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  Also by RM Burgess

  The Empire of the Zon

  Copyright © 2016 R M Burgess

  All rights reserved.

  Cover design and additional illustrations by Akhila Krishnan

  © Akhila Krishnan and R. M. Burgess

  Zon Huntress painting by Boris Vallejo

  ISBN 10: 0997467304

  ISBN 13: 9780997467307

  A CHILD ALONE …

  ASGARA LOOKED INTO his dark brown eyes. He did not meet her steady gaze but blinked and looked away quickly. Her emotional acuity caused warning bells to go off in her head, but she was faint with hunger and ignored them. She took the apple and began to eat it hurriedly before he changed his mind. As she was eating, he sat down on the ground beside her. She felt him pet her hair and then her cheek as she ate the fruit.

  “You are a beautiful child,” he whispered. “Such pretty hair, such smooth skin.”

  Asgara kept eating as fast as she could. She was almost done with the apple when he put his hand under the blouse of her shift and began caressing her flat chest and stomach. She dropped the apple core and twisted away from him, saying, “I thank you for your kindness, sir, but I must return to my friends.”

  “Oh no,” he said. “We have only just begun. One apple will not sate your appetite. I have something here for you to drink.”

  He produced a bottle of clear fluid and attempted to give it to her. When she did not take it, he held one of her thighs tightly and attempted to put it to her lips. As she struggled to free herself, his grip moved up her thigh.

  “If you scream, the fruit vendor and his friends will come and beat you again,” he whispered in her ear. “You had best come with me. We will make each other very, very happy.”

  “No!” she whispered desperately, as she continued to struggle. “Let me go! Please sir, I am good girl! I am sure that I cannot make you happy.”

  However, she did not scream, as she was afraid of attracting the vendors and being beaten again. Then she felt his fingers touch her underclothes.

  For Sumati, who believed in righteousness

  ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

  THIS BOOK HAS been a long journey with many fits, starts and wrong turnings. I began writing it in Philadelphia soon after completing The Empire of the Zon. Many of my readers helped me along the way with comments, suggestions, and support. But a few stand out for special mention—Snehal Awate, Marcelo Cano-Kollmann, Abhinav Chitturi, Ana Colovic, Rian Drogendijk, Ajai Gaur, TJ Hannigan, Eric Schoeniger, Haritha Saranga, Andreas Schotter, Steve Tallman, Helene Tenzer, Jenn Wood. All of you—named and unnamed—will see your comments live in this story.

  The Eclipse of the Zon was originally written as one large book in two parts, roughly the same length as the The Empire of the Zon. But several readers suggested that this is too bulky and difficult to handle, especially in hard copy form. These comments prompted me to divide The Eclipse of the Zon and release it as two separate books: First Tremors and Rising Dark. I have tried hard to make each of these two parts into a standalone novel. However, reading the two constituent parts in sequence may be more enjoyable.

  Once again, Akhila Krishnan produced the incredible art and the stunning layout that you see throughout the book. The final product is as much hers as mine. Leslie, my editor at Createspace, did a stellar job. She read every line and her incisive comments really improved the quality of the dialog and the cohesiveness of the plot.

  I put the finishing touches to The Eclipse of the Zon – First Tremors in Luzern amid the snowy Swiss Alps. It was just such majestic scenery that inspired New Eartha. I welcome you to my world.

  RM Burgess, Philadelphia

  CONTENTS

  A child alone

  Acknowledgments

  The Empire of the Zon Synopsis

  Dramatis Personae

  Prologue: A union forged, Autumn, 1678 Z

  Late Autumn, 1678 Z

  ONE: Hareskot in the Southern Marches

  Autumn 1685 Z to Spring 1686 Z

  TWO: The d’Orr heiress

  THREE: Estrans Castle

  FOUR: The cruelty of love

  FIVE: Betrayals, imagined and real

  SIX: First strikes

  SEVEN: Dark clouds

  EIGHT: The road to Tirut

  NINE: Uncomfortable meetings

  TEN: The va Alsor ball

  ELEVEN: Escape from Tirut

  TWELVE: The Mission House of Abaid

  THE EMPIRE OF THE ZON SYNOPSIS

  WHILE THE ECLIPSE of the Zon is a stand-alone novel, it continues the story begun in The Empire of the Zon. This synopsis provides a rough outline of the earlier storyline and may enhance the enjoyment of this book.

