Epistles and Misadventures

...she heard the unmistakable sound of a falcon’s cry in the distance. Dropping her work, she leapt to her feet and followed the continuing cry. The closer she got to the sound, the clearer it was, and soon she could hear wings fluttering as out of panic. Needing to go no further, she stopped when Anthem immerged, walking toward her with Elsu’s legs between his jaws...

Ilara's third chapter is posted! Come and read!

<3Libby

Outcast

Chapter Four

Wren

My hand hovered above my dagger, but I hesitated. Angry shouts filled the woods carried on the wind from farther up the trail. I reached for my sword instead. It slipped free of its sheath as a bedraggled figure stumbled into view.

Her steps were hurried, but random. Wavering with each footfall, she looked about to collapse. “Help me.” Crumpling onto her hands and knees, she crawled forward breathing heavily. Each labored gasp contorted her bony shoulders. Lifting a haunted face with dark-rimed eyes, she looked up at me, gasping. “They will kill me.” She drew a shallow breath that shook her whole being. “I cannot run anymore.”

Chapter Four by Rachel Rossano is posted on Wren's blog. Come, read, comment.

More trouble

Creak! There it was again, and it sounded like it was coming from the shop below.
Trying to not make a sound, Daelia slid from the bed. From a peg on the wall she took down her bow and pulled an arrow out of the quiver, putting it in place against the bow. Her body moved silently, gliding down the steps in the way she had trained herself to move through the forest. Many times she had wondered into the blackness of the forest with less fear than gripped her heart at this moment. You shouldn’t go down there! She argued back at herself, but someone could be here to steal Finneas’s money or the rest of the paintings…I can’t let that happen.
When Daelia’s foot went down on the third step to the bottom, the wood creaked loudly. She froze for a second, her chest pounding. A rustling was coming from the shop; she heard a footstep, then another. Slipping from the stairwell into the dark shop, she drew back the bowstring tightly.

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Chapter 4 of Daelia is up! Please comment!

Confused Emotions

As Trouble settles in for the winter, Aquila struggles with her feelings for this stranger.

Chapter 8 is up!!

On the Move Again

“Why An Toan?” Her question was subdued and tentative, and Arnan hated the sound of it. She was afraid of him.

“The boy has family there.” He knew his gruff answer did not help, but he had little else to say. Arnan wasn’t even certain if Pepper really had family left there, he only knew what small bits Little Mother had told him about Pepper’s parents moving from An Toan to serve the people of Clio. “And the people of those shores will not let your Prime Minister search within their borders. They look on their land as a safe haven for any who seek help from Deus.”

“And we seek help from him?”


Chapter Five of Arnan is Up!

Comments always appreciated =)

encounter

He clenched his fist suddenly, and touched his brow with his knuckles. Badly he wanted to know freedom--choice--the power of knowledge and control. They had never known it, the children of Isaak Romany. Only when they left home and wandered in Braedoch Forest had they held the illusion of being their own. They had only to come home to remember that other forces shadowed their lives; that another power controlled them. Maeron Duard, their guardian, had watched them with a strange malice even as he raised them.

And then the banishment... and instead of becoming free, Taerith felt more bound than ever. He had not chosen to be here. He did not know what he wanted now. Something else was pushing his life, and he did not know where.

He rose and wandered in the field, letting his booted feet sink in the furrows. He strode back and forth and in circles, and it occured to him that all his pacing was nothing more than a bitter metaphor for his own life. Suddenly angry, he stopped and dropped to his knees on the soft earth. He looked up to the sky and shook his head. Empty skies... there were no answers there.

Suddenly a movement caught his eye. Something was flying in the air above, just beyond a wisp of cloud that the sun was slowly burning away.

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Chapter Six of Taerith is up! Come, read, comment.

A Secret from the Past

“Death is too good for you, jackal.” The words were spoken with a deadly precision, and Arnan absently noted that her voice would have had a soft, lilting quality to it had it not been so infused with venom. He knew better then to speak, she was already pressing the blade harshly against his throat and he could feel the first trickle of blood run from the sword. Anytime now, Deus, anytime. The thought surprised him. Arnan wasn’t one to place his hope in a distant, hateful, being. He slowly studied his opponent’s eyes in a hope to find some sign of weakness, but all he saw was concentrated hatred. Why? It was a question even more perplexing then how she had tracked him. He stared for a few more moments before deliberately blinking his eyes. As his eyelids closed a terrible image rose before his mind’s eye and a sickening horror filled him. He knew her.

