Saga of Shadows 1: The Dark Between the Stars Read Online Free Page B

impregnate her. From that succession of experiments to see what sort of halfbreed child a human green priest might produce, five of the children had lived, but eight others had been such misshapen horrors that they were stillborn—merciful miscarriages.
    Rod’h saw her instinctive reaction and scowled. “Everyone should know what my father did and why. Our race needed a powerful telepath like me, like Osira’h—someone who could force the hydrogues to communicate. That was the only way we kept our race from being exterminated.”
    Nira kept her voice even, but she could not let his distortions go unchallenged. “And that excuses enslaving thousands of human colonists?”
    “Yes, it does! My father did what had to be done. Humans weren’t the only ones in the breeding camps. Ildiran experimental subjects also gave birth to countless mixed-breeds in our search for a savior. And the hydrogues were defeated. Osira’h did do her duty—and if she had failed, I would have done it. You, Mother, should have embraced your responsibility without complaint.”
    Nira felt as if he had twisted an old dagger inside of her. “How did saving Ildirans become our responsibility? That was done to me —and to the captive settlers, generation after generation, against their will. It remains a terrible shame on the Ildiran soul.” She forced herself to be calm. “We’ve put it behind us now. Humans and Ildirans repaired our relationship—but don’t belittle their ordeal.”
    Jora’h stood between them, not leaving Nira’s side. “The story of the Dobro Designate and his breeding camps will remain as it is. It is best if we speak little of that sad history, so we can heal. Your request for rememberers is denied.”
    Rod’h’s eyes flashed. “I would heal better, Liege, if my father earned respect for what he accomplished. Do we not owe that to history? You commanded that many sections of the Saga of Seven Suns be rewritten—are you not the one who insists the Saga must be accurate ?”
    Jora’h shook his head. “Other Mage-Imperators sealed away secrets from their reigns, hid dark activities that they did not want future generations to know. My father certainly did. I will not hide this away, but neither will I glorify it. My decision stands.”
    Rod’h was so angry that he nearly forgot to make a respectful gesture to the Mage-Imperator before he stalked away.

F IVE
    A NTON C OLICOS

    After the Kolpraxa sailed away with the usual Ildiran pomp and circumstance, the human scholar Anton Colicos returned to his office in the Hall of Rememberers. Rememberer Ko’sh had gone off to far, unexplored territories, but Anton was restless here in Mijistra, feeling both the weight and exhilaration of history upon him. He had translated—and directly participated in—major events that shaped many races: not just humans, but Ildirans, hydrogues, faeros, wentals, verdani, and even the now-vanished Klikiss.
    And he wasn’t done with his work here yet, not by a long measure.
    Anton ate a quick meal while he organized the various half-completed documents he kept in his office. He intended to spend hours proofreading the next massive translation he had just finished—another section of the Saga of Seven Suns, which no human had ever read before. The green priests on Theroc were waiting to read it aloud to the towering trees.
    So many people were counting on him! He was just a shy and dedicated scholar, at least that was the way he saw himself. He preferred that his scholarly works stand on their own merits, but already people were offering to become his interns and research assistants—even his biographer. Anton laughed off such requests, insisting that he’d done nothing worthy of chronicling. And yet when he thought back on his experiences . . .
    He signaled his scholarly assistant Dyvo’sh by activating a humming crystal on his desktop. Anton considered the thing pretentious. In fact, having Dyvo’sh at his beck and call was