Asarlai Wars 1: Warrior Wench Read Online Free Page A

giant buildings known as Liltikin. Not really a city in the proper sense, Liltikin was a collection of massive casinos that cooperated for mutual benefit. Each one was a kingdom unto itself with its own unique style and odor. Moreover, all of those smells hit her about a hundred yards out from the first behemoth.
    Stepping inside the casino, she knew her second-in-command wouldn’t be in there. He had a level of class that warred with his chosen lifestyle. The flashy pink signs, horrific pink carpeting, and pink–colored air didn’t even come close to Deven’s requirements. She wasted a few seconds wondering just how or why someone would color air. Shaking her head, she fled for the next casino.
    The second den of ill-lost funds appeared promising. The open entry was wide enough for a small shuttle to dock, and provided a view of the elegant interior. Light golds and sea blues dominated the color palette, with a few dark wood accents on the ceiling and far walls. Carefully draped fabrics from thousands of worlds flowed from the five-story-high ceiling to be gathered against the walls creating a space both intimate and generous at the same time. The gambling tables were all carved out of pure rare stones. The five-card ta-long table immediately before her was once a single block of rare Elierian jade. The fast-paced calir game table gleamed an ebony that could only have come from a single lump of Wavian coal, a substance so protected that a single ounce could buy a fleet of ships. The entire decor invited those of delicate sensibilities to come in and donate their money.
    She definitely didn’t fit in.
    For the first time she realized she still had on the clothes she’d worn yesterday. And her duster carried more than enough proof of its name. She couldn’t remember when she last braided her hair; but the telltale red wisps near her waist told her it had been a while. The sneer on the face of the casino host told her the same thing. She glared back. Robots should never be programmed with facial expressions.
    She held up one hand instead of reaching for her blaster, as she wanted to. “I don’t want any trouble and I’m not staying.”
    The skinny droid rocked back on his metallic heels.
    When the droid didn’t say anything, she continued, but kept her voice low. “You don’t want me here; I don’t want to be here. I’m trying to find my second-in-command. The sooner you help me find him, the sooner I can stop leaving dust on your floor, got it?”
    A faint humming emanated from the yellow man-shaped machine, and it nodded. “Agreed. Who is it you are searching for? What does he look like?”
    She did a quick surveillance around the gambling floor even though she knew Deven wouldn’t be there. His gambling usually took place in private rooms. As a rule telepaths, or espers as they were commonly called, didn’t like crowded spaces. Deven might be different from most espers, but he had reasons for gambling alone.
    “He’s about 6’2”, a bit taller than me, pale gold skin, likes to show lots of it, and has tar-black hair hitting past his shoulders unless he hacked it off again. He’d probably be in your tao-go room or a private suite.” She’d give the thing Deven’s name, except that he never used it on casino planets.
    The droid cocked its head, another annoying mannerism, and then froze. An instant later it turned in her direction. “I believe I have found your friend. He is indeed in a private suite.” The droid’s eyes gave pale reflections of the images he scanned. Most likely tapped into the security cameras. “You did not say he was an esper.”
    She frowned when an image of Deven entering a suite appeared on the droid’s eye-screens and focused in on the two linked metal bracelets on Deven’s right wrist. No esper above a level one could travel without them. The laws may have given them equal rights eighty years ago, but that didn’t mean people felt safe around them. Which was one reason