  By the twenty-second century, women had become the dominant gender on Earth. Plagued with undereducated and recalcitrant males, the female leadership eventually concluded that men were net burden on society and unnecessary. This instigated them to build up a vast, genetically diverse semen repository and enact the Male Abortion Law, which required all male fetuses to be aborted. Over the course of a century, males died out, leading to the establishment of the Zon Sisterhood, a purely female society. The very name of the planet was changed to Eartha and the Zon calendar set the year zero at 1920, the year women got the right to vote. Hatred of the patriarchy and fear of its return was a founding cornerstone of the Zon psyche. Zon society gradually evolved into a culture that worshipped female excellence, especially physical beauty. Ultimately these characteristics were formalized, whereby passing demanding physical and mental tests became prerequisites for membership in the voting classes. Standards were set so high that only about 8 percent qualified to vote, roughly the same percentage as in the democratic city-states of ancient Greece.

  However, the natural environment on Eartha had been ravaged during the countless millennia of the patriarchy. By the twenty-fifth century, it became clear that the damage was irreversible and that in spite of the best efforts of the Zon Sisterhood, Eartha would soon be unable to sustain human life. To preserve their civilization and way of life, the Zon selected their best and brightest to emigrate in search of other life-sustaining planets.

  The Empire of the Zon follows one of these groups that arrived on a “Goldilocks” planet populated by technologically backward peoples that the Zon call “barbarians” or “savages.” The Zon rename the planet New Eartha and proceed to conquer it using their superior technology, which the natives view as “sorcery.” They rule with an iron fist, extracting heavy tributes from their barbarian vassals. And so their rule is bitterly resented, leading to periodic revolts that they crush brutally.

  The Empire of the Zon opens about a thousand years after the arrival of the Zon on New Eartha. Nitya, a young barbarian girl, is accused of being a witch and sentenced to death in a native court. Lady Caitlin d’Orr, a Zon aristocrat and military officer, flouts official Zon policy by interfering in native justice and rescuing her. Escaping together and pursued by the barbarians as well as the Zon, Caitlin and Nitya are observed, tracked, and then befriended by Greghar, a mysterious man with secrets of his own. Greghar turns out to be the bastard son of the last true king of the barbarian realm of Utrea and is in hiding from Shobar, the usurper who currently sits on the throne. As Caitlin, Greghar, and Nitya travel and face challenges together, they gro
w close and begin to trust one another. Caitlin and Greghar are strongly attracted to each other, but both view the chasm between them as unbridgeable. In a moment of weakness, Caitlin offers herself to him, but clumsily characterizes him as her inferior. Greghar is stung into refusing her.

  The period is one of strife and war. Caitlin’s mother, Princess Deirdre d’Orr, leads the Zon military, along with her ruthless field commander, Diana Tragina, known to the barbarians as “Lady Death.” Concurrently with Caitlin’s escape, they face a major insurrection comprised of rebellions in two key barbarian kingdoms. In the northern kingdom of Utrea, the revolt is led by the usurper Shobar, and in the richest barbarian kingdom of Briga, Duke Artor Hilson calls for barbarians to unify under his leadership to throw off the Zon yoke.

  Vivia Pragarina, High Mistress of the Zon Trading Guild, sells war matériel to Artor, while Shobar obtains advanced weapons from some disaffected Zon exiles. Both gain early and unprecedented victories. When Princess Deirdre discovers Vivia’s treachery, the High Mistress arranges an ambush to have her killed. Artor overthrows King Harald of Briga, a key Zon ally, blinds him, and claims the Brigon throne. Barons flock to his banner. As the war rages on, the Zon desperately try to maintain their grip on their adopted planet and their way of life.

  The fates of Caitlin, Greghar, and Nitya become increasingly intertwined with the titanic struggles raging around them. Caitlin falls into the hands of Nestar Crogus, the sadistic commander of Shobar’s Skull Watch in Utrea, who tortures her and forces her to marry him. Greghar and Nitya, aided by a renegade group of Zon fanatics, manage to rescue her but find her near death. To save her life, they return with her to Zon forces.

