The Fates Series 03 Veil of Innocence Read online

  He gently removed her fingers from his lips. He then slowly moved to kiss her. She was caught off guard by the ecstasy of that kiss, but pulled away nonetheless. She couldn’t get involved with this man. She just couldn’t.

  He backed off, knowing he had overstepped his bounds. One look into those sky blue orbs and she melted.

  *To hell with the Fates* she thought and then claimed his lips in hers once more.

  Captain Raken approached Aria’s door. He was still pondering over this Rune deal. The man hadn’t betrayed them after all, but still, that didn’t change anything. He opened the door to Aria’s quarters. He needed to speak with her about something.

  What he found when he entered shocked three lives out of him. There on the couch were Aria and Rune, locked in an embrace with one another. So wrapped up were they in their kiss, they didn’t even notice him come in.

  He took a deep breath and left the cabin just as soundlessly as he had come. His body was on the verge of shaking with anger.

  *How dare that man take advantage of Aria* he thought.

  As he stormed away, one last vow flew through his mind. *You’ll pay for that Rune.*

  That evening, Paris and Aria met with Consul Maris. Among others present were the higher ranking officers of the

  Resistance, including Captain Raken, and the entourage of people Paris had led into battle. Tom now sat facing Maris.

  The Consul spoke. “I would like to congratulate all of you on your success the day before. This is the first time we have ever been able to defeat the Empire on their own home ground and we have you to thank for this Rune Landis.”

  Hearing his new name, Tom turned his gaze to Aria. She just smiled innocently.

  The consul continued. “If you had not provoked us into action then we would have lost many good men to the Empire.

  They owe you their lives.”

  Tom looked down. “They don’t owe me anything. I just did what I thought was necessary.”

  Maris seemed to be pondering something before he spoke up again. “You never did tell me what you’ll be doing now that you’re done here.”

  Paris shrugged. “I don’t know. I’ll find something to do I guess.”

  Maris then moved in for the kill. He looked to Raken before he spoke. “It seems that we have some positions open here.

  I was wondering if you might be interested in joining us.”

  Raken then got involved. “You can’t seriously be thinking of putting him on my ship.”

  Maris shook his head. “Of course not Captain. I was going to offer him his own ship.” Turning back to Tom, he continued.

  “The ship you brought in to us is more advanced than anything we’ve ever seen before, but I’ve been told that you seem to understand it. I was wondering if perhaps you might like to captain it Rune.”

  Tom looked stunned. He had anticipated a piloting job if anything, not a captainship. After Aria gently nudged him, he realized he should say something.

  “Well, Consul, that’s very generous.” he said. “I don’t see how I could say no.”

  Maris smiled while Raken’s face glazed over in hatred.

  “Well, you’ll need a crew,” said Maris.

  Aria then stood up. “Consul, I’ll serve on his ship.”

  Sargon, Danag, Meylin, and Satira sat in the background.

  Danag stood up as well. “Well, seeing as how we don’t have anywhere to go, the rest of us would like to be placed on his ship as well.”

  Tom couldn’t believe it. Not only did he now have a ship, but a senior staff as well.

  Maris spoke to Rune again. “Well then Captain Landis. It seems all you need now is a name for your vessel.”

  Tom turned to Aria once more, but she only smiled mischievously. “I don’t see how I could name it anything other than the Jihaid.” Rune then spoke to the assembly present. “Since I’m one of you now, I suppose the first thing I should do is show you how to pick up these Imperial ships on your sensors. They...”

  Aria let eyes sparkle as she watched Tom inform those present on how to disable an Imperial ship. He was going to be a very large help to the Resistance. Maybe now they could actually stand a better chance against their opponents.

  She smiled deeply. She was going to be on his ship. She was going to prepare him for the war that was about to ensue. And above all she was going to be by his side as he fought in the Final Battle.

  She didn’t care about her destiny anymore. She would carry out her mission of training him, but she would no longer hold back the love she felt for the man.

  *The Fates be damned* she thought. *I love him and nothing is going to keep me away. Not even the wrath of the

  Almighty Spirit.*

  THE END... of Part Three.