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  Fortuna

  The Apprentice, Volume 4

  A Twelve Systems Chronicle

  E.G. Manetti

  The Twelve Systems Chronicles

  The Cartel: The Apprentice, Volume 1

  Bright Star: The Apprentice, Volume 2

  Transgressions: The Apprentice, Volume 3

  Fortuna: The Apprentice, Volume 4

  *** Coming in 2018 ***

  Serengeti Valor: The Apprentice, Volume 5

  Copyright

  ©2017 by Buniac Entertainment, LLC.

  With the exception of quotes used in reviews, this book may not be reproduced, transmitted, or used in whole or in part by any means without the written permission of Buniac Entertainment.

  All Rights Reserved.

  This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places and incidents are the products of the author’s imagination and used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, events or locales is entirely coincidental.

  ISBN 978-0-9886900-8-0

  Dedication

  For Mike, my shelter from the storm.

  Contents

  Copyright

  Dedication

  List of Characters

  The Twelve Systems

  1. Improved Circumstances

  2. Caning

  3. Complexity and Codes

  4. Adelaide’s Prelate

  5. Distant Planets

  6. Shrine Relic

  7. The Festival Duet

  8. Travel Preparations

  9. Shimmering Horizon

  10. Free Boxing

  11. The Beaconed Expanse

  12. Fortuna

  13. The Hull

  14. Shrine Offering

  15. Bright Star Code

  16. A Prelate’s Will

  17. Threatening Regard

  18. Return to Crevasse City

  19. The Tale of the Elf King and Queen

  20. The Rise of Militia Captain Reynald

  21. Stolen

  22. Secrets

  23. Raven Tales

  24. Wolf Hunt

  25. A Wolf’s Head

  Coming in 2018 – Serengeti Valor: The Apprentice, Volume 5

  The Apprentice Protocol

  Devotional Litanies

  Glossary of the Twelve Systems

  Acknowledgements

  List of Characters

  ~The Glossary of the Twelve Systems can be found at the end of the book.~

  The Serengeti Group

  Blooded Dagger Cartouche—Vistrite

  Monsignor Lucius Mercio—Preeminence of Serengeti and Blooded Dagger

  · Protégé, Nickolas Cyncad

  · Apprentice, Lilian

  · Executive Servitor, Marieth

  · Driver, Mr. George

  Seigneur Marco—Bright Star

  · Apprentice, Blythe

  Seigneur Solomon—Vistrite Conservator

  · Chief Amanda, Vistrite Refinery

  · Mabel and Ned, Vistrite miners

  Seigneur Jurian—Vistrite, Metricelli Deuce

  Seigneur Rachelle—Serengeti and Blooded Dagger Research and Development

  · Protégé, Irina

  · Apprentice, Chrys

  · Senior Associate, Simon

  · Associate, Magnus: Synthetics

  Seigneur Trevelyan—Security-Privilege for Blooded Dagger, Mercium, and Bright Star

  · Master Associate, Malcon

  · Associate, Tabitha

  · Apprentice, Rebecca

  · Associates, Rodolfo and Joyce, also known as the ‘Grim Twins’

  · Driver/Bodyguard, Mr. Stefan

  Seigneur Nemilis—Blooded Dagger Media Management

  · Associate, Gil *deceased

  Seigneur Hadrian—Cartouche Financials

  · Senior Associate, Daphne

  · Senior Associate, Demitrov

  Grey Spear Cartouche—Logistics and Distribution

  Monsignor Hercules Mehta—Preeminence of Grey Spear

  Seigneur Sebastian Mehta—former Preeminence of Grey Spear *banished from Serengeti

  · former protégé, Martin Argon *banished from Serengeti

  Seigneur Aristides—Serengeti and Grey Spear Media Management

  · Apprentice, Douglas

  Seigneur Ayesha—Grey Spear Logistics and Supply

  Seigneur Damocles—Serengeti and Grey Spear Security-Privilege

  Seigneur Gwyneth—Grey Spear Bright Star Seigneur

  · Protégé, Jasper Mollari

  Seigneur Garwynn—Serengeti and Grey Spear Financials (kinsman to Sebastian Mehta)

  Seigneur Thorvald—Serengeti Training and Militia

  Associate Roger Macomber (sycophant to Martin Argon)

