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    Judged
    Judged
    Judged
    Ebook78 pages1 hour

    Judged

    By Viola Grace

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    About this ebook

    Alice has walked through halls of power at the sides of some of the most powerful men and women in the Nyal Imperium. Her position as a Companion puts her in places she never imagined, including a world that is being evacuated so it can give itself a facelift.

    Her client wills her a house, fortune and title on his home world, which means that the moment he passes away, she is in deep.

    Going to the Oefric for judgement, Alice finds her accounts frozen pending further investigation, and she has to run for her life as her husband’s family puts a hit out on her.

    Kadenz wanted to retire, but when the judge sends Alice to him as housekeeper, he is fascinated by her grace, her poise and her ability to stab him in the ass with a fork.

    LanguageEnglish
    PublishereXtasy Books Inc
    Release dateApr 2, 2014
    ISBN9781771118729
    Judged
    Author

    Viola Grace

    Viola Grace (aka Zenina Masters) is a Canadian sci-fi/paranormal romance writer with ambitions to keep writing for the rest of her life. She specializes in short stories because the thrill of discovery, of all those firsts, is what keeps her writing.An artist who enjoys a story that catches you up, whirls you around and sets you down with a smile on your face is all she endeavours to be. She prefers to leave the drama to those who are better suited to it, she always goes for the cheap laugh.

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      Book preview

      Judged - Viola Grace

      A social Companion ends up married, widowed and hunted in the space of days. Hiding with a strange shapeshifter is just the perfect end to the week.

      Alice has walked through halls of power at the sides of some of the most powerful men and women in the Nyal Imperium. Her position as a Companion puts her in places she never imagined, including a world that is being evacuated so it can give itself a facelift.

      Her client wills her a house, fortune and title on his home world, which means that the moment he passes away, she is in deep.

      Going to the Oefric for judgement, Alice finds her accounts frozen pending further investigation, and she has to run for her life as her husband’s family puts a hit out on her.

      Kadenz wanted to retire, but when the judge sends Alice to him as housekeeper, he is fascinated by her grace, her poise and her ability to stab him in the ass with a fork.

      The unauthorized reproduction or distribution of this copyrighted work is illegal. Criminal copyright infringement, including infringement without monetary gain, is investigated by the FBI and is punishable by up to 5 years in federal prison and a fine of $250,000.

      Please purchase only authorized electronic editions, and do not participate in or encourage the electronic piracy of copyrighted materials. Your support of the author’s rights is appreciated.

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

      Judged

      Copyright © 2014 Viola Grace

      ISBN: 978-1-77111-872-9

      Cover art by Martine Jardin

      All rights reserved. Except for use in any review, the reproduction or utilization of this work in whole or in part in any form by any electronic, mechanical or other means, now known or hereafter invented, is forbidden without the written permission of the publisher.

      Published by eXtasy Books

      Look for us online at:

      www.eXtasybooks.com

      Smashwords Edition

      Judged

      A Terran Times Tale

      By

      Viola Grace

      Chapter One

      Alice Pinkerton fidgeted in her client’s office. Her elaborate gown rustled as she moved.

      Have a seat, Alice. You are distracting me.

      Ambassador Horilian gave her a look that told her he was not going to ask again. His normally affable features were in stern lines.

      Alice sat near the window and watched the evacuation as it ground to a conclusion. The ambassador had hired a Companion to keep him company during the final days of his time on Geewing. He had known all along that they would be the last two people on the planet and had wanted to make sure he had a Companion of his choosing.

      The ships are just about gone, Alice. We will be able to leave shortly.

      Yes, Ambassador. She toyed with the edge of her beaded bodice. The ambassador insisted that she always dress formally while she was with him.

      He completed whatever he was working on and sent the coded information to the imperium archives. There. We can go now. The final scans are done and the planet of Geewing is closed. It can renovate itself the moment we leave.

      Alice came around the table and helped him up without him asking.

      The ambassador accepted her help silently, and they left the soundless city with slow, measured steps.

      I have extended your contract, Alice. You are coming home with me so that I can enjoy my last days.

      She smiled, I am sure that you have many days to come.

      I am guessing around thirty or less. I want to go home, relax and pass away on my own world. You are taking me home to die, pet.

      His smile was familiar, but he looked tired.

      I know you are quite old, but why are you so convinced that you are going to die?

      I can feel it, pet. Four hundred years is plenty, and I have an extensive family and many memories that I want you to record in the next few weeks.

      Is that why you extended my contract, so I could be a secretary?

      No, I want you with me during my last days. It is on file. You have been the best Companion I have had in the last fifty years. These last six months have been a light moment in my life, and I want to go out with that light around me.

      Alice sighed. I am honoured. Come along. Let’s get you into the shuttle and then to Dyango.

      You are a blessing, Alice. A better pilot I could never have wished for.

      She snorted. You picked me very carefully and don’t think I am not grateful. The other offer for me was…distasteful.

      So you have said. I am glad that it was a mutually beneficial arrangement.

      She walked him to the ambassadorial shuttle and slipped inside to check the systems while he sealed the door behind him.

      Ambassador Horilian was moving around in the back.

      Alice ran the system checks and filed her flight plan with the orbital satellites. When the gel bed flicked into blue mode, she knew that Horilian had settled his brittle bones into his safe cocoon.

      She opened the interior coms. We are leaving. Buckle up.

      I don’t have buckles in here, Alice. Take us home.

      Alice grinned and geared up the shuttle, gaining speed and lifting off with the lightest touch. It was her skill with flight that first got the ambassador’s attention.

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