Empire's Son: An Epic Science Fiction Novel Series

I followed Master Kiev through the large open doorway and I instantly felt better. Even though the city felt a few degrees cooler than the harsh desert, it was still sweltering outside. But once out of the direct heat of the day and in the coolness of the building, the heat decreased dramatically.

The immediate entrance was quite large. A room that could fit several hundred people comfortably, but it was just a wide empty area with no furnishings of any kind. Off to the left and right were wide curving staircases going to the upper floors and before us was a wall with three separate wide doors.

We didn’t go up the stairs or toward the three doors, because there was a small group of people standing in the middle of the great entrance. A line of them actually, standing straight and tall, and all of them watching us as we made our way toward them. Or should I say, watching me. I felt a little uncomfortable under their stares, and I tried my best not to show it.

Master Kiev stopped right in front of the row of people. There were nine of them. Each dressed in the same way as Master Kiev. Short dark brown coats that fell about half-way to the knees. Across the their chests were different emblems proclaiming things I did not yet know, and most noticeably was a brazen brown-scaled dragon that looked like he was eating the tail end of the circle that he sat square in the middle of.

I had noticed it on Master Kiev’s coat shoulders and he informed me it was the crest of the Protectorate. Much like the Zahn family crest that those in the service of my family wore on their coats, and I had branded on my right shoulder. The other thing I noticed immediately was that these men wore short cropped hair like Master Kiev, even the woman.

I did a double take to make sure I had seen right. Since arriving in Ethia, I had seen very little of the fairer sex, not a single one on Vang’s ships and only a handful at the Palace. I had yet to ask if there had been a particular reason for such a skew in gender. But here there stood a rather brawny female, and she was eyeing me with a particular sour expression compared to the others.

It made me pause for a moment. Her expression clearly stating that I had done something to personally upset her and the emotions rolling off her only solidified my conclusion, but I was quite sure we had never crossed paths before.

I decided my best course of action was not to notice her rather rude glare, and instead, turned to a man standing off to the side, clearly stating he was not part of the nine. This man wore many more emblems on his chest than any of the others. He also very noticeably wore a black short coat uniform. I had remembered Hame wearing one similar to this. I also noticed the silver star stamped in the middle of a circle on this man’s chest, and wondered what that meant. One thing was for sure, I knew this guy was someone in charge and important.

The man stepped smartly toward me, gave a bow of the head, and then stood ramrod straight as he spoke.

“Highness, it is a great pleasure to have you visiting our humble College. I am Lieutenant–Captain Jarl Dexter the chief trainer of all our potential Protectors, and will be your main contact while you are at the College.

“I know you have had a several day journey from our Capitol, but it is usually tradition to present a client with their candidates of choice right away, allowing the client the most amount of time to make their decision. May I proceed, or do you wish refreshment before we begin?”

I gave the Captain a nod. “It is good to meet you Lieutenant–Captain Dexter. Please go ahead. I am quite eager to meet them,” I replied. And I was. Vang had given me files to study of the nine he had chosen on the ship, but I had had little time to look them over with all my studies with Dur-rele.

The Captain gave short nod, and then pivoted on his heals so that he was facing the line of nine. He then barked out an order.

“Pledge Haxley advance!”

I watched as the dark haired man at the front of the line took a long step forward so that he was apart from the others. He was broad shouldered and tall, and out of all the group, the only one not seeming to be watching me. His eyes just fixed straight ahead the whole time like any good soldier should. And while I was picking up a swirl of emotions from the other eight, I was getting almost nothing from him. It made me wonder. Was he blocking me, or did he really have no feeling on this meeting one way or another?

“Pledge Torrel Haxley is the best marksman of his entire class. He can reliably hit a fingernail sized target from twelve hundred meters. Haxley also has the Dome-ni of Agility, and can outrun everyone in this room, including myself.”

None of that really explained the man’s lack of emotion that I was picking up, but Dur-rele had given me a run down of some of the more common Dome-ni and what they did. Agility was right up there as one of the more prevalent abilities that Ethians were born with, and I could certainly see any sort of physical or mental deftness would come in handy as a bodyguard.

