Aunare Chronicles

In an all-too-plausible future where corporate conglomerates have left the world’s governments in shambles, anyone with means has left the polluted Earth for the promise of a better life on a SpaceTech-owned colony among the stars. Maité Martinez is the daughter of an Earther Latina and a powerful Aunare man, an alien race that SpaceTech sees as a threat to their dominion. When tensions turn violent, Maité finds herself trapped on Earth and forced into hiding.

Nightmares are plaguing me. I wake up smelling sulfur, feeling my skin burning, knowing that I’m burning to death on the surface of Abaddon, but I’m not. I’m on Sel’Ani, my father’s home planet. I’m alive and using my true name and finally free to be myself. And yet, I’m completely falling apart. Every time I wake up screaming, Lorne is there. I don’t understand how he knows when I need him, but he does, and even if I can’t say the words aloud, I’m so thankful that he’s there. Because I wouldn’t survive this without him.

Some days I wake up and can't believe that I'm on Sel'Ani. I can't believe that I'm here and that I've fallen in love with the man from my dreams. I can't believe that I said yes to marrying him and becoming the High Queen of the Aunare. I want to stay in bed with him all day where we're safe from everything else that's happening, but saying yes and being in love with Lorne didn't make all our problems disappear. The Aunare don't understand what SpaceTech is capable of.

Sometimes my life doesn't feel real to me. It's so different - infinitely better - than anything I had on Earth. I'm not running or hiding or afraid anymore. I'm not dealing with the trauma of my past. I'm not alone because I have Lorne. Every time I look into his eyes, everything else fades away - the war, the fight ahead, the fact that we have so much work to do if we want to win. I see him and I forget that SpaceTech is moving against us, but it's not just me I'm trying to save anymore. It's the Aunare.

When Amihanna di Aetes first got to Sel’Ani, she never thought she’d have the full support of the Aunare, but she does. She never thought that she’d fall in love, get married, or become the High Queen, but she did. She never thought that she’d be planning something so stupid as her return to Earth, but that’s exactly what she’s doing. With the Alliance broken, SpaceTech has fully retreated to their home planet, but the chaos of war will descend again. Amihanna and Lorne know they don’t much time to plan their next move.