I AM FREE (I AM MAN Book 4), page 1
The Rebel Christian Publishing
Copyright © 2021 Valicity Elaine
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, distributed, or transmitted in any form or by any means, including photocopying, recording, or other electronic or mechanical methods, without the prior written permission of the publisher, except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical reviews and certain other noncommercial uses permitted by copyright law. For permission requests, write to the publisher, addressed “Attention: Permissions Coordinator,” at the address below.
ISBN: 9781957290027 (eBook)
Print: 9781957290034
Amazon Kindle Vella ASIN: B09MKRWJ1M
This is a work of fiction. Any references to historical events, real people, or real places are used fictitiously. Names, characters, and places are products of the author’s imagination. Inclusion of or reference to any Christian elements or themes are used in a fictitious manner and are not meant to be perceived or interpreted as an act of disrespect against such a wonderful and beautiful belief system.
Cover illustrated/designed by Valicity Elaine
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Contents
Series Order:
I AM FREE
Chapter One
Chapter Two
Chapter Three
Chapter Four
Chapter Five
Chapter Six
Chapter Seven
Chapter Eight
Chapter Nine
Chapter Ten
Chapter Eleven
Chapter Twelve
Chapter Thirteen
Chapter Fourteen
Chapter Fifteen
Chapter Sixteen
Chapter Seventeen
Chapter Eighteen
Chapter Nineteen
Chapter Twenty
Chapter Twenty-One
Chapter Twenty-Two
Chapter Twenty-Three
Chapter Twenty-Four
Chapter Twenty-Five
Finish the series…
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
The Rebel Christian Publishing
Original Author’s Notes
This book was originally published as an episodic story on the Kindle Vella platform. It has been modified and formatted for your enjoyment. Original author’s notes can be found at the very end of the book. Please enjoy I AM FREE and take the time to leave your thoughts and opinion in a review on Amazon, Goodreads, and Bookbub. Thank you!
Series Order:
I AM MAN
I AM LOST
I AM BROKEN
I AM FREE
I AM COMPLETE
Other Books by Valicity Elaine
Cross Academy
Withered Rose
To my family
I AM FREE
Book IV in the I AM MAN Series
By Valicity Elaine
A Rebel Christian Publishing Book
Injustice will fall.
Chapter One
A bundle of black roses sat on the closed coffin, dusted with gold and shimmering in the lazy morning sun. Thousands had come to watch the prince’s burial, crawling from their homes in the Oasis of Eden, even travelling from the very outskirts of the Vale to attend the event. The king had insisted it be done publicly, so the entire nation could mourn as one. Really, he only wanted to take advantage of an opportunity to convince everyone all at once that the prince was indeed dead.
Sunder knew better.
She watched the entire event through tired eyes, exhausted from spending weeks making all the arrangements and then another few days trying on gowns. She’d ended up settling on a custom dress by one of the seamstresses in the palace—one Helios had operated on to ensure her production time could be increased. She had no stomach, and her brain had been rewired to maintain consciousness even after long periods of work. Basically, she didn’t need to eat or sleep anymore—which meant more time for sewing.
Only part of the princess felt guilty as she followed the funeral procession down the aisle, walking through the gardens toward the hidden tombs in the center. Her black gown flowed behind her, long and elegant and hugging her womanly curves just the right way. It was a one-of-a-kind piece, fit to highlight her maturity and show off her slender legs. She was twenty-seven—almost twenty-eight now—and a leader in the Valetian military. The crowd around her didn’t need to see a grief-stricken sister, they needed to see a warrior ready for vengeance. Except that vengeance would be against her own father.
Sunder could still recall the look on King Rion’s face as he’d called the strike, his light brown skin, stained red with anger, his brow creased in irritation. There hadn’t been an ounce of guilt on his face. No remorse, no sorrow, no regret. Only anger. Only determination. She’d always known her father could be cold, but that moment he seemed out of reach. This was not the same man who’d taught her how to shoot her gun or trained her in self-defense. The King Rion who ordered a missile strike on his own son’s sky ship was a different creature entirely. And he scared her.
Once the procession ended, a priest whispered a prayer over the gathered crowd. The hidden tombs were inside burial chambers beneath the gardens. The space was only large enough to fit a dozen people, so the area was quiet compared to the chaotic wailing of the masses upstairs. Sunder welcomed the quiet, listening to the royal priest finish his prayer. He closed his leatherbound Bible and nodded his respects to the king, queen, and princess—in that order. Then he took his leave, a Guardian following him out.
King Rion turned to Queen Eos once the old man had left. “I will see you for dinner.”
She hesitated, glancing at the men and women staying behind, Sunder and a few members of the War Council. But the queen knew not to challenge or question her husband and left without a word, her teary eyes lingering on the prince’s coffin before she disappeared up the staircase.