  Associate Ann Hunter (sycophant to Martin Argon)

  Associate Shoshanna Revetali (sycophant to Martin Argon)

  Senior Associate Graham Tudorian, Fortuna Logistics and Supply

  Iron Hammer Cartouche—Controller Fabrication

  Monsignor Elenora Odestil—Preeminence of Iron Hammer

  Seigneur Kemeha—Iron Hammer Engineering Seigneur

  · Protégé, Fletcher Detrenti

  Seigneur Herman—Legalistics Lead, Cartel and Cartouche

  · Apprentice, Clarice

  Seigneur Tristan

  · Apprentice, Verity

  Cartel

  Associate Master Straus

  · Apprentice, Vicenza

  Archive Master Liger

  The Matahorn Alliance

  Broken Blade Cartouche

  Monsignor Horatio Margovian—Preeminence of Broken Blade and Matahorn

  · Former Protégé, Damien St. Gervais

  · Protégé, Basil Vylasi

  Seigneur William—Bright Star (Horatio’s son and heir)

  Dark Axe Cartouche

  Monsignor Omar Petrovich—Preeminence of Dark Axe

  · Associate, Gregor Matwan (Crevasse City) *executed

  Seigneur Fenrir—Bright Star

  · Protégé, Mayling Boreas

  Bright Fire Cartouche

  Monsignor Sarah Guedez—Preeminence of Bright Fire

  The Leonardo Society

  Steel Spike Cartouche

  Monsignor Angus Blackthorn—Preeminence of Steel Spike and Leonardo

  · Protégé, Declan Red-Eagle

  Senior Associate Aidan

  Associate Pippa Kailani

  Red Saber Cartouche

  Monsignor Coyote Meterand—Preeminence of Red Saber

  Crevasse City

  Helena Faesetili, Lilian’s mother and Sinead’s Seer

  Katleen Faesetili, Lilian’s sister

  Gloribelle, a sparkly tree wombat and Katleen’s pet

  Lady Estella, Lucius’ wife

  Raphael, Lucius and Estella’s son

  Cesare, Lucius and Estella’s son

  Elysia, Lucius and Estella’s daughter

  Sabri, Lucius’ personal servitor

  Marigold, Estella’s personal servitor

  Lord Gilead, Jonathan’s Prelate

  Virgil, Socraide’s Shrine Keeper

  Kyndel, Rimon’s Shrine Keeper

  Lord Apollo Acacia, Adelaide’s Prelate

  Waiman, Sinead’s Shrine Keeper

  Tiger Sylvester, Black Commerce Raider

  Hilda, legitimate Odds Manager

  Hidaka, café owner and friend to the Faesetilis

  Mistress Brianne Detrenti, Fletcher’s twin sister

  Master Jamal Argon, Nickolas’ cousin

  Monsignor Persia, Preeminence of the Third System Commodity Exchange

  Seigneur Conrad, Persia’s son

  Lady Tobi, Conrad’s spouse

  Master Harold, Conrad’s and Tobi’s son

  Mistress Bronwyn, Conrad’s and To
bi’s daughter

  Master Joachim, Conrad’s and Tobi’s son

  Mulan’s Temple

  Dean Joseph, Preeminence of Mulan’s Temple and Lilian’s foster father

  Andreas, Master Scholar of Ancients Studies and Lilian’s former lover

  Others

  Dean Rupert, Preeminence of Rimon’s Academia and Rebecca’s academic bondholder

  Rhyliss, Chrys’ sister and youngest sibling

  The Twelve Systems

  The society of the Twelve Systems is dominated by the warrior elite, the genetic descendants of the Five Warriors of Antiquity. These five warlords ended three centuries of interstellar warfare known as the Anarchy and established the modern Order and its governing protocols. In the millennium since the end of the Anarchy, the warrior elite have consolidated societal control into a handful of vast commercial interests. The most powerful and wealthy are the cartels.

  Owned by the great warrior families identified by their emblem or ‘cartouches,’ these commerce enterprises are locked in fierce competitive struggles. To command any cartel is to control immense wealth and influence. To command one of the five largest cartels is to number among the two score most powerful people in the Twelve Systems.

