Three hours later, Tobin headed for the second sitting room, in dire need of a drink, and some peace and quiet. The Queen had not taken the news of Sandar’s imminent departure well and had wailed and demanded and threatened. In truth, she behaved more like a petulant toddler denied a toy than a monarch. …
The following afternoon, she presented herself at Maggie’s front door, and was handed the spindle. “Best get this out of the way before the horde arrive. You can do your carding while you’re weaving tales.” She’d lost the knack in the short time she’d been away. It took several false starts before she managed to …
It wasn’t so much a book as a tome. Sitting smugly on a carved wooden stand that, even with a pedestal thicker around than Gregor’s thigh, seemed to stagger under the weight of the paper, ink, and ornamented leather surmounting it. Jin looked it over, arms crossed, attitude unimpressed. “That’s what he sent us to …
Crown Prince Tobin watched his siblings file into the audience room from his not-quite-a-throne, next to his father’s actual throne. They looked variously scared (Sandar), angry (Melenique), cynically amused (Jaspar), and bored (Ysabel). Julianna was already in tears, not a good example to set as the eldest, but she’d never had much steel in her. …
Eleanor placed a tentative hand on the cover of the book. “Are these your recipes?” Sarah nodded. “I don’t let on to many that I can read and write. Some in this village made life hard enough that I came from Away, let alone had education. Well, you know a little about that. ‘Twas worse …
Elsie continued to squawk, and Betula, seeing the maid caged, began wailing. The noise was ridiculous in such a small space and managed to overturn even Captain Kergan's determined calm. "QUIET." Charlotte’s two tedious companions turned shocked gazes on the captain but at least they were silent, for the moment. Of course he took that …
They knocked and found Samuel did indeed have time to spare, and more, was delighted to meet the village’s new storyteller. “The younglings were full to bursting with your stories of the last couple of days. And my Tilly, o’course, she’s been parading about the place with her new town braids like the fanciest little …
Charlotte slipped between an oak and a large holly bush and started down the winding track. She kept catching glimpses of something interesting at the other end, not far away, just a few minutes. The question was, which would come first, her intriguing destination, or Elsie’s screeching fit when she realised Charlotte wasn’t where she …
Eleanor set her shoulders. She could do this, she was good at learning, very good, much better than some smug village girl who was only here to try and beat her, if Eleanor left, Maggie would probably lose two helpers, not just one. Maggie’s eyes looked through her again, but all she said was. “And …
The carriage had been built to impress pedestrians on the close-cobbled city streets of Stormhaven, and while it had rolled along well enough on the smooth, flat highway between there and Market Middling, it was a heavy pull indeed on the uneven, upward-sloping road towards Snowreach. They’d been plodding along the road since just after …
The DNA of Stories 