Work on DRAGONTIARNA: KNIGHTS is going well, so we have two short excerpts from the book today.<\/p>\n
In first, Ridmark Arban’s two-year-old daughter is learning how to speak.<\/p>\n
In the second excerpt, (which takes place about twenty years before the first) Aeliana Carhaine speaks to her father.<\/p>\n
EXCERPT ONE:<\/p>\n
He led the way into the castra\u2019s courtyard, Kharlacht and Caius following him. Vegetius and three men-at-arms waited near the gate to the forum, holding horses ready. Ridmark started towards them, intending to have Vegetius get two more horses for Caius and Kharlacht.<\/p>\n
\u201cPapa!\u201d<\/p>\n
Startled, Ridmark turned and saw Rhoanna running towards him, a smile on her face. For someone who had only learned to walk not all that long ago and still tended to waddle, she could move fast when she set her mind to it. Her nurse Lucilla, a stout woman towards the later end of middle age, jogged after her, puffing and wheezing a little bit.<\/p>\n
Ridmark picked up Rhoanna, and she laughed in delight.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m sorry, my lord, I\u2019m sorry,\u201d said Lucilla, coming to a stop, still wheezing. Lucilla had raised three daughters of her own, all of them now married, but evidently, none of them had liked to run quite as much as Rhoanna. \u201cShe was so restless and crabby, so I took her out to the courtyard for a walk. She seemed to like that and was watching all the folk go out to the market. Then she saw you, and\u2026\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s all right,\u201d said Ridmark. The poor woman all but wilted with relief. Ridmark\u2019s fearsome reputation sometimes meant people were more frightened of him than necessary. \u201cNo harm done. But let\u2019s not mention this to her mother, hmm?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThank you, my lord,\u201d said Lucilla, getting her breath back.<\/p>\n
\u201cWell, young lady,\u201d said Caius, his voice grave. \u201cIt seems you like to run quite fast.\u201d<\/p>\n
Rhoanna gazed at him. \u201cFriar!\u201d She looked around, as if expecting Joachim to spell out the word, and then pouted in disappointment when he failed to appear.<\/p>\n
\u201cBishop, actually,\u201d said Kharlacht.<\/p>\n
Rhoanna tilted back her head to look at him. \u201cOrc!\u201d<\/p>\n
Kharlacht snorted in amusement. \u201cI\u2019d noticed, yes.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI can take her, my lord, if you have business,\u201d said Lucilla.<\/p>\n
\u201cI do,\u201d said Ridmark. Hesitation gripped him. He did have business, but he wasn\u2019t looking forward to any of it. The temptation to simply ignore everything and spend the day with his wife and children surged through him. But, as Calliande had just told him, duties never ended. \u201cThank you. We\u2026\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cDragon,\u201d said Rhoanna, pointing at the keep.<\/p>\n
\u201cDragon?\u201d said Ridmark, looking at the sky as she shifted Rhoanna to one arm, his other hand reaching for Oathshield\u2019s hilt. He remembered the Confessor\u2019s mighty golden dragon soaring over the army of Owyllain, breathing its terrible fire, hundreds of men screaming as their flesh ignited like kindling. God and the saints, the smell had been hideous\u2026<\/p>\n
The sky was empty of everything except clouds.<\/p>\n
At once, Ridmark felt ridiculous. He was jumping out of his skin at the word of a two-year-old girl who tended to babble words at random without regard to their meaning. Nevertheless, he still took a quick scan of the sky and the town.<\/p>\n
Nothing seemed amiss. There was no sign of anything wrong, let alone any dragons.<\/p>\n
EXCERPT TWO:<\/p>\n
\u201cTake her outside, Sir Paul,\u201d said Tarrabus. \u201cHer presence offends me.\u201d<\/p>\n
Sir Paul dragged her mother out of the room, ignoring the woman\u2019s wails. Aeliana stood where she was, uncertain of what to do, but disgusted with her mother\u2019s pleading. Tarrabus remained where he was, his eyes distant, his expression lost in thought.<\/p>\n
\u201cMy lord,\u201d said the dark-haired knight. \u201cWhat should we do with the child?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cHmm?\u201d said Tarrabus. \u201cAh, yes, of course.\u201d His cold eyes fixed on Aeliana, and he smiled. \u201cWell, girl, what\u2019s your name?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cAeliana,\u201d she said, and then added, \u201cmy lord.\u201d<\/p>\n
Tarrabus snorted. \u201cBrighter than her mother, isn\u2019t she, Sir Claudius?\u201d Sir Claudius grunted. \u201cBut what shall we do with you, Aeliana?\u201d<\/p>\n
Aeliana thought it over. She was frightened and awed by the man in the chair, and she didn\u2019t want to show any fear to him.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou should kill me,\u201d said Aeliana.<\/p>\n
Sir Claudius looked taken aback, perhaps even disturbed.<\/p>\n
\u201cShould I?\u201d said Tarrabus. \u201cJust why is that?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cBecause if you hurt me and leave me alive,\u201d said Aeliana, glowering at her father, \u201cthen someday I will have revenge and kill you.\u201d<\/p>\n
Sir Claudius looked even more disturbed, and his hand moved to his sword hilt.<\/p>\n
But Tarrabus threw back his head and roared with laughter, and Aeliana felt a flush of pride. Suddenly she realized that she craved this man\u2019s approval, more than she had ever desired the approval of her weak and simpering mother.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou are a fierce little thing, aren\u2019t you?\u201d said Tarrabus. \u201cI might have a use for you after all. Great days are coming, and I need helpers.\u201d He smiled. \u201cYou want to please me, don\u2019t you, Aeliana?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYes, my lord,\u201d said Aeliana.<\/p>\n
\u201cPerhaps you have more of me in you than your mother,\u201d said Tarrabus. \u201cI hope so, for your sake. The world is most unforgiving of weakness.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cBegging your pardon, my lord,\u201d said Sir Claudius, \u201cbut what are you going to do with her?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019ve needed closer ties with the Red Family of Cintarra for quite some time now,\u201d said Tarrabus. \u201cWhat better way than by providing the Matriarch with a new disciple? Perhaps I have found a perfect candidate for the training of the Red Family.\u201d<\/p>\n
Sir Claudius grunted. \u201cAh. She might not be so fierce in front of the Matriarch.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019ll see, won\u2019t we?\u201d said Tarrabus.<\/p>\n
-JM<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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