I gave a polite nod to Haxley, and he stepped back once the Captain was done introducing him. Dexter barked orders once more.

“Pledge Gunther advance!”

This guy was the skinniest of the bunch, while many of those present had an obvious muscular build, even the woman, this one looked like a bean pole compared to the rest. That part didn’t concern me at all. I had known several people who could display feats of great strength and be the skinniest person in the room. The thing that set this man apart was the glint of meanness in his eyes.

It didn’t last long. Only maybe a second, no more. But right before he stepped forward, his dark eyes met mine, and I immediately felt like I was some sort of prey. I also sensed a malevolence coming from him unlike anything I had ever felt before. A shiver quaked through me as I watched him step forward like Haxley. He stood there ramrod straight with a blank expression and the dark feeling that had come over me now gone like it had never been there at all.

I knew immediately that I wouldn’t be choosing this guy. I don’t know what he was about, or why I had gotten such a feeling from him, but there were plenty others to choose from, I didn’t want any part of what he had going on. Even still, the encounter had shaken me, and as the Captain introduced me to the next Pledge, I barely heard a word.

Instead, my gaze moved down the line eying each of the candidates with a penetrating search, wondering if others here had the same look of Pledge Gunther. It was satisfying to see most of those throwing me dodging looks appeared more curious than anything. Well, all except the woman who was throwing me a rather heated and steady glare. But while she seemed to be radiating a wall of anger, I did not have an inkling of the malicious intent I had had from Gunther.

The introductions continued down the line with me vaguely registering a few of the faces I had briefly read over in the files Vang had given me. But I was hyperaware as I watched for any others that I might have to be concerned about. It occurred to me that perhaps this wasn’t the best way to be evaluating a potential bodyguard, but I had already been attacked by one Protector, I had to be sure I could find one that actually held my well-being as a priority.

So my attention was razor sharp by the time the Lieutenant–Captain made his way down the line to the woman. I hung on every word as he spoke to see if anything might explain her open hostility towards me.

“Pledge Sasseni advance!”

The short muscular woman stepped forward, and for the first time since I laid eyes on her, she managed to look ahead and not throw me any nasty looks, but her anger was far from quelled.

“Pledge Remi Sasseni is the one of the best you will find at the College in hand to hand combat. Her specialty is quat-lo, and has even given our fighting master a few losses, which is saying something, because he doesn’t normally loose. She also has the Endurance Dome-ni.”

Oh. Well that explained that. She probably thought I had no business knowing quat-lo. I had a growing feeling she and I were going to go head to head about that sooner rather than later. She confirmed it with a particularly pointed look as she stepped back in line.

Ugh.

I needed more friends, not enemies. This was getting ridiculous. I decided to mark her in the category as a hard maybe, if we could work out the whole quat-lo thing. But I wasn’t going to hold my breath. I had the distinct impression that she would probably knock it right out of me if I tried.

The Captain moved to the last candidate. This one stood out from the others somewhat, because in place of hair, his bald head was covered in strange black ink markings. Certainly, seeing someone like that on Earth might have raised a few eyebrows and would make people want to hide their valuables, but so far, besides the black family crest on my shoulder, Ethians didn’t seem big on tattoos. Though to be fair, I had only been on a few battle cruisers and the White Palace, and anyone I had yet to meet seemed not to like to show skin other than face and hands. Maybe for some Ethians a tattooed head was perfectly normal.

“Pledge Ullio advance!”

The man wasn’t a mound of muscles like most of the others, including the quat-lo wonder woman, but he had an obvious athletic build that said he was no stranger to strength training and more. What I really liked about him was the distinct air of confidence that outstripped every single Pledge in the line. He even managed to put a swagger in his movement as he stepped forward. His whole essence radiating self assurance like he didn’t care whether I picked him or not, he knew his worth.

“Pledge On-to Ullio is the best you will find at reconnaissance and counterintelligence in this class and the two before his. He also has the Illusionist Dome-ni.