“Meridel?” His question was tentative. A flicker of hate ran through her eyes at his recognition.


For more of Arnan's fourth chapter Click Here

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Chapter 4 ~ Joining won't help

Man, can he get in any more trouble?? Um, yeah. Aiden is at it again!

***

“I am Captain Ricald of Elangsa,” he said sitting on his chair in a manner that made him act more like the king of Elangsa, then its captain. He placed his finger tips together and stared at him over the tips of them. “You have impressed me.”

I wasn’t sure if I should find this a good thing or not. I didn’t trust the man and that made me leery of anything he said.

“That is not an easy thing to do. You would have killed Fastron if I had not stopped you. I think you would even have enjoyed it.”

Again, I stayed silent. He was right.

“I have jobs for such ruthless men.” His hazel eyes watched me carefully, as if he was trying to discern something I had not yet given away. But what?

“What types of jobs?” I finally asked.

A small, cruel smile finally cracked on his face. “Jobs that will need your expert fighting and your killing nature.”

A BIG shock

...I almost pity Zoe.

Almost, but not quite. :) Come check out the latest in Zoe's story, and Please, don't forget to tell me what you think! *grin*

More changes!

Chapters 6 AND 7 of Aquila have been changed so please read them and let me know how you like them!

~Haley Crenwelge

changes

Mistress Grey reached out and grabbed Mirian's injured arm suddenly, pushing her toward the door. Pain shot up from the elbow, and Mirian bit back a gasp. She clenched her teeth and allowed the woman to propel her toward another servant's passage and a long set of stairs. Mistress Grey shoved past Mirian into the lead as they ascended the stairs, up to a high tower. At last they reached the top, and Mistress Grey nodded to a room. "That is the queen's room," she said. "It is vacant at the moment. Start your duties by making it ready for her. Your quarters are below, on the landing we just passed. You will share the room with two others, who have already been serving the queen well. Clean yourself up before the queen sees you, and in all matters, girl, hold your tongue."


Mirian shot Mistress Grey a look, and said through clenched teeth, "I am holding it."


The woman drew herself up, and regarded Mirian with a look of utter contempt. She reached into a pocket and pulled out a key. "To the queen's room," she said. Mirian stretched out her open palm and Mistress Grey dropped the cold bit of iron into it. "Your duties begin now," Mistress Grey said, and took herself away down the stairs with a disdainful swish of her long skirts.

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Chapter 5 of "Taerith" by Rachel Starr Thomson has been posted! Come and read.

"The meat she was cutting was quickly becoming a shredded and torn mess. She must be angry. Now would have been a good time to complete the job.

Curiosity killed the cat, so they said. It was not something to play with in situations like this, but sometimes it took over the strongest of opponents. It would win for a little while...this time."

Chapter 7 of Aquila is up!

Fewer, longer chapters

If you visit Daelia's story and see that there are chapters missing, don't worry, they are still there :) I simply combined the 5 chapters into 3 longer ones. Also, I have made a few changes to to the second scene of Chapter 2 and the second scene of Chapter 3 if you care to take a look.
Thank you all for reading and commenting!
Rachel Brewer/Daelia

A mysterious guide

ZOE IS UP!!!!!!!! :-D

Don't forget to tell me what you think! I LOVE the feedback. *grin*

Unchapter Two of Sam, now posted at a blog near you.

Friend or Foe

After three minutes, the falcons descended around me with a flutter of wings. Elsu landed on my shoulder, Shea disappeared into the top of a nearby tree, and Gavin glided down into a hopping landing in the middle of the trail. I could feel them all watching me as I continued to hold Brone motionless and listened. The forest sounds returned, rustling and scampering. A boar passed by on the left with a grunt. Brone twitched impatiently, taking a step before I hushed him again with a hand on his neck. That was when I heard it. The silence behind was interrupted with a distant whinny. Brone’s ears perked at the sound.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Shea and Elsu took the clue from my unusual behavior and joined me silently. They perched side by side on the branch over my head. Meanwhile, Gavin settled himself in the exact center of the worn rut of brown against the green mossy forest floor and began to preen. I whistled to him, but he ignored me and continued his hygiene routine. His ruffled white feathers stood out sharply against the backdrop of rich green and earthy brown.

So much for surprise. I tightened the bow string, slipped a shaft from my quiver, and steadied myself against the trunk of the tree. The arrow was notched to the string, but I didn't have time to draw it back before a scruffy-looking black and gray stallion emerged from the trees. On its back, a roughly dressed man with a familiar face regarded Gavin with curiosity.

