When Mr. Black Comes Home
Speeding Ticket
*Putting on a Show
YA Novels
The Academy(Now available in Audio)
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Table of Contents
Chapter One
Chapter Two
Chapter Three
Chapter Four
Chapter Five
Chapter Six
Chapter Seven
Chapter Eight
Chapter Nine
Chapter Ten
Chapter Eleven
Chapter Twelve
Chapter Thirteen
Chapter Fourteen
Chapter Fifteen
Chapter Sixteen
Chapter Seventeen
Chapter Eighteen
Chapter Nineteen
Chapter Twenty
Chapter Twenty-one
Chapter Twenty-two
Chapter Twenty-three
Chapter Twenty-four
Chapter Twenty-five
Chapter Twenty-six
Chapter Twenty-seven
Chapter Twenty-eight
Chapter Twenty-nine
Chapter Thirty
Chapter Thirty-one
Chapter Thirty-two
Chapter Thirty-three
Chapter Thirty-four
Chapter Thirty-five
Chapter Thirty-six
Chapter Thirty-seven
Chapter Thirty-eight
Chapter Thirty-nine
Chapter Forty
Chapter Forty-one
Chapter Forty-two
Chapter Forty-three
Chapter Forty-four
Chapter Forty-five
Chapter Forty-six
Chapter Forty-seven
Chapter Forty-eight
Chapter Forty-nine
Chapter Fifty
Epilogue
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Chapter One
Y’res the Fourth, the newly crowned Potentate of Helios Beta, paced her royal apartment, her hands clasped behind her back, a frown of worried concentration on her face. Her sleeping chamber was all it should be—her bed hung with gold cloth and the walls covered in murals grown of the soft ura moss depicting her ancestors ruling the people, but she had no eyes for the grandeur around her. It had been only a week since the assassination attempt at the Feast of all Feelings during her coronation and now she was called upon to appear in public again.
Another appearance. Another chance to die, she thought, her stomach fisting tightly as she paced. Another assassin could be out there, waiting.
And this time they might succeed.
She brushed a strand of hair behind one ear and felt her chewchie, Lor, scramble nimbly to one side to avoid her hand. It might have been hard for an onlooker to see the small, fluffy creature who was so much more than her pet. He was the same color as her hair—the same color as her skin and eyes, for that matter.
Sacred Blue.
The brilliant, royal blue color was a rare mutation of the usual skin color of her people. The Chorkay came in every shade of blue from a pale blue-gray to bright turquoise but only those royal females with the Sacred Blue hair, skin, and eyes were deemed fit to lead their people. It made Y’res the Fourth, not only a ruler, but a goddess among her kind.
But even a goddess can be killed, she thought grimly. By someone determined enough to see her die.
And her death would mean disaster for her people.
Currently, she was the only female besides her grandmother, who had passed the crown to her, who had the Sacred Blue skin and the mandate of the Chorkay god, Thufar, to rule. Which meant if she was wiped out, her kingdom would fall into chaos. It was her duty to lead her people well, and to produce an heir as quickly as possible—a female who had the same Sacred Blue skin and eyes who would take the crown when she was deemed ready and worthy to do so. It was the only way to ensure the throne and the continued peace and prosperity of her planet.
Produce an heir. Right, she snorted to herself. If only it were that easy.
She had only been crowned a week ago—she certainly wasn’t ready to look for a proper consort yet. A man of noble birth and a skin color as close to Sacred Blue as possible in order to be certain that at least one of their daughters would also have the royal skin tone.
The thought of doing that—of taking a consort and having his baby—turned her stomach. She knew what the nobles thought of her—had known it from an early age. The common people loved their queen—their “Goddess in the Flesh” as the reigning Potentate was often called. But they only saw her from afar. The nobles were close enough to see her differences—to understand that her Sacred Blue skin was not the only mutation she carried…
Suddenly her chewchie, Lor, scampered down her arm and perched on the back of her wrist. He looked up at her, with his wide, dark, liquid eyes and spoke.
“Ellina, my dear, are you tying yourself in knots again?”
The voice was familiar and she knew it wasn’t her chewchie who was speaking. Rather, it was her grandmother speaking through him.
Because it was so important that there always be a female with the Sacred Blue skin to rule Helios Beta, they were almost never allowed in the same place together. This was a hardship for Ellina, who wished she could spend more time with her grandmother in person.
However, their chewchies were linked, which meant they were able to communicate constantly—a true blessing, especially when she felt in need of guidance, Ellina thought. Also, she liked that her grandmother still called her by her first name—everyone else in the palace referred to her only by her title now. Y’res the Fourth sounded so stiff when she had been Ellina all her life up until a week ago.
“I’m all right, Grandmamma,” she murmured, speaking to Lor and knowing that the little chewchie would send her words telepathically to his counterpart—her grandmother’s ancient old chewchie, Shel—who would speak them with her own voice to her grandmother. “I’m sorry,” she added. “Were my feelings disturbing you?”
Normally a chewchie would only convey thoughts and emotions to another if it was part of a matched pair. But though Lor and Shel were not mated, they shared a special link because of their Sacred Blue color, (though Shel was so old she was more silver than blue at this point.)
Lor, like Ellina herself, was unmated and likely to remain so. Sacred Blue chewchies
