“Stop saying um. Are you a Buddhist or something?”
“Don’t they say ‘Om’?”
Saye sent an unamused look across the table at her.
“I-I couldn’t help it!” Neia flopped listlessly onto one of the incalculably expensive-looking couches in her state room, ...
2023-08-18 09:08:00 +0000 UTC View PostThe Summer Palace was a sprawling complex in the northwest of Rimun, occupying an area larger than the Royal Palace and Prime Estates of Hoburns combined. Starting from atop a cliff overlooking the western ocean where the palace itself was perched, its grounds ran along the coast to the sandy bea...
2023-08-16 11:00:07 +0000 UTC View Post6th Day, Middle Fire Month, 1 CE
“You were ordered to apply pressure on Lousa,” Antonio said. “Not turn him into a martyr!”
“Neither I nor any of my associates had a hand in that, Sir,” Eduardo replied.
From his seat behind the desk of ...
2023-08-14 13:08:01 +0000 UTC View Post9th Day, Middle Fire Month, 1 CE
“Liam!”
Nat burst through the open door of Liam’s cell with a tearful cry. He parried her mouth attack, but couldn’t evade the hug.
“Thank the gods you’re safe!” She buried her face in his chest, “Di...
2023-08-12 15:08:01 +0000 UTC View PostEighty-eight…eighty-nine…ninety…
The air parted around Remedios’ blade as she performed her morning sword drills. She ignored the household staff as she went through her forms, but then the doorbell rang.
“Miss Custodio,” Carla said. “The Grandmaster is here to ...
2023-08-10 17:00:06 +0000 UTC View Post“I can’t help but feel that this is a giant distraction,” Liam said.
“If by ‘distraction’ you mean ‘entertainment’,” Marim replied, “then I agree.”
Daytime jeers transformed into nighttime fears that offered a curious spectacle for the men of House Restelo. After...
2023-08-08 19:08:01 +0000 UTC View PostThe shouts of men drilling in the mustering yard woke Liam several times over the course of the day. He walked out, cranky-eyed, from his tent in the evening. It didn’t help that he had spent the whole morning carting food to Raquel’s shop.
“Good morning, dear,” Nat rose from her se...
2023-08-06 21:08:00 +0000 UTC View Post“Showing up with a bottle of wine to a single woman’s home at night after showing off your beautiful wife to her the same day. You sure know how to play with a girl’s heart, Liam.”
“I don’t have any gold to pay you,” Liam said.
“Alright, now I’m angry. Or am I? Hmm...
2023-08-04 23:08:00 +0000 UTC View Post“Liam, I don’t know about this…”
“What’s there to worry about?” Liam said, “I’m sure they’ll be happy to see you.”
“But…”
He couldn’t figure out what Nat’s problem was. She voiced her desire to visit her family once in a while, but, now that they ...
2023-08-03 01:08:01 +0000 UTC View Post“I don’t understand girls.”
“Didn’t you pick up the missus just a few days ago?” Marim asked.
Waves of heat rose off of the pavement after another sweltering day in Hoburns. Liam stood at the entrance of an alley, chatting with Marim and his patrol as a pair of men deliver...
2023-08-01 03:08:00 +0000 UTC View PostEhhhhh? ‘Let’s go?’ What’s going on?!
As they walked along, Natalia Abarca stole glances at the boy holding her hand. She couldn’t figure out what had happened.
For the past two weeks, she was kept in a tent separate from the rest of the labour camp. There, she and ...
2023-07-30 05:12:27 +0000 UTC View Post“For the love of the gods, Liam, stop scaring us like that!”
Liam eyed the rooftops as Marim used the butt of his spear to poke the unconscious man on the pavement. Upon assuming his duties, a number of snoops conveniently presented themselves to be caught and delivered to House Restelo...
2023-07-28 07:08:01 +0000 UTC View Post30th Day, Upper Fire Month, 1 CE
“Do you know why you’re here?”
“Because Jorge said you wanted to see me, sir.”
Sir Luis snorted at Liam’s reply. Liam kept a straight face, trying to figure out what he had done wrong. Maybe h...
2023-07-26 09:08:00 +0000 UTC View PostA man fled through the tall grass, occasionally stumbling as he made his way west through the boundless grasslands of Iago Lousa’s ranch. Neia and Saye monitored his progress from the shade of a lonely elm close to the top of a nearby ridge.
“He’s running the wrong way,” Saye said. ...
2023-07-24 11:08:01 +0000 UTC View Post“Wh-what are you doing?”
“Seeing if we can alter your image a bit.”
Neia sat frozen in her saddle as Saye reached across from her mount to fiddle with her hair. When she thought about it, she realised that it was rare for her to be touched by anyone outside of being jostled in...
