What the Empress Wants by Daisy Fairchild is a short science fiction with a blazing laser battle and equally hot romance.
If an empire needs to marry off an empress for political advantage, what better way for a rebel to foil that plan than with a daring kidnapping. Rebel pilot Hylbe takes on the challenge, hindered only by the disadvantage of being a tiny ship against the empire’s strongest warship armada. Kidnapping the pampered empress is just the beginning of Hylbe’s adventure.
Writing
Because it’s a short fiction the author wastes no time introducing the well-drawn milleau in which Her Most Royal Excellency Alludos Minaris Xeratos Koxinahmalof the house Ehkâsorki, First Daughter, Princess of the Moons of Mellinanious and the Thalas Belt, Empress Ascendant becomes the biggest prize in the galaxy. She is surprising to both Hylbe and the reader, as is the humor from their meeting. The story is a solid science fiction with space ships and daring do.
Pros And My Favourite Parts
The world is extremely science fictional and the characters are well matched and oddly perfect for each other. I was just getting into the worldbuilding when the empress shows up and the story takes a decidedly funny turn. Their romance is also surprising and very satisfying, if short lived.
The cover art for the story is very pretty and a good indication of the Empress Alludos’s character.
Heads Up
I was so ready for this story to be just the first chapter in a fun book.
The Conclusion
For a short but effective story, originally published in the anthology Binary Stars, this is a fun read that would make a great first chapter to a fun novel. As it is, the ride on Hylbe’s small ship to take on the Empire’s space armada is exciting, funny, and sexy.
Excerpt from What the Empress Wants by Daisy Fairchild
“I always heard that pirates were fearless and tough. You seem to be more reckless and whiny.”
Hylbe hissed, clenching her fists as the gash on her forehead stung. She gritted her teeth and forced herself to hold still as Alludos applied a sterile bandage and sealed it.
“If you would like me to return you—”
“A bluff,” Alludos declared dismissively. “You would not return me. They’d destroy the ship on sight, and then you would be dead with no money at all.” Her fingers lingered at the edge of Hylbe’s hairline, her sharp eyes amused as her full mouth quirked up at one corner. “You’re a bit dumb, aren’t you? However, your flying was rather competent.”
“Rather competent.” Hylbe grinned, lifting her chin. She should be insulted, she thought, at the insult to her intelligence, but the way that the Empress’s finger had gone from tracing her hairline to dragging down Hylbe’s neck was a little distracting. She reached out, settling her hands on the Empress’s waist. It was round but petite, and Hylbe’s palms rested comfortably on the Empress’s hips. She tugged the Empress closer, positioning Alludos’s small body between her knees. “That sounds like praise to me, Your Radiance.”
Alludos laughed, shaking her head so that her cascade of hair rippled in the bright lights of the galley that doubled as a med bay. The sound of it was light and unrestrained, unlike anything Hylbe had ever associated with an Ehk’sorki. “That’s what you’re taking from this?”
Hylbe rose slowly to her feet, letting her shoulders square and her bulk loom over Alludos. She was at least half again as heavy as the Empress, whose commanding presence outshone her diminutive stature.
“I’m a pirate, remember?” Hylbe grinned down at her. “A rebel. Lawless. Indecent. I’ll take what I want from you.”
Alludos just snorted. “You’ll take what I give you, and you’ll like it.”
Hylbe threw her head back and laughed, a clumsy attempt to hide the pointed accuracy of such a statement, and they both knew it. Still, Alludos let her have the moment.
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Bits and Bobs
ISBN number: 978-1-957403-50-2
Publisher: Space Fruit Press
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