Alutia Rising, Anniversary Edition (Alutia Rising Series, Book 1) Read Online Free PDF Page B

were in
high demand, being easily married off to other ruling nobles for
strategic or trade alliances. Fortunately, or unfortunately
depending on your viewpoint, Sasha's great-great grandfather, King
Tolhan Vn'Oco, had decreed that his heirs should marry who they
deem appropriate, and not be bound by the decision of the parents,
which were usually swayed by politics. This was in response to his
own sister being married off to a noble who thought women mere
playthings, and ended up killing her in one of his more disgusting
sex games. Many stories had been written about King Tolhan's grief,
having dearly loved his sister, along with the fate of his
brother-in-law, whose family was rumored to have met a most
gruesome end.
    So to avoid such a thing happening again, a
Royal Proclamation was added to the Galaxy 189 Law Book, and
reaffirmed by an Emperor’s Proclamation so no future galaxy 189
king or queen could overturn it. The decree stated that all sons
and daughters, except the crowned prince or princess, shall be
removed from the king and queen at birth, to be raised, in
guardianship, by a noble family of their choice. Contact was
allowed, but limited to a few times a year, while the only direct
influence was as royalty to noble, not parent to child.
    Still feeling her blood simmering, Sasha
turned back to her lady-in-waiting and froze. Tiana's expression
had frozen solid, tiny tears escaping from the edge of her
fluttering eyes. Sasha’s rage melted away and regret took its
place. She rushed to her friend's side.
    “Oh, Tiana! I am so very sorry...forgive me.
I did not mean to hurt you so. I would love for you to accompany me
to my new duchy and of course you will have whatever you wish when
you reach the proper age,” Sasha apologized with haste, trying to
stem the tide of tears flowing from her suddenly teenage again
lady-in-waiting. Tiana looked into her eyes and Sasha realized, at
that moment, that Tiana was also being forced to do something
against her will.
    Who, in the universe, would choose to be
shipped away from friends and family?
    Tears came unexpected to Sasha as Tiana's
became a torrent of sorrow. Tiana buried her face in Sasha's bosom.
Both girls, hugging each other fiercely, let escape the frustration
that had been building from the moment they heard about being
forcibly shipped from their childhood home.
    Quietly, the servant slipped out of the room,
all the while showing an expression commonly seen when using a BC
node, being “node locked”. Sasha caught a glimpse through the
tears, knowing exactly who the servant would be contacting.
    A minute passed as the girls continued to cry
in grief when a new warmth embraced them and the gentle, almost
musky, aroma of her guardian filled her being. New tears joined
them and she realized her grief was nothing to that of Lady Liana,
who was not only losing her daughter, Tiana, but also Sasha, who
she raised as a daughter, to the hands of galactic politics.

Chapter 2
    TSB Lieutenant Daniel lounged in the Terra
Space Battalion observation outpost, absently observing recruitment
grounds X17a, where the projected, three-dimensional image of his
next unsuspecting victim floated in the air before him. He reached
for the bottle of water, sitting atop the only table in the tiny
square room, stretching his stiff limbs while removing his legs
from the semi-spherical irradiated particle display unit, or PDU,
rising half a meter from the floor before him. The device provided
him a place to rest his legs, alongside its primary purpose of
projecting a crystal clear, three-dimensional image in the air
before him, while simultaneously projecting a workstation over his
lap, allowing him to manually input or access required data.
    He entered a request for primary approval of
recruitment trial initiation, again bypassing the use of the much
faster and more efficient direct BC node link. Though he did have
his reasons, enjoying the tactile feel of the projected buttons and
icons,