House of Fate Read online

  Table of Contents

  Synopsis

  Praise for Barbara Ann Wright

  By the Author

  Acknowledgments

  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

  Epilogue

  About the Author

  Books Available From Bold Strokes Books

  House of Fate

  Judit has one duty: to guard the chosen one, he who will unite two warring, star-spanning houses in marriage. Simple, if she wasn’t already in love with the bride-to-be. As far as anyone knows, Annika has been raised to be the perfect bride and future matriarch. Secretly, she’s an assassin ordered to usurp the chosen one’s mind and kill anyone who gets in her way.

  When the political landscape shifts, murders and abductions threaten to tear the galaxy apart. Judit and Annika race to uncover the source of the strife. It must be someone powerful and bold enough to risk throwing whole star systems into ruin, someone who could change destinies and bring two lovers together, if they survive.

  Praise for Barbara Ann Wright

  The Pyradisté Adventures

  “[A] healthy dose of a very creative, yet believable, world into which the reader will step to find enjoyment and heart-thumping action. It’s a fiendishly delightful tale.”—Lambda Literary

  “Barbara Ann Wright is a master when it comes to crafting a solid and entertaining fantasy novel…The world of lesbian literature has a small handful of high-quality fantasy authors, and Barbara Ann Wright is well on her way to joining the likes of Jane Fletcher, Cate Culpepper, and Andi Marquette…Lovers of the fantasy and futuristic genre will likely adore this novel, and adventurous romance fans should find plenty to sink their teeth into.”—The Rainbow Reader

  “The Pyramid Waltz has had me smiling for three days…I also haven’t actually read…a world that is entirely unfazed by homosexuality or female power before. I think I love it. I’m just delighted this book exists…If you enjoyed The Pyramid Waltz, For Want of a Fiend is the perfect next step…you’d be embarking on a joyous, funny, sweet and madcap ride around very dark things lovingly told, with characters who will stay with you for months after.”—The Lesbrary

  “This book will keep you turning the page to find out the answers…Fans of the fantasy genre will really enjoy this installment of the story. We can’t wait for the next book.”—Curve Magazine

  Thrall: Beyond Gold and Glory

  “[I]ncidents and betrayals run rampant in this world, and Wright’s style successfully kept me on my toes, navigating the shifting alliances…[Thrall] is a story of finding one’s path where you would least expect it. It is full of bloodthirsty battles and witty repartee…which gave it a nice balanced focus…This was the first Barbara Ann Wright novel I’ve read, and I doubt it will be the last. Her dialogue was concise and natural, and she built a fantastical world that I easily imagined from one scene to the next. Lovers of Vikings, monsters and magic won’t be disappointed by this one.”—Curve Magazine

  “The characters were likable, the issues complex, and the battles were exciting. I really enjoyed this book and I highly recommend it.”—All Our Worlds

  Paladins of the Storm Lord

  “This was a truly enjoyable read…I would definitely pick up the next book…the mad dash at the end kept me riveted. I would definitely recommend this book for anyone who has a love of sci-fi. An intricate…novel one that can be appreciated at many levels, adventurous sci-fi or one that is politically motivated with a very astute look at present-day human behavior…There are many levels to this extraordinary and well written-book…overall a fascinating and intriguing book.”—Inked Rainbow Reads

  Coils

  “Greek myths, gods and monsters and a trip to the Underworld. Sign me up. This one springs straight into action…a good start, great Greek myth action and a late-blooming romance that flowers in the end…”—Dear Author

  “A unique take on the Greek gods and the afterlife make this a memorable book. The story is fun with just the right amount of camp. Medusa is a hot, if unexpected, love interest…A truly unexpected ending has us hoping for more stories from this world.”—RT Book Reviews

  House of Fate

  Brought to you by

  eBooks from Bold Strokes Books, Inc.

  http://www.boldstrokesbooks.com

  eBooks are not transferable. They cannot be sold, shared or given away as it is an infringement on the copyright of this work.

  Please respect the rights of the author and do not file share.

  House of Fate

  © 2017 By Barbara Ann Wright. All Rights Reserved.

  ISBN 13: 978-1-62639-779-8

  This Electronic Original is published by

  Bold Strokes Books, Inc.

  P.O. Box 249

  Valley Falls, NY 12185

  First Edition: August 2017

  This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, business establishments, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.

  This book, or parts thereof, may not be reproduced in any form without permission.

  Credits

  Editor: Cindy Cresap

  Production Design: Stacia Seaman

  Cover Design By Sheri ([email protected])

  By the Author

  The Pyradisté Adventures

  The Pyramid Waltz

  For Want of a Fiend

  A Kingdom Lost

  The Fiend Queen

  Thrall: Beyond Gold and Glory

  The Godfall Novels

  Paladins of the Storm Lord

  Widows of the Sun-Moon

  Coils

  House of Fate

  Acknowledgments

  As with all my books, this one wouldn’t be possible without Mom and Ross. Another big thank you to Angela, Deb, Erin, Matt, Natsu, Sarah, and Trakena. You’re the best readers anyone could ask for.

