HD is up to 90,234. I have been writing while it's too hot to sew in the office. So at least there is progress on one front.
No real sign of the end yet. And there are bits I'm going to have to rework in a revision (quick, I hope) to add some stuff that came in later.
Kyren's in trouble:
"Kill me," he whispered, struggling to speak over the throbbing pain. He tasted blood--of course--but did not dare to spit it out. "Amalea knows what you've done, and so does her grandmother. It's over. You will not win." Despite his fear, he kept speaking, staring at Althea, whose face was frozen now, as if she couldn't quite believe his words. "You've lost."
"The Council's binding on the Hunt is due to expire tomorrow," Magdalen said before Alteha could speak. "And I will have the Hunt."
"You've lost!" Kyren shook his head, courting death again, of course, but she had yet to realize that he had not answered Althea's original question. "It's over, Magdalen. You cannot win, even with the Hunt at your beck and call."
"Where were you going with your precious Cousin who could not help you?" Magdalen asked sharply, as if she did not wish to hear or acknowledge her defeat. When he didn't answer, she pushed him away and out of the elf's grip.
Kyren tried to catch himself before he fell, but he could not find his balance bound. His head slammed against the edge of the doorway, leaving him dazed and bleeding on the floor.
The dead elf watched impassively.
And then, as if she had finally come to grips with the destruction of her dreams and had nothing left to lose, Althea had a dagger pressed against his throat--a bloody dagger, as if she had already committed one murder today.
"Answer my question," she growled, and spittle splashed in Kyren's face. "Answer it!"
Malachi is blind: (Yes, a change; obviously I'm going to have to rework Fire and Water. I mean, after all, Sarah Campbell no longer exists (at least so far) so I'm going to have to do something.)
"If Malachi thinks he is sane, then I daresay he is," Sennet said. "But he is still gravely wounded. And I may not be able to heal his sight."
Because the alternative was to lose whatever sanity he had left and collapse in a trembling heap on the floor, Malachi tried to evade the sense of loss that threatened to consume him. How could he survive without his sight? How could he remain a Hound, blind?
He clasped his hands together to stop their shaking. "My lord--how can I be a Hound, blind?"
Gabriel's sudden fury washed over him like a flood, leaving him a wreck in its wake, shaking and shivering in the corner and pressed up beside the bed. He shifted shape without meaning to, and huddled half under the bed, desperate to escape another round of pain, but unable to force his feet to find their way to the door--the door that his Master blocked.
When he smelled Sennet's approach, he growled at her, and she turned away from him to face his Master.
"If you intend to cast him out because of a spell that you triggered--"
"I intend to do no such thing," Gabriel said. The anger was gone as quickly as it had come.
The larger portion of Malachi's mind realized that his Master's anger had not been directed at him in the first place, but the shock of it still lingered in his mind.
"His question was valid, however," his Master continued. "Malachi, I did not give you leave to shift."
For a moment, Malachi feared he didn't have enough strength to shift into human form, but he managed. The effort left him even weaker than before. He did not resist when Sennet touched his arm and fed him a bit of her power to help bolster his strength.
"I will not cast you out," Gabriel said softly. "As Sennet reminded me--though I had not forgotten--this was my fault."
And Nathaniel has just found Josiah--alive:
"A very long time ago, your Master did a favor for me," Mirella said, staring down at Josiah's face. "I had seen something he wished that no one would know, of course. And in exchange for my silence, he did me a favor."
"What did you see?" Nathaniel asked.
"I saw Josiah turn into a Hound." She tucked a stray strand of hair behind Josiah's ear. "I was--shocked, to say the least. But I had no intention of telling anyone--I have no quarrel with the Hunt."
Nathaniel could not force himself to move any closer. Nor could he tear his gaze away from Josiah's face.
"I gave you my name--may I have yours?" Mirella smiled at him, her eyes both bright and kind.
Josiah's face blurred. "Nathaniel," he whispered. "My name is Nathaniel. Is he--"
"He was awake," Mirella said. "And he asked that I help him onto the balcony, which I did." She followed his gaze to the sunlit balcony. "The dampening spell only holds inside the castle. And I could not bear to force him to wait to contact your Master."
That had been the strangeness that had spun through the bond, only to vanish when Thomas' death destroyed everything. "The bond between us is broken," Nathaniel said. "Our enemies kidnapped my Master's lady, killed Thomas, and blinded Malachi." All at once, the litany of horrors was too much for Nathaniel to bear. He closed his eyes and had to hold onto the foot of the bed to stay upright.
Mirella cursed. "Then we erred in our delay," she said. "And I apologize. I did not think she would move so fast."
"Who? This Magdalen?" Nathaniel shook his head. "The Council's binding is set to expire tomorrow night. When else would she make her move?"
