Spectra's Gambit Read Online Free Page B

what our offspring might look like. My race was amphibious and fish-like, hers distinctly feline. I decidedly did not want to produce a freak: life was hard enough for normal people.
    “Oh, I’m sure there must be a way,” she said.
    “Maybe, but we are young yet. We have plenty of time to worry about that later.”
    “Do we? It is not as if we have safe, cushy desk jobs, you know.”
    It was a glorious honeymoon away from my rank and responsibilities as third in command of the Wizard Navy. Out here, I was just Dusty. I could frolic in the ocean, and no one was depending on me. It was just sun, waves and Spectra. There was nothing more that I could desire.
    But this talk about parenthood threatened to pull me back into worrying about responsibilities and out of the blissful moment. I just wanted to stretch our time alone as far as I could. “No, not quite. We could ask Shea about it, I guess.”
    As darkness fell we gathered our clothes, not bothering to put them back on, and headed up to the cabin. Neither of us walked fast, as if that would extend our honeymoon just a little bit more. Back in the cabin, we settled in by the fire and ate an intimate dinner.
    As we finished our meal we set the dishes aside and reclined together to watch the fire. She was sipping on a drink but I’d had my fill. The fire cast dancing shadows, with the occasional crack or pop of burning wood the only sound around us. In the flames I caught brief images that seemed suggestive of our past lives. Both of us came from rough backgrounds, Spectra doubly so.
    “All those years in training, and I thought you merely pitied me,” I said.
    “Oh, at first I did, but there was always a connection. We are kindred spirits, you and I. It just took us a while to figure it out.”
    “Yeah, I guess so. But you have to admit this is better than our first honeymoon.”
    She giggled. “What? You didn’t find our trip through the realm of the dead romantic enough?”
    “Romantic? No, not exactly. I’ll never understand how you could’ve lived there all that time.”
    Her tone was as serious as could be as she said, “Maybe we should look at securing some property there. You know, it might make a good place to raise our kids.”
    “I think you might have drunk too much of that swamp juice.”
    There was mischief in her eyes as she climbed on top of me, moved in close to my face, and softly said, “Hmm, maybe, or maybe not enough.”
    The fireplace continually resupplied itself with wood and was a nice romantic backdrop to our activities. We did not revisit the discussion about children, nor did we get much sleep that night.
    ~~~
    Master Shadow and Grandmaster Vydor had requested to see us as soon as we returned to active duty after our honeymoon. It was odd donning our uniforms again after all that time alone at our private beach rental. They gave a physical reality to our transition back to active duty at the end of the holiday.
    When we had left active duty to take our honeymoon, we had just helped to win a war with a circle of sorcerers who were stealing the life-force of millions throughout the realm. Five of them had escaped, but we broke their connection to this realm and it was unknown if they could come back without help. The final battle left both of us on the edge of death, but it had secured a relative peace for the present.
    “Welcome back, you two. Please make yourselves comfortable,” said Master Shadow as we entered his office. Master Shadow was my direct superior and second-in-command under Grandmaster Vydor for military and magic matters; more than that, he was a good friend going back many years. He was built like a fighter and carried himself with a pride that came from knowing very few things could be a danger to him.
    Grandmaster Vydor, Mathorn and Master Shadow were already seated around the meeting area. There was no conference table, just a collection of comfortable chairs around a central projector that could display any