  A continuing thank you to Bold Strokes Books, Radclyffe, Cindy, Sandy, Ruth, and Sheri. You’re forever awesome.

  Thanks to Carsen Taite and Melissa Brayden for letting me bounce ideas off them during our writing sessions at the BSB Retreat. Good times.

  And to anyone who took the time to read this, thank you. Secret snuggles to you all.

  For my friends. You know who you are.

  Chapter One

  As the hour of emergence grew nearer, Judit turned away one glittering courtier after another from the airlock of the Damat. She could have assigned the task to a lackey or one of her crewmen, but there was always a chance one of the visitors would be House Meridian Blood, and they wouldn’t speak to anyone but family. Lucky her.

  At least gazing at the courtiers gave her something to do besides mope. She’d never seen gowns of so many materials: feathers, lace, leather, fiber optics, plastics, glass, and metal. The wealthiest were clothed in nanosheen, fabric made of tiny bots that restructured the outfits as they walked, turning them into living art. It was hard to focus on the people past the clothing. Some faces and bodies she couldn’t even recognize. But that was the reason no one was allowed to see the chos
en one before the emergence: assassination would be all too easy.

  She turned away another courtier riding on an antigrav sled pulled by huge butterfly-shaped bots. He’d tried to bribe her, and she’d almost sputtered a laugh before she politely declined. Being the guardian of the chosen one wasn’t a demanding job, but it was better than being an ordinary guard. She could count herself lucky that she only had to keep her cousin Noal from harm. She didn’t have to settle disputes or listen to the many claims of heredity that stood between calling oneself a member of the populace of House Meridian and a member of the Blood.

  When the antigrav sled departed, she looked out on the assembled masses milling about the platform. It was a small space, devoid of any structure save the airlock housings. White pedestals held pieces of art but nothing large, nothing anyone could hide behind. Neutral territory made everyone feel safe, though Judit didn’t know how safe she felt under the glassteel dome, all that shielded the assembled throng from open space on this lonely satellite platform. She supposed it was only natural that the courtiers were bored. All their ships had departed—docking during the emergence was reserved for the two heirs—though the berth for House Nocturna remained empty. House Meridian’s heir couldn’t emerge until both heirs would be vulnerable at the same time. It should have made her feel more secure, more sure of Noal’s safety. As the guardian of the chosen one, that was her duty, but her thoughts kept straying to the Nocturna heir. She’d been trying and failing to keep Annika Nocturna off her mind for years.

  She told herself to watch the crowd, to do her darking job. Even through the throng, Judit detected a separation, an invisible line between the courtiers and Blood of both houses. She couldn’t blame them. They’d been at war for almost a hundred years, would still be at war if the rest of the galaxy hadn’t tired of how the fighting impacted their resources. The other houses had demanded that Meridian and Nocturna find a way to end their feud or be annihilated.

  Judit snorted. Fat chance. She had no doubt that the combined military might of Meridian and Nocturna would be more than a match for every other house, but she supposed that was the problem. They weren’t united, but they would be soon. When Noal Meridian wed Annika Nocturna, they would be unified into one gigantic, unstoppable house. She wondered if the rest of the galaxy had really thought about what it had done.

  Cana, another of Judit’s cousins, slinked up the gangplank toward the airlock of the Damat. Judit straightened and pulled her lightweight uniform jacket tighter across her body. On this day of outlandishness, Cana had gone against the grain, as she always did. She wore a simple gauze shift, completely see-through, and her hair cascaded down her back, silvery white like Judit’s own, the natural color of a Meridian Blood. No one who had genetics on their side bothered with dyes, not with a color so striking against dark brown Meridian skin.

  Cana smiled as she paused. Even her feet were bare. “Cousin.”

  Judit nodded. “Cousin. What can I do for you?”

  “You can hurry this darking thing up!” She laughed. Lenses made her eyes gleam like liquid silver, her nod to the pageantry of the day. “Go in there, grab Noal by the ear, and drag him out.”

  Judit grinned. “You know the heirs have to come out at the same time.”

  “Then fly out there and bully the Nocturnas until they get their asses in gear.”

  “I’ll get right on that,” Judit said, not moving.

  Cana groaned and rolled her eyes. “It’s so boring, and I’m starting to get cold.”

  “You should have worn clothes.”

  Cana stepped closer, her smile going licentious. “Can I borrow yours?”

  Tempting, and they weren’t close enough in blood for it to matter—cousins far removed—but Judit simply shook her head.

  Cana stepped back with a dramatic sigh. “If Noal were here, he’d jump at the chance.” She winked. “I hear he jumps on everything.”

  Judit shrugged, letting Cana think whatever she wanted to. She felt the skin tingle along her cheek before a voice spoke in the comm implanted in her jaw, for her ears only. “Jude, they’re coming in.” Lieutenant Beatrice’s voice from her monitoring station on the bridge of the Damat.

