D.D. Ward is Writing

Lynn knew where Duke Xander’s office was located and led us there. Two guards sat outside the door. And they started and drew their swords as we approached. Fiona drew her flintlocks and stared at the men. They stopped. “Gentlemen, if you could tell Duke Xander that he has guests.” Fiona said. One guard turned and bolted down a side corridor. Fiona fired, but the man had rounded a corner and the shot tore a chunk of stone from the wall instead. She dropped the flintlock and produced another pistol. She pointed both at the remaining guard.  “We are now pressed for time. I would rather not kill you. Do not give me reason to do so.” Vincent scooped up the dropped pistol and began to reload it. The guard nodded and knocked on the duke’s door. The door swung open, and Duke Xander emerged in a rush. “Who is shooting?” He yelled. Then he saw us and stopped. “You are here.” I nodded, “You have our Duke. There is going to be an attempt made on his life. It may have happened already. We aren...

Duke Xander left and once he was gone, we emerged from our hiding places. “So, this is all terrible.” Lynn said. “We are out of options.” Fiona said. Fiona’s voice always had a flat affect to it. She spoke as though she were reading numbers from a bank statement. Now though, there was a quaver to her voice. I had never heard it before. “There are always options.” I said. “We need to find them.” “If I had not acted so rashly. But I could not let them harm you.” Fiona said. “We will find a way, and -” The world began to swirl and I staggered. A vision was arriving. “Catch me.” I managed to say before the world went black. I could only hope that somebody did. I wouldn’t know until I woke, and then I could have a concussion. “Your grace. The foreign duke. Something is wrong.” The voice was male with a Hyperborean accent. “What is wrong?” That voice was Duke Xander.  “He seems sick.” A pause. “Perhaps poison. He is vomiting.” “Damn. Summon a doctor. Immediately.” “Ren? Can you hear me?”...

“What do we do?” Vincent looked at me as he spoke. “I turn myself in.” I said.  “No.” Fiona said. “They will execute you.” “But I’ll be enough. They can use me as their scapegoat. They won’t be as concerned with the rest of you if they have the She-wolf of Ys.” “Nobody here is going to let you do that, are we?” Amy asked.  They shook their heads. I sighed. “Then what do we do?” Lynn set her shoulders. “We turn me in. Nobody else is going to die for me. Hide the rings. That way Monique can’t be remarried.” “No. We aren’t doing that.” I said. “First, we aren’t abandoning you. I abandoned my mother. I won’t abandon you. Second, without a duke for clan Wulfling, Hyperborea will still declare war on Ys. And that means that you wouldn’t be enough. We’d need the ducal signet ring as well.” “What do you mean you abandoned your mother?” Fiona asked. “She abandoned you.” I flinched. I had meant my mother back on Earth. “Not from my perspective,” I deflected. “But there is no male heir l...

We listened until the hallway was quiet again. Lynn had her hands in her hair. She paced the room. “Why would he do that? Why did we let him? Why did I do this?” She said as she paced. “We’re going to save him.” I said. “We can’t. No without turning you in. And I can’t do that either.” Lynn grabbed my shoulders. “We will find a way.” Fiona said. “I can’t deal with this. This is my fault. This is all my fault. Oh god. I didn’t think this through.” “We all asked him to pretend he hadn’t seen us.” I said. “No. You don’t understand. I did this. I did all this. This is my fault.” “How in the hell is this your fault?” I asked.  Lynn stopped and then reached into her bodice. She produced a pair of gold rings. One looked like a wedding ring. The other looked like a signet ring. “Lynn.” I said. “Are those what I think they are?” Lynn nodded. “How did you get them?” I asked.  “How do you think I got them?” Lynn asked. “I don’t think I want to know.” I said. “I took them after you finish...

We clustered at the door, listening as Leon spoke with Duke Xander.  “The court will use the escape of your seer as a pretext to claim Ys is flouting our laws. From there it is a short jump to declaring war.” “It seems that everything is a short jump to war in Hyperborea.” Leon said.  “You are not wrong. You see what I am up against. My people love to go to war. And war with Ys has been a dream for many for a long time.” “Any excuse will do?” “Any excuse will do, indeed. We need something to make declaring war seem unreasonable.” “Do your people care about reasonable?” Leon asked. “Agarthans care about reasonable. And so does Hy-Brasil. And if they decide that Hyperborea has gone too far, even his majesty will worry.” “So we need to make Agartha see this as a step too far. But wouldn’t they already?” “Not after the death of Prince Wulfric. Your seer kills the crown prince, and then a duke, and then flees capture. This is provocation enough that even Agartha would have trouble ...

Leon stared at us. Then he sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose. He turned and closed the door. Then he produced a room key and locked the door. “Ren, you are caked in blood. What has happened?” “A little torture. Not all the blood is mine.” I said.  Fiona bowed. “I made a rash decision and acted to save my fiance. I apologize. I know this makes things difficult for you.” Vincent stepped forward. “She didn’t act alone.” “I was there as well.” Amy said. “So was I, your grace.” Laila said. Leon’s eyebrows rose. “You? Why would you help?” “Your wife saved me from a beating at the hands of Lord Agnar. They would not have escaped without me.” “My fiance.” Leon corrected. Vincent grinned, “She was talking with Monique and overheard us plotting.” Again Monique and Laila reddened.  Leon nodded. “Did you kill anyone?” “Half a dozen guards. Several monsters. And one feral giant.” Leon stared. “I’m sorry. Did you say a feral giant?” Fiona nodded.  Leon shook his head. “I could ...

We made our way back to the castle. We stayed in the shadows and managed to avoid the guards. I could hear the clamor of men back where we had left the carriage and the giant’s corpse. The guards must have found that mess. But it helped us slip back to the castle. The main gate was guarded. But, as before, Laila knew a secret way in. She led us through a cave at the base of the hill, and into another part of the catacombs. Twenty minutes later we were sneaking through the castle.  The castle felt empty to me. I suspected that the guards were out on the streets looking for us. We reached Lynn’s room and knocked on the door. Lynn answered and Quincy burst from under her dress and began dancing around my feet. Lynn stared at us. “Get in here before somebody sees you.”  We stepped into Lynn’s room, I grinned. “Lynn you don’t have a spare gown laying around do you? This one is kind of done.” I stopped. Monique was standing behind Lynn. “Your grace!” Laila stumbled into a curtsy. “O...