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Hell reserved a special place for selfish rots who abandoned their parents.

Lydia believed that to be an absolute truth because the more she entertained the thought of running, the worse things became.

She stepped around the orange slime. A quick scan of the opulent ballroom and everyone within carrying on without a care in the world told her something she'd have to contend with...no one else could see the gunk but her.

These eyes were faulty, she thought. With all they cost....

But considering how broke her family was and how she came about them...it was very appropriate.

She clenched the silver paper-thin five-by-seven-inch electronic tablet in her hands and continued walking. If tonight didn't work out, she would have to live with these faulty eyes. She prayed they wouldn't stop working all together. Being blind again—no bigger fear held her captive. That was why she'd come.

Money could solve it all.

This wasn't her first time at a party so extravagant, but it was her first time...since the repairs. Her heart thumped with each step.

"Where is he?"

The man she was looking for—the one she came all this way to meet—was nowhere in sight.

Holding her five-by-seven-inch data diskette close, she joined a long line of nobles gathered by the affluent table and tried to figure out how to pay for a meal; she couldn't waste much.

The data-tablet held the last of their money—namely her school tuition. With it she could probably pay for someone to repair the eyes again, but then what?

She could barely afford food at this gathering. She had to pay, though.

Wealthy guests didn't come to a party expecting a free meal and a dance. They came to flaunt their status, showering the host with riches.

Lydia tried to look enticed by the assortment of replicated confectionery, but her tuition balance drew her gaze. The numbers looked even—close to what she remembered before the surgeries. Still, she ran her fingertips along the data diskette surface in order to read.

The food was another problem. She reached out for one treat only to find it was farther than she'd anticipated. And then the orange slime...it fell from the ceiling, tearing a small shriek from her.

"Something specific you had in mind?" someone asked.

Lydia spun around.

Two big green eyes stared her down. Lydia's spirits sank; it wasn't who she'd been searching for.

"Lydia, how are you?"

The words made her freeze. That nasally voice she'd know anywhere. "M...Master Joshua?" she whispered.

Arms extended, Joshua smiled. "Surprise. Bet you didn't expect all these muscles."

There weren't all that many, and the muscles weren't what shocked her—it was Joshua's face.

She couldn't look away from the bulging green eyes that clashed with Joshua's pale, pasty skin. Joshua's aquiline nose made him look distinguished, but the dimple in his chin was a bit much.

The man was flawless, too flawless. Fake.

Lydia pondered how many cosmetic surgeries all of these changes took, and at Joshua's young age. The operations were top-notch, too. Anyone who met Joshua now would never know. Lydia knew, though.

No, Joshua hadn't been the prettiest pie in the replicator, but Lydia had liked him just fine the way he used to be. So much time waiting to see him again, and now this.... Surgeries. Lydia had had enough of surgeries.

Fortunately, Joshua's big ears hadn't changed much and Lydia smiled at the sight of them; big and protruding, and the last cute thing about him. Lydia regretted coming.

Joshua, noticing the scrutiny, touched his right ear. "Is something wrong?"

Lydia decided to focus on those ears—she had to—she couldn't stand the rest of it. "No. No, of course, not."

When Joshua swallowed, making the Adam's apple in his skinny neck bob, Lydia felt at ease; Joshua was still the same.

"I can order something if this isn't enough for you," Joshua offered.

"No, Master Joshua. I'm not very picky." Lydia focused on the food behind the energy dust field.

"Master? Don't be so formal." Joshua chuckled. "I don't need any of that title imp-shit. I miss you calling me Joshy."

Lydia nodded and inched forward in line, keeping the data-diskette close to her body to conceal its balance. Tradition dictated she'd have to leave an offering of some kind.

Fear of being discovered with an empty diskette—or a low-yielding one—drove her to bring her tuition. Paranoia made her leave a month's worth in her private account, but the bulk she had for show.

"Here, let me get you something—"

"Really, it's fine," Lydia insisted.

As the host, should Joshua buy something and Lydia accept, it would indicate her acceptance of Joshua as a suitor. This was why Lydia came. With her family's financial situation, she was insane to hesitate.

Joshua waved to a buxom woman organizing the food.

She nearly dropped the tray in her rush to comply. "Yes, Master Joshua?"

Upon recognizing the woman, Lydia stepped back. "Mrs....Mrs. Laurence?"

