The Bloodied Broom: Virasana Empire: Sir Yaden, #4

By Beryll Brackhaus and Osiris Brackhaus

Lotus Knights don't get honeymoons, but at least spending some family time on their newly unearthed and fully refurbished spaceship Pebble sounded like a good idea. Until a last-minute mission goes sideways and suddenly Yaden, Colin and their patchwork family come face-to-face with an all but invincible ancient evil.

 

The harrowing encounter leaves Colin permanently changed, and trying to chart his future path becomes a challenge he had never anticipated.

 

'The Bloodied Broom' is a science fiction space opera adventure, a found family celebration and book #4 of the 'Sir Yaden' series.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Osiris Brackhaus
• Release date: Feb 18, 2021
• ISBN: 9781393744818

Book preview

Prologue - Pebble Flies Again!

To anyone else, the craggy field of volcanic rock would have looked barren, untouched and unchanged for years. But this was Yaden's home, the place he felt most intimately familiar with, and every shifted stone, every sagged slope registered keenly with him.

He had not been home for a long time.

He had been afraid of returning to Erys. Worried that his dear childhood friend might be in great pain and would require more attention and care than he was able to spare for her. Since he had left to become a Lotus Knight, he had been back only twice. On both occasions, the focus of his visit had quickly shifted from spending time with his family to soothing Erys and smoothing her back into an uneasy slumber. It vexed him that he still wasn't strong enough to properly fix her for good. But healing an entire planet was a gargantuan task, and he would need a lot more training and patience before attempting something like that.

So when he had found Erys reasonably calm, it had been a great relief. She was in pain, yes, but not so much that she constantly had to shake herself to ease the pressure. Not so much that he would have to change his plans and take care of her first. Setting his feet on Erys' surface felt like connecting to a warm, loving power source, and unlike all the other planets he had visited, Erys was instantly aware of his presence.

Though this time, he wasn't here for Erys or his family, but for another dear, childhood friend. While he wasn't yet able to heal Erys, he had trained long and hard enough that he felt capable of finally freeing Pebble from her grave.

As far as he could tell, no one had disturbed the resting place of his grandfather's famous ship – not that anyone could have gotten to her without heavy machinery or powers rivalling his own. She remained firmly buried under several metres of cooled lava, the way she had been since before his birth.

His psionic senses easily found her and caressed her hull. He could feel Pebble reacting to him, a sense of welcoming. The centuries in service to his family had given her some sort of resonance with them. And while he had never used his powers on her to any significant degree, even that much had strengthened the resonance. It made him wonder what would happen once he started working with her. The thought of taking her out into space where she belonged, to use his powers to steer her, was exhilarating. She was a huge chunk of metal essentially, so he ought to be able to grasp and steer her the way he used his slabs of rock to fly. The image made his feet tingle with anticipation.

Is he going to do something or just stand there all day?

The words had been meant to be a whisper, but out here on the open field of Cerisia's old spaceport, they carried much further than the speaker had anticipated.

Yaden sighed.

This should have been a moment between him and Pebble. Not this media circus. But this was the price he had to pay for being a Lotus Knight.

Glancing over his shoulder, he took another look at the gathered crowd. Some of them were whole-heartedly welcome like Darios, Colin, Ivan and Myriam or his parents and brother standing at the front, watching with avid attention. How good it was to see his father quietly talking to Colin, both of them smiling. Colin had been understandably nervous about meeting his soon-to-be parents-in-law, much more so than meeting their Royal Highnesses, the Duchess and Duke of Erys. Yaden's mother had been her usual gruff self and had interrogated Darios at length about how Yaden was doing and whether the Emperor treated him with sufficient respect. His father was making up for it by being extra charming and making every effort to welcome Colin into the family.

Meeting his elder brother Yorah again had been such a strange experience. They had never been able to relate to each other well. Yorah was being groomed to become the next Duke, and while he wasn't as gruff as their mother, the resemblance was obvious. Besides, he was as psionically talented as one of Colin's bread rolls, so his strange, psychic little brother had always been a mystery to him. But now, with so much more exposure to other people, Yaden found it much easier to casually talk to Yorah, who in turn appeared much less reserved. By talking mostly about Erys, they had found common ground, and Yaden was looking forward to having his entire family come to Lagoona for the wedding.

Sadly, his family weren't the only ones watching. There was also an entire host of journalists and the camera crew of the Lotus Pavilion PR team.

At least, he was getting something genuinely valuable in return for allowing this circus.