  Soon to be third among the cartels is the Serengeti Group, which controls Vistrite, the semi-liquid crystal essential to all advanced technology. Under the command of the devious, ruthless, and unconventional Lucius Mercio, the Serengeti Group will soon move from fourth to third among the cartels. To advance his ambitions, Lucius formed the Bright Star Consortium, the first significant attempt at stellar expansion in over two centuries, and abandoned a millennium of tradition to develop a synthetic form of Vistrite known as Mercium. These two endeavors will forever alter the commerce of the Twelve Systems.

  After a decade of strife, Lucius has finally succeeded in deposing his rival, Sebastian Mehta of Grey Spear, for control of Serengeti. Guilty of treason against the Cartel, Sebastian was ruled Disordered in His Wits and banished to a distant system.

  Known to only a few is that Lucius’ notorious apprentice, Lilian, is at the center of both ventures and the downfall of Sebastian Mehta. In the aftermath of her father’s execution for terrible crimes, Lilian was convicted of Guilt by Blood. In return for her life, Lilian vowed to serve three years as Lucius’ indentured servant, yielding him total control of her body, intellect, and will. In anticipation of Bright Star, Lucius acquired Lilian for her exceptional intellect and abilities with complexity and risk analysis. Lilian proved to be a great deal more than brilliant; her loyalty and courage were the catalyst for Mercium well before Bright Star was formed.

  With Lucius’ ascendance, few in the Cartel will openly torment Lilian for her despised father’s crimes and her corrupt genetics. Many continue to hope that the disgraced young woman will fall to the rigid demands of Trial by Ordeal or the insult, spite, and physical assault that await her beyond Lucius’ sphere of control.

  1. Improved Circumstances

  Serengeti Headquarters is located on the ancient site of a Blooded Dagger fortress. Vestiges of that early structure can be found embedded in the memorial pillar in the lobby and each of the four entrances. In these modern, civilized times, the Cartel’s headquarters remains a commerce fortress, the Serengeti Militia dedicated to preserving the sanctity of its endeavors and all who labor to preserve and advance the Cartel.

  The ever-vigilant Serengeti Militia protects all aspects of operations, and its members are duly licensed under the Governing Protocols to bear and discharge fireburst weapons. Other than militia members, citizens require a special license from one of the Cartel’s governing monsignors to carry a weapon of any type within Serengeti Headquarters or any other property or territory of the Cartel. In this, Cartel stricture overrides the Twelve Systems’ protocol that permits commoners personal blades of no more than six inches and warriors belt daggers. ~ excerpt from The Serengeti Group Articles of Commerce (The Cartel Agreement).

  Sevenday 88, Day 2

  Breathing hard, limbs heavy, Lilian races down the shadowed corridor, intent on the distant door. Heavy footsteps echo behind her. She glances back. The dead man is closer, his gaping mouth emitting angry moans. Her heart pounding, lungs failing, Lilian flees through another darkened chamber, then another. The moans are closing. Desperate, she bolts through an open door. Before her, a Crevasse splits the ground. Only a score of feet across, the ledges run for miles on either side. On the far side, a hound howls defiance. Behind her, the moans of the walking dead man pursue her.

  Panicked, Lilian plunges forward and leaps, the far edge retreating beyond her reach. Screaming, she drops into the thirty-mile scar in the planet’s crust . . .

  With the sense of hitting the bed hard, Lilian startles awake, heart pounding and skin covered in sweat. Another evil dream. Groping under her pillow, Lilian seeks her thorn, a slender, six-inch, three-sided blade that is deadly in close combat and usually a talisman against night terrors.

  Five Warriors take it! Where is it? In the dim light filtering through the balcony’s windowed double doors, Lilian searches through the bedding. Her thorn should be where she placed it last night.

  Last night.

  Milord.

  Lilian ceases her frantic searching, her fear and desperation fading with the memory of milord and their erotic Duet in the penthouse. The ritualized reenactment of the battle between Socraide Omsted and Adelaide Warleader is customarily a spiritual observance enacted by adherents of the First Warrior’s and Adelaide’s Sects. Nude and with milord, the stylized mock combat was unbelievably arousing, and the passionate conclusion left Lilian sated.

  Twice more, milord indulged his passion before finally dismissing Lilian for the night. Groggy with the aftermath of milord’s ardent attention, Lilian barely managed to hang her suit before falling into bed.

