Noble by Viola Grace Page A

I wish it were any other species. Why couldn’t it just have been a stray Dheman or Enjel?”
    “Will they insist on landing, do you think?”
    “To reclaim the last of that line? I think we will be lucky if we can have her launched from the moon base without a warship panicking the populace.”
    Norz went to the long-range com while muttering to himself about genetic lotteries and hoping for luck.
    His best bet was the Kameraet ambassador in the court of the Imperium, so that is where he placed the call.
     
    Thirty minutes later, the connection was finalised and the Kameraet ambassador was facing Norz in a holographic display.
    Norz inclined his head. “Apologies for disturbing you, Ambassador.”
    “I am guessing that this will be worth my time, so proceed, Ontex.”
    Norz kept his expression blank, as he had been trained to. “I have come across one of your people. Well, the direct descendant of one of your houses.”
    The ambassador raised his brows. “Which family?”
    “The Day family. She is a direct descendant of the Day clan. There is no doubt.”
    The ambassador’s expression was shocked, to say the least. “You do know that this will throw my people into an uproar.”
    “I do.”
    “Do you have...wait...you said she? ” His manner shifted from shocked to predatory.
    Norz kept his wince to himself. Indeed, this was precisely what he had hoped would not happen.
    “Correct. The descendant is a female.”
    The ambassador narrowed his eyes. “How old?”
    “She is twenty-six.”
    The smile was bright. “I will contact Nimrah immediately. They will be in touch with you at this terminal number for the pickup of our new High Lady.”
    Norz nodded. “Thank you, Ambassador.”
    The man’s features blurred as the call was disconnected.
    Norz sighed. The Kameraet had been master traders throughout the Imperium, but now, they were an organised gathering of highly paid assassins and spies that owned four sealed star systems and everything in them. Their obsession with bloodlines bordered on the frightening, and Norz worried for Myra’s safety and sense of freedom. If she was the last of her line, as they suspected, a line of males would be presented to her, and she would have to choose a lord quickly. If she didn’t make the move, they would feel free to coerce her and that would probably not sit well with her Terran sensibilities.
     
    An hour later, the Kameraet had arranged to send a warship to pick up their newly found member. Norz had negotiated frantically to get them to agree to remain beyond the moon with their ship, and finally, the high lord acquiesced.
    Norz had to deliver the woman to the moon base in three days’ time. He hoped that it was enough warning for her, but she had entered her DNA into their system and that system was cross-referenced with the Imperium’s scouting department. Once she offered those samples, she was doomed.
     
    * * * *
     
    Myra was sitting and watching a movie with her grandparents when a knock sounded at the door.
    Her grandmother was irritated. She had watched the movie a dozen times, but it was nearing her favourite part. “Who the hell is that?”
    Myra chuckled and got to her feet, heading for the door. When she opened it, the person standing on the other side was familiar to her by rumour only.
    The small, silvery man in the precisely tailored suit smiled at her with shark-like teeth. “Myra Musgrave?”
    She nodded. “I am.”
    “My name is Recruiter Norz. I have some news for you. May I come in?”
    Myra looked past him to the three vehicles in front of the house, all in sombre black, unremarkable in every way except for their quantity. “Please.”
    The sitting room of the old Victorian house that her grandparents made their home was cosy and covered with images of family through the ages.
    “Please have a seat.”
    He nodded and paused. “Would you ask your grandparents to join us? This is information they have been looking for.”
    Myra raised her