The Promise: The Drath Series, #25

By Meyari McFarland

A Lazy Vacation…

 

That's all that Narcisse had planned. Just a long, lazy vacation on a light-grav world with her little sister Tracey who absolutely claimed all credit for choosing the lovely tropical location. And really, she deserved credit. The islands were gorgeous.

 

And filled with danger.

 

A quiet dinner turns into running for her life as Narcisse meets her first alien. With the Drathanni Shanni sick, her bodyguards abandoning her, and threats coming at them from land, air and sea, Narcisse makes a promise to get Shanni to safety. Even if it starts a galactic war.

 

The Promise by Meyari McFarland is a fast-paced space opera thriller that will keep you on the edge of your seat to the very last word.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Meyari McFarland
• Release date: Apr 11, 2024
• ISBN: 9798224079889

Meyari McFarland

Meyari McFarland has been telling stories since she was a small child. Her stories range from SF and Fantasy adventures to Romances but they always feature strong characters who do what they think is right no matter what gets in their way. Her series range from Space Opera Romance in the Drath series to Epic Fantasy in the Mages of Tindiere world. Other series include Matriarchies of Muirin, the Clockwork Rift Steampunk mysteries, and the Tales of Unification urban fantasy stories, plus many more. You can find all of her work on MDR Publishing's website at www.MDR-Publishing.com.

Book preview

The Promise

THE PROMISE

THE DRATH WAR

BOOK 1

MEYARI MCFARLAND

MDR Publishing

CONTENTS

Special Offer

Other Drath Books by Meyari McFarland:

1. With an Ocean Breeze

2. Around a Sturdy Table

3. With a Slow Stride

4. Against a Surprise Threat

5. With a Deadly Breeze

6. From Scraps and Rage

7. Questions in the Wind

8. Against an Unseen Threat

9. Hunt the Hunters

10. Like Death From the Shadows

11. Quiet in the Darkness

12. Red Sky at Dawn

13. Storm Breaking Overhead

14. Flashing Claws Spitting Venom

15. Against Powers Unseen

16. For Fear of Consequences Untold

17. Friends from the First

18. A Heart to Pine For

19. Across Choppy Waters

20. Guard Against Death Itself

21. The Enemy Within

22. Broken Trust and Honor

23. For Blood and Friendship

24. Death's Many Forms

25. Choices Made and Accepted

Author's Note: Cradle of the Day

1. Eager Eyes

2. Quiet Tongues

Other Drath Books by Meyari McFarland:

Afterword

Author Bio

SPECIAL OFFER

The rainbow has infinite shades, just as this collection covers the spectrum of fictional possibilities.

From contemporary romances like The Shores of Twilight Bay to dark fantasy like A Lone Red Tree and out to SF futures in Child of Spring, Iridescent covers the gamut of time, space and genre.

Meyari McFarland shows her mastery in this first omnibus collection of her short fiction. Twenty-five amazing stories, all with queer characters going on adventures, solving mysteries, and falling in love are here in the first Rainbow Collection.

And now you can get this massive collection of short queer fiction, all of it with the happy endings you love, for free!

Sign up here for your free copy of Iridescent now!

OTHER DRATH BOOKS BY MEYARI MCFARLAND:

Clash of Lines

Joining of Lines

Consort of the Crystal Palace

Fragments of a Chain

Stranded With You

Reunited Hearts

A Simple Life

Cradle of the Day

Also Available: The collected Drath Series:

The Drath Series Books 1-3

The Drath Series Books 4-6

You can find these and many other books at www.MDR-Publishing.com. Please sign up for our mailing list to get regular updates on the latest preorders and new releases and a free ebook!

Copyright ©2024 by Mary Raichle

Print ISBN: 978-1-64309-131-0

Cover image

Deposit Photo ID# 161302636 by TsuneoMP

Deposit Photo ID# 175800016 by agsandrew

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopy, recording or any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publisher.

Requests for permission to make copies of any part of the work should be emailed to [e-mail].

This book is also available in TPB format from all major retailers.

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This story is dedicated to Dean Weasley Smith.

