Viola Grace - Mask of the Overlord by Viola Grace

 
    When her ship’s AI forces a landing on Priznik, Hellara knows that everything around her is about to change, possibly with devastating results. She is pampered, primped and produced in a ballroom with two dozen other women, waiting for a dance with the Overlord of Priznik. Three days of balls and events will occur before he makes his selection of a consort, but what Hellara sees in his eyes makes up her mind on him on day one. She sees behind the Mask of the Overlord in an instant, and now wants to see even more.
     
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    This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents either are products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual events or locales or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.
     
    Mask of the Overlord
    Copyright © 2011 Viola Grace
    Cover art by Martine Jardin
     
    All rights reserved. Except for use in any review, the reproduction or utilization of this work in whole or in part in any form by any electronic, mechanical or other means, now known or hereafter invented, is forbidden without the written permission of the publisher.
     
    Published by eXtasy Books
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    Mask of the Overlord
    A Trapezium Exclusive
     
    By
     
    Viola Grace
     
    f you give me time to boost the thrusters I can
    “I get us past Priznik. Don’t land, Mother, I am begging you.” Hellara was almost crying at the terror that filled her with the name of the planet emblazoned on the screen.
    Her father, Alfred Neering, was grey with nerves as well.
    “Isn’t there a way around the planet, Mother?” Their AI was usually more flexible than this.
    “No. The Overlord has commanded that all unwed women within the ages of twenty and thirty be brought to him for this day. I will do as my Overlord commands.” The feminine voice came through clearly and chilled everyone on board.
    The captain scowled at the control centre.
    “What is wrong with you, Mother? You know that Hellara can’t land on Priznik. You have the Oracle’s words in your system.”
    “I am aware of that, Captain, but this ship is going to Priznik. Hellara Neering will attend the ball.”
    Hellara stood shaking and looked to her father and brothers. They looked back helplessly and returned to their stations. Mother controlled 1
     
    Viola Grace
     
    everything on the Dust Up . If she thought it would be best for Hellara to be delivered unconscious and dangling upside down, they would help her do it.
    She bit her lip and returned to her work, sliding under the console and working on the air lines.
    Her hands shook as she handled the spanner.
    Tears tracked down her face as she tried to do her job, but with every passing second they were getting closer to Priznik and the doom of the universe.
    Hellara had been five when the Dust Up landed on Miska. She had wandered around until she found a woman, lying in a bed with wires and tubes running along her skin. The pleasant voice had greeted the little girl and asked her if she had a question.
    Little Hellara followed instructions and placed her hand on the query stone just in time for her father to hear, “When Hellara goes to Priznik, the world as they know it will come to an end.” It was years before her father told her what that had to have meant, and the Oracle was never wrong.
    Terror of the very name of Priznik had been instilled within her and it hadn’t eased up over the years.
    Breathing to control her racing heart, she looked at the toxic