(Click here for links to other chapters.) I find Jes looking in the barred door of the wolfman’s cell.  “I have never seen anything like this,” he tells me before I ask. Our guest/prisoner/patient looks at us without comprehension, and for the first time I wonder if his lack of response is because he doesn’t … Continue reading Spire: Chapter 19

(Click here for links to other chapters.) I arrive early to the council meeting expecting, correctly, father would also be early rather than have an audience as he is helped in.  He confirms my decision and the guards now have resident priests. There is little to discuss once the Lord Advisors arrive.  Father has decided … Continue reading Spire: Chapter 18

(Click here for links to other chapters.) It’s late when Mynar finally returns.  He comes into my room uninvited and joins me before my fireplace.  He stares moodily at the small flame and says nothing until I shoo my ladies out and tell them I don’t need them for the rest of the night. “So … Continue reading Spire: Chapter 17

(Click here for links to other chapters.) Thunder answers to his name now, comes when I call.  (I ignore the possibility that he recognizes the sugar cubes in my hand rather than his name.)  I hear footsteps behind me as I’m petting Thunder, and expect the horse master with another lecture.  Instead it’s Lord Ekal.  … Continue reading Spire: Chapter 16

(Click here for links to other chapters.) Another thing fables get wrong, they end when the monster is slain, and ignore the clean‑up afterwards. The demon parts are burned to ashes in three separate fires, put into three separate weighted boxes and sent out on three different fishing boats to be dropped in the ocean.  … Continue reading Spire: Chapter 15

(Click here for links to other chapters.) Warriors surround the building.  Nale, the merchant, gladly gives me his copy of the keys. “You go now,” I tell him.  “You have done your part.”  He looks at me gratefully.  I have eased his conscious enough to let him leave without feeling a coward.  And I haven’t … Continue reading Spire: Chapter 14 — part 2

(Click here for links to other chapters.) We find a larger than expected group of priests waiting to move into guard quarters.  I count six once and seven twice, then five.  I give up.  There is a certain amount of confusion since they don’t use names, but our guards are glad enough for the spiritual … Continue reading Spire: Chapter 14–part 1

(Click here for links to other chapters.) There are two days of quiet.  Rumor has decided on some large, fierce animal despite the lack of evidence.  We are undecided about debasing the rumor; panic in the streets will not help, and even less vigilantes—they would be guaranteed to kill almost anyone except the Sorcerer. One … Continue reading Spire: Chapter 13

(Click here for links to other chapters.) We decide to treat Jes like a royal cousin, so he is given rooms in the bottom of the royal tower.  At first he refuses guards, but finally agrees to accept them when venturing into the city. I understand his feelings; it is hard to never be alone.  … Continue reading Spire: Chapter 12

(Click here for links to other chapters.) Two weeks later, the goldsmith guild does exactly as father predicts.  Ankr has retired to a manor in the country and turned all of his goldsmith business over to his sons.  The jury met continuously, judging the work of all those Ankr had denied.  Most of them are … Continue reading Spire: Chapter 11