  Greghar joins the Zon war effort, helping to bring his uncle Lothar to their side. Lothar’s sons, Pinnar and Bradar, support their father. Leveraging alliances in Utrea with Lothar and in Briga with Harald’s wife, Queen Esme, the Zon turn the tide and the rebellious barbarians are defeated. Shobar takes refuge in caves in the Great Ice Range and Artor Hilson is forced to flee alone, disguised as a common soldier. The Zon restore Harald to the throne of Briga and place Lothar on the throne of Utrea. Lothar takes Greghar and Nitya under his protection.

  With the peace, Caitlin returns to the Zon capital. However, in the eyes of the Zon public, it was her interference in barbarian justice that brought about the war and placed the Sisterhood in such grave danger. Under heavy public pressure, the military brings her to court martial, where she is found guilty and stripped of her rank and all her honors. Eventually she is sent to silencis, a rarely invoked Zon punishment of shunning whereby no one will acknowledge her presence. Sick at heart and consumed with grief over her mother’s death, she decides that the one last service she can render the Sisterhood is to perpetuate the ancient House of d’Orr. Greghar’s sperm has been extracted and stored in the Zon Repository. She uses it to become pregnant and deliver a daughter, Asgara. She places the d’Orr heiress in the Zon state nursery and leaves the Sisterhood for exile in barbarian lands.

  DRAMATIS PERSONAE

  Alphabetical, by country of residence

  THE ZON

  Centuria Lady Alexandra Sheel – First Handmaiden to the Queen; an officer in the Cohort of Palace Guardians; scion of one of the Zon aristocratic houses

  Aliuta Ednina – a commoner; former nursery worker, retired to Ostracis

  Princess Andromache Saxe – High Priestess of the Upper Temple “Cognis”; wearer of the Royal Tiara of Saxe

  Centuria Anika Rulina – an officer in the Pentheselia Legion

  Lady Asgara Paurina d’Orr – daughter of Caitlin d’Orr and Greghar Asgar Nibellus

  Seignora Bedrit Svensina – an officer in the Cohort of Palace Guardians; classmate of Caitlin d’Orr

  Centuria Blanchia Rodina – Executive Officer of the airship Hydromeda

  Bodil Axessina – Zon Resident in Daksin

  Brendel Nevisina –an airboat pilot; daughter of Hebe Nevisina

  Princess Caitlin d’Orr – scion of one of the Zon aristocratic houses; wearer of the Royal Tiara of d’Orr

  Darbeni Milsina Pragarina – daughter of Vivia Pragarina; Chief Executive of Pragarina Enterprises

  Princess Deirdre d’Orr – late mother of Caitlin d’Orr, known to the barbarians as “Princess Ice”

  Cornelle Diana Tragina – commander of the elite Cohort of Palace Guardians; known to the barbarians as “Lady Death”

  Countess Dorothea Sheel – descendant of one of the Zon aristocratic houses; mother of Alexandra Sheel

  First Maiden Durga Bodina – leader of the Engine Maidens

  Felicia Andrina – a huntress in the Cohort of Palace Guardians

  Captain Hebe Nevisina – commander of the airship Thetis; mother of Brendel Nevisina

  Gisfin Ednina – medica in the obstetrics department of the Zon Reproduction Institute; daughter of Aliuta Ednina.

  Heliodora Talerina – High Priestess of the Middle Temple Magis

  Hildegard – Queen of the Zon Sisterhood, Empress of New Eartha

  Iantha Paurina – daughter of Megara Paurina

  Jena Saracenina – a huntress in the Cohort of Palace Guardians

  Jordis Invarina – Zon Under Resident in Daksin

  First Principal Maya Kalina – overall commander of the Zon military

  Seignora Megara Paurina – an officer in the Cohort of Palace Guardians; best friend of Caitlin d’Orr

  Naorina Wilkina – personal maid to Lady Vivia Pragarina

  Centuria Saskia Warrina – mechanica and Chief of Engineering on the airship Hydromeda

  Lady Selene Allerand – Zon Resident in Briga; descendant of one of the Zon aristocratic houses

  Lady Vivia Pragarina – High Mistress of the Zon Trading Guild

  Yukia Rabbina – former hostess of Lives of our Sisters, a popular show on the Zon comm

  BRIGA

  Chevalina Allura Wellithan va Alsor – wife of Trianus va Alsor of Tirut

  Alumus – Red Bishop and ecclesiastic leader of the Thermadan Mission, the largest of the barbarian religions on Tarsus (New Eartha)

