We went to lunch with my sister today, she is in from Houston. Harris came with her and we had fun talking about the book. Since he is one of the main characters I wanted to tell him a little bit about who he was going to be. He ate it up! I’m glad that he was so enthusiastic. His character really is cool.

The food was great as well, we went to a steak house and I got a 9oz filet. Mmmmm. Now there are three more kids, and their parents, that hopefully will approve as well!

Well, after months of editing I get to finally take a break. If only for a few days. I finished my third draft this afternoon of my YA (Young Adult) novel! Now my wife gets to edit it for grammar, hopefully I’ll have a picture of the whole thing tomorrow. I put one up yesterday with it at 146 pages. Now it is 199 and FINISHED!!

HUZZAH!

Well I had my first goodbye to school kids today. Even though I only got to know them for a month or so, it was still kind of hard to do. I can’t begin to imagine after an entire school year. That is going to be a hard part of teaching I think. That is what you do though, every year try to help as many kids as you can. Then they are off on the roller coaster of life to figure it out for themselves, hopefully with some more good guidance along the way.

I liked working at Crowley High School. Today I got to actually teach (if only a small lesson). I wish that more teachers would discuss current events with their students. It is so important. Today I got to ask them about Judge Sotomayor, if Congress agrees she will be the first Hispanic woman to sit on the Supreme Court. Since most of the kids in my classes were Hispanic it was fun to get to talk about. You can’t often help kids find heroes in every-day people. Maybe I did today with a few of them.

In writing news, I worked for many hours yesterday. I added more than 30% to my 3rd draft! Today I went and took up my father on his offer to let me print it at his law office. I printed up the first 146 pages of the book. Now it is Samantha’s time to take the red pen to it! June 26 is approaching quickly and I want to have it in as good of condition as I possibly can.

So goodbye Crowley High School, and on to Tarrant County College to teach web design in a Summer program for 7th and 8th graders. It will be my first real teaching job! Very exciting.

Wow, is it up to 6 already?? It feels like I only just started doing these little posts. I’m so happy to have gotten the feedback from some of you guys. I love hearing about what people think of my tales, and what my tales make people think of as well! It was a loooong day, so that is the reason for the very late post. It also is the reason that this week’s story is a bit shorter.

As always, click here to read past parts.

Pekosh rode low on his stallion. Wind held his cloak tight to his body with the speed in which he traveled. Moments before, the guards of Keep Byron should have seen him just through the trees. With any luck, a number of them would be on his trail now. He was sure the keep hadn’t forgotten the Zeegrak. The last time he cared to check, there was still a rich bounty on his head.

That had bothered Pekosh long ago, but it worked to his advantage now he hoped. Men blind for gold did things differently than other men. It wasn’t likely they would inform the master of the keep yet in the hopes of keeping the gold for themselves.

With a lunge he shot off the horse and rolled smoothly on the ground. The horse continued on into the darkness as asked. With concentration the Zeegrak hid himself to his surroundings. The horses coming toward him would not seem him hidden as he was. To his delight, five of the men rode past at close to full speed.

He was off the second they passed back toward his victim. The gates of the keep were, as expected, manned by only two guards now. He didn’t have much time before the others would give up the chase. He wrapped up in a bundle of rags and pulled out the cane he had stashed earlier. In seconds he had become a beggar calling on protection for the night.

Within range of the guards, two daggers flew true and the men were choking for air where his daggers had sunk into their throats. The men went down quietly. A guard on the tower above the gate cried out and Pekosh dashed inside before they could close him out. Being closed in would be something to worry over later.

In the keep proper five guards died before the Zeegrak was forced to run. It would have been easy enough to kill dozens more, but it wouldn’t get him any closer to accomplishing his mission tonight. He ran not for the Lord’s tower, but for an underground cellar used to store wine and liquor for the royalty. Again he concentrated and vanished from sight, then he waited while considering taking a few bottles of wine when he left. Some were very old he could tell. If the Byron household was good for anything, it was in those bottles.

Eventually the door above him opened and men rushed inside. The guards wandered in and out of the aisles between racks looking for anyone hiding. They wouldn’t see him though, perched above them atop one of the racks, invisible to their inferior eyes.

Finally satisfied, all but three of the guards went to stand outside the cellar or search for the invader. Again hoping for luck, the guards inside the keep didn’t expect it was him yet. He waited another minute for those in the room to calm a bit before he crept up toward them. When he was moving they could see him if they looked, but none were looking at the back of the room. Only at the door.