ONE

WITH AN OCEAN BREEZE

Salt filled the air as the sun dipped below the horizon, staining the ocean scarlet and gold as it went. The carefully gene-sculpted palms that stood along the waterline stood as perfect silhouettes against the glowing sky. The generation ship that had brought humanity here eight thousand years ago had done a good job spreading across this world. They'd colonized not just the various continents scattered across the northern hemisphere, but also the clusters of archipelagos that dotted the southern oceans.

Narcisse smiled as she leaned her elbows on the real wood of their table. Real wooden table, real wool stuffing the floor pillow she'd curled up on, and even real wooden mugs for the drinks she and her little sister Tracey had ordered when they arrived. Heck, there were real cooks in the kitchen at the back of the restaurant, talking to each other as they grilled fish and chopped mango, lime and the local version of spinach that was sweet-smelling instead of bitter.

The restaurant was small, just one big room built over top of a general store downstairs, but the food smelled delightful. Whoever had decorated the dining room, they'd had a great eye for color. Sarong decorated with embroidered geometric patterns and dyed flowers the size of Narcisse's head covered the walls. Big leafy plants arched over the four tables in the dining room, giving each table the impression that it alone had that perfect view out over the ocean towards the sunset.

The light breeze that had been so delightfully refreshing during the heat of the tropical day turned chilly enough that Narcisse drew her wrap up around her shoulders. Probably should have chosen a restaurant up the street with inside seating for dinner, but with the balcony's view out over the boardwalk and the ocean beyond, how could she resist?

This entire trip had seemed like a ridiculous idea when Tracey first proposed it, but now Narcisse had to admit that Tracey had had a point. Getting away from work and home and their ridiculous family and their obnoxious nosiness was well worth it.

Of course, getting away from their family took getting on a space liner, traveling halfway across the human sphere, and hiding away on a quiet little island in the middle of the biggest archipelago in the southern ocean instead of staying in the capital city or just taking a quiet break at home. Mum would've been over every single day to make sure that her girls were eating properly and keeping their claws properly trimmed.

You can't risk anything when you work with chemicals, Mum always said, eyeing Narcisse's fingers as if her claws could be trimmed even further past the quick. An acid up the sheath could cripple you.

Narcisse huffed and automatically studied her claws.

Still short, no polish or decorations. The hints of her claw points at the tips of her fingers were still stubby and rounded rather than razor sharp the way they were engineered to be. It honestly wasn't that much of a problem. Annoying not to be able to pick things up with just her claws the way Tracey did, but Mum wasn't wrong that sharp claws made for a big problem when you worked with chemicals.

Narcisse still rubbed at the tips of her fingers, wishing idly that she could let them get sharp again, no matter how stupid that would be on the job.

You're thinking about Mum, Tracey announced as she slid in to the seat opposite Narcisse with a big grin.

Narcisse sighed and stopped rubbing her fingers together. Did you see our order?

Nope, Tracey said even though that was why she'd left their table in the first place. But I did see some very lovely people coming in. We're going to have company shortly.

Really? Narcisse asked with a frown that she tried to ease off her face before Tracey could complain about it.

Just because Tracey liked talking to people didn't mean Narcisse wanted to spend the whole evening listening to strangers gabbing at her. Not terribly fair of Narcisse. She'd had days and days of quiet and no people. One night with a few other people at the same restaurant wasn't going to hurt her.

Though that did depend on what sort of people Narcisse was going to have to cope with.

Yep, Tracey said.

She grinned and then wagged her eyebrows without saying another word. Annoying girl. Narcisse opened her mouth to ask, justifiably harshly, who Tracey had seen but then it was a moot point because the other group came up the stairs in a little cluster.

Around a Drath.

Narcisse snapped her mouth shut.

A Drath. An old and cranky looking Drath who climbed the stairs like every paw raised upwards made her spine creak and her joints pop.

All the Drath looked fierce. It was hard for them not to when they were furry predators the size of a large pony or a small horse from Old Earth. Their muzzles and forward-facing eyes looked like a wolf's, though their ears were long like a rabbit's or a mule's and their skulls much broader. Same for the neck and shoulders and the haunches, which always made Narcisse think that the Drath's evolutionary ancestors were short-burst pursuit predators who'd been driven to hunt on savannas by a climate change that altered their environment dramatically enough that they evolved long legs to go along with their heavily muscled shoulders and haunches.

Powerful but long-legged, the Drath looked like animals.

Until you looked at the stubby fingers on all four paws.