Mrs. Laurence's cheeks reddened as she brushed off her apron with a bow.

"Lydia, dear, how are you?" Joshua cleared his throat and she corrected herself. "Mistress Lydia, pardon me."

As was the custom in their underground home, whoever had the higher house, or the more power, was given the title of Master and Mistress before their names. Seeing Joshua's mother serving food like some lowly servant while calling her son "Master" was unexpected.

The man's own mother—a noblewoman....

Slime crept over Joshua's well shined boots. Lydia watched on. She stepped back to avoid it touching her but it was everywhere.

Joshua made a production of his order. Lydia wanted to run but there was no way to leave now. She was desperate for this suit, but Joshua having his mother serving food at his coming of age party was beyond the pale.

"Oh, there's Osbourne. You should meet him. He's my bodyguard, and he's an Elemental, a real one. Osbourne!" Joshua called out.

"Bodyguard?" Lydia stood on her tiptoes. Her five-foot-four-inch frame didn't afford her much of a view, but she knew an Elemental when she saw one; and that sleeveless uniform left no doubt—that hadn't changed. The man was huge, at least a foot taller than Lydia, and quite muscle-bound. Muscular types rarely had any brain-power to match their brawn, so maybe he was good at his job.

An E bodyguard? By the Colony, what has happened to you, Joshua?

"We have fresh food at this party. Two—honestly—two real apples!" Joshua explained. "And it is tradition to bring a large amount of money for gambling and gifts."

He said it as if he was hinting at something, but Lydia suspected that wasn't it at all. It was Joshua's way; giving common information as if he'd stumbled across the discovery himself and just had to share.

Joshua continued, "In the Colony's heyday, rogue E's often broke in and robbed people, you know?"

One blink was all Lydia gave him for that gem.

"But no worries," Joshua assured her, "I've hired a real rough-neck. So these fake noblemen won't have to choose between their dwindling monetary credits or their lives."

Lydia thought she was imagining it, but sure enough, when the Elemental came closer, she could confirm the man did indeed have short green hair—she had to make sure.

"His hair...."

"An ugly color, isn't it?" Joshua chuckled. "But it makes it so he can't hide or pass for one of us Yules, though."

Yules, humans without any power, guarded by a real Elemental, one with discolored hair like the slaves of old—that was the last straw.

All inkling of excitement Lydia'd felt about meeting Joshua again faded with this revelation. Tradition be damned, she wasn't going to remain another minute in Joshua's company. Lydia scrambled for a way to excuse herself.

She couldn't figure out why an E—Elemental, humans with the ability to bend matter—would be working for a nobleman; the very same people who once enslaved and abused them. Especially since the wealthy still kept information on how to subdue and exploit an E's abilities. So why in the Colony was an E working for a noble?

"Isn't he something? I'd sponsor him for fights if he'd only let me. Pompous E's, always thinking they're better than us because they can harness fire and such. But not Osbourne here; he's about as servile as a pet imp. Let me show you."

The muscle-bound man finally came to a stop before them. He was nice to look at though. His piercing blue eyes stood out in contrast to his tan skin color. Lydia guessed he might have been biracial, or at least with an eclectic mix.

"Yes, Master Joshua?" the man said.

Before Joshua could reply, a chime sounded and a computerized voice said, "Warning, unauthorized Elemental for transport."

The Elemental bodyguard's gasp sounded forced. Lydia looked down at the man's hands. They glowed red. Curiosity drove Lydia to stare; rarely did E's show their power in the common area and never in the sections inhabited by nobles.

Lydia's heart pounded. Murmurs from the crowd became hurried chatter.

"System," Joshua barked, looking up.

"Command?" the computer answered.

"Block that transport!"

"Blocking in ten, nine, eight...."

"No," Joshua growled. "Don't count down! Block it now."

"Unauthorized Elemental: A. R. Ruckus arriving in three... two...."

"Arriving?" Lydia scanned the crowd. Her eyes landed on Joshua but she found no answers there.

Joshua turned white as paper. "What is happening? Osbourne, you assured me this wouldn't happen!"

"Funny thing, sir..." Osbourne began as he flashed Joshua a wry grin. "You should know you can't domesticate imps—Elementals even less so."

(Continue this excerpt of the first chapter in the book "The Nobleman's Masterpiece" ) Link in the comment →

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