The burial chamber was dark, lit only by a single torch hanging on the wall behind Lieutenant Beane. The flames danced wildly, leaving wicked shadows skirting along the cement walls. It was a ghostly show, one that sent shivers up and down Sunder’s spine as she waited for the king to speak. He was silent, staring down at Prince Helios’s casket, willing him to rise from the empty coffin and prove the rumors true.
No one believed the prince was truly dead. Their forces hadn’t discovered a body when they’d searched the wreckage, but that didn’t mean much, considering he’d “died” in a sky ship crash. They also hadn’t found any remains of his Skel, but that wasn’t too troubling either. Technically, the entire thing could be brushed under the rug. The missiles had been blamed on the Grace Rebellion which was information too juicy for the media channels to ignore. They ate up the leak and spread it like wildfire—even Kishra and Savai had offered their condolences and declared a three-day unanimous ceasefire the day the story broke the news. The Vale had spent those three days searching the debris which sat right on the edge of the Vale and the Hollow Forest surrounding Savai. Sunder had been thankful, if it weren’t for the ceasefire, she might have found herself in a skirmish with Savish border patrols while trying to find the remains of her own brother.
While she hadn’t found a corpse, she did find a sense of peace. No body meant no certainty. Prince Helios could be alive. That fact helped her sleep at night, but the look of fury in her father’s eyes gave her nightmares.
King Rion took a slow, steady breath and then spoke in a voice that was dangerously calm. “What are we going to do?”
Lieutenant Beane spoke first, clearing her throat as she offered, “We could keep going with the Rebel story. So far, it’s been working, Your Majesty.”
“So far,” he repeated.
“There have been rumors surfacing on the deep web channels,” Lady Onika spoke up, an analyst who’d helped develop the king’s more violent version of Leo’s virus. She had big, circular glasses covering most of her round face, and a braided ponytail that brushed against her thin shoulders. “Mostly conspiracy theories claiming the prince wasn’t dead and hadn’t been shot down by the Rebels. Nothing to worry about.”
“Except the fact that those theories are absolutely true,” Captain Tundo growled. He glared at Onika from across the small room, standing on the other side of the prince’s empty casket.
“Prince Helios is dead,” King Rion said slowly.
The room fell into silence, no one daring to argue or even speak. Sunder glanced around, taking in their fretful expressions. She had just as much reason to worry, her career and even her place at the top of the Pyramid could be challenged if anyone found out the truth of Leo’s supposed death. But so far, they hadn’t. So far, no one had openly challenged the prince’s death or the idea that the Rebels were behind it. The only person who could ever expose the truth on everyone’s mind was the prince himself—if he was still alive. And if that were the case, he hadn’t shown his face yet. Which both worried and excited the princess at the same time.
She didn’t want to lose her brother. But she didn’t want to be subject to her father’s anger any longer either. He had blamed her for the entire event. Roaring insults at her as his personal Guardian unlocked the door of the cell S14 had left her in during his great escape. It was her weakness that had allowed the prince to escape. Her emotions had gotten the best of her.
The yelling and the blaming weren’t what had bothered her at all, it was the awful truth in the words. The king was right. Sunder had allowed herself to fall weak. She had allowed her emotions to get in the way of her goal.
If she hadn’t stopped to explain things to her brother, if she hadn’t felt the need to convince him that she was on his side, he wouldn’t have had the opportunity to betray her.
She wrinkled her nose in the silence. Betrayal—that was the word of the month. Helios had accused her of betraying him after he’d already betrayed her and Clora and pretty much everyone else in his entire life. The palace had been filled with liars and schemers and left everyone else paranoid. Trust was rare, if even possible at all. It had been a lack of trust that’d caused the downfall of the greatest royal family of the Pureblood Pyramid. The five-member team was now down to two—one mad king and his very confused daughter.
Sunder sighed at the thought, momentarily forgetting where she was and who was standing right beside her. Before she could cover the gesture, the king’s eyes were on her, drilling holes into her profile.
“You have something to say?” he challenged, voice dark and menacing.
She swallowed. “I think we should at least take precautions.”
“Precautions for what?”
For a second, she contemplated lying—making something up just to shift his gaze—but she forced her fears away and turned to look her father in the eye. “For the possibility that Helios is alive.”
A muscle in his jaw ticked. “What would you suggest?”
The question must have taken every ounce of calm he had left. Sunder could see how much it pained him to acknowledge the failure of the Crown. They had let this slip right by them, and it was all her fault. For months she’d stayed by her brother’s side, carefully watching him, meticulously planning, strategically dropping hints of his deterioration to their father. And for a breath of time, her plan had worked. She had finally found herself beside her father—beside the king.
All her life, Sunder had been second. Second born. Second in command of the military, despite being the only sibling to have actually served in the forces. Second princess—even though she was, in fact, the first. There were more people in the Republic who knew her as a warrior than a princess. Clora had always been the pretty one with the girly laugh and the gentle touch. She was the royal princess. Sunder was just the older sister.
