The Journey's End Read Online Free PDF Page A

side. 
Nori was careful to stand a good two feet back from the line while she waited
for whomever the king had sent to make his approach.  The delegates from the
tech flanked her and she was reassured by the many guards with high tech
stunners at her back. 
    Across the line, all had swords and various knifes strapped
to their backs and sides.  Tanned giants, they looked like barbarians of old
without the prominent brows. And while all were in phenomenal shape, few had
huge bulging muscles that one might associate with brutes.  Instead, they were
streamlined in black tunics and pants, with black leather boots and belts. 
Each tunic was decorated with a different shield in silver stitching, probably
denoting their family name.  All were tall, well muscled with short hair, and a
few sported neat beards, but most were clean-shaven. Nori couldn’t help but
notice almost as handsome as the king had been, or would have been if he hadn’t
seemed so intimidating.
    Just as she had the thought, one of the guards opened the
door and another black caped figure stepped out.  The men beside her gasped and
she met the eyes of the king himself.  She had hoped she had imagined that
punch of power to the gut she got from those smoky eyes.  Apparently not.  
    “This is bad,” she whispered, as both of the Wosite peons
stepped back in what seemed to be an instinctive move.
    The king walked through his warriors and toed the line right
before her.  She fought the instinct to step back with the little men, but she
didn’t think that would show in the best light.
    She met his eyes, her chin tilted at a proud angle, more
because of his height than any false bravado she wanted to present.  Lord the
man was mesmerizing.  The way he looked at her was downright scary, especially
because he seemed to call forth traits she had been trying to suppress her
whole life, not the least of which was the need to rise to his challenge.
    She shook herself out of the trance he produced in her and
cleared her throat.
    “Did you want to discuss the trade?  Because if you asked me
here for anything else, you’re going to be disappointed.”
    He smiled, but it didn’t seem to touch the flare of heat in
his eyes.
    “I wanted to make sure you were all right.  Last time I saw
you, you were going head first out the side of my shuttle.”
    Right, like I believe you are purely motivated by
concern.   She smiled tightly.   “I’m fine.”
    “And your silly friend?”
    “She is not silly, and she’s fine too.”
    “But she’s not here?”
    “No, we were both arrested for crossing the border on the
wrong day.”  Bastards.   “She is still being held.”
    “I assumed.  Techs and their laws.  At least it keeps them
predictable.”  He motioned to her standing on the other side of the line.  “You
have become familiar with many of them I see.”
    “It was explained to me.  I’ll be staying on this side, I
assure you.”
    “Pity, I was hoping to talk you into a stroll.”
    Nori laughed.  “Not in this lifetime…Your Highness.”
    “Oh well, at least I know you were unharmed.  I did not like
the idea that you would injure yourself just to get away from me.  Especially
after so short an acquaintance.  Was I really that scary?”  He was smiling in a
self-depreciating way that had Nori step forward in reflex.  She caught herself,
aware she was reacting to his voice power again.  Tricky.   She looked
down to make sure she was not close to crossing the line.
    “It was not you personally, that I was running from.  I just
felt the situation was beyond my control and I don’t care for that feeling.”
    “So you jumped out of a moving shuttle?”
    “It seemed like the thing to do at the time.”
    He laughed and the deep sound carried all the way down
Nori’s sensitive back and pooled like fluttering moths in her belly.  Very
tricky.
    “I assume you and your friend will be released after this?”
    Nori canted her head. “Is