Taming Qilleena
Taming Qilleena is the fourth book in my Guardian Chronicles series. It is a sci fi – detective novel set in a different galaxy where most of the sentient species are aware of each other. The main characters of the series are a group of four Guardians from the planet Gaeiza. Taming Qilleena is based on the Prime Planet, Gaeiza, of the Seven Systems.
Ekym’s father, Kurok Yetok is a wealthy merchant and has made his fortune selling goods all over the galaxy. As he got older he travelled less and moved towards an online merchandising business. He wanted Ekym to take over the business, but he refused. His younger brother Otharin wants to run the business, but Kurok insists he isn’t capable which causes family friction.
Qilleena is the younger sister of Ekym Yetok, the green guardian commander, and is used to getting her own way. When they were younger, Qilleena caused Ekym a lot of trouble by breaking his toys, interfering with his games, and telling tales to their father when he was spending time with girls. To get away from both his father and Qilleena, Ekym joined the guardians. When she can’t get her own way Qilleena absconds from the family home until her father tells her she can have or do whatever she wants.
The story starts with Ekym being woken by a call from his mother. Qilleena has once again runaway and they are worried about her. Ekym is unimpressed and tells her to go to bed and he will meet her in the morning. The next day his duties as a guardian keep him busy all day but he manages to put out a picture of Qilleena asking if she has been seen. When he meets his parents at their hotel his father accuses him of deliberately ignoring the family crisis. Ekym’s reply is that she is doing her usual thing of running when she can’t get her own way, but he tells them he will look into her disappearance and then leaves.
When he returns to his apartment that evening, he’s told by the receptionist that someone is waiting for him. When Qilleena turns up at his door, he is mildly surprised. She tells him she’d been sleeping rough for days and that she’s had no food. He knows this to be a lie as there are night wardens who walk through the city looking for such people and she hadn’t been reported. She also tells him she has no credit as their father has stopped her cards, then she sneakily steals one of Ekym’s cards. Having found her in his bedroom he is suspicious. Finding his card missing he goes to her and demands it back. She denies having it until he tells her she will be arrested the moment she uses it as it has a guardian symbol on it. He says he will help her but won’t let her stay at his apartment because their parents might arrive there.
He contacts his friend, Nommys Yvil, a grey guardian commander and asks him to have her at his place for a week or two, warning him not to trust her. When Nommys agrees, Ekym meets his parents once more trying to find out what triggered the latest run away. Kurok says it was about her boyfriend. A man called Yarnad Parnel. Ekym doesn’t know the name until Kurok tells him Parnel’s mother was a member of the Melar family. The Melar’s are the biggest crime family in the Prime system and based on Gaeiza. Telling his parents to return home, he assures them he will investigate Qilleena’s connection to Parnel.
Ekym warns Nommys about Parnel and they both tell Qilleena she can only stay with Nommys if she doesn’t contact her boyfriend. She argues but eventually agrees not to see him. Despite that, she intends to contact him the moment she gets a chance. In the meantime, both Ekym and Nommys are investigating what Parnel has been up to since coming to Gaeiza.
From this time on Qilleena’s interaction with Parnel is minimal but becomes increasingly dangerous. After an argument with him, she returns home to her parents and takes up a course in the university. While on a field trip she disappears. Both Nommys and Ekym fear she has been kidnapped by Parnel and is in danger from his uncontrolled temper. A full scale guardian investigation starts to find both Qilleena and Parnel, with both Ekym and Nommys fearing they might not be in time to save her.
ISBN: 9781835972465
Type: Paperback
Pages: 260
Published: 2 October 2024
Price: $12.95
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