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CHAPTER ONE
Subject: Raeth Arteres
Date: March 8, 2185
Species: Neumarian
Status: Captured
Tick-tock…tick-tock…I clutch the sides of the steel bed in my cell and push
up on my elbows. The clock, with its bronze rim, hangs high on the wall,
taunting me. The long black arm of the second hand struggles up the side of the
enormous disc, ticking away the last few moments of my life.
Tap…tap. Footsteps, two by two, march to the
cell door. Sucking in a long breath, I embrace the rhythmic sounds of the
airship, with the occasional interruption of an engine sputtering.
Tap…thump.
The Queen’s unmistakable gait
interrupts my dream-like state. It matches the sounds of the ship, as if she is
an extension of the heap of metal propelling us across the desert wasteland.
“Open the door.” Her voice echoes down
the narrow hall.
Tick…
The hand struggles to reach the
twelve. If it doesn’t make it, maybe the door won’t open. It teeters and
shakes, then slides straight up in unison with the door.
…Tock.
“Be quick, before the parasite uses
her curse on us.” Her raspy, artificial voice sends a quiver to my core.
A guard races in with a handheld
device and points it at my neck. I’ve been collared like a dog. I clutch the
slick metal ring around my neck, pulling it from my skin, but current zaps
through my shoulders and my arm juts out to my side, shaking. Searing pain runs
along my veins.
After all these years of my brother
hiding me, it was inevitable I’d get caught.
Darkness swirls deep inside, brewing a
storm. I can’t remember what it will do if I release it. Is it a gift, as my
brother told me, or a curse, as the Queen believes? All I know is that if I
unleash it, the Queen will have what she wants, so I push it down deep, keeping
it hidden from her.
A man in a grey coat approaches with a
syringe in his shaking hand. His left eye has been replaced by a bronze implant
that clicks as it grows wide. I concentrate on remaining calm. “I-I see you
s-still need me.” It is a struggle to speak against the rising will of the gift
trapped inside me.
“Need you? I only need your wretched,
cursed body. We must ensure your kind never threatens the world again. When I’m
finished, you will serve me, and only me.”
Acid boils up in my throat but I force
it down. The beast caged inside me longs for release.
“Make her cease that ridiculous
tapping,” the Queen orders.
The guard grabs my hand and pulls me
down on the bed. I hadn’t noticed my fingers rapping against the metal. My body
sometimes has a mind of its own. A way of keeping me focused when my brain no
longer can.
Princess Semara edges into the room.
“Mother, must we—”
“Silence!” The queen whirls on her.
“Do you question me, Semara?”
“No, Mother. I only wish to discover
the truth about the Neumarians. It will help us in our fight to—”
“The truth? The truth is they are
parasites that suck the life out of people, and no one on Earth is safe as long
as they live.”
The long needle penetrates my arm and icy liquid shoots up my veins. The
room spins. Focus. I must concentrate if I am to keep my secret.
“Take her to the Alteration Room.” The
Queen smirks, her flaming-red hair dancing above her head and her mechanical
eye widening to a pool of pleasure.
“N-no. I w-won’t—”
The Queen’s skirt billows with her
movements. A cold metal hand brushes my cheek, sending a tremor down my arms to
my fingers. “Tell us what we want to know, and you will be returned to your
people unharmed.”
Princess Semara dances from foot to
foot. Yards of red and black material sway with each step. Her eyes plead with
me to tell what I should know, but can’t remember.
Or maybe I do, but am not allowing
myself to.
“I know n-nothing.”
The edge of the Queen’s knuckles
catches my cheek. A trickle runs down my face, the odor of my blood matching
the smell of the ship.
“Take her.” The Queen stalks to her
daughter. “And no lasers. Do it the old-fashioned way. No anesthetic.”
Tears well up in Princess Semara’s
eyes, but she blinks them back.
“Take my daughter with you as a
witness,” the Queen says to the man with the needle. “You’ll serve your Queen
Mother, won’t you, darling?”
“Yes, Mother,” Princess Semara
whispers. Her pale arms wrap around her black corset as if to hug her fear
inside.
My stomach flops and the dark swirl
inside me means to escape. I rock back and forth, trying to subdue it. “N-no,
p-please. You must not—”
Thump…tap.
The Queen’s metal leg beats against
the floor with every other step. Soon, I will be the same.
“Please, don’t l-let her,” I plead.
The Princess remains still, the
corners of her lips arched down, marking her smooth face.
