Before reading this story, I recommend reading Halo of Glory, which takes place immediately before this one. Reading it first will make things much clearer when reading this story, and since the setting is in a galaxy of my making, reading this story without reading Halo of Glory may cause some confusion.

Part One- Destruction

Chapter One- Invasion

Jeremiah 22:7- "I will send destroyers against you."

At high noon, the guards went to the princess's cell, to bring her to her execution. King Faihn was standing by, waiting to make the transmission to Hidon and give Partini one last chance to surrender or have Hidon be destroyed alongside his daughter.

The captain pressed the button and the door slid open.

The cell was empty.

Shock gave way to duty, and he spoke into the comdevice on his wrist. "Unit 3424900-AK-3945 to prison base. Waiting response."

The reply was swift in coming. "Unit AK-3945, this is base. What seems to be the problem?"

"We were issued orders to come and take the princess to her execution, correct?"

"Affirmative."

"At this time?"

"Affirmative. You have the right time."

"Then I regret to inform you that the princess is not in her cell."

**

At first the rumors that the princess had escaped were quickly quelled when people reported that they had seen her with the prince. The prince, of course, could be trusted, and perhaps they had just gone outside and the prince had lost track of time.

A thorough search of the grounds and a transmission to the prince that remained without an answer quickly killed that theory. It was further dismissed when they discovered that a shuttle had been stolen.

King Faihn was not pleased when the reports came in. The evidence pointed to only one thing: his son had helped the princess escape and had then gone with her.

**

Princess Tielle Alaissyiss Nucona Satine of Hidon settled into her co-pilot seat and relaxed. There wasn't anything to do while in light-space. "So, where are we going?"

Prince Chayden P'ashara looked up from the controls. "Surlow. Ever heard of it?"

Appalled, Tielle stared at him. "Yes, just a bit. But it was enough."

"I know it's not the best place, but-"

"Oh? That's how you put it? 'Not the best place'? It's a disgusting world of crimelords and slavers, fugitives-"

"Tielle," Chayden gently reprimanded her. "We are fugitives now. Surlow does not care about our side of the galaxy. They don't care about the war between Fareari and Hidon, and therefore we're safe there."

"Not when news of our escape is broadcast to the entire galaxy and bounty hunters start hunting for us!"

"We're not safe anywhere when that happens, Tielle. But no one will expect us to be on Surlow because we're royalty. It's not the kind of place where royalty go."

*Vast understatement*, Tielle thought darkly.

"It will only be a temporary haven, until we can figure out where we're going to go."

Ordinarily, Tielle would have immediately suggested either Ziex or Shansire to go to; both planets were staunch allies of Hidon, where she was the Crown Princess. But both were also staunch enemies of Fareari, and Chayden was one of Fareari's princes. Tielle knew that she would be warmly welcomed on Ziex or especially Shansire, but Chayden? His presence complicated matters.

Tielle sighed. In more ways than one. She was engaged to Prince Kall of Shansire. And even if she somehow managed to break off that engagement without offending Shansire, how could she convince her father that Chayden was not a deceitful Farearian?

She shook her head slightly, pushing away such troubling thoughts. Right now there were more pressing matters to deal with.

Turning in her co-pilot's chair, Tielle pressed a button to call up a 3-D map of the galaxy and started looking at planets. Which one would present her and Chayden with a safe haven?

**

"Your Majesty," King Partini of Hidon was interrupted in his office by a young page.

"Yes?"

The page was flustered and obviously nervous, swallowing and gulping. She pressed her lips together, then exhaled quickly. "King Faihn is waiting on the one open frequency to speak privately with you. He says that if you do not immediately surrender, he will invade Hidon."

Partini dismissed the page and retreated into his thoughts. So Faihn was finally going to invade, was he? After all this time, with Fareari's spaceships hanging in Hidon's atmosphere, creating a blockade.

Hidon had not suffered from the blockade. Her valleys were too fertile, her people too industrious. Hidon was a fairly independent planet, and could survive for long amounts of time without importing anything from other planets.

But although Hidon had not suffered from the blockade, it had not been comforting to know that at any moment, death and destruction could come from the sky, ruining everything that everyone on Hidon had worked so hard to create..

Partini opened his frequency and tried not to grimace as the image of Faihn filled the view-screen. "You wanted to speak to me?"

Faihn smiled menacingly. "Yes. Surrender now or be obliterated."

"Come now, you don't expect me to believe that you will destroy Hidon? I know you want it intact so that you can export all its produce and make money."

"That doesn't mean I won't destroy your palace and kill you."

Partini shrugged. "That's a chance I'd have to take." He leaned closer to the view-screen. "How is my daughter? The last time I saw her, she had just been interrogated when she fainted and could not be revived."

Faihn shrugged.

"*Is she alive?*" Partini roared, losing patience with this pompous king.

"That she is. For the moment."

"And?"

"That's all I will say."

"Is she lying in a coma? Fully recovered?"

Faihn shrugged once again.

Partini knew it was no use and switched daughters. "And Arilana?"

"Arilana?"

"The younger one."

"Ah, yes. The younger one." Faihn smirked. "Well, I regret to tell you this- "

*Yeah, I bet you do.* Partini thought skeptically.

"-but she is dead."

"WHAT!"

"I give you my word that I did not kill her. Someone who also tried to kill the Crown Princess assassinated her. We managed to prevent the Crown Princess's death but not Arilana's."

Rage seeped through Partini and he managed to grit out, "Do you know who was behind the assassination?"

Faihn coolly appraised the other king and seemed to consider the question. "I do not know."

Partini didn't believe him. He wasn't sure if he even believed that it hadn't been Faihn. "Really."

Faihn nodded. "It seems that your family is quickly dwindling, eh Partini?"

Partini didn't reply, and just scratched his neck, stung by the reminder of the deaths of four out of five of his children within the past year.

"But never mind that; will you or will you not surrender immediately and unconditionally to me?"

"I will not."

The words were spoken firmly and with such conviction behind them that they seemed to put Faihn off guard for a moment. He recovered, however, and wickedly grinned.

"Then be prepared to face the consequences."

**

Fareari attacked, suddenly and devastatingly. The few Hidonian vessels that stood in the Farearian fleet's way were quickly destroyed as billions helplessly watched oppression come from their skies.

The palace, and all who were in it, were conquered within an hour of the start of the attack.

An hour later, Shansire's fleet arrived, too late to help.