  Swinging her legs over the edge of the bed, savoring the pleasant soreness in delicate areas, Lilian rises. The chill from the floor’s fern and silver tiles matches the air, cooling the sweat on Lilian’s nude form as she crosses to the worn cordovan leather chair by the windows, where her slate satchel rests. Within is her thorn.

  Worn smooth from centuries of use, the slender bronze hilt holds a faint tracery of ancient symbols inlaid in silver. The unique design of the blade predates the Anarchy. On more than one occasion, Lilian has thanked her patron deity, Adelaide Warleader, for the unusual weapon. Of the six warrior disciplines, only Adelaide’s uses the thorn—a blade small enough to qualify as a personal blade and the only weapon allowed an apprentice.

  Settling the sheathed thorn on the gold warbelt around her waist, Lilian begins her discipline. After eight months, milord’s warbelt is as much a part of her as her skin. Sealed with milord’s DNA, the elaborate and expensive belt is a sign of both milord’s protection and his possession.

  I am the sum of my ancestors. Lilian stretches into the forms of attack. Muscles conditioned from years of martial arts training fall into well-known patterns. I am the foundation of my family. The evil dreams are but dreams. A reasonable reaction to the violence Lilian endured at the hands of milord’s rivals in Grey Spear. Honor is my blade and shield. Defense becomes avoidance. Lilian’s skin shines with sweat as her mind clears. Honor knows not fear. Sebastian Mehta, the former preeminence of Grey Spear, has been disgraced and banished from the Third System. He can do her no further harm. Honor endures. Within the sevenday, Sebastian’s vicious protégé, Martin, will also be gone, and with him, Lilian’s evil dreams. Honor acts as duty commands.

  Muscles warm and loose, damp with exertion, Lilian reaches for her training garb. A few minutes later, she is down the stairs and through the courtyard, striding along the covered walkway to the kitchen. In a flash of luminescent green and gold, a rotund furball bolts from the herb garden shed, warbling a gruff welcome. Katleen’s pet tree wombat is the size of a large house cat. Mostly gray, its undercoat of rainbow luminescence is only visible when it is excited. When it comes
into its mating heat, it will look more like a moving pyrotechnic than a furry marsupial.

  “Beg all you wish,” Lilian scolds. “I will not feed you. You must wait for Katleen to rise.”

  With a disgruntled mumble, the wombat sulks aside as Lilian enters the kitchen. When Lilian emerges ten minutes later carrying a tray with juice, tea, fruit, and rolls, it races hopefully beside her, its luminescence less noticeable in the increasing light of day.

  “Get under my feet and I will kick you,” Lilian threatens.

  Undaunted, the wombat makes pleading little noises while circling her feet.

  With a defeated twist of her lips, Lilian tosses the wombat a slice of melon. With a victorious chortle, the wombat bites into the fruit as Lilian disappears into the house.

  “Thorn against short sword,” Helena Faesetili greets Lilian in the courtyard, holding out a facemask.

  Lilian’s gray eyes, sculpted features, and trim athleticism are an echo of Helena’s. Garbed in black to her mother’s gray, Lilian is a few inches taller than her mother’s average height, the extra inches either her sire’s legacy or that of some other ancestor. Lilian’s hair is a darker red than Helena’s auburn, while Lilian’s creamy skin tones are deeper than Helena’s milky-white complexion and lack her mother’s dusting of freckles. Only the lightly traced lines at the corners of Helena’s eyes indicate she is in her late forties. With a reasonable expectation of one hundred twenty years, the seer has only recently passed from the first youth.

  Setting the tray inside the dry central fountain, Lilian takes the mask. By milord’s will, she may not train in the stone courtyard without it. Slipping a blade guard over the thorn, Lilian blunts all but the tip. As soon as the protective polymer is set, Helena launches the short sword at Lilian’s head.

  Dodging the blade, Lilian swings around the dry fountain, attempting to breach her mother’s flank. Helena spins and counters. The combatants separate, circling each other warily. Helena feints right, and Lilian goes high, snagging her mother’s tunic with the edge of her thorn. Helena twists away, rolling across one of the stone benches between the supporting pillars. Once, they held lush ornamental plants. Since the ruin, in a household nearly bare of furnishings, they serve as benches and tables when not employed as obstacles in training combat.