Two more daggers sprang from his fingers as he jumped from the rack. A third was in his hands almost instantly after releasing the others. This one he didn’t throw though. He landed softly behind the guard and the man turned to find a dagger slice cleanly across his throat. He never made a sound.

Pekosh grabbed the man’s sword from his hand and kicked him hard in the chest. Even as the dying man flew backwards he turned and held the tip of the blade against the Lord’s neck.

“You can have whatever you want, if you spare my life.”

“And what if what I want is your blood, Narscael?” Pekosh pulled back his hood. Lord Byron didn’t even blink.

“I haven’t been called that in some time, Zeegrak.” The man had the audacity to spit the words at him.

With a clean slash Pekosh took his head off. There were few he would tolerate such a thing from. That man was not among them. He took the amulet from around the dead man’s neck then remembered the boy. He was cowering, white as a ghost. Pekosh considered him and dropped the sword.

“Yo- You aren’t going to kill me, sir?” Finally, a Byron that showed him respect. He almost laughed before thinking about the boy again. He wasn’t really the Lord’s heir after all, why should he be cruel? He was sure that the Queen did not know that the son she lost nine years ago wasn’t really dead.

“Kill you? Why, no, I’m not. I have other plans for you little Lordy.” He grinned down at the child. With a glance over his shoulder he saw Narscael in his true form. He decided not to let the child see that his father was actually a Zeegrak.

We officially kicked off Summer this weekend. After 7 days straight of walking, we decided that a break was in order. Don’t get me wrong, we didn’t take the day off. We just chose a different venue. It was the first day of the year for us to go swimming! I love swimming, and yes I did 7 laps. So I got some excercise in.

Being at the pool made me feel like a kid again, so I had Samantha get a picture of me being silly. Hurray for Summer! Of course, about an hour after we swam it started raining. And it continued all day today. I guess you take what you can get, eh?

Anyone else excited about swimming and get to go yet?

So I’m about 98% sure that I’m going to be able to go to this year’s agent’s conference in Austin. I’m incredibly excited! Since I’m about half done with the 3rd draft of the book, I am confident that the book will be complete by that time. With a purchase of the ticket you also get 10 minutes to pitch your book to an agent in your field. What an opportunity! That is not even considering all the other agent’s I can try to talk to and get their cards, etc. I think I’m also going to set up a web page on this site with my synopsis. I can write that on my own cards and hand it out. Easier than lugging around 20 copies and bugging agent’s.

Wish me luck, I’m already getting nervous about it.

Tonight’s is a little longer than usual. I don’t often get to write about loss and death. I think most authors probably don’t like to deal with such things, but in fantasy especially people should die. An exception to that is the use of magic. With magic you can heal bad wounds and life threatening diseases. This story doesn’t have magic though. People didn’t live very long lives in general in medieval times. 50-60 is perhaps a long life at such a time.  Obviously, that depends on cultures, but in general it is true.

I hope this one is as good, I definitely pushed myself out of my comfort zone. As always, if you’ve missed previous parts, find them here.

The queen’s guard surrounded her as they approached the gates of Tatigen.  It was customary, but something felt wrong today.  Kiarsi Modros was used to looking for things that were out of the ordinary.  Micharo and Benjim exchanged a nervous glance as the men changed positions.

She knew it was too late to do anything about it when she heard a blade slip quickly from a sheathe behind her. All at once the scene erupted in violence.  From beside her she Sir Jorda cried out, “TO ARMS, MEN, TO ARMS!” and his horse lurch forward.  She turned in time to see the knight’s weapon was only half drawn as Micharo’s blade cut deep into his neck.

Without thinking Kiarsi gave a cry of her own and let a dagger from her sleeve fly forward. Her aim never missed at this range and blood filled his neck where the dagger slipped in.  She knew the man was dead before he even fell from his horse.  She turned to see Benjim fully surrounded, two of her men had lost their saddle and one’s hand pressed against his side that was turning red quickly.  Pure hatred filled the eyes of Benjim Taragor, he was looking directly at her.

“Let him live!” She commanded as more than one of her guards pulled at their reins to stop.  Another second and the man would have been dead.  “He is worth more to me alive for now.”

“He killed Sir Jorda! You cannot mean to let him live?” One demanded.

“I must know who sent the orders. Give him this,” she took some of the herb she picked earlier from her pack and handed it to Zacharias Petrall. The chance of something like this happening today was why she got it after all. “It will take away his ability to move.”

