Instead of continuing with Another Man’s Storm’s work in progress I am going to offer you a short story in the next few Friday Fantasies.
This month I’m offering a short story from my collection Tales of Wonder. The story complements the Sword of Cho Nisi series that I’m in the midst of releasing special editions to on Kickstarter but you can also find the eBooks and paperbacks on Amazon. Tales of Wonder is exclusive to Kickstarter and my website.
Time and Again
A short story about King Tobias as a young king and father in three parts. Can be read before Rise of the Tobian Princess
Part 1
Tobias chuckled and scratched his beard after he jumped aside, avoiding his seven-year-old son’s wooden sword. Young Barin had thrown his entire body into the thrust and landed face first in the dirt. Before Tobias could offer words of encouragement or give him a hand, the boy sprung to his feet and bounced back, knocking his club into his father’s shins.
“Whoa there, son,” he laughed.
“You’re down. I got you!” Barin cried out, spitting a dirt clump out of his mouth and wiping the gravel off his cheeks. “A man can’t stand with broken kneecaps!”
“That you did!” Tobias knew better than to ruffle the boy’s locks lest he take offence. “Since you’ve got me down, let’s call it a day. Enough sparring. The sun is near its zenith and we promised your sisters we’d have lunch with them.”
“Another hour?” Barin asked.
“No,” Tobias answered, dusting his clothes with a sweep of his hands, and wiping his receding hairline with a kerchief. “Sylvia’s going to want to wash you up before we dine, and I have words to speak with your mother.”
“You should have at least fallen, Vasil, as an honorable knight!”
“Perhaps as a knight, but as a king I’m required to remain standing.” He gave his son a broad smile. The boy’s lips parted in a grin. He laughed and bowed. Tobias tucked his kerchief in his doublet pocket, returned the bow, took his son’s hand, and the two walked through the grass toward the castle.
What a refreshing spring day, he thought as Barin broke away across the meadow, jumped the creek, and bounced ahead to greet his mother. Diantha and the four-year-old twins, Rhea and Olinda, had come to the rose garden to meet them. Nestled in among the yellow and white blooms, his wife’s contour sent a tingle up his spine. How fortunate he’d been these last ten years to have such a beautiful family, and now yet another child on his way—at least he hoped for another boy. A younger son would enrich his family, give Barin a brother to mentor, and make the Tobian kingdom’s legacy complete. The eldest son a warrior, the youngest a scholar.
Tobias was approaching fifty, yet he hadn’t lost his strength or his energy and considered himself in his prime. After marrying a woman fourteen years younger—a striking red-haired beauty from the horse country of Kolada, he considered himself the luckiest man in the world. Their wedding eleven years ago delighted the whole of Prasa Potama, and the people still celebrated their anniversary with feasts and parades at the port of entry. Her parents had named Diantha well, Flower of the Gods. So perfect was she in her grace and beauty that Tobias once thought to hire an artist to create a statue of her likeness to stand in the halls of the castle with the other marble deities. Diantha refused, and the subject caused friction between the two. Tobias never mentioned it again.
Look at her! He thought even now as he drew closer to the piazza. She is the most beautiful creature on earth. How could she not be immortalized?
She greeted him with open arms, and he kissed her, gently placing a hand on her belly.
“The baby will be here soon,” Diantha said. “I can feel it move into place.”
Tobias frowned, concerned.
“How soon?”
“Maybe tonight, maybe in the morning,”
He wasn’t expecting the birthing for another two weeks. He had summoned accoucheuses from Norbury, a port town similar to Prasa Potama, yet its major trade was education, housing the Academe of Potama, as well as its most notable temples. Physicians and midwives studied there, and when Tobias asked for the best, they promised him only the most educated. Travel from Norbury would take three days there and back. Should he send a runner tonight, they wouldn’t return in time if Diantha went into labor so soon.
“That wasn’t the plan,” he argued. “Can’t you wait, I mean—”
She laughed at him, and her fingers on his cheek gave him chills. Even after ten years, her touch excited him. How many more children would they make? Perhaps the world would know the Tobian kingdom for its countless offspring!
“Tobias, when the baby wants to see us, there will be no delaying his arrival.”
“I will send someone immediately. They’ll take my fastest horse!” He scooped up his twin daughters and carried them to the castle, kissing each one on their cheeks. Their silky blond curls bounced on their shoulders as they wrapped their arms around his neck. “We must make plans for your baby brother!” he whispered to them as he hurried inside and flagged the valet that stood by the door. “I need a rider to Norbury on the fastest steed we have.”
The man saluted. Every servant on staff knew the routine, this being Diantha’s fourth child. They were also aware of the danger, as she had almost died giving birth to the twins.
“Vasil,” Sylvia, his wife’s personal servant, stood by the door with Barin, curtsied, and took Rhea from his arms. “I know of a midwife in Prasa Potama. She’s not as highly educated, but she’s delivered many babies should we have need.”
“Yes. Yes, you have my permission to send for her. Send for as many midwives as you can! Bring them all!”
The petite dark-haired maid smiled and nodded, and when Tobias set Olinda on the floor next to them, the maid exited the hall with the children.
The sound of marching footsteps interrupted them. A group of soldiers swung through the doors and approached, stealing his attention. The odor of horse and dust violated the fragrance of the garden with their entry. Their faces expressed weariness and concern, as if they had traveled a long distance to find him. A wind of urgency preceded them, and Tobias turned sharply to meet them.
“What is this?” he asked, his voice rougher than he had meant it to be. Diantha took his hand. She wore a kind smile but winced once and held her belly. When he drew in an anxious breath and looked at her, she merely shook her head and smiled again. It wasn’t time, not yet.
“Why the interruption?” he asked the soldiers.
“Vasil, a moment of your time? There are people at the northeastern gate asking for entry.”
Coming next year is book 4 of the Cho Nisi series.
Darkness Holds the Son.
The pre-launch page is up! Please follow to get word of the launch.
The book will have the same beautiful leather, gold stamp binding and textured, gold foil dust jacket. Pictures of the leather hardcover on the way once my cover artist is finished.
In a small village named Tuluva, Jareth, an unemployed mercenary, and his wife and two children are raising goats to sustain themselves. Things go well for them until the land-baron of Ogress raises their taxes, forcing Jareth to pick up his crossbow and return to the battlefield.
Jareth has an even more pressing problem than keeping his family out of debtor's prison. His son Crispin has seizures that are caused by magic and if Jareth doesn't find the source soon, it could be fatal as the boy hears voices instructing him to kill his parents.
In his search for work, Jareth is late for every war that rages and is soon accused of being an enemy to the crown. With his arrest he learns his son has disappeared. He bequeaths King Barin to help him.
Taking pity on the man, and seeing his nephew developing the same symptoms, King Barin consents. Their search takes them through a portal and into a chasm known as the Neverworld. Here enchantments and sorcery give birth to an unfathomable evil, and their children are the instruments of its ploy.