All at once, he was angry--at Amalea and Mirella, at her absent Cousin and the intricate plots against the Hunt. He sat down on the edge of the bed and stared at Josiah's calm face. "All we want when the binding is broken is to be left alone!"
"Magdalen is not unknown to your Master," Mirella said. She is a problem he should have dealt with a century ago, but he did not."
And Emle is starting to figure out the entirety of the plot against the Hunt:
"Althea is a member of the Council," Emle said, trying to keep her voice calm. "Why would she partner with this Magdalen for something so sinister? And what does she know about Josiah's disappearance?"
"You--You know he vanished?" Jordan stared at her. "Do you know where he came from?"
"He came from the same place Malachi came from," Emle said, and wondered if she should tell him. Was the Council involved in this? Had Gabriel thought wrong? "The husband I spoke of before--his name is Gabriel."
It only took a moment for Jordan to realize what she meant by that name. His visible eye widened, and he started to back away, but then he stopped himself, as if remembering that she had made no move to harm him.
"Gabriel--the Master of the Wild Hunt? That Gabriel?" The fear did not leave his gaze, but something akin to awe replaced most of it. "And you wanted me to come and--and live with you?"
"He had actually agreed to allow Malachi to ask, at least, before all of this happened," Emle said. "But I don't believe he expected you to accept our invitation."
"Because I would be afraid of him," Jordan said, absently rubbing his ankles and frowning in thought.
"Yes." Emle couldn't lie to him.
Jordan glanced at her stomach. "And your baby is Gabriel's baby?"
"Gabriel's daughter, yes." Emle stood carefully, but the initial weakness seemed to have passed. "I fear that is the reason I was taken, and not a Hound."
"Then you can't stay here," Jordan said. "You have to escape!" He jumped up, staggered a little, then ran to the nearest window and tried to tug it open.
Emle walked behind him and took his hand. "I truly don't think that is going to work. This witch--Magdalen--will have thought of that." And even with her own strength paired to his, the window did not budge.
Jordan turned to lean against the wall. "If we open a window, will the world outside be what we see or what really is?"
And the plot thickens...
"The person who kidnapped Emle did not smell like Josiah, my lord." Malachi thought this important enough to sit up, even though Sennet tried to hold him still. "But he--or she, I suppose--used Josiah's magic to get past the wards. That's the only way it would be possible."
"And how is that possible?" Gabriel asked. And then, a second later, he asked. "She?"
as always, copyright belongs to me.
No real sign of the end yet. And there are bits I'm going to have to rework in a revision (quick, I hope) to add some stuff that came in later.
Kyren's in trouble:
"Kill me," he whispered, struggling to speak over the throbbing pain. He tasted blood--of course--but did not dare to spit it out. "Amalea knows what you've done, and so does her grandmother. It's over. You will not win." Despite his fear, he kept speaking, staring at Althea, whose face was frozen now, as if she couldn't quite believe his words. "You've lost."
"The Council's binding on the Hunt is due to expire tomorrow," Magdalen said before Alteha could speak. "And I will have the Hunt."
"You've lost!" Kyren shook his head, courting death again, of course, but she had yet to realize that he had not answered Althea's original question. "It's over, Magdalen. You cannot win, even with the Hunt at your beck and call."
"Where were you going with your precious Cousin who could not help you?" Magdalen asked sharply, as if she did not wish to hear or acknowledge her defeat. When he didn't answer, she pushed him away and out of the elf's grip.
Kyren tried to catch himself before he fell, but he could not find his balance bound. His head slammed against the edge of the doorway, leaving him dazed and bleeding on the floor.
The dead elf watched impassively.
And then, as if she had finally come to grips with the destruction of her dreams and had nothing left to lose, Althea had a dagger pressed against his throat--a bloody dagger, as if she had already committed one murder today.
"Answer my question," she growled, and spittle splashed in Kyren's face. "Answer it!"
Malachi is blind: (Yes, a change; obviously I'm going to have to rework Fire and Water. I mean, after all, Sarah Campbell no longer exists (at least so far) so I'm going to have to do something.)
"If Malachi thinks he is sane, then I daresay he is," Sennet said. "But he is still gravely wounded. And I may not be able to heal his sight."
Because the alternative was to lose whatever sanity he had left and collapse in a trembling heap on the floor, Malachi tried to evade the sense of loss that threatened to consume him. How could he survive without his sight? How could he remain a Hound, blind?
He clasped his hands together to stop their shaking. "My lord--how can I be a Hound, blind?"
Gabriel's sudden fury washed over him like a flood, leaving him a wreck in its wake, shaking and shivering in the corner and pressed up beside the bed. He shifted shape without meaning to, and huddled half under the bed, desperate to escape another round of pain, but unable to force his feet to find their way to the door--the door that his Master blocked.