Zacharias took the herb obediently.  He was her last guardian now. The last one now alive anyway, she thought.  She turned to the man that had protected her since she was in a cradle.  The fallen old knight had been the father she never known.  She dismounted and inspected the garish wound, the gash in his neck was deep enough to give him a quick death at least. She said a prayer for him silently.

She knew who was responsible for this.  She didn’t need Benjim’s tales to see the work of Lord Byron.  Even still, she would learn something before having the man executed.  Maybe it wouldn’t be such a bad thing to rid the world of that bloodline once and for all.  She was lost between feelings of anger and sadness.

The path up to the bailey was a continuous winding up and down of hills.  She could see only the top of it above the gates of the inner city.  The entire city had been founded two centuries ago for its strategic location high on a tall hill that rested against an even taller cliff.  The additional hills had been cut into the earth to give invading armies even more ground to cover while arrows assaulted them.

Atop that hill were the wooden poles of the inner city gates rising high off the ground.  The top of those gates alone could hold hundreds of archers.  She gave orders even as they approached to have Lady Jorda brought to her.  She chose the personal meeting chamber to tell the woman. A place she rarely visited.  That her husband died to betrayal would make the news much harder.  He had chosen the personal guard after all.

***

Kiarsi looked over her shoulder at the long line of men and women following behind her. The widow Lady Jordah walked at her side in all black as they lead the funeral procession down to the ocean’s edge.  Behind her, Zacharias led the rank of knights carrying the wooden boat containing their fallen brother’s corpse inside.

A large white flag depicting the Modros sigil of two howling wolves was wrapped tightly around her guardian’s body.  The sword that had taken his life had cut deep into the neck, making an open send off impossible.  It only added insult to injury.

Kiarsi felt empty inside.  Three men were assigned as her guardian’s when she was born.  It was their duty to die for her, but she never wanted that to happen.  Now it had happened twice.  Would she bring the same fate upon Zacharias?  How many people did she have to lose in her life? Everyone she loved was taken from her eventually.

The stretching line of candles ablaze would be the only lights in the city tonight.  As the people gathered around the shore the knights let the boat down softly onto the water.  They filed in quickly and quietly out of tradition as much as respect to the fallen knight.

She stood as the Queen atop a raised platform and the crowd fell silent.  “We have lost a great man this day.  For fifty-two years Sir Stephen Jordah lived as one of us, for thirty-nine years he has given his life to protect our kingdom.”  How long could she fight back the tears inside her?  “This man was a father when I had none, a brother to his fellow knights, and a husband to my closest friend.”

The widow Jordah smiled up at her, her eyes were bright red from a night of crying.  The two had been married when the woman was fourteen.  It was customary for a knight to find a bride after his service to the army.  He had chosen to be her guardian only after their marriage.  Despite the difference in their ages, Kiarsi had never seen such love in a marriage.

“We give up this great man back to the earth that gave him life.  His spirit and energy we offer to Gods above.”  The knights cast off boat and the crowd watched as it floated away.  When it was far enough she called out.

“Archers to the ready!”  As one, four men pulled back on their bows and four more lifted their candles to the tips of the arrows.  “Archers, loose!”

The Gods were watching tonight, she knew.  All four arrows flew true and the small boat erupted in flame.  With the ceremony complete, many of the people turned to return home.  Kiarsi knew she wouldn’t leave for many hours though.  She whispered a prayer to her fallen guardian, and promised to avenge him.

I realized today that I have read my book, all 198 pages, 7 times now. I wonder when the editing will end! On the plus side, this is my last draft.  Well, until Samantha is done marking it up. That will be the big grammar edit. Most of what I do is for content, with grammar fixing here and there whenever I notice. I just cannot spot them like she can. And she can! It will make it much more professional I think.

I’m excited also because I think I might get a ticket to the big Agent’s Conference in Austin, TX. It is the biggest writing conference (I think) in Texas. With your ticket you get 10 minutes with an agent in your field. And I’ll have a completed book to talk about! It seems like a great opportunity. That is June 26-28. It is rather expensive, so I’m not sure just yet if I can take the trip. But I’m hoping!

In non-writing related news, my wife and I have been trying to exercise more. We have this little lake just south of our house. For the last three days straight we’ve taken a walk around it. I found a cool website that lets you plot out your walk and found out it is about 1.6 miles. Not a bad little daily exercise. I snagged a picture off my wife’s flickr.

Check back tomorrow for the latest Tuesday Night Story!