2023-07-22 13:08:01 +0000 UTC View PostEncouraging her company to begin training to perform beyond their usual routines was a simple matter after they had witnessed the mob in the town and understood what had happened.
“Justice without strength is meaningless,” Neia told them. “If we want our justice to prevail, we must ha...
2023-07-20 15:08:01 +0000 UTC View PostWeakness is a sin, so one must become strong or humbly accept justice similar to that of His Majesty.
Back during the war, it had taken Neia a long while to come up with the right words to share with those around her. They were words for a different time, however, and were no longe...
2023-07-18 17:08:01 +0000 UTC View Post“His favourite colour?” Neia blinked.
“That’s right,” Saye nodded as she leaned forward with quill and paper in hand. “What is the Sorcerer King’s favourite colour?”
“It’s…”
It should be black, right? He has a black robe and summoned black furniture...
2023-07-16 19:08:01 +0000 UTC View Post“There she is.”
“Mm.”
Astride her chestnut steed, Neia chewed on a head of dried grass as she watched a pair of ranchers guide a cow and her calf back to their herd. The two Lanca had gotten lost somehow earlier that day, but it didn’t take long for her men to track them dow...
2023-07-14 21:08:01 +0000 UTC View PostSaye had no idea why Hoburns existed where it did. The capital of the Holy Kingdom had the odd distinction of being the only seat of national power in the region that was not also the largest city in the country. That crown went to the city of Debonei in the southern Holy Kingdom, which was suppo...
2023-07-12 23:08:00 +0000 UTC View PostOn timid, tiny half-steps, Neia Baraja shuffled through the garishly-lit streets of the Water Gardens. Her tactic of keeping her eyes cast downward didn’t work as well as she thought because there were fountains and waterworks everywhere that reflected the scenes above. The scent of a hundred p...
2023-07-11 00:41:51 +0000 UTC View Post“Wh-wh-wh-wh-wh-wh-wh-wh-wha–huh?”
For the first time in her life, Neia Baraja could be assured that no one who saw her could possibly mistake her gaze for a nasty glare. That was because her eyes were so wide that she swore they would roll out of her skull and onto the desk....
2023-07-09 03:08:01 +0000 UTC View Post“That’s a lot of soldiers,” Saye said.
“Aye, it is,” Captain Harold replied.
In the darkness before dawn, Devinn’s Guile slowly coasted into Banre’s modest harbour. Saye wrinkled her nose at the odours of the wharf, but they were a far lesser concern relative to...
2023-07-07 05:08:00 +0000 UTC View PostWell, nothing looks wrong here…
Saye hopped off of the ladder, dusting off her gloves as she left the shadows of the warehouse. A line of men silently followed her out into the street where several better-dressed men awaited her with expressions of grave concern. Men tended to go...
2023-07-05 07:09:23 +0000 UTC View PostAlright, I’m getting somewhere, now.
Liam thought that he was, at least. Though he had spent less than thirty minutes in House Restelo’s labour camp, what he learned in that time was enough for him to start making sense of how things really worked in Hoburns.
It was a fam...
2023-07-03 09:08:18 +0000 UTC View Post“Three sheaves of golden grain on black and white squares.”
“Restelo,” Carla replied. “A county on the southern coast. Fifty kilometres east of Debonei.”
“If they have grain in their heraldry,” Liam asked, “does that mean they’re known for their crops?”
“...
2023-07-01 11:08:00 +0000 UTC View Post“That’s good, right?” Remedios asked.
“It depends,” Liam answered
After their discussion the previous evening, they escorted the would-be spy to the Holy Order, reporting that he had fallen from a rooftop. Joaquín, the senior Paladin stationed at the Holy Order’s office i...
2023-06-29 13:08:01 +0000 UTC View Post“Find anyone?” Remedios asked.
“We just left your house,” Liam answered.
“You never know…” The Paladin told him, “Does anyone look suspicious?”
If he were to choose, it would be the liveried men that were wandering around in place of the Royal Army. Th...
2023-06-27 15:08:01 +0000 UTC View PostWho the hell goes shopping in a full suit of plate mail armour?
Remedios Custodio, apparently.
She struck a gallant figure, to be certain, but Liam couldn’t help but wonder what the point of striking a gallant figure in a boutique was. His second question was: why was he in...
2023-06-25 17:08:00 +0000 UTC View Post“Welcome to Kalinsha, Captain.”
“It’s been a while, Sanchez,” Gustav nodded. “How have things been out here?”
“Busy,” Sanchez replied as he turned and led Gustav into the office. “Too busy. I don’t suppose you have two dozen or so of our brothers to spare?”
... 2023-06-25 09:08:01 +0000 UTC View Post