SECOND CHANCES - Prologue & Chapter 1
20 Apr 2018Jemine Caesar
I'm absolutely delighted to present the first instalment of "Second Chances", a new Elite Dangerous novel written by Matt Lehman. Featuring some familiar characters as well as a few new ones, Second Chances will be serialised here over the next few weeks.
We hope you enjoy it!
Scroll down for a link to the first instalment.
Sola Morgana held up an arm, shielding her eyes against the brilliant sunrise of New Cambria. She was a stranger in a strange place, stepping down the ramp of her family’s ship with practiced grace and downcast eyes. The journey from the core had been long and arduous; it was only after protracted negotiations that her family had even been granted an estate on the fledgling world. She stopped, flanked by brothers and cousins. As per the custom, her father spoke on her behalf, formally introducing her in the old tongue and clasping the hands of the clan patriarch who had been waiting for them. Their greetings were a formality; their purpose, to conduct a simple barter. Worth would be exchanged for worth. In Pegasi, business was direct and immediate- and today was no exception.
Sola was fifteen years old, and today was her wedding day.
No, she told herself. Not wedding. These savages don’t know the concept. What was it that Father had called it? “Warrior mating”. Yes. That was it.
The girl shuddered. The ritual itself was a ghastly affair. She would be bound to a stranger, surrounded by chanting clansfolk, and expected to mutually consume the raw, bloody heart of a common enemy. A feasting cow would be butchered above their heads, showering them with its blood. Then their palms would be slit and pressed together, their blood mixing in a simple yet powerful display of symbolism. Then her new warrior mate would lead her to their dowry ship- perhaps even the one she’d flown in on- and be surrounded by food and drink and gifts once inside. And then-
The girl winced at the thought of what was expected of her, the men’s voices a low gibberish in her distracted state. She was an innocent, knowing only the basics of lovemaking and without so much as a kiss to show for experience. But everything rested upon her. She was the lone girl- woman soon enough, she reminded herself- in her family, her brothers and father useless as anything except foot soldiers or laborers. She risked a glance upward. The man to whom she was to be mated stood behind the other clan’s patriarch, young and handsome but with cruel, dark eyes. The side of his face was covered with the tattoos that all the clansfolk in this gods-forsaken sector seemed to have. Her eyes met his for but a moment, but everything in them told the tale of a man who was already looking forward to ravishing his new possession.
Sola Morgana was as helpless as she was terrified.
The full prologue and Chapter One here...
Catch the second chapter next Tuesday evening, UK time.
(Second Chances was created using assets, imagery, and concepts from Elite Dangerous, with the permission of Frontier Developments plc, for non-commercial purposes. It is not endorsed by nor reflects the views or opinions of Frontier Developments and no employee of Frontier Developments was involved in the making of it. Second Chances should not be considered to be Frontier Developments-endorsed canon.)