“Bring the gurney,” the grey coat
yells out the door.
Squeak…squeak.
The screech of the wheels makes the
hair on my arms stand at attention. Will my robotic leg mimic the high-pitched
noise each time I take a step? Does it matter? Even if I escape the ship, my
people will see me as a Slag now. Never again will they look at me as one of
them.
Arms snake beneath me. My body lifts
and lands on a coarse, white-sheeted surface. The gurney under me bounces.
“Raeth, please, you must tell my
mother what your people are plotting.”
“They plan n-nothing.”
The grey coat pushes me down the hall.
“Lies, that is all they do, tell lies and torment our people. They should all
be exterminated.” His face hangs over mine with a derisive smile. Glaring
lights fly past overhead until we turn into a room.
Doors swish, sealing shut behind us.
Massive silver devices hang from the ceiling and walls. This is the Alteration
Room, with all the tools of torture pointing in every direction. Why do they
alter themselves, shove techno-implants into their bodies? Terror ripples
through every muscle and my hand taps in a soothing rhythm.
They lift me from the gurney and strap
me down to a cold, solid surface. Silver bands snap around my wrists, ankles,
and head. Salty tears flow down my face and over my lips. Princess Semara wipes
them away.
“Why do you fuss over her? You are a
princess. If your mother saw you—”
“I only clean off what could interfere
with the lasers.”
“You heard your mother. There will be
no lasers.” The grey coat spins on his heels and stalks behind a wall.
“Besides, I’m taking her leg, not her eyes.” A deep chuckle echoes in the room.
“Not this time, anyway.”
My heart races so fast I wonder if one
of the machines is pulling it from my body. I try to lift my wrists to clutch
my chest, but my hands remain bound by my sides.
“There isn’t much time.” Princess
Semara holds up another syringe. “This will keep you from suffering while
he—he—”
“Removes my l-leg?”
“Yes.” Semara wipes a tear from her
own face. “I’m sorry. I don’t want to see you suffer. Why won’t your people let
us live in peace? Why do you want to harm us?” Her voice shakes and her lower
lip trembles. Does she not believe her own words?
The deep revving of an engine brings
the blackness close to the surface. I clutch my fists and scrunch my eyes shut,
trying to free my mind from the squealing sound I know to be a saw.
My body shakes and rattles the metal
binds.
The pinch of a needle causes my eyes
to shoot open.
Princess Semara stumbles back from the
table.
My insides feel gushy and my head
floats despite the restraint.
I taste something sour and click my
tongue. The saw quiets for a moment and the grey coat stands over me.
He grins, revealing crooked teeth.
“Last chance to tell us of the plans to overthrow the Queen.”
My eyelids grow heavy. He slams his
fist down on a large orange button, and the blades rotate at a rapid speed.
He lowers the saw and I hear screams.
My screams.
Weighted at Barnes and Noble
Ciara
writes to ‘Defy the Dark’ with her fantasy and paranormal books. Her debut
novel, The Curse of Gremdon, was released to acclaimed reviews, securing a
Night Owl Top Pick and five stars from the Paranormal Romance Guild. Also, book
I, Rise From Darkness, from her debut young adult Battle For Souls series,
secured glowing reviews and won July Book of the Month from Long and Short
Reviews.
Her first love, besides her
family, reading, and writing, is travel. She's backpacked through Europe,
visited orphanages in China, and landed in a helicopter on a glacier in Alaska.
Ciara is extremely sociable so
please feel free to connect with her at her blog, website, Twitter, Goodreads, or Facebook,
Weighted (Prequel Novelette)
The Great War of 2185 is over, but my
nightmare has just begun. I am being held captive in the Queen’s ship awaiting
interrogation. My only possible ally is the princess, but I’m unsure if she is
really my friend or a trap set by the Queen to fool me into sharing the secret
of my gift. A gift I keep hidden even from myself. It swirls inside my body
begging for release, but it is the one thing the Queen can never discover. Will
I have the strength to keep the secret? I’ll know the answer soon. If the
stories are true about the interrogators, I’ll either be dead or a traitor to
my people by morning.
Upcoming books in
The Neumarian Chronicles:
Escapement (Book I) - Early 2013
Escapement (Book I) - Early 2013
Pendulum (Book II) - Mid 2013
Balance (Book III) - Early 2014
Other books by Cara Knight:
Battle for Souls Series
Ascension of Evil - Coming in
October
