Dragonlands: Heart of a Dragon 1.44The sun dawned on Kendal's last day.He knew it nowwhen the guard opened the door that morning to give him his water and bread, he saw the unmistakable shape of a gallows. While most criminals in his land were given the chance to die honorably in single combat, once in a while there were those deemed so awful they were hanged, in mandragora form, to show their shame.I'm going to die, Kendal told himself again. The concept didn't become any more real to him, no matter how many times he said it to himself. He was leaning against the wall in more-or-less the same position the healer-woman had left him in. His wrist wasn't broken, tha
Dragonlands: Heart of a Dragon 1.3The sun dawned on the second of Kendal's last three days.Ilsa Peteri was the healerthat was the default occupation for a woman who was orphaned, having no mother to teach her the skills of the farmwife, nor a father to support her and marry her off, nor land to call her own. She lived alone outside the town in a three-room cottage in the Healer's Copse, subsisting on her own supplies and gifts from grateful mothers and wives.Ilsa had inherited no land from her father and therefore had no lasting status; she was only tolerated in the community because she was a damn fine healer and midwife, and more than once had saved someone's live
Dragonlands: Heart of a Dragon 1.22The sun dawned on the first of Kendal's last three days.The door opened, and he blinked against the morning light that seared his eyes after the oppressive darkness of his prison. He took as deep a breath as his broken ribs allowed, tasting the fresh air.A boot came into his line of visionhe stared at it. The boot nudged him and he flinched away with a whimper, remembering the boots that broke bones. Raucous laughter ensued, and Kendal realized he was being mocked. Forcing himself onto his kneeshis right leg was snapped like a reed by the spring at home, so he couldn't standhe stared at the three men who had invaded h
Dragonlands: Heart of a Dragon 1.1Part One: Captured Prince1It was a great victory for the Valleymen of Orchard Hill, the Midsummer Battle. The attacking force had come screaming down the Orchard Pass, and engaged the defenders immediately, ripping and tearing with monstrous teeth and claws, like raging animals. But the weary survivors of that battle, and all the ones before, knew the truth; that these attackers were far from unthinking animals.They were demons.XXThe war had been going on since Lady-Rain-knew-when, a series of skirmishes, some decisive battles, but always one had retreated before the other could enter their land.Not today. This time, the men of St
A Single Word This is not a tale of brave knights and fierce dragons. This is not a story of love or adventure. This is the story of a single word. One word, that changed many lives. It began like this. Fiona sat at her desk, staring out the frosted window at the falling snow. This was the first winter that Mother would not share. A tear threatened at the corner of her eye; she wiped it into oblivion, scrawling a single word on a piece of looseleaf paper. Hope. Fiona smiled, taking heart from the good memories, not the sad. She gathered up her homework, unwittingly taking the word with her. She took the word to school with her the next day. It
Working TitlePrologue: Ordinary Time "What are you doing, Vincent?" he asked himself. "What makes you think you will be any more successful here than anywhere in France?" Thin, strong fingers flexed on the wooden rail of the ship and sea-spray dampened his face and hair. He didn't know if he was supposed to be here on deck, but none of the English sailors appeared to pay him any mind. Perhaps they felt if anyone was fool enough to emigrate from France to England, he deserved to catch a cold or worse, pneumonia. ...That was a thought. He turned from the rolling waters of the English Channel and headed back belowdecks, to his cramped bunk in third-class.