“And who are you?” Arthus asked.

Gavin continued to straighten his feathers. Above my head, Elsu croaked out a conversational cry and Arthus whipped his head in our direction. Before he found my face, I had the bow drawn and the arrow pointed at his chest.

Chapter Three of Wren Romany's story

Writing, etc update - from Rachel Rossano's Blog

I haven't given y'all one of these in a while.

I am happily working away on both Zez and Wren in the time cracks. Hadrian and Zez have finally been reunited. I am not quite happy with the scene, but considering that I haven't finished writing it, I shouldn't be too hard on myself. In Wren, Arthus has just watched Wren leave and he is following her to make sure that someone else isn't following her. Somehow, I don't think this is going to go over well with her when he is discovered.

In other writing news, the first order of review and selling copies of The Mercenary's Marriage are in the mail. Hurray! I shall be getting them any day now. I ordered promotional stuff, postcards to announce the release and updated business cards. I will let you all know when the release date is soon. I am thinking the middle of November. That way it will give you all plenty of time to order and receive your copy before Christmas. Just imagine it. The perfect holiday reading time, snuggled up with a cup of hot cocoa, coffee, or tea and a nice new Rachel Rossano novel to read. Okay enough of my shameless promotion. Somebody has to do it.

In other news, Thanksgiving is coming. Then closely on its heels Christmas comes calling. I have a ton to do, but I am being unusually delinquent this season. I haven't catalogued Kevin Sr.* yet to find out what shopping we have left and I haven't even contemplated digging out the Christmas cards. I think I am still in denial. Ah, reality will hit soon enough. Meanwhile, I shall ignore the monster waiting for my attention and delight myself in my writing world and getting ready for Mercenary's release.

Rachel Rossano is the author of The Crown of Anavrea and The Mercenary's Marriage. You can find more information about her and her many other works at her website or her blog. She is currently the writer of Wren Romany.


* The original Kevin appeared while we were in the apartment. He is a metal cabinet about eyebrow-high on me, white, with shelves behind a single door and an orange sticker which reads "Kevin." We bought him at a garage sale for about $5. For the years that we lived in the apartment he became our pantry, but instead of calling him the pantry, we would refer to him as Kevin and get a multitude of odd looks.

"Honey, where is the soup that I bought yesterday?"

"Oh, I put it in Kevin."

So, he joined the oddities of our household along with the three Anything-But drawers, in which you will find anything but what you are looking for. (Stolen from a Diana Wynne Jones novel. Archer's Goon, I believe.) Then one day, while tag-saleing, we found a bargain, a large two door metal cabinet with shelves inside almost three times the size of Kevin. Upon bringing it home, he was christened Kevin Sr.

Now, Kevin Sr. is the normal storage place for all of the potential gifts that we purchase throughout the year, Christmas, birthdays, etc. Every year around this time, it is my job to catalogue his contents so we know who we haven't bought for yet. It is a tedious job, but I will do most anything to avoid long crowded lines at stores. So, this is the mysterious story of who it is who lingers in the back corner of our basement behind the laundry area hording goodies that are only let out once a year.

Zoe's Questioning Eyes ~ Aiden Chapter 3

Zoe's Questioning Eyes hold so much power. Poor Aiden is about to find out just how much. Read carefully for Chapter three is up, but is again RATED for VIOLENCE and DARK THOUGHTS.

Preview:

“I have a job for you. I can pay you well. I need it done tonight.” He was looking at the floor as he talked.

I lifted my hand above the table and used the tip of the dagger I still held to slit the bag open. Coins fell out. He looked at the bag, eyes wide. I paid him little attention. It was a lot of money. More than a simpleton like this should have had on him. I glanced up at him.

He swallowed, but this time held my gaze.

“Where?” I asked finally, having made my decision to take the job.

“He’s in a house on the outskirts of the forest,” he answered with a rush of breath.

I nodded. “I’ll need a map of the house.”

He agreed eagerly. “I can get that. I know the house well.”

“Then do it,” I commanded in an even tone.

Check it out: Chapter 3

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Charissa's note:
This was hard to write because I felt so bad for both Aiden and his real victom. He is so lost right now. And this chapter will make it SO much worse. Read carefully, for much goes on in Aiden's mind that is easy to miss f you don't know him. And let me know what you think.

The right opportunity....at last

Chapter Seven of Zoe is UP!!! Come, read, comment, etc. ;)