  Artor Hilson – hereditary Duke of the House of Hilson; masquerading as a common soldier using the name Rator after his defeat in the Great Insurrection

  Axel – oldest son of Harald V and Esme, heir to the throne of Briga

  Biarus – landlord of the Three Feathers Inn in Tirut

  Binne Avedus, a rancher in Hareskot, Southern Marches; wife of Seamus Avedus

  Cheval Darthus va Haxos – equerry to Esme; youngest son of Ratto va Haxos

  Cheval Cresus Hilson – a great-nephew of Artor Hilson

  Dhanraj – a Yengar youth from Hareskot, Southern Marches

  Digaran – a deputy to Collector Mantan Yandharan

  Dolomus – younger son of Esme, Queen of Briga

  Esme – Queen of Briga; younger daughter of Artor Hilson

  Sous Chevalina Estia va Goset – wife of Hughen va Goset

  Gianina – a courtesan at the Blue Parrot in Dreslin Center; mistress of Kierus Brontus

  Harald V – King of Briga and of the Royal House of Shelsor.

  Baron Horus Matalus – Son and heir of Marnus Matalus

  Sous Cheval Hughen va Goset – a Brigon nobleman; older brother of Kitara va Alsor

  Cheval Jagus va Alsor – Younger son of Nehemus va Alsor, Baron of Tirut

  Kelva – a madam in Dreslin Center

  Cheval Kierus Brontus – Sword of Peace (commander) of the Red Sentinels of the Thermadan Mission

  Kitara va Alsor – wife of Jagus va Alsor of Tirut; younger sister of Hughen va Goset

  Lidill Ikren – a widow in Tirut; mistress of Artor when he is masquerading as Rator, a common soldier

  Lupa – personal maid to Esme, Queen of Briga

  Baron Lutus Terendor – Lord of East Brosia; commander of the Brigon Navy; cousin of Artor Hilson

  Magnus Pontus – Royal Executioner of Briga

  Collector Mantan Yandharan – a lawman in t
he service of Nehemus va Alsor of Tirut

  Duke Marnus Matalus – a Brigon nobleman; installed as Duke of the Northern Marches by the Zon

  Martius – master of the Darling Thoma, a Brigon merchant caravel

  Myrne – wife of Kierus Brontus

  Nambian – a deputy to Mantan Yandharan

  Baron Nehemus va Alsor – Lord of Tirut and the Southern Marches

  Nexius – first mate of the Darling Thoma, a Brigon merchant caravel

  Noki – son of Lidill Ikren of Tirut

  Cheval O’fran Ulthro – youngest son of Olsean Ulthro of Chenak

  Baron Olsean Ulthro – Lord of Chenak; father of O’fran Ulthro

  Pegrin – an Utrean courtesan in the Blue Parrot in Dreslin Center

  Quirus va Alsor – commander of the Color Guard at Tirut Castle; nephew of Nehemus va Alsor

  Baron Ratto va Haxos – First Minister to Harald V of Briga

  Rubya – personal maid to Kitara va Alsor

  Baroness Talia – Wife of Horus Matalus; older daughter of Artor Hilson

  Seamus Avedus, a rancher in Hareskot, Southern Marches; husband of Binne Avedus

  Tar – ship’s cook on the Darling Thoma, a Brigon merchant caravel

  Cheval Trianus va Alsor – Older son and heir of Nehemus va Alsor of Tirut

  Cornel Valder Mitrell – commander of the King of Briga’s Royal Black Regiment

  Wytor – son of Horus Matalus and his wife, Talia

  Zaibene – wife of Collector Mantan Yandharan

  UTREA

  Baron Bradar Nibellus – younger son of Lothar Nibellus

  Baroness Esgrin – wife of Bradar Nibellus

  Greghar Asgar Nibellus – son of Jondolar the Just, former King of Utrea and Queen Empress Hildegard

  Guttanar of Estrans – a captain in the Skull Watch

  Baroness Guttrin – wife of Pinnar Nibellus

  Katog of Louth – First Minister to Shobar Nibellus

  Jondolar the Just – late king of Utrea; father of Greghar Asgar Nibellus

  Lothar Nibellus – King of Utrea; brother of Jondolar the Just; uncle of Greghar Asgar Nibellus