It had been Darios who had correctly pointed out that raising Pebble from her rocky tomb would not make her fly again. She needed a complete overhaul at a qualified spaceship wharf badly. Not just basic repairs, but an entire interior remodelling, too. She had been a blockade breaker in the Black-and-White War under Yaden's grandfather, and before that, she had always been a military vessel. Even with Yaden's admittedly frugal expectations, there was no way she could serve as the ship of one of the empire's Lotus Knights.

But the repairs and the remodelling would cost a small fortune which Yaden didn't have. His mother had offered to pay for them as her wedding gift, but more exotic features were beyond her funds as well. But of course, Darios hadn't just pointed out the problem; he had also offered a solution. After all, Yaden's duties would profit vastly from his having a spaceship of his own. So with a little help from Darios and some prodding from Colin, Yaden had managed to talk Commander Hamilton into having the Order of the Lotus split the bill with Yaden's mother. Not that much convincing had been necessary. The Emperor himself was happy to have found a proper wedding gift for his Lotus Knight.

The downside was the PR team could now market the whole 'Pebble flies again' angle to their hearts’ content. And judging by their almost palpable excitement, the fact that one of the best-known ships of the Empire would fly once again, and in service of a Lotus Knight to boot, was a veritable marketing feast.

At first, the PR team had demanded that Yaden wait until at least three months after the wedding for maximum impact on his popularity – which had been out of the question. The wedding was a few weeks out and now that he knew he could have her, he wanted Pebble as soon as possible. Her renovation and remodelling would take time, and after that, he had to learn how to fly her properly, and teach Ivan too. She wasn't a hard ship to fly, but it would take time. Pebble wasn't a fancy bauble to show off, she was a workhorse and she would be a major asset to him and his team. Eventually, General Hamilton had intervened on his behalf before things had gotten ugly between him and the PR team. They had settled on turning Pebble's resurrection and the wedding into a sort of carpet-bombing marketing push, with her being freed as the first step, followed by the wedding and then, after an extra-quick overhaul, now also partly funded by the PR team’s budget, some sort of featurette of Yaden flying her.

In sum, it translated into him having to put up with the PR team being here and pestering him with their stage whispers.

He forcefully turned his concentration back on his task. Slowly, he stretched out his hands to get a better feel of the buried spaceship, gently curling his mental fingers around her bulk.

So, where to cut her loose? Her armour plating had fused with the molten lava, and he wanted to keep as much of the extra layers as possible. If he had to use her to ram something, the rocks would provide additional armour he could easily afford to lose as it would be much easier to replace than sheets of metal armour. He would be able to renew her coat of stone by simply patching more rock onto her.

The thought made him smirk. He was probably the only human being who would ever consider rolling his spaceship in gravel.

But would Pebble's engines be strong enough to carry that additional weight? Better to err on the side of caution. He could always pack on more rocks later, when he had a better idea of how Pebble reacted in flight. If his grandfather's tales were to be trusted, she would pretty much fly like a thrown brick. But his grandfather had only steered her by her engines, not by a uniquely suited psionic grip on her as a whole.

Carefully, he started splitting the dense rock around the ship, gradually cutting her free. The rocks instantly reacted to his touch, flowing where he commanded like thick honey. It almost felt as though Erys understood what he wanted and aided him. Gently, he began to shift the ground around her, lifting her up much more carefully that he probably needed to.

The gathered crowd gasped in surprise when the rocky ground suddenly wobbled and flowed aside, revealing the craggy, stone covered hull of Pebble. He had managed to work so gently, they hadn't noticed he was doing anything at all.

He didn't allow that to distract him though. His full concentration was on lifting his treasured ship from the ground. She slowly hovered upwards, a misshapen, vaguely box-shaped lump of rock with very little metal showing.

She beautifully and easily fit into his mental grasp. He had expected to expend quite a lot of energy to hold her, but he effortlessly hovered her above the ground. Checking every part of her, his senses reached across her sturdy outer hull, greeted her equally sturdy interior, heavy metal beams and sheets, reactors and engines oversized for a relatively small vessel. There was so much metal in her, he could sense almost every tiny bolt. There was no fancy high-tech in his Pebble. She was built to last.

As a boy, he had used Pebble as an exercise by fine-tuning his senses to her every nook and cranny. Now he did so again, checking for new damage and finding none. But his sense of her was also different now, more holistic, more ... personal. Yaden had been to many other planets and places since he had last seen her, and had come into contact with other old, man-made structures. Each of them had their own personality, gained through their history and the emotions invested in them by the people who used them. And with Pebble, it was the same. She wasn't just physically sturdy, her character was too. Steady, calm, protective.

