On my Radar—Work: Very exciting now. We’re doing final proofs of the ebook for Thief’s War, and I should get final proofs for the paperback tomorrow. Deb says we’re going to make that Friday deadline, but it’s going to be nip and tuck to do it! On a more relaxed note, I’m now on Chapter 5 of untitled book six—and here’s...OK, not a snippet. A longish passage? It’s getting hard at this point to find bits that don’t give away major plot points from Thief’s War and Scholar’s Plot: “Good morning,” the Captain of Halverham’s troop said courteously as we rode up. “May I ask on what business the High Liege wishes to send armed men into Halverham?” Captain Varner stopped his horse about twenty feet short of the other troop, a distance that make unfortunately mistakes a bit less likely. For a number of reasons that made excellent sense when the laws were written, one noble’s soldiers can’t pass into another noble’s fief without the landholder’s permission. Not even the High Liege’s men. Particularly the High Liege’s men. Crown City is the largest fief in the Realm, and ‘twas not because his neighbors gave up all their lands out of loyalty and love. “We come on the personal business of the High Liege himself,” said Captain Varner. And ‘tis no business of yours, his tone added. “Will Lord Halverham grant his Liege Lord’s troops passage over his land?” ‘Twas the proper, formal request, properly framed. The response wasn’t so proper. “No,” said Halverham’s captain. “He won’t.” The men around us didn’t move a muscle, but the sudden tension that infused their bodies was so intense they might as well have drawn their swords. The men on the other side of the invisible border didn’t moving either, but even from the back of the troop, where our horses stood, they seemed to strain forward while still in place, like a guard dog held back only by his master’s command. “Come on,” Fisk murmured to Kathy. “Let’s get back a bit, shall we?” “Do you really think they’re going to fight?” My sister looked startled. “High Liege troops and one of his nobles, right here in public—he’d come down on Halverham with both boots!” “They probably won’t.” Fisk took her horses reins, and pulled her off the road. “But do you know the difference between a guardsman and a bandit? A bandit might kill you for your money. If he gets the order, a guardsman will kill you for free.”
Posted on: Tue, 04 Mar 2014 23:34:06 +0000