When he smelled Sennet's approach, he growled at her, and she turned away from him to face his Master.
"If you intend to cast him out because of a spell that you triggered--"
"I intend to do no such thing," Gabriel said. The anger was gone as quickly as it had come.
The larger portion of Malachi's mind realized that his Master's anger had not been directed at him in the first place, but the shock of it still lingered in his mind.
"His question was valid, however," his Master continued. "Malachi, I did not give you leave to shift."
For a moment, Malachi feared he didn't have enough strength to shift into human form, but he managed. The effort left him even weaker than before. He did not resist when Sennet touched his arm and fed him a bit of her power to help bolster his strength.
"I will not cast you out," Gabriel said softly. "As Sennet reminded me--though I had not forgotten--this was my fault."
And Nathaniel has just found Josiah--alive:
"A very long time ago, your Master did a favor for me," Mirella said, staring down at Josiah's face. "I had seen something he wished that no one would know, of course. And in exchange for my silence, he did me a favor."
"What did you see?" Nathaniel asked.
"I saw Josiah turn into a Hound." She tucked a stray strand of hair behind Josiah's ear. "I was--shocked, to say the least. But I had no intention of telling anyone--I have no quarrel with the Hunt."
Nathaniel could not force himself to move any closer. Nor could he tear his gaze away from Josiah's face.
"I gave you my name--may I have yours?" Mirella smiled at him, her eyes both bright and kind.
Josiah's face blurred. "Nathaniel," he whispered. "My name is Nathaniel. Is he--"
"He was awake," Mirella said. "And he asked that I help him onto the balcony, which I did." She followed his gaze to the sunlit balcony. "The dampening spell only holds inside the castle. And I could not bear to force him to wait to contact your Master."
That had been the strangeness that had spun through the bond, only to vanish when Thomas' death destroyed everything. "The bond between us is broken," Nathaniel said. "Our enemies kidnapped my Master's lady, killed Thomas, and blinded Malachi." All at once, the litany of horrors was too much for Nathaniel to bear. He closed his eyes and had to hold onto the foot of the bed to stay upright.
Mirella cursed. "Then we erred in our delay," she said. "And I apologize. I did not think she would move so fast."
"Who? This Magdalen?" Nathaniel shook his head. "The Council's binding is set to expire tomorrow night. When else would she make her move?"
All at once, he was angry--at Amalea and Mirella, at her absent Cousin and the intricate plots against the Hunt. He sat down on the edge of the bed and stared at Josiah's calm face. "All we want when the binding is broken is to be left alone!"
"Magdalen is not unknown to your Master," Mirella said. She is a problem he should have dealt with a century ago, but he did not."
And Emle is starting to figure out the entirety of the plot against the Hunt:
"Althea is a member of the Council," Emle said, trying to keep her voice calm. "Why would she partner with this Magdalen for something so sinister? And what does she know about Josiah's disappearance?"
"You--You know he vanished?" Jordan stared at her. "Do you know where he came from?"
"He came from the same place Malachi came from," Emle said, and wondered if she should tell him. Was the Council involved in this? Had Gabriel thought wrong? "The husband I spoke of before--his name is Gabriel."
It only took a moment for Jordan to realize what she meant by that name. His visible eye widened, and he started to back away, but then he stopped himself, as if remembering that she had made no move to harm him.
"Gabriel--the Master of the Wild Hunt? That Gabriel?" The fear did not leave his gaze, but something akin to awe replaced most of it. "And you wanted me to come and--and live with you?"
"He had actually agreed to allow Malachi to ask, at least, before all of this happened," Emle said. "But I don't believe he expected you to accept our invitation."
"Because I would be afraid of him," Jordan said, absently rubbing his ankles and frowning in thought.
"Yes." Emle couldn't lie to him.
Jordan glanced at her stomach. "And your baby is Gabriel's baby?"
"Gabriel's daughter, yes." Emle stood carefully, but the initial weakness seemed to have passed. "I fear that is the reason I was taken, and not a Hound."
"Then you can't stay here," Jordan said. "You have to escape!" He jumped up, staggered a little, then ran to the nearest window and tried to tug it open.
Emle walked behind him and took his hand. "I truly don't think that is going to work. This witch--Magdalen--will have thought of that." And even with her own strength paired to his, the window did not budge.
Jordan turned to lean against the wall. "If we open a window, will the world outside be what we see or what really is?"
And the plot thickens...
"The person who kidnapped Emle did not smell like Josiah, my lord." Malachi thought this important enough to sit up, even though Sennet tried to hold him still. "But he--or she, I suppose--used Josiah's magic to get past the wards. That's the only way it would be possible."
"And how is that possible?" Gabriel asked. And then, a second later, he asked. "She?"
as always, copyright belongs to me.
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