It hurt no matter which way she turned. She sighed; Karadi snored beside her. She thought she’d be used to it by now. After all, this would be her eleventh child. According to the other Lajita, her last child. One every year or two, and as much as she loved them all, she still hated […]
It had been two years since they’d entered into a pact with Ukos, now Lord of Astarma and effective commander of the combined fleets of Shiroora Shan and Astarma. Piracy was almost unheard of in the western arm of the Night Ocean, and trade was flourishing through all three key routes: Shiroora Shan, which controlled […]
She was beginning to show a few grey hairs here and there, he thought to himself. After Arun was born, two years ago, she really looked her age. Thirty-three isn’t very old compared to some people—I’m forty-one, after all—but she’s got a pretty heavy load to pull here while I’m off running around Eudoxia or […]
“Mama! Dhruv and Varun won’t let me play!” She looked up from her writing desk, bamboo pen in hand, where she had been writing down more of the prophecies, along with her own comments and observations. She’d tried bird quills, but over the years had come to prefer the feel of bamboo on paper, even […]
Lajita listened to the birdsong for a moment before she opened her eyes, luxuriating in the gentle melody, the sighing of the pre-dawn breeze in the trees, the coolth of the linen. And the quiet breathing of her Karadi next to her on the bed. She rolled over to look at Karadi’s bearded face, handsome […]
I was born here, and yet I was not. I know the streets of Shiroora Shan, the aromas and alleys of the Market, the sandalwood groves of Mount Krilara, the hidden passageways and chambers of the Great House of Chabra… I know them all, and yet they are not. I know my name, Lajita, and […]
Tonight was the summer solstice. And the summer solstice was the day of the Festival of the Horned God, one of the most important days for House Penia, which relied almost entirely on farming for its livelihood. They grew wheat, barley, corn and several other grains, a range of vegetables and fruit—especially grapes—and livestock including […]
– 1 – Donn slumped back on the bed and watched the Trooper’s Friend suck his blood. It pulsated slowly, rhythmic bulges flowing down its mottled red-and-brown body from head to tail. It didn’t really have a head or a tail, just a slug-like body with a mouth at one end. Empty it was the […]
Noor sat with the twins and three-year-old Donnal, waving goodbye, until Shurala was out of sight on the road down to the village. He was off to Dylath-Leen with a group of villagers to sell the year’s wool, along with a few lambs that had been born a bit early and were now big enough. […]
It was good to see House Penia again after all this time. He stopped to savor the view. The road from Dylath-Leen turned downhill from here, through scattered groves and fields and houses to the river, branching off here and there, before reaching the village proper. The waterwheel was turning, driving the millstones and the […]