Fed II Star - February 12, 2006

A LORD AND HIS LADY - A ROMANCE LOST
Part One
by Jessecka

Colonized in the early years of space travel by a large coven of true vampires from Earth fleeing certain genocide, Dilconia has become a thriving culture full of Ladies and Lords. Furgas, well known for his honesty and leadership of the coven while still earthbound, swiftly rose to power once the planet had been established, becoming Overlord of Dilconia. For hundreds of years the vampires lived in peace on Dilconia, watching the rise and fall of governments in Sol, secure in the knowledge of the unending reign of Furgas, and the other members of the royal house of Dilconia.

Once Ming came to power, Furgas found a friend in the one they called Merciless. With a common love of torture, the two became fast friends, often hunting together in the Wilderness. Furgas pledged his loyalty to the young ruler, and Ming set up several embassies for Furgas around Sol. Ming also selected many of the younger members of the royalty of Dilconia as members of state, diplomats, and clerks.

All was well until Ming started taking his sport among the younger members of his court. One of the first to fall to Ming's torture was a young cousin to Lord Furgas', a certain noble whose name has been lost in the years since the debacle. Enraged, Lord Furgas demanded retribution for the wrong done to his family. Ming scoffed at this idea, and thus began the feud between the royal house of Furgas and the royal house of Ming. Furgas retracted his pledge of loyalty to Ming, and began to systematically exile all members of Ming's government from Dilconia.

Among these members of Ming's government was a young vampiress Lady by the name of Rowan. Rowan had served Ming as the head of the Galatic Administration's Social Services department on Dilconia for many years. As such, she was often at odds with Furgas over different views of government. Furgas found a great satisfaction in banning her from her homeworld.

Rowan quietly slipped out of notice for many years, living a nomadic life, bouncing from one planet to the next, until after the fall of Ming and the Constant Catastrophe struck, making hyperspace travel and use of the links impossible. Doomed to spend the rest of her life separated from her home, she wandered Sol, searching for enlightenment and wanting to know her true self.

Also stuck on the wrong side of the link was Lord Furgas, overlord of Dilconia. While on a tour of his once powerful embassies in Sol, he was stranded there as well when the Constant Catastrophe struck. Unable to return to Dilconia, Furgas began to create an empire in Sol, amassing large amounts of groats and founding a powerful company.

And then one day, in a bar on Earth as Rowan was drowning her sorrows in her ale, she lifted her eyes and met Lord Furgas' gaze from across the room... and both felt the power in that first glance.

To be continued...