Free Marked for Surrender by Jennifer Leeland Page B

Pavlik.
    If the other Mistresses had issues with the new state of affairs within the Nyral council, they weren't talking about it. Andia checked the vid streams, searching for anything that would shed light on what the hell was going on.
    Almost by accident, she tripped over a name. Ivanovitch. Shit. She remembered him.
    He'd been one of her first prisoners; his crime had been cooperating with the Blueshift Brotherhood. The man had definitely been guilty of something, though Andia had never been sure whether it was the charges he'd been convicted of.
    She set a blind snooper program to follow the trail, then clicked away. Tomorrow morning she'd check it and find out why someone wanted her dead.
    Cautiously she accessed her own e-mail, checking it from a back door Mya had insisted she create. Within one of the e-mails was an embedded code, something she was used to seeing from the council for highly confidential files.
    Pinging her signal all over the planet to cover her tracks, Andia accessed the file. It was a private vid message from Pavlik.
    " This message is for Mistress Andia. I'm sure you're wondering what this is all about .” The vid showed a handsome man in his forties, gray hair at his temples and dark, smooth skin, dark eyes. He resembled some of the photos she'd seen of Old Earth caliphs in the country of India. The bone structure was similar and was exotic. Andia could understand his appeal to women. He exuded command, sexual prowess, and confidence even on video.
    " I'm afraid some of your colleagues have been a bit...extreme. Please come to the council chambers, and we will discuss it calmly like adults. We will, of course, keep your defiance of council protocol a secret. Your prisoners are good at convincing others with outlandish stories. I hope you will come to your senses and bring them in .” He smiled, a warm inclusive expression that could melt the coldest heart. “ We hope you can spend Christmas at home, in Muan ."
    Christmas.
    Numb, Andia stumbled to her feet and back up the stairs. Everything that had happened in the last forty-eight hours had cemented something within Andia. She was alone. No family. Nothing.
    Her hand shook when she opened the door to the main living quarters of Mya's cabin. Why was she surprised the two men were still there? Part of her had expected them to run, leave while they could.
    They stood close together, clearly arguing, yet the sexual tension in the room was so thick she could smell it. Rather than address it, she crossed the room to the decorated tree in the far left corner of the room.
    Mya's penchant for ancient traditions had been a pleasure to enjoy for Andia. The tree, artificial but lifelike, exuded the same scent a live tree would. The lights were globe lights but looked like the string lights used on Old Earth.
    Under the tree was one gift wrapped in gold foil with her name on it.
    With trembling hands, she reached down and picked up the box. She tightened her fingers on the gift. It was a tradition they had started eight years ago here in this room. Gift giving. Her gift to Mya was still in her room at Muan, an ancient book called A Christmas Carol by an Old Earth author named Charles Dickens. It had been translated into Universal, but it had still cost a fortune since it was paper and glue.
    Tears blurred her vision. She swallowed, then took a deep, shuddering breath. Carefully she untied the glittery bow and tore open the foil. A metal box shined in the glowlight. Andia pressed the button on the top of the container, and it slowly opened.
    She peered inside, and her lips trembled when she saw what Mya had given her.
    A Placidian star.
    They were hard to get, expensive, beautiful, and magical, so it was said. Pulsing with energy, the star was certainly gorgeous.
    No one knew their power source. The star was about four inches tall and four inches wide. The center was a crystalline blue, like a still lake. The points were gleaming white. Its hum was almost