First Episode

The Cost of Power is set in an alternative universe from the main Martiniere Legacy series. In this book, I take a closer look at the mind control technology and…the relationship between Gabe and his father Philip ends up being different.

Additionally, Gabe tells Ruby who he really is much, much earlier than in the main Martiniere Legacy series.

Most of all, I’m freeforming this story. I somewhat know where it’s going to go, but how it unfolds depend on what happens with Gabe, Philip, Ruby, and Justine once they get on a roll in this particular setting.

The entire series—The Cost of Power: Prodigal’s Return; The Cost of Power: Prodigal’s Crucible; and The Cost of Power: Prodigal’s Redemption—will be available in early 2024. This book is finished and the next two are outlined. It’s going to be quite the ride.

Enjoy! This is part one of Chapter Nine. There will be six parts to this chapter.

July, 2033

GABE

So much. So damn fucking much to take in over the past twenty-four hours.

And yet, when Philip looked at him and Justine like that, it fit. As if pieces in a puzzle had suddenly fallen into place. Gabe glanced at Justine, seated across from him, next to Philip.

The three of us together.

Was this how the Martiniere and the Martiniere-in-waiting were supposed to function? What their ancestors had in mind when they set up those archaic Family structures several hundred years ago, as a response to the politics of the era? All the oaths and rituals common within the Family? Or did it go even deeper, to the legends around the Family’s origins?

Arguably, the crisis they now faced matched the threat to the Family’s survival that the precursors to the French Revolution had presented.

Maybe it’s not a coincidence that I found Etienne’s ring.

Ruby’s arm tightened on Gabe, and he leaned his head against her.

His Ruby. More precious than ever. He slipped his arm around her waist and held her close, grateful for that evening when he had seen that beautiful redhead riding a bucking palomino mare in a barrel race, and gone to watch her work the mare into cooperation. Then he had focused on sweet-talking both woman and mare into accepting his presence.

Best choice I ever made was to follow this woman. Second best was asking her to marry me.

He gave her another squeeze. “Need to get the steaks off the grill.” Another kiss to her temple before easing his arm away. Ruby got up to let him out, and he loaded the cooked steaks on a separate platter, putting three on a different plate, to go inside for Anthony, Yuki, and Ron.

They still had more to discuss—what role did his Saldivar kin play in these events? Why had Philip been in Portland? Logistics before next week’s Board meeting.

Should he bring up finding Etienne’s ring on the Double R?

Not the time.

Not yet, anyway. He needed to think about the significance of it appearing now.

For now, it was time to eat. He messaged Yuki that the steaks were ready, and that she and Anthony could bring the rest of the meal outside. But he planned to take the steaks inside for Ron, Yuki, and Anthony, and check on Ron himself.

#

Gabe brought a fleece blanket and a pillow from the house after taking the steaks inside and checking on Ron, who was quietly watching TV in his room. He dropped the blanket and pillow on Ruby’s chaise lounge. As tired as she looked, he wanted to give her the opportunity to nap comfortably during the after-dinner conversation because he was certain she was not going to bed as long as they were discussing—everything. A chill was already starting to creep in as the sun dropped behind the northwestern edge of the Thunder Mountains, and his darling got cold easily in summer.

By silent agreement the chat over dinner avoided the heavy Family topics. Ruby and Justine talked horses—Justine wanted to buy back her Selle Français jumping competition mare, Glory, and send her to the Double R.

“Glory’s still ridable, but only for light work thanks to that broken coffin bone,” Justine said. “No more jumping. It was a good thing we had that one fantastic year before I became External Affairs. I sold her because I just wasn’t going to have the time to ride, even casually, and the Falksteins wanted her as a broodmare. Well, she’s given them a couple of foals, and I have a buy-back agreement because I hoped that I might get the chance to have her in my life again. I’d love to see her living in retirement here.”

“We can make it work. She could still produce foals for them here, via AI—that’s common for warmbloods like the Selle Français.”

Ruby and Justine continued talking about horses, Ruby describing that yearling stallion she wanted to buy with the Saldivar money. Donald and Gerard came the closest to heavy topics as they discussed the process of taking over Northwest Farmers’ Bank if necessary, depending on how its president responded to Gerard’s email.

Philip remained silent, along with Gabe. He noticed that Philip ate lightly, mostly vegetables.

Need to know more details about his health and how that impacts this fight against Zingter.

But Gabe also saw that Philip took the time to look around, examine what he could see of the Double R from here.

“What do you have in mind for the ranch’s future?” Philip finally asked. “Seriously. From what I’ve seen of you and Ruby in just this short period, I can’t imagine that you don’t have some sort of long-range plan.”

“Whatever Ruby wants, in the long run. I want to talk to Artie about building a state-of-the-art lab here for Ruby to prototype her designs. We’ve dreamed about it for—oh, ever since I moved here.”

Philip nodded. “Sounds possible.”

“That’s just the beginning. Ruby and I have mapped out the fields so we can program microdrones. We can run microdrone-driven biobot prototypes here for arid, cold climates.”

Ruby and Justine stopped talking about horses.

“Not just arid but wind,” Ruby said. “That Homestead field—”

“That damn Homestead field—which reminds me. I want to talk to Monty tomorrow about upgrading that pivot line, now that I have access to my funds. This will be the last crop on that damn field where I have to fight the pivot.”

“What’s that all about?” Gerard asked.

That led into a long discussion about their plans for the ranch, as they finished up dinner. Philip and Gerard listened attentively, tossing in occasional questions. Donald and Justine leaned on each other, occasionally whispering private comments.

Gabe finally sighed. As exhilarating as it was to talk about their hopes for the Double R, even the wildest pipe dreams where they took on interns and set up an educational program to go along with a field testing facility—not one damn piece of it could go very far unless they dealt with Zingter. Frank Braun. Frank’s son Terence, in Justine and Gabe’s generation.

He said so.

“And that’s exactly why we need to make plans, now,” Justine said. “The Martiniere. The Martinieres-in-waiting. Uncle Gerry. Donald. Ruby. We are the core of the Group’s leadership, and if we form a united front, then we’ll be able to convince the Family to take the necessary actions against Zingter. I can brief Eliot tomorrow. But we need to create the foundation for what we plan to do starting tomorrow, next week, and onward. Us.”

I’m glad she’s including Donald and Ruby in those roles. Set a precedent for appropriate spousal involvement in these damn decisions.

“I agree,” Gabe said slowly. “But there are still a few things from the past that I want to have cleared up before we get into planning. Things I think we should know.”

“Absolutely,” Philip said.

And that agreement was enough to startle Gabe into silence, before he got up to gather the dirty dishes, joined by the others. Anthony and Yuki might be on kitchen duty, but they didn’t need to wait on the Martinieres hand and foot. The Family members could at least clean up after themselves outside. Security detail on the Double R was not going to include regular kitchen work, if he had any say in the matter. This evening was a rare exception.

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