Schism: The Battle for Darracia (Book 1) Read Free Page A

you,” his mother said, as she calmly followed him.
    “ Please lower your voice.” He turned to her, wanting to keep their discussion private. “How am I to be accepted as a leader if you won’t let me take part in the Fireblade?”
    “ Aeeehe.” She nodded with great understanding. “You worry about the Fireblade. You have no need of that. You are Drakko’s son, descendant of the mighty Carnor. You are an heir to the Elements. You have no need to prove yourself with the Fireblade.”
    “ Oh, no, Mo’mo.” In a rush of emotion, he stopped her, and she smiled at his slip from manhood. “Don’t you understand? I have to take my place beside my cousins. If I don’t, they never will respect me. Aside from that, Zayden is equally the heir to the Elements. People would rush to his banner.”
    “ Nonsense, V’sair. I adore Zayden, but he is just your father’s by-blow. He is an outstanding warrior and will make an able counselor to aide you, but the stain of his bastardy never will allow him kingship. What talk is this? The Darracians must respect you. You are going to be their anointed king,” she chided him.
    V ’sair leaned against the balustrade of the terrace and gazed at the whole of Syos spread out before him. One by one more lights from the buildings flickered on, and the city in the clouds looked like diamonds strewn across a purple velvet. “I am not Darracian,” he said.
    “ Oh, Voso, of course—”
    “ Hear me out, please, Mo’mo.” He stopped her, and she came up to stand next to him, her slim body buffeted by the hot winds. Shading her sensitive eyes from the blazing sunset with the delicate webbing between her fingers, she shook her head. “Go on.” She scanned the deepening sky, the orange flames of the two suns giving way to a mauve twilight.
    “ I am not like them.” He gestured to the hulking guard standing nearby, his dark gaze intent on the vista before them. “They don’t understand my intellect. I am a hybrid. I am not a Planta like you either.” He showed her the corded muscles of his arm then flexed his individual digits, finally making a fist. He watched a smile light up her face then turned to look up at the dull sky and gestured toward the descending suns. “Look, Mo’mo. The two suns of our planet. Rast, rich with energy—its strength puts the weak shine of Nost to shame. Zayden and my cousins are Rast.” He hung his head, and she wanted to stroke his ivory-haired pate. “I am the weakling. I am Nost. I am not even like the Quyroos.”
    “ Thank the Elements for that, my son!” Reminda said with a tinkling laugh. “Who would want to spend their days swinging from tree to tree, living in their limited world?”
    “ Don’t you see? I am a nobody. I am not acceptable for any of our species. I am an anomaly.”
    “ You are the best of every world, a combination of all that’s the finest of what we each have to offer. Your father and I have discussed this from the day you were born. You cannot compete with the Darracian might, so we have developed your intellect.” She looked at him sideways, her eyes glittering. “Emmicus had retired, and Dado brought him back just for you. You know he tutored your father and uncle. You are the new Darracia. You will change this world with your will and fine mind. You will bring it into the present. The Quyroos want to move into the new century as equals, and they need a perceptive leader to ease the entire planet forward. Just think of what you could accomplish when all the species work together. Think of the medicine and science, and the trade that will open up with other planets. We can’t be taken seriously in the galaxy as long as some of our inhabitants are oppressed. You are special. I have known that from the moment they put you in my arms. I have worked so hard for this, and things are finally changing here…” She twirled a long strand of her white hair until it curled charmingly around her triangular face. They