An Apprentice Without Magic, page 36
part #2 of Magic Missing Series
Sam woke up in the middle of the night. The lantern in his tiny cabin swayed more than at any time during the week he’d been at sea. He rubbed the sleep out of his eyes and decided to go up on the deck to see what the ocean looked like. The changes in the sea fascinated him.
He staggered along one of the corridors he didn’t frequent often. He had found that the ship only had a half-complement of passengers. He heard a dog bark behind one of the doors. Sam didn’t believe his ears.
He had to knock on the door. “Hello, this is the assistant purser,” Sam said. “Is everything all right in there?”
The door cracked open, but Emmy jumped out, knocking Sam down and proceeded to lick his face. Her tail cracked against both sides of the narrow corridor. A face appeared at the opening.
Sam looked up in amazement. “Banna Plunk!”
The woman scowled. “I didn’t know the ship carried an assistant purser,” Banna Plunk said, her look of displeasure didn’t leave her face. “But I did find out you were aboard once we were well away.” She looked down at Sam who was still under Emmy’s body. “Perhaps it would be better for both of us if we called a truce.”
“If we can share Emmy, I’m all for it,” Sam said.
Her face softened a little. “And I’m all for that. She needs to get out of this cabin. We have been stuck in here for days to stay away from you. I have one condition,” she said.
Sam nodded as Emmy finally stepped back, allowing him to get up.
“Convince Captain Darter not to arrest me on board.”
Sam hadn’t even thought of an arrest, he was in so much shock. “This isn’t a Toraltian vessel,” Sam said. “Captain Darter sails out of Carolank.”
Banna pursed her lips. “I didn’t know that, I just took the first ship to Tolloy that could carry my cargo.”
Sam knew what cargo she meant, but he didn’t mention it, since he didn’t know how strong their truce was. Banna Plunk didn’t have access to red deer, but there were a few live sheep on board.
~
Jordi looked past Sam at Emmy, standing next to her reunited master. The rolling seas seemed to have gotten tired of the rolling during the evening, and Banna needed to do some cleaning up after being cloistered in her cabin with the Great Sanchian.
“That dog quickly made friends with you. I never got past the low growl. She seems friendlier outside,” the purser said.
“As it happens, I am acquainted with Banna Plunk, and I’ve known Emmy for nearly a year. I didn’t know they were aboard. Miss Plunk will let me take care of Emmy for awhile.”
Emmy barked as she usually did after Sam talked about her to someone else.
“I like the bark better than the growl,” Jordi said.
Sam smiled. “I am very happy she is with me on this trip.”
“Banna Plunk? Her ticket says she is going to Tolloy. She will be with you for a long time. We have three other ports on our way, Carolank, Port Hassin on the Wollian continent, and Pundia, the first port we get to when we reach Polistia. Our voyage to Tolloy will take about three months. You’ll get to experience a lot of happiness with Miss Plunk before we dock in Vaarek.”
“The ‘she’ I meant isn’t Banna, but Emmy,” Sam said, scratching behind the dog’s ears. He wasn’t sure at all what Banna Plunk’s presence on the Twisted Wind meant to him. He had to admit he felt a little fear from the woman who stole enough gold to produce thousands of Toraltian Lions, the most valuable coin in his former country.
~
Sam sat across from Banna Plunk at Captain Darter’s dining table. He wore his assistant purser’s coat. She kept looking at him, so Sam had to give her the barest of smiles. He either look down at his plate or at whoever talked at the table. They were four days from Carolank, their first port, and this was the first time the Captain had passengers for dinner. Sam had eaten a few meals with the formidable lady captain along with the ship’s officers.
The Captain’s questions finally came around to Banna. “Miss Plunk, I haven’t had the time to do other than greet you in passing on this trip. What takes you from Baskin to Vaarek?”
Banna raised her chin a bit. Sam was very interested to hear what kind of lie the woman would have to tell.
“I traveled to Toraltia to see my sister, who died while I was there.”