That caused my eyebrow to raise. Dur-rele had briefly explained to me about the Illusionist Dome-ni. He said it worked in the same way as the Mind Benders, but instead of placing commands in the mind or reordering a person’s memories, an Illusionist could project his own mental images in other people’s minds, making them see what he wanted them to see, at least temporarily. Dur-rele explained that this Dome-ni was even more rare than that of Mind Benders, but not quite as unique as my own of Perception.

I eyed the man warily. While I appreciated his attitude of confidence, I wasn’t sure I wanted someone near me who could make me see things that weren’t actually there. I already had enough mental manipulation to last a lifetime and I wasn’t sure I was ready for more, not that he would use it on me. Probably he wouldn’t. But still… I didn’t know him, or his intentions. I decided I would have to tread carefully with him.

The Lieutenant–Captain turned back to me and spoke in a more conversational tone, the introductions clearly over. “For those who visit the College to choose their Protector, it is customary for them to spend some time with each getting to know them. This can be done through shared meals or during recreation. It is also customary for each of the Pledges to shadow you for a time while you are making your choice.”

I wasn’t sure what to expect, but getting shadowed from the very start wasn’t it. Though if I was going to have a Protector, I suppose I should be getting used to that. I was already regularly hounded by Zahnian guards. Interestingly enough, I hadn’t had a guard with me when I came down to the planet. This must have been why.

“Of course, who should we start with?”

The Captain waved a hand back to the line of Pledges. “Your choice, Highness. Which do you choose to begin with?”

It was an easy answer. There was only one that so far had seriously impressed me in his professional attitude and capability, even if I hadn’t been able to get a solid read on any of his emotions, and maybe that was why I considered him more professional than the others. That was an interesting thought I would have to follow through and see if it was actually true.

“Pledge Haxley.”

A small upturn of the Captain’s lips made me suspect he knew who my first pick would be. Maybe that was why Haxley was first in the line. Dexter made a gesture to the stoic Pledge, who marched over to our group and stopped just on the other side of the Captain.

“Highness,” the Pledge gave a bow of the head.

“Haxley, pleased to meet you. Your recommendations are impressive. They all are. This will be a difficult choice, and I look forward to getting to know each of you,” I said that last part to the others still in the line. It didn’t help the scowls I was getting from most of them. It was like they thought I had already made my choice for Protector, which I hadn’t. It was still early. I pretended I didn’t see them as I addressed the Lieutenant–Captain.

“How do we proceed from here?”

“Just go about your business as usual. Many clients who come here like to use this time to rest and relax, or they use it to learn more about the College and the Protectorate Program itself. So feel free to go anywhere in the College you like and ask whatever questions you might have.

“I also know you are here for a quat-lo assessment, so you can certainly take care of that and any remedial training that might be suggested.

“In the meantime, you will be followed by a new Pledge each day, with the option of switching out Pledges if you desire, or request to have a meal with specific Pledges to know more about them.

“During this time, feel free to weed out any Pledges you don’t think will be a suitable match for you. Also, if at any time you do find a Pledge you seem to have a good connection with and think he or she is what you are looking for, then inform me of your decision, and we will being the bonding process.”

“Thank you, Captain Dexter. You have been very helpful,” I said.

“Indeed,” Master Kiev said. “If we are finished, I will show His Highness to where he will be lodging while he is here.”

The Captain gave a tip of the head nod to Kiev. “Of course, good day, Highness and Master.” He then turned on his heals, and barked out to the other Pledges. “Dismissed and keep your comms open in case you are summoned by the Prince.”

I didn’t much like the sound of his second order, but it was obvious they did things a certain way, and the best I could do was roll with it.

“Come along, Highness. I’ll show you to your chalet,” Master Kiev said.

That caused me to blink in surprise. “Chalet? I thought I would just get a room somewhere? Maybe in one of the residence halls?”

Kiev laughed as he began to move toward the building’s exit. “What gave you that idea? We might not be the White Palace, but we make sure to have suitable residence for when our clients come to stay.”