Steel Victory (Steel Empire Book 1) by J.L. Gribble Read Free Book Online Page A

already had a seat, and many people couldn’t distinguish Jarimis the dean from Jarimis the vampire. I’ve always followed your mother’s example of quiet neutrality. But I wasn’t about to ignore Kane’s call for help. I suppose I’ve finally backed myself into a corner.”
    “Because your spot on the council is permanent.” Toria compared her recent experience with scattered memories. “Mama has complained about that same thing. It looks like you guys have a lot of power because you weren’t elected, but at the same time, you can’t make too many waves because otherwise you’ll be accused of abusing your power. That’s what Ms. Fabbri was harping about.”
    “Exactly.”
    “You would have come for any student who called,” Kane said.
    “But not two students such as yourselves. Not Limani’s warrior-mage pair, who happen to both be children of current and former councilmembers,” Dean Joensen said. “Did you know that Victory and I have only seen each other once outside of the council chamber since Jarimis died? For your parents’ funeral, Kane.”
    “Have things gotten so bad that two councilmembers can’t even socialize without suspicion?” Kane said. “Mom and Victory used to see each other all the time, even before Toria and I bonded.”
    “The problems picked up when your parents passed away. You both have taken Legacy of the Modern World, yes?”
    Toria and Kane heaved identical sighs. “Yeah,” Toria said, “we got it out of the way our first semester.”
    Dean Joensen laughed. She knew full well that Toria preferred her science courses and that Kane would live in the literature department if he could. “Not your favorite class, was it?”
    “Give me a scientific equation any day,” Toria said. “Don’t ask me why some jerk two hundred years ago did what he did.”
    “I’ll try not to,” Dean Joensen said. “But you know why the existence of Limani is so important.”
    The small city-state of Limani on the New Continent had been founded as a Greek colony, modeled after the multiple Greek city-states that funded the expedition. Less than ten years later, the last major Roman expansion had swallowed all vestiges of the independent Greek cities. Now either empire to the north or south could use their colonial forces to take over the city by moving in a few battalions of soldiers and announcing they were now in control. Limani’s regular military defense consisted of the handful of civic police officers, the small branch of the local Mercenary’s Guild dedicated to Limani independence, and one former mercenary playing politics as the Master of the City.
    But the tiny city-state acted as a neutral zone between the two territories. The city was situated where the safe zone outside the Wasteland bottle-necked at the coast between the north and south, barely fifty miles away. Any hostile act by either side could once again result in all-out destruction, with Limani at ground zero.
    Toria could have recited all of that by rote, but instead compressed the speech into “Limani acts as the barrier between the two colonies. What does that have to do with you and Mama not spending time together? Didn’t the council even play poker games a long time ago?”
    “Once upon a time. Your mother took money from the other members on a regular basis,” Dean Joensen said. “Her constant winnings were the reason they eventually stopped. Jarimis warned me when I first took my seat on the council, but I still found out the hard way.” She rose to her feet and faced Toria and Kane. “You will tell Victory what happened today?”
    “Oh, she’ll know,” Kane said.
    “Anything in particular you want me to pass along?” Toria asked.
    “Tell her what happened to you today. Tell her what type of person Limani has elected to rule it, and that we need to do something about it.”
    Now Toria wished she had paid more attention to Victory whenever her mother spoke of the council. Fabbri had been elected