Posts

Start Reading Here!

Chapter 1: The Proposal

-
Image
“Explain to me again why you’re marrying him?” I said. “He’s a total creep and raging misogynist to boot.”  I stared at Lynn with set shoulders as I waited for her response. Lynn glared at me over the laptop. I met her gaze and refused to blink. Lynn was my best friend. We had known each other since kindergarten. We shared nearly everything in common, except our taste in boys. Rain pounded on the windows of the girl’s academic dormitory, and I could actually feel the wind shifting the building. Outside, lightning spiderwebbed across the sky, and then the thunder rattled the windows. I hadn’t had time to draw a breath between lightning and thunder.  Lynn shook her head. “I’m marrying him because that’s how it is. That’s who I marry. Period. No way around it.” I picked up my wine glass and paused. Was it my wine glass? It couldn’t be Lynn’s. She was holding hers. But we were the last two girls standing tonight. Lindsay was asleep on the couch. We had held Sophie’s hair out of th...
Post a Comment
Read more

The Husband Poisoning Society, Chapter 35

-
My fingers bled as we struggled to dig Vincent out of the cave-in with our bare hands. I feared he was already dead, but I wasn’t going to leave him. And neither were the rest of us. We labored, scooping frozen earth with our hands and lifting rocks. I have no idea how long this took. It felt like hours. The only consolation was that the soldiers had also been caught in the cave-in. “I’ve found his hand.” Amy called.  We circled around Amy and helped to unearth the rest of Vincent. I prayed to the Twice Dead Gods that he was still alive. I’d have never prayed back on Earth. But I’d seen things in Ossedei. Amy joined me in prayer and the five of us continued digging.  Vincent’s head came free and he coughed up a bucket load of dirt. “Let’s not do that again.” Vincent scratched as we worked to free him.  “We must hurry.” Ada said. “Once they realize that their own men are dead, they will send pursuers from the other entrances. And we will be trapped.” “I’m not going to be r...
Post a Comment
Read more

The Husband Poisoning Society, Chapter 34

-
Fiona unstrapped her saber. She removed her bandoliers of flintlock pistols. One by one she set her throwing knives and daggers on a nearby table. Then she hefted the pile of weapons and dropped them into a bed box. I noticed that she had retained her concealed garrote and hidden clasp dagger. “I do not wish to give them a reason to kill me.” She said.  “We aren’t leaving you.” I said.  “Somebody must find a way to clear our name and save Leon. We cannot all escape.” “Yes, we can. Let’s go.” “They will be loath to kill a countess, especially if I am surrendering. We do not have time to discuss this. Go.” Vincent grabbed Amy and I and pulled us back to the opening of the tunnel. “If she has a plan, we have to trust her. Let’s go.” I gritted my teeth. I was in no position to stop Fiona. I was too weak from my vision. And even if I weren’t, I couldn’t stop Fiona if she didn’t want to be stopped. I looked at Amy. She was crying. I felt a tear start to roll down my own cheek. ...
Post a Comment
Read more

The Husband Poisoning Society, Chapter 33

-
The longhouse had no windows. I didn’t know how many troops stood outside the barred door. But I suspected that it was more than even Fiona could take in a fight. The fire in the center of the longhouse crackled behind me. The flames cast twisting shadows on the wall of the longhouse.  The residents of the longhouse whispered behind me.  “They wouldn’t burn the longhouse, would they?” “Of course not. There are women here.” “They might. This is becoming a fiasco that they want under control.” “I am the Duke’s battle-brother. They would never do such a thing.” That last voice I recognized as Sven. Turning to face him, I shook my head. “You think that you’re that important? Duke Xander is trying to prevent a war that would tear across the whole of the Boro Sea. You’re trying to start the war that he’s trying to prevent. You think he cares that you’re battle-brother with a dead man? You’re a problem that he has to deal with now. If he burns down the longhouse, he solves two proble...
Post a Comment
Read more

The Last Paladin Episode 6: The Prodigal Daughter

-
Act 1 Esther Rey swung her no-dachi in a sweeping arc. Her attack drove the enemy knights back behind their shields. Esther looked about her. Her bodyguards stood beside her. The house staff huddled behind Esther and the bodyguards.  “Surrender yourself princess, and we will spare your people.” An obsidian knight at the front addressed Esther. Esther noted the captain’s red plume on his helmet.  She shook her head. “I make no concessions to the shadow. You can have my corpse if you fight hard enough. I will give you nothing else.” Esther looked left and right, and then addressed her bodyguards. “To the death. Give them nothing to take home to their Darklord.”  Her bodyguards nodded, and they held firm. The obsidian knights outnumbered them five to one. And none of Esther’s guards were holy knights. Instead, she stood beside simple warriors. Well trained, yes, but her guards could not summon the magic that the Obsidian Knights could wield. Esther cursed inwardly, but said ...
Post a Comment
Read more