The Key to Creation Read Online Free Page A

is my father? I need to speak with him.”
    When Rovik’s face went ashen, Omra felt a deep chill. “He has sequestered himself, Soldan-Shah, in his grief.”
    “His…grief? What else happened?”
    “A disaster at the Gremurr mines. A large Aidenist army crossed over the mountains on giant, shaggy monsters and struck Gremurr from the rear. They seized the mines and our ironclad warships, murdered our troops, enslaved others to work the mines.”
    Omra had to sit on a cushion to hide his sudden feeling of weakness. Across the open balcony, the curtains waved in the breeze. In the afternoon light, the red silk hangings gave an eerie crimson cast to his private rooms. Gremurr…lost! Those mines supplied metals, ships, armor, and swords for all of Uraba.
    Rovik looked like a statue as he forced himself to stand straight, keep his voice flat, and deliver the rest of his report. “And there is more, Soldan-Shah.”
    Omra suddenly knew why his father was in mourning. “Tukar?”
    Kel Rovik lowered his dark gaze. “The ’Hooks sent his head back as a message. That was a week ago.”
    Each breath chilled him like an icy wind in his chest. He knew exactly what sort of message the Tierrans intended to send. Queen Anjine had received a similar horrific gift after Kel Unwar impetuously executed her young brother. Just an innocent boy…
    But Tukar was innocent too! He’d been exiled to the Gremurr mines through no fault of his own—a result of his mother Villiki’s treachery—but he had served his soldan-shah faithfully.
    Though Omra understood intellectually the pain Queen Anjine was trying to assuage with this barbaric retaliation, he shoved those thoughts from his mind, leaving no room for even the idea of sympathy. She had killed Tukar ! Tukar…
    Omra’s hatred for Aidenists blazed like a bonfire built from bone-dry tinder. He tallied the appalling atrocities the ’Hooks had committed over the years. What pain and misery they had inflicted on his poor people. Omra’s vision blurred, and he breathed faster and faster. There had to be a reckoning!
    Istar’s arrival at his doorway startled him. “My Lord, I am happy to see you back. I’ve missed you.” Her tone carried clear relief.
    But when Omra looked up at his wife of more than twenty years, he recoiled from the sight of her blond hair and blue eyes, her pale skin, her narrow features. Though she was the mother of his daughters, the mother of Saan, he momentarily saw only a Tierran woman. He loathed all Tierrans and everything to do with their hateful culture and religion. He covered his eyes. “Go away!” He drew another breath and calmed himself. “Please…just go away, Istar.” He loved her, but he couldn’t stand any more right now.
    Whispering to her, Kel Rovik led Istar away, leaving Omra alone with swirling hatred. He clenched and unclenched his hands, squeezing the rings on his fingers. When Naori came with his two young sons, and then his three daughters arrived, he embraced them, but found his thoughts churning like a stormy sea.
    Though he had come back to Olabar with hopes of winning this war, the soldan-shah now reached a harsh conclusion: total genocide of the Aidenists was the only acceptable victory. He was certain of that.
    Trapped in the whirlwind of anger, Omra reached out for a moment of calm, thinking of Saan, who had sailed away aboard the Al-Orizin many months ago on a quest to find the mysterious Key to Creation. Such exciting adventure for a young man—to uncharted waters and new lands. Saan’s ocean voyage must be peaceful, so far away from politics.…

The Al-Orizin

    Iyomelka’s resurrected ship chased after them, borne on storms and vengeance. From his own deck, Saan watched the island witch through the spyglass. He and his crew were in terrible danger, yet he did not regret his decision to rescue the intriguing and beautiful Ystya from her exile.
    “I’m sorry I caused this, Saan. I wanted to be free, but Mother won’t