Twin Stars 1: Ascension (41 page)

“No,” Tysen said softly. “No, I can’t, can I?” Then he brightened. “Maybe I should have loaded the crew on that ship over there, and we could become pirates. How does that sound? Do you want to be my pirate queen?”

He realized what he’d said a moment after he said it, and felt his cheeks suddenly burn. But Esther didn’t seem to mind at all, in fact, she looked up at him with her large eyes and peered into his.

“I would like that.” She said, with surprising tenderness.

“Ahh, yes…” Tysen said, feeling himself start to sweat and turning away to look at space. “Well, it’s a silly idea anyways. We need to find a way out of here first, then we can worry about what we’re going to do.”

“You will find a way. I have faith in you, Tysen.”

Still not looking at her, Tysen thanked the Squire, and peered out at the stars. The Empire he knew was ceasing to be, and despite his small attempts to stop it, things were spiraling out of control. A part of him wanted to just find a place to hide and ride out the storm, but that was the part that shamed him. Was he not responsible for what was happening? Security for the peace conference had been at least partially his responsibility, and he had failed in that duty.

Now war was coming.

He had to find a way to make it right. The Star Guard might still accept him, and likely would, but he knew it would be a matter of which Star Guard. The fleet would soon fragment along political and regional lines, and he could only guess what would happen after that.

Wars weren’t kind to soldiers, but they were far worse on civilians, and civil wars were the harshest of all.

Colonel Cole had said that the Empire needed good men, and after what Tysen had experienced over the past few months he couldn’t help but agree. There was going to be a need for experienced leadership, and maybe he could offer that. The state he served was no more, but perhaps there was a greater calling waiting for him on the other side.

It was going to be a long road.

Glancing over at Esther again, he said softly. “Thank you, Esther. For being with me.”

“It is my pleasure.”

“We may be at this a while.”

“I will stand with you as long as it takes, Tysen.”

And he knew, he wasn’t going to walk it alone.

FIN

Coming in Fall 2013:

The Crocodile Princess
- A WuXia historical fantasy novel of Old China.

Coming in 2014:

Escalation
- The Second Novel of the Twin Stars

Ocean Ghost
- A mystery novel set in Taiwan

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About the Author:
Rob is a teacher, writer and blogger based in London, Ontario, Canada. He is a teacher at Fanshawe College and the founder/producer of the Kung Fu Action Theatre audio drama group. He is married to his beautiful wife Connie, and owned by his dog Winston.

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Rob