Free Viola Grace - Mask of the Overlord by Viola Grace Page A

lines and debated ending it all. After all, one couldn’t be doomed if one were dead. She shook her head and gritted her teeth as she 2
     
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    repaired the connection. What ever happened to her on the planet, she would face it with as much grace and style as a woman born and trained in star ship repair could manage.
     
    She fiddled nervously with her jumpsuit, not quite sure what she should be wearing. Her brothers stood as an honour guard, their regenerated flesh in perfect shape, each body in ideal condition for a salvaged form.
    Hellara’s talent for repairing any kind of computer or flesh had gotten them dozens of commissions, but her penchant for picking up battered and wounded Regens was a hobby that her father had never gotten used to. Warriors, built, damaged and left for dead were now the crew of the Dust Up. She called them her brothers, and that was how they treated her, as a little sister.
    Mother was the only one who outranked her in their eyes.
    She waited for customs to check the ship.
    Locking the crew in a main room was traditional during customs sweeps, but Hellara had the feeling that they were looking for more than just rogue imports.
    Her father was with the officers, working on the manifests and detailing their ship’s thruster damage. She was left with her brothers and waiting for whatever was going to happen next.
    The door opened with a hiss and eight officers 3
     
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    of the Priznik palace stood in the opening. “Lady, you will come with us. You have a ball to attend.” Hellara stood and walked into their grouping.
    They surrounded her and she marched forward to her doom and the doom of all those on the planet, including her father and brothers.
    The spaceport was empty of all females, only male staff were visible and they did not look happy.
    The guards surrounding her did not look at her at all, aside from assisting her into a vehicle that allowed them all to stand as a group while it whisked them into the most elaborate city that Hellara had ever seen.
    The guards walked down empty halls and waited while sombre staff members dressed her in a gown, slippers and affixed a mask to her.
    She finally found her voice. “What is the mask for?”
    The dresser jumped in surprise. “The balls will take place over three nights. The Overlord will choose his mate from all the women assembled by compatibility alone. While your red hair is unmistakable, we have provided a few decoys to distract him. You won’t know who he is and he won’t know who you are.”
    The dresser looked as if he would continue, but a gong sounded and their brief time was up.
    He gathered his equipment and was almost to the door when he turned. “It is a good thing you 4
     
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    arrived today. Tomorrow would have been too late.”
    She looked at the elegant lithe figure in the mirror and looked back at him. “Lucky me.” The guards arrived in moments and they formed around her again. This time she was not the only woman in the halls. Clusters of guards and young females were all moving toward a huge set of doors.
    Each woman was wearing a mask and most looked terrified, though a few looked very pleased with themselves.
    All of the women were elegantly dressed, no two were precisely outfitted in the same manner.
    As they entered the ballroom Hellara’s guard dispersed and left her standing at the back of the crowd of women.
    A line of men, each identical to the other were on the other side of the ballroom. As music began, servants manned the buffet tables and wine was poured into glasses for those attending the party.
    Hellara had never seen this amount of women together in one space. The smirking women surged toward the approaching men. Masks were everywhere.
    She skirted the crowd and moved behind a pillar. She would be safe here while she figured out what was going on.
    Peering around a decorative drape, she watched the way the men moved. Each step was familiar