She had even been second to Prince Helios. When Clora—his favorite—had abandoned him for her Skel, she was there. When he’d pumped himself full of shade and hooked up with more women than he could remember, she was there. Even when he’d packed up and flown to Savai to capture one Guardian, Sunder stood by his side. Only to be traded in for a freaky handmade copy of Clora.
Sunder would be lying if she said she hadn’t felt a twinge of hatred toward Leo for his favoritism. The way he always seemed to expect loyalty from her but had shamelessly begged for it from others. He had risked his sanity to earn his father’s love. He had thrown away his crown for his baby sister’s love. But what had Helios ever done for Sunder? Loyal Sunder, who had only ever listened and obeyed.
Now, she was done listening. Now, she was done obeying. Now, she stood beside the king with a choice to make. But even as she looked her father in the eye, she knew what her choice would be. Because Sunder wasn’t like her brother. He had always faced difficult decisions and made the wrong choice. He had always cracked under pressure—crumbled under scrutiny. But this … this was where the Warrior Princess thrived.
Though she had flattened cities and destroyed villages, Sunder’s best form was in the conference room. Her greatest weapon was her smile, her sharpest tool was her tongue, her strongest shield was her mind. She could get through this. With the right words and careful planning, she could find her brother and finish this war. She only hoped he was truly alive.
“I would suggest sending in a small team to search the mountains. They would have to be Augments—if Fourteen is alive, he will sense the other Skel’s presence in time for them to escape.”
“Do you know any skilled enough soldiers who are Augments?” Lieutenant Beane asked.
“I have a few of my own men I could recommend,” she answered.
The king gave a firm nod. “Gather them immediately. I want you in the mountains before the end of the week.”
Sunder nodded slowly. Wondering what sort of business her father could do without her here in the Vale. The mission shouldn’t take too long. They could start at the crash site and work their way from there. Locals would be willing to talk, maybe they saw something that day, or heard something the next day. Bandits would likely have even better information—they knew the mountains better and made a living selling information as much as stolen goods.
Still. The princess didn’t want to leave the king’s side. She enjoyed being his favorite child for once, but his affection was not the reason she had turned on Helios and remained allied with the Pyramid. She was there to keep King Rion in check.
It was Sunder’s soft words who soothed the king when he was outraged, and her sharp military mind that impressed him when they were faced with an issue. Like right now. Despite her blunder in letting the prince escape, King Rion still trusted the Warrior Princess enough to let her fix the situation all on her own. Meanwhile, he went back to planning an assault on the other two nations.
“How soon until General Chah and Colonel Laine return?” he asked Lady Onika.
She typed away on the holographic keyboard of her data gem before answering, “Three days. All of the Skel they acquired will be present with them.”
“Good,” he nodded.
The general and the colonel had gone to Kishra to attend the summit but had ended up being part of the king’s discreet infiltration of their Skel factories. Using his new virus, they helped take over two facilities and added over one-thousand new troops to the Valetian army. Sunder had never been sure of what exactly her father had planned for the new Skel force, but she was at least thankful to hear they were marching home.
With all the Skel troops in one place, she could find out what the king was up to much more easily—instead of guessing at his tactics and intentions. There were rumors of a two-fold attack, one from within and one from outside. Some of the war council members had even whispered that the king planned to infiltrate the rest of Kishra’s factories. But all the gossip would be settled once General Chah and Colonel Laine returned with all their new manpower.
The only problem was that Sunder would be absent while they spewed poison into the king’s ear. Neither of them had been particularly fond of Prince Helios and firmly believed in the Pyramid’s stance on purity and elitism. They would undoubtedly encourage her father to do something rash like launch an outright attack on the other two nations.
With their new army, it was a feat they could certainly attempt and expect to win. But not by much. And Sunder hadn’t turned her back on her own brother to take a chance at winning this war. Everything she had done had been for a guarantee. A promise of success—an insurance that her family would remain in power and the Vale would stay intact.
Now, she didn’t know where Clora was. Wasn’t sure if Helios was alive. And had no real clue as to whether the Vale would be standing by the end of the month. Her only reprieve was the fact that the king was not a foolish man. The man who’d tried to murder his firstborn son for the preservation of the Pyramid was the same man in charge of the greatest Skel army in the history of New Earth. He was power-hungry and merciless, but he wasn’t reckless. King Rion au Valetia wanted to rule the world—not its remains. So it didn’t matter what poison General Chah and Colonel Laine and all the rest of the war council whispered in his ear, Sunder knew he wouldn’t lead the Vale to its destruction. At least not in the short period she would be gone.
But how long would it take to search for her brother? And would she even find him?
And if I do … she thought darkly, how will I react?
Chapter Two
“Little Gray…”
“Hmm?”