She was as happy to be his as he was to have her.

Behind him, the crowd started applauding and cheering, probably more for the cameras than for his actual efforts or for Pebble herself. Was he supposed to give a speech now? Hopefully not.

—Sir, I'm locked on to the Pebble. I can port her as soon as you give the 'go ahead'.—The mellow mental voice of Vertex Tilda of Floor came into his mind. Another not-quite-welcome observer, but a necessary one.

Pebble couldn't fly by herself until she was repaired, so she would have to be ported straight to the shipyards in orbit around Floor. And because he was a Lotus Knight customer and Pebble was famous and the PR team insisted on VIP treatment, the port was to be handled by Floor Vertex herself.

He swallowed a rising wave of unease. All of his most recent interactions with the Psions Guild had been fine. At some point, he needed to get over his deep-seated distrust. Being civil seemed like an easy first step. So he gave Pebble a firm, mental hug and sent an imaginary nod to Floor Vertex.—Ready for port.—

Nothing happened.

—Uh, sir...?—the voice of Floor Vertex sounded amused and displeased at the same time,—I'm afraid you will have to set her down, sir. Your hold on her is too strong for us to get a grip.—

Now that was an unexpected bit of good news. So, no one would be able to port his precious ship without his consent while he held onto her. How entirely nice to know.

Gently, he lowered Pebble to the ground and released his hold on her. Moments later, the massive vessel disappeared.

—Thank you, sir. She has arrived safely.—

Yaden conveyed appreciation for the excellent service and signalled that he considered their connection finished.

Now, on to another, much less pleasant task. He plastered a smile onto his face and walked over to the gathered crowd, who were eagerly pressing forward to congratulate him. Time to be a good, little Lotus Knight and do some interviews with the waiting reporters.

Chapter 1 - Introspection

Myriam? Are you coming?

Yeah, let me...

His daughter's reply was drowned out by a deafening, booming sound, followed by an equally ear-splitting screech. Colin apprehensively turned towards the training island Yaden had raised from the sea a safe distance from Sooraj Island. He knew this kind of noise. And something particularly violent didn't necessarily mean something particularly dangerous. But he couldn't help wondering what Yaden and Ivan were doing out there. Not that he could see the training island from where he stood in front of the kitchen building.

But there was something to see, rising into the sky beyond the dense palm trees of Sooraj island,- a whole flaming ball of something, shooting upward and screeching like mad. It slowed down until it hovered several hundred metres above the training island, then started a slower, significantly more controlled descent.

So that was what they had been talking about when they had discussed their plans for today's training session. Something about synergy effects. Colin squinted at the burning thing which, for all he knew, might be a large chunk of molten, burning rock. That indeed would qualify as a combination of Yaden's and Ivan's powers.

That is SO COOL! Myriam exclaimed right next to him, having finally appeared. She was looking up at the ball of fire, too. And pouted. I should be over there, training with them.

Colin barely managed to swallow a blunt Absolutely not!. The thought of having his little girl anywhere near something as dangerous as screeching balls of flying lava made his heart stutter. She had been through enough horrors to last her a lifetime, and keeping her safe was one of his number one priorities. She needed training, yes, but only to teach her to control her powers, not to invent some insane new applications like Yaden and Ivan did constantly.

It was deeply unsettling that Myriam seemed to plan on following in Yaden's and Ivan's footsteps and wanted to become Yaden's squire too and, at some point, a Lotus Knight. Granted, every child in the empire at some point listed Lotus Knight as their chosen career path, right next to 'spaceship captain' and 'dragon'. But Myriam was a little too close to making it a reality for Colin's comfort. At least, Yaden wasn't encouraging her. On the other hand, he wasn't discouraging her, either. Of course in the end it would be Myriam's choice, like Yaden said, but Colin thought that two of their little family risking their lives for the good of the Empire was way more than enough.

Despite his best efforts, it was hard on him that Yaden and Ivan went out there into incalculable danger while he had to stay home, unable to help in any way. D'rina was so much more relaxed about her husband's missions, and he had talked to her about it repeatedly. But Sir L'jao usually got the diplomatic missions, not that kind of insane, weird shit Yaden kept getting into. And maybe it was a N'Ptalini thing that D'rina didn't feel as annoyed at having to stay behind as Colin did.

