Kerrigan watched the man stride past her alcove, as she slowly scanned every patron here. Despite what it had become, this was still an excellent location. Under the right management of course, and, she thought, plenty of remodeling.
“A pleasant evening to the beautiful lady.”
Well at least he didn’t waste time stopping like the last one – sudden recognition flooded her as she clutched her chest. ‘what in all of Dovari hell was that?’
‘CELIA HAS SURFACED’ came the deep guttural response.
CELIA! Kerrigan recoiled some at the sheer primal lust coming from that voice in her mind. Did that gentleman have Celia’s heartstone?! After three years, is there finally a clue? Kerrigan froze in a panic a moment too long because when she stood to shout to her guards, the man was already out the door and gone, and the sense of him fading. ‘Nice of you to finally wake.&rsq
Conor breathed hard as he stared up at the stars circling overhead. What was that series of emotions? He had never experienced anything like it. When the sky finally stopped spinning, he sat up and tried to collect his thoughts. The night was already cooling down rapidly and he had no desire to spend the night outside again. He slowly got to his feet and began the trudge back to the apartment. Just as he got to the end of the street vendors section of town, he noticed a flower girl closing down her stand. She still had a full bouquet of flowers that she had not managed to sell that day.“Are those still available?” he asked gently.The girl jumped and spun but calmed when she saw a finely dressed gentleman behind her. “Oh, umm, yes! No one wanted them because they were picked too soon. All of the buds are still closed.”“What kind of flower are they”“O umm this is called an Alstroemeria. These will bloom into a d
Jessica arrived home just in time for dinner. “How was the temple?” “Crowded. The new Prima droned on about bringing back the worship of Falak, the original dragon god and all this nonsense. We didn’t stick around long once Kelan showed up and started talking to him.” “Kelan was there?” “Yea, it seems he is rather friendly with our new local abbot. This one seems to have been sent here from… Velyki? I don’t know. Thankfully Nyman was able to run interference and we left.” Jessica paused as she said the last, but quickly moved to put stuff in her room. &l
When his shift ended, Conor took a stroll through the back streets of Jinstain. He was not in a mood to go back to the apartment right now and risk running into Jessica. As he rounded a corner, he heard children playing. His aimless walking had brought him to the community center near the center of town. The old run-down building sat nearly hidden between several warehouses but still had a decent courtyard for the kids to congregate in. to Conor’s joy, he spotted Cara off in a corner playing with a group of girls. “Cara!” “Conor! What brings you by today?! Care to join us?” Conor smiled around at the kids, “Oh I suppose I could be convinced.” As Conor
Conor settled in for a grind. He had promised Jessica he was going to make this work, and finally things were in place to make that possible. Work at Jackson’s may be mundane, but he knew that with enough time, his other investments would give them both the room they needed to breathe, and, eventually, to thrive. He longed to give Jessica a life worthy of her upbringing. She had reluctantly agreed to the arranged marriage because he had potential, now was his chance to live up to that. He knew that once the deal with NewAge Gaming was complete, he would be able to start making rapid progress in his pursuits so the tedious work at Jackson’s no longer felt like a slog. Instead, it was a race to get through this one month. He pushed harder each day to accomplish tasks and his mind raced with possibilities. A highlight to his week came every Tuesday and Thursday when he would head to the Spice Emporium for sampling night. The environment was amazing as the crowds g
Week 2 Friday Kerrigan's POV Kerrigan sat at her desk at Dragon Corporation headquarters. That boy she had seen elicited such memories. Man, she supposed was more accurate, but she couldn't help picturing a young boy of around six playing around a pond. Conor reminded her also of Rania. Oh Rania, you were like the big sister I never knew… Kerrigan remembered the times that Priestess Rania visited Targu province. They had been joyous breaks in her torturous existence with Zadok. Rania had never found out about the extent of things, and they had never been left alone long enough for her to open up. A tear fell down her cheek as she remembered today was the day Rania had been killed. The bastard Zadok had not even prepared a proper funeral because the body was never recovered. But they knew. She knew the second it happened because Abrasax had nearly destroyed her office in the blast of power he unleashed. He had been dormant ever since, until Conor…
After two weeks of mundane life, Abby Wiess called to inform Conor that the NewAge Gaming deal was complete. Conor let out a sigh of relief. Now, to really begin to change his life. “Thank you, Miss. Wiess. As we discussed, please go ahead and set half in a corporate account for me and leave half as liquid assets. I believe in the near future I will be ready to make some business decisions so those funds will need to be ready to go.” “Of course, Mr. Brantley. Call on us any time.”***Saturday Saturday morning dawned bright. Conor was excited because today was ApaturePhotos Scavenger hunt for the Chamber of Commerce. Hopefully today, Jessica would get a glimpse of what he had been working on for her. When he got dressed, however, she had already left for the mall. He put on his suit and went down as well.&
Kerrigan rested her head against the cool glass of the car window, watching the landscape blur by as her escort hurried her back to Targu Province.“Ma’am, the Prima will be excited to have you back. He’s been asking about you ever since you left,” one of the dragoons mentioned, attempting to lighten the mood.Kerrigan rolled her eyes, her voice dripping with sarcasm. “He just wants to be sure his ‘prize’ hasn’t flown the coop.”“He isn’t all that bad,” Carter, another dragoon, interjected. “Perhaps some romance will form after the wedding.”Kerrigan snorted, unable to contain her disdain. “Carter, just the mere thought of that man makes me go dry! Dry like sandpaper. Do you understand? Don’t ever talk to me about that old fool.”Carter hesitated, his tone cautious. “Is he really that old?”Kerrigan’s glare softened into a look of pure frustration. “He’s 47 this year, which makes him 23 years older than me. Not happening in this lifetime.”“Well, if things with the Prima don’t work out
The third week of November, Conor finished his Monday shift at Jackson’s and decided to visit Mr. Nuri. It was time to make Vokrizin a more concrete entity. A quick phone call confirmed Mr. Nuri was in the office and available so Conor made his way to Dreadnaught Law Firm. Once in the conference room, his team assembled. “Well… I didn’t mean to pull you all away from your tasks.” Conor said, chagrined. “Mr. Brantley, you may not realize this, but you are quickly becoming one of the firm's largest clients. Just the deal with young Yuri was enough to make you a VIP client. Add in your ownership of AperturePhoto and even the head partners are taking notice.” “Hmm well if that is the case… I would like to make Vok