Sneak Peek - Up coming novels

Here is some sneak peeks of some upcoming books. The first is from the Anthology I am editing.

Well said, O, Toothless One

A rustle in the underbrush revealed the presence of the dragon. His dragon form made moving through the trees a slalom event. Flashes of red amongst the blue-green of the summer forest. Darien’s heart wiggled like a mouse stuck under one of Jellybean’s paws. He hoped, unlike the mouse he didn’t do something fatal in his panic.

The dragon settled into the clearing below the cage. His tail flicking around to curl around his front paws. The dragon’s scales glittered with a rich wine red. A colour that hadn’t been seen in a very long time. Everyone thought the red dragons were extinct. Humans had gone to a concerted effort to eliminate the red dragons when they had tried to take control of Rosha. That drunken Kozak had been right, there really was a dragon hiding out in the wilds.

Kingdom of Ash and Soot

Ella with Karl (villain):

The world swam before me, and I began to withdraw into myself.

I did not know if I could bear it if he was. It seemed more likely that I was dead, and this was a preamble to hell.

“Eleanora?” Karl’s voice called me again, and I had to shake my head.

“I don’t know what to say,” I finally managed. My voice was raspy and weak, and I felt my eyes start to water. “But I do believe I need to tend to a call of nature. Excuse me while I go to the ladies’ withdrawing room.”

“Ella, come back here. This is our moment, for Bohemia. I have the resolution for the Emperor to give us back our throne, since he will not bother to be crowned here. This is important.” Karl reached out and snared my wrist, tugging me back toward him. Immediately, I shoved my palm forward, slamming it into his nose.

My training had taken over before I realized it.

“Ow!” He wiped his nose, which had a small smattering of blood on it. I had hit him too hard, I realized. Fortunately, it was only a little, and he was able to clean a large amount of it off without others’ notice.

“I’m very sorry, sir,” I muttered, ducking around him. “I must excuse myself.”

“If you leave me now and make me look like a fool,” Karl hissed, “you will regret it.”

His angry tone stalled me for only a second, but the viciousness in his voice was not enough to overcome my sadness. If I had been thinking more clearly, I might have realized that Karl’s mask had slipped again, and his lies were beginning to fall away. He was worried about his appearance, he was worried about his reputation. He was worried about what the other aristocrats would think of him; he was worried about falling out of their good political graces.

He was not worried about me, or my distress.

Karl said he wanted Bohemia’s freedom, but he really meant he wanted power. He wanted his throne back. This was just all part of his plan—me included. What better queen to rule beside him than the daughter of a man who saved the last king during a revolution?

But I was too upset and too distracted to care.

I walked out of the ballroom, brushing past Karl’s friends and hurrying down the large set of stairs in front of the museum. The winter breeze was mellow but sure as I made my way down the streets.

There was no clear task in my mind, no clear place to go.

But I kept walking.