Until you saw the long prehensile tail with its hand-like appendage at the end.

Until you stared them in the eyes.

Which Narcisse realized she was absolutely doing to the old, cranky, very sore and tired-looking Drath at the head of the stairs. Narcisse blushed and huffed at Tracey who was grinning at Narcisse with her chin on her hands and endless teasing clearly waiting on her tongue.

You could've warned me! Narcisse hissed at her.

And miss you making googly eyes at the Drath? Tracey said, giggling. No way! Besides, I was much more focused on the Drath's companions.

Who? Narcisse blinked and then looked, going blazingly red that she'd somehow missed the three humans with the Drath.

Three very fit, very beautiful, very fierce-looking humans.

All three of which grinned at Tracey and Narcisse because the dining room was far too small for them not to have overheard every single word they'd said. Narcisse groaned and swatted Tracey who cackled at her before waving the group over.

Might as well join us, Tracey said with a huge, welcoming grin. I'm Tracey Hogan. This is my older sister Narcisse. We've put our orders in but only just. You could probably get orders in and have them arrive about the same time as ours if you hurry.

I'll get that, the tallest of the three humans said, body abruptly shifting from muscular and masculine to equally muscular but busty with pronounced hips that gave their walk a very distracting sway as they headed back toward the kitchen to put in their group's dinner orders.

Oh.

Gensyn.

Huh.

For some reason, Narcisse hadn't expected that they would meet any Gensyn on this trip even though they were only one solar system away from the Gensyn system. No way were she and Tracey going to go to the Gensyn system. It was far too dangerous with all the solar flares, debris and raiders that the Gensyn didn't bother cleaning out.

While the Gensyn had used their genetic engineering and nanites to make themselves virtually indestructible and capable of shifting build from masculine to feminine and back at will, Narcisse and Tracey's ancestors had focused far more on making their children smart, fast and deadly enough to survive against the threats on their home world.

But even though the Gensyn were the most successful of the descendants of Old Earth, spread all over the human sphere by the Drath's gift of the FTL Wave Drive, Narcisse had just assumed that they wouldn't meet any.

Stupid of her.

You don't mind? the Drath asked as she slowly and very stiffly stalked over to the table.

Narcisse sighed. No, not really. Tracey's the gabby one. I'll just listen and swat her from time to time when she gets too ridiculous.

Tracey stuck her tongue out at Narcisse, ducking the half-hearted swat that demanded from Narcisse. Rather than pay attention Tracey and give her the chance to tease even more, Narcisse got up and got several more floor cushions, laying them out so that the Drath could lay down somewhat comfortably. The cushions weren't quite large enough, but they were fluffy and there were plenty so that Narcisse could make a low couch of sorts for the old Drath to settle on.

At least the table was a low enough one that they would all be more or less at eye level.

Close, the Drath commented as she carefully eased herself down onto the floor pillows and then sighed. But not quite.

Her head ended up over twenty centimeters above Narcisse's. The Drath's powerful body was so thick with muscle that even reclining, it was like sitting next to a tank. Narcisse blinked and stared up at the Drath whose ears went floppy all of a sudden. Her mouth went loose, too, like a happy dog smiling at you, while the Drath's tail curled into corkscrew loops.

What's so funny? The shortest of the three human companions asked.

Tall, Narcisse said, leaning around the Drath to stare wide-eyed at them.

The Drath laughed harder, shoulders and flanks shaking with silent laughter.

Shani is tall, the shortest Gensyn agreed with a grin. I'm Matija Planche. Payton Wu was the one who went to put our orders in. This is Chikere Applehof, our lead. We're Shani's escort while she's exploring the planet.

I'm an anthropologist, Shani explained, ears still floppy and lips loose enough with amusement that Narcisse could see Shani's long fangs. It's fascinating seeing how humanity has altered itself for the various worlds you've colonized.

Really? Narcisse said, tipping her head to the side more for a chance to watch Payton saunter back, hips swinging, than anything else. It was a lovely sight. I would've thought that all the other races altered themselves to the worlds they colonized. Or did they change the worlds to match themselves?

Shani's lips tightened back up as she turned to stare down at Narcisse. It was a forbidding sort of stare. Between Shani's long muzzle that hid long, sharp meat-cutting teeth, and the thunderously furry eyebrows that beetled over her golden hourglass pupil eyes, Shani's stare was ferocious enough to make Narcisse's stomach clench.