  “Acknowledged, Bea,” Judit said. She nodded toward the crowd. “Nocturna’s coming in, Cana.”

  “At last!” Cana strolled back down the gangplank, and Judit ducked inside, letting one of her crew take her place, though she doubted anyone else would come calling. The crowd would know of the arrival soon enough.

  Judit clacked her back teeth together, reactivating her comm, and then spoke the name of the signal’s recipient. “Bea, anything out of place?”

  “Nope, one ship, same as ours. Their guns aren’t hot, though their engines seem primed in case they have to make a quick getaway.”

  They snorted a laugh at the same time. Nocturnas, suspicious as always. As if the eyes of the entire galaxy weren’t on this little meeting. “Keep me posted.” She clicked her teeth again, and the line went dead.

  Within a few steps, she was at Noal’s quarters aboard the ship that had been designed to ferry the chosen one about. She rang the chime. After a beat, the door hissed open, letting a loud argument spill into the hallway.

  Noal turned from where he was standing in the middle of the room, surrounded by fussing servants. They’d dressed him in a suit of white feathers, trousers hidden beneath a jacket with a train so long it spread behind him like a bird’s tail. “Judit!” he said. “Will you please tell these children of the dark that I cannot deal with this cape! The dark-eating suit already has a train. Now they want a cape, too!”

  It was a majestic cape, she’d give it that. With long feathers of red, blue, and yellow, it made a nice contrast to the white. “What’s a few more feathers between friends?”

  He gave her a nasty look, waved the servants away with another slash of his hand, and turned to the mirror. He’d colored his hair dark blue, a deliberate rebellion against his family, who wanted everyone to look as Meridian as possible that day, but Judit knew who it was really for. Blue was Annika’s favorite color, and he wanted their union to work. They all did. Annika wasn’t like any other Nocturna, and she deserved happiness.

  Judit told herself to stop that line of thinking. Noal applied last-minute cosmetics above his brown eyes and picked at his outfit a few more times before declaring he was ready. She escorted him to the gangplank, signals were passed, and the two heirs emerged from their ships at the same time.

  No matter what Judit told herself about her duty, her eyes found Annika at once. Her hair was undyed, a deep honey blond with so many hints of red it seemed to change color as she moved. Judit had thought she’d known her favorite color before she’d laid eyes on Annika’s hair. She wore a figure-hugging gown of deep violet that shimmered as she walked, deepening to royal blue then back to purple as the light hit it. It highlighted every sleek curve.

  Judit had to swallow as Annika’s gaze swept Noal’s party and found her own. She didn’t smile, too disciplined for that, but Judit thought she saw a slight wrinkling about the eyes. For the past five years, ever since they’d all reached the age of ascension at fifteen, Noal and Annika had met on neutral ground, coming to know each other before their union. Naturally, their guardians had been with them every step of the way. They’d been the best years of Judit’s life.

  Annika’s guardian Feric followed her as Judit followed Noal. A huge, hulking man, he scanned the crowd as Judit knew she should be doing. She didn’t know him at all. Through all the years, he’d never spoken. She didn’t even know if he could. Judit had joined in the meetings, talking and laughing with Annika and Noal, but Feric had been like a statue.

  Hierophants assigned to both houses led the processions through the assembled throng. Judit kept her eyes on the people, looking for a hidden blade, a subtle weapon, even though there could be none. The airlock scanners, run by security from multiple houses, assured there was nothing. Sentry bots whisked discreetly through
the air, recording everything, but security could be subverted. And even if a person had no weapon, there were hand-to-hand techniques that could crush a person’s windpipe or interrupt the blood flow to the brain, though Meridians usually went for faster, more brutal weapons that could be used at great distance.

  And she couldn’t imagine anyone in this glittering throng knowing anything about crushing windpipes. Their eyes were glazed, almost vapid as they gazed on the two heirs with something like worship, all of the nonblood jockeying for position behind the ranks of Blood. The families clapped quietly, almost demurely, as the occasion warranted. When Cana caught Judit’s eye, she winked, but Judit kept her expression stern, making a mental note to contact her cousin later and give her a few pointers on decorum.

  They reached the central dais where the high hierophant waited. Judit wondered if he’d ever seen this specific incident when he journeyed to the black holes at the center of the galaxy. Willa, the greatest hierophant in history, had seen the birth of the chosen one—a Meridian who would unite with a Nocturna and change the face of the galaxy—but she’d disappeared into the black holes after her prediction forty years ago. Judit wondered if any of the hierophants here had ever seen the same.

  The high hierophant intoned the ceremony of engagement, the last step before marriage, and as Annika and Noal joined hands, Judit thought again what a waste of time this was. Everyone knew they were engaged. Their destiny had been set long before their births with Willa’s prediction. Why was all this pomp necessary? Why did it feel so much like a dagger in her chest?