The Queen’s Eagle continued traveling the stars at lightspeed, and Sevdis Minare lay in his bed, hands behind his head as he stared up at the ceiling of his cabin. He thought back to his excursion earlier. Another one of the life-threatening adventures that Ben and Tromita had forced him into. He didn’t have to leave the ship. Tromita or Ben could have picked up some food on that weird, cube-shaped, space-station thing and brought it to the Eagle. That bounty hunter nearly killed Sevdis.
Ocius Raelian, Jak Raelian’s wife, hated Sevdis. Well, many people hated Sevdis, but she tried to kill him! She was overreacting. Sevdis took credit for killing the Polemonian chief and ending the five-year war that killed millions, even though Jak was the real hero, sure. But that didn’t mean Sevdis deserved to die.
Did he?
Sevdis frowned as he continued to stare vacantly at the ceiling. What he did was pretty bad. Sevdis didn’t deserve the money he got from being heralded as a hero, and he certainly didn’t deserve the praise everyone gave him. So, what did he deserve?
He should have died. Jak was a hero. Sevdis should have died in his place. But that wasn’t a new thought. Sevdis knew that for a while. But he had been thinking about that more since Tromita kidnapped him. Sevdis was a coward. That stupid laser blast should have hit him while he was running. Or maybe the Polemonian Chief should have killed him before Jak’s weapon found its mark. Whatever happened, Jak didn’t deserve to die. As much as Sevdis hated the thought, he should not have survived that day.
Sevdis was horrible.
This was going to be yet another sleepless night. It would be like those other nights when he lay in bed, tossing and turning in his luxury private yacht he purchased using the money made by his book that told a lie. It told the galaxy that he was a hero. He told everyone he was worthy of recognition, worthy of the praise and love he received. It told everyone he was a good person.
He had lied to everyone. Even himself. How could he make up for his mistakes? How could he pay the price of his failure?
The answer was plain and simple: he had to become what he said he was.
The lies that he told everyone had to become true. Sevdis could have escaped. He had tried to escape. There was that time at the marketplace on the planet Alberna when he got separated from the other two. He had found a public communication console. He was about to call the Xouasian authorities. They would have been there in an instant. But something held him back.
He knew what Tromita was forcing him to do was right. He knew he had to stop the Polemonians from returning. It was his duty. He was honor-bound. He had to defeat their new Chief, and he would probably die in battle doing it.
He didn’t like that idea, but it was the consequences of his actions. It was necessary. He had to become the legend he told everyone he was, no matter the cost.
At last, Sevdis drifted to sleep as he hoped and dreamed of Jak Raelian’s legacy being restored.
(Hey, everyone! Thanks for reading this short story. This story is inspired by my book “Liar’s Legacy,” which is available on Kindle Vella. If you liked this, feel free to check it out. I just wanted to give you guys a quick update on the current projects I’m working on. My work on my next book is temporarily stalled, but progress will resume as soon as possible. In the meantime, I will focus on a special project for you guys, so stay tuned for that announcement. Thanks for reading! Have a fantastic day.)