Not that he wanted to join Yaden on his missions, good heavens. But that sense of helplessness gnawed on his soul. When Doctor Lachlain appeared in his home and almost managed to steal Myriam from right under his nose, he hadn't been able to do anything. Helpless. Useless. At least he was getting lessons on mental shielding now, so hopefully he wouldn't be such easy prey the next time a dangerous psion decided to invade his home.

Well? Myriam asked, pulling his attention back to the fact that she was standing next to him with a demanding expression.

Well what?

Can I go and train with them?

Colin sighed. You know perfectly well that we have an appointment with Mother Thobeka, which is why I was standing out here waiting for you while you were ... whatever it was you were doing, dragging your feet.

Myriam's pout returned. I don't need therapy. Especially not from an outsider. I'm perfectly fine with you and Yaden and Darios taking care of me. And Ivan.

It was amazing how quickly she was growing into a stroppy teenager. At least in that regard, she was shaking off the trauma of losing her birth father. When she had come into their family, she had been shy and more childlike than her twelve years. Now, she had more and more opinions and wasn't afraid to voice them. Insistently, and repeatedly. Darios kept reassuring Colin that it was a good thing.

At least she wasn't picking up Ivan's swearing habits. Yet.

We have been over this, Colin stated with the calm patience Darios advised for these situations. You agreed to at least see Mother Thobeka to find out what she can offer. Those were the facts and while Myriam didn't like to hear them, she loved facts.

Her pout turned a little more sour. Colin could see how she was running through various possible arguments in her head and discarded them one by one, coming to the unpleasant conclusion that there would be no throwing of fireballs for her today.

Fine, she grumbled at last.

She was a smart and sensible girl and Colin was grateful. Thank you.

Can we get ice cream at the food court once we are done?

Of course.

Together, they walked over to the porting circle Yaden had created next to the path leading up from the mansion. He had raised a slab of smooth stone out of the ground and turned it into a slightly raised platform complete with steps leading up to it so it wouldn't get overgrown by the abundant vegetation of the island.

With all of them working towards it, their island was slowly turning more and more hospitable. Gardens were being wrestled back into shape. Darios had cleaned out a spacious room on the ground floor of the mansion and had turned it into his office. There, he could work in peace, keeping track of their correspondence, Yaden's Lotus Knight files and reports, and of their household budget. They had also reactivated the large laundry room which was equipped with washers and dryers, reducing their washing chores to hauling baskets of laundry down to the mansion and clean laundry back up to the houses. Darios' and Yaden's current joint pet project was trying to get one of the pools close to the mansion working again. Colin thought the sandy beach Yaden had created for them was entirely sufficient but Yaden insisted that it was a waste to have so many pools and none of them in working condition. The main problem was the broken or blocked pipes – something Yaden could fix without digging up the ground. In his words, it needed fine control, patience, and a bit of tinkering – the things he needed to train anyway.

Next to Colin, Myriam stepped into the circle without hesitation. At first, she had been apprehensive about being ported by a Guild psion, holding hands with him or Yaden or Ivan, but by now, she had been ported back and forth between Sooraj Island and Agami often enough that it had become routine. Which was a good thing. Travel by glider between the island and capital meant a four hour trip. And it was good to see her shedding another bit of mental baggage.

For now, Myriam rarely needed to go to Agami, but that would change if she agreed to regular therapy sessions. And of course, there was also the question of where she would go to school. If she went to any sort of school. Which was another topic Colin and Yaden had decided to ask Mother Thobeka's advice on.

While being ported was turning into routine for Myriam, it felt almost frivolous to Colin to casually request a port from the Guild. His entire life, it had been such an outlandishly exotic, expensive thing, and it felt as if he were bothering people who had much better, more important things to do with his tiny, little problem of getting from one place to the other. Which was silly. They were offering a service for money, just as he had done in his bakery. And as his family was saving the world every other day, they were getting a massive discount.

It took a moment for a Guild operator to pick up on his request, but then they were immediately whisked over to Emperor's Island. No queue for Lotus Knight spouses.

They arrived on Emperor's Island in a small, secluded porter circle by the Jansahar shrine. Right next to the Lotus Pavilion, Colin had walked past the shrine countless times, marvelling at the over-abundance of flowering vines and bushes in an environment where everything was green and growing anyway. The Jansahar maintained a nominal presence on Emperor's Island, like the other two orders, but all three of them had larger temples in Agami proper. Here on the island, the Belligra had their shrine next to the Imperial Army Compound, the 'Iron