But Shani's nose twitched as she sniffed at Narcisse as curiously as Narcisse watched the minute movements of her eyes, the way her pupils expanded and contracted along with the snuffling of her nose, and the little tremors of the fur across Shani's shoulders.

She was curious. Perhaps as curious as Narcisse was.

Don't get your head bitten off, Tracey said as she swatted Narcisse's shoulder.

No, no biting, I don't think, Narcisse said thoughtfully. Your nose is your primary sense, isn't it? Our noses are better than most humans but we're still primarily visual. I haven't quite… gotten a handle on your scent yet.

Mm, agreed, Tracey said, chin on her folded hands. Her eyes were mostly shut despite the frowns on Matija, Payton and Chikere's faces. Sort of spicy? There's a bit of musk but I can't tell what that means. Or if it’s just, you know, background scent of Drath.

Shani turned and stared at Tracey, sniffing at her just as intensely as she'd sniffed at Narcisse. You're more altered than I thought.

Narcisse shrugged. Our world is fairly dangerous, actually. We have sub-dermal armor, claws with venom, fangs with venom and heightened senses of smell. Not dramatically. We're not Dragons, of course, but we can scent a good bit more than a Baseline human from Old Earth could.

The spicy scent slowly seeping up off of Shani's fur stayed steady, but the musky scent abruptly increased. Narcisse fought the urge to grin. Curiosity. Musk was curiosity. It was a nice sort of musk, not to thick and rank that it made you choke.

Interestingly, all three of the Gensyn scowled at Narcisse and Tracey as if they'd suddenly declared their intent to attack Shani. Narcisse turned her attention to them instead, studying them to see what exactly they'd decided made two civilians so threatening.

Other than claws with venom, of course. People always overreacted to that.

Matija's dark cheeks went brick red as she met Narcisse's eyes squarely. She raised her chin like she wanted to fight. Chikere put one hand on the blaster on her hip as she glowered at Narcisse with ice-blue eyes that were nearly neon against the burnished bronze of her hair and skin. The only one who didn't look immediately threatening was Payton, and that was only because Payton's night-black, perfectly oval face betrayed no emotion at all.

It's the venom, right? Narcisse asked. None of the Gensyn responded, but Shani started laughing again. Goodness, everyone always makes such a fuss over that. You're Gensyn. You heal too quickly for us to really harm you. A fish, an animal, or an unaltered human, sure, we could affect them with the venom. Possibly Shani but I understood that you have nanites in your bloodstream that are even more advanced that the Gensyn's?

Shani laughed harder, head dipping until her nose nearly brushed against the wooden table. Oh, goodness, I do love humans. Yes, child, we do have nanites. You're nowhere near lethal enough to hurt me. Or them.

Exactly, Narcisse said. I mean, I'm ninety-eight percent harmless. My claws are blunt. Tracey might be able to scratch you, but I couldn't do even that.

Who clipped your claws? Shani asked, all laughter disappeared into another thunderous scowl that matched perfectly to the rumbling growl sounding through Shani's chest.

…Now I'm really wondering exactly how you vocalize, Narcisse said, staring at Shani's chest. That's fascinating. I don't suppose I can climb all over you and feel exactly where the growls and vocalizations come from, can I?

Tracey groaned and swatted Narcisse's shoulder again. She's a chemist. She trimmed her claws herself so that she wouldn't get any acids up in the claw sheathe.

It's horribly painful, potentially disfiguring and always embarrassing when that happens, Narcisse said.

Her fingers twitched to massage Shani's muscular body. Terribly rude idea but goodness, how did Drath vocalizations work, anyway? Jaw like that, teeth like a predator's. They shouldn't be able to make sounds at all like a human's and yet Shani's voice sounded like a particularly deep human voice, not like anything alien. If she'd heard Shani recorded, she wouldn't have realized that Shani was a Drath until she growled.

Possibly not even then.

You're definitely a scientist, Shani said. She shifted around and flopped onto her side, putting her head in Narcisse's lap. Go right ahead. And if you feel any tight muscles, feel free to use those clever fingers your people have to loosen them up.

Narcisse beamed. Thank you, I will!

Oh Gods, Tracey groaned and laughed