the hum of energy and the whirring of vehicles. In the country, the animals kept the noise level going.
On Dharthom, there was silence. She could feel the world’s heartbeat, but there was no sound to accompany it.
Whoever had sent the message with the coordinates, they were not here.
Muttering to herself, she returned to her shuttle and sent the signal back to Threemar that she had landed safely.
When she returned to the plain, she looked around and started sketching. She could see the city that needed to be built with a tall spire reaching for the stars.
She began to sketch what her mind was drawing for her. Once she had the skyline, she would begin to fill in the rest.
The light had started fading when she heard the wingbeats. The wings seemed unusually heavy. When she looked toward the sky, she saw the huge silvery beast that was curving through the clouds and approaching. Was this a Drai ancient? How had they changed to walk on two legs?
The communication issues alone were going to make this a difficult process.
The beast landed with a thud. She took in the grace of the neck, the long sweep of the wings and the restless lashing of the tail. He was quite lovely, but she still didn’t know how they were going to speak.
He stepped toward her, and she waited. Eventually, he cocked his head and looked at her with a swirling black eye. His nostrils flared, and he inclined his head as if confirming something. A moment later, he shifted into a very naked man with two large wings or your standard Drai.
“I had heard that a Drai had become emperor of an entire sector, but I did not believe it when I was told that he had a daughter with one of the inhabitants. We do not breed easily with other species.”
She inclined her head. “He did indeed become emperor. He began his career in the Threemar army and moved up to general. From there, he became the most likely candidate to ascend the imperial throne with the previous emperor dying without an heir.”
“But, where did you come from?”
“As a general, he had concubines. There were sixteen of them, and my mother became pregnant. From that moment onward, he didn’t let her out of his sight.”
“Of course not.” It seemed completely reasonable to him, apparently.
“I am sorry. I don’t know your name.” There was pressure on her mind, but she pulled back at the memory of a point of etiquette.
“Dret. Dret Liahik.”
“I am Brennika Michkin. Brenn, normally.”
“You do not seem upset by nudity.”
“I am looking into your eyes, sir. You might only be a hovering head for all that I would notice.”
He did something that her father never did, he flexed his wings, and they bent forward to create the illusion of a cloak.
“That is a nice trick.”
“It is a matter of practice. I have been asleep under the stone of this world, and still, I heard of your ability to design cities.”
“On paper at least.”
“Really? I have heard that seven of your cities have been built on a number of colony worlds, and they are all tremendously successful and easy to maintain.”
She blinked. “Where did you hear that?”
“Worlds talk, and as I was inside mine, I listened.”
Brenn blinked. “I have a preliminary sketch here, if we go inside the shuttle, I can turn the lights on and we can discuss what you want.”
“That sounds most pleasant.”
She started for the shuttle. “Don’t worry about the interior, it was built to house someone with wings.”
She stepped inside with her sketchbook tucked under her arm, and she immediately went to the storage unit that contained hip wraps for just this kind of thing. “Here, this may be more comfortable than sitting on your wings.”
He grinned and inclined his head. “Thank you.”
He opened his wings and took the wrap. She was drawn in to gazing at his body, and her inner critic decided that he was designed for form and function.
Her blush was hot as she opened the sketchbook and showed him her vision for the city.
“Now, I need you to tell me what you require for your city.”
He finished tying the wrap, and he settled at the small table next to her. “I wish for wider lanes, open spans. The Citadel has contacted me and wishes to build an outpost here. I knew that your designs would be precisely what I needed.”
“Can I get you some tea?” She got to her feet and started the procedure.
He smiled brightly. “That would be lovely. It has been quite a while since I engaged in the social niceties.”
“Is Dharthom a sentient world?”
“It is. It has not chosen and Avatar yet. I believe it has a request in for one of the new species. Some folk just seem designed to fit another mind within their own.”
Brenn smiled and finished fussing with the tea. She set the pot and two cups on a tray and brought it the three steps to the table.
“I take it straight so I don’t have any additives. Sorry.” She poured a cup and set it near him.
“You have nothing to be sorry for. The construction materials and engineers will be arriving in a week. That should give us a chance to design an excellent home for some of the most spectacular talents in the sector.”
She blinked. “I didn’t realize it was that Citadel.”
“It is. They are eager to have an outpost here.”
“That changes everything. They need practice grounds. Gardens for the horticulture talents, pools for those who swim and towers for those who fly.” Her mind whirled with what needed to be accommodated.
Separate environments had to be calculated based on the average talents in the sector and where those talents had grown up. Humidity systems... “That’s it!”
She flipped to a new page and started sketching out an environmental control system.
“What are you doing?” He looked over her shoulder.
“I am drawing the schematic for an environmental control system so that each set of quarters can be set to personal preferences.”
She reached for her tea and sipped for a moment before returning to her design.
“So, designing is your talent?”
She chuckled. “My less-than-normal talent? No. That is something else. This is the product of my passion and my education.”
“You are the imperial princes
s.”
“I am. I also like to design cities. My father’s harem is terrified of me, so socialising with them is out. My father’s edict has made men being forward with me a death sentence, so all I have been left is my drawing and imagining worlds with my cities far away.”
“Well, that has come to pass. Your cities have been built. Five in the last ten years. They are well thought out and those who live in them, love them. You were the obvious choice for a new Citadel.”
She finished the oxygen-level relay and set her pen down. She flexed her hand and massaged her fingers. “I am still amazed that my father agreed. I have no idea what his plan for me is, but it is not going to end well.”
“You don’t trust your father?” Dret seemed surprised.
“No, I really don’t. It is a miracle that he allowed me to travel here. If you had been anything other than a Drai, I doubt he would have allowed me to come here.”
Dret chuckled. “Being that I am a Drai, I am amazed that he allowed you here. He has never had another child?”
“No. No matter how many women he had sex with, I am still his only child.”
“Your mother never quickened again?” Dret seemed intent.
She stiffened. “No. She died when I was five.”
“My condolences. Was it sudden?”
“Yes. Extremely.” Brenn blinked to clear her visions of that day and what followed.
* * * *
After being hauled back to the imperial court, she had remained silent for five years. When she was ten, she was creeping around in the court, and she found a dropped map and a design for a new palace. She had scrambled back to her chambers with the map and grabbed a pencil to make alterations to the design. When she had finished, she was covered in smudges, but she had a design that wouldn’t flood in the summer rains.
Her nanny had wanted to chastise her for the smudges, but her father had demanded her accompanying him to dinner with the designers of the new palace.