“I’m sorry to hear that. Toraltia has a strong Vaarekian connection, but the two countries are so far away from each other,” Darter said.
Banna nodded. Sam could see Banna’s eyes redden. Her sister, the owner of a brothel, died trying to escape from the rebels during the summer revolt, and Sam had his own indirect role in her death.
“I needed funds for a project in Toraltia and spent most of my time procuring them.”
“Were you successful?”
Banna nodded. “I was. Raising money in a foreign country when you have no real connections isn’t easy, but I managed.”
Captain Darter crinkled her eyes and smiled. “Good for you. It is harder for a woman to successfully accomplish ambitious projects in our world,” she said.
“You seem to have done so,” Banna said.
The Captain pursed her lips, but still smiled. “Owning The Twisted Wind wasn’t without its challenges and keeping her still isn’t.”
Banna kept asking the Captain questions, enough that the Captain finally had to ask Sam, the most insignificant person present, “Sam, what do you intend to do once you reach Tolloy, return to Baskin?”
Sam shook his head. “My fare has its condition not to return to Toraltia.”
Captain Darter shook her head. “Indeed, I forgot.”
“I don’t know where I’ll end up, but I have a scholarship waiting in Tolloy. I’ll see where that takes me. I only have compulsory level schooling plus nearly eight months as an apprentice.”
“But a distinguished one,” Jordi Hawker said. “I understand you solved a lot of crimes.”
Sam nodded. “I walked behind Dickey Nail, of the Royal Constabulary Investigative Division—”
“Snoops,” one of the officers said.
Sam nodded again. “He solved the crimes, but I was able to help as much as an apprentice is able.”
“You certainly caught the attention of Faddon Bentwick. We have a few mutual friends in Baskin and in Carolank,” Captain Darter said. “The way I hear it, you were responsible for solving some high-level jewelry thefts and even killed the Minister of Justice to save your friend, Nail.”
Sam glanced at Banna, who exhibited a neutral face. He had avoided talking to her about the events in Baskin. “It is true. The Minister had it in for Dickey, and he let his emotions get ahead of common sense. Dickey and I had to fight our way out of an ambush that the Minister had set up.” Sam didn’t want to talk about the details, so he shrugged, effectively ending his story.
“You know your pollen,” Banna said. “I heard that was the key to your success.”
Sam pressed his lips together. She was taunting him, and he didn’t want to talk about his disability, but he couldn’t let Banna’s question go unanswered in front of the diners.
“I know a bit. I have these spectacles,” he pulled a pair out of his pocket, “that help me see pollen better than others. The pollen used in the thefts was very fine, actually harvested, by some method we never found out, from a small herd of Polistian red deer. The pollen has the unique quality of erasing very short term memory. Seeing as how you are from Vaarek, you are probably familiar with the animal’s properties., Miss Plunk.”
Banna blinked hard, but her face otherwise remained passive. “I have heard of the effect somewhere,” she shook her head gently, “someplace.” She stopped at that.
Sam hoped she understood that he wanted his disability kept secret just as she wanted her role in the gold theft of the Baskin Precious Metals Exchange not mentioned.
“How do you like your duties as our assistant purser?” Captain Darter said, keeping the attention on Sam.
“You could just as well call me an apprentice purser,” Sam said, smiling. Indeed, Jordi had given Sam jobs that he didn’t want to do like checking on passengers and inventorying the food and water stores.
Darter looked at the purser. “He isn’t your servant, Jordi. That wasn’t part of our agreement.”
The purser blushed. “I use him where he doesn’t need much training, but he gets lots of free time to be a passenger.”
Sam nodded. “I do indeed.” He hoped he hadn’t made Jordi an enemy with his flippant comment.
The Captain seemed placated and the conversation turned to what everyone thought the upcoming weather would be like. Sam let out a silent sigh. The conversation reminded him that he had no solid friends on board the ship and he couldn’t afford to make another slip.
Jordi was nice enough, but Sam’s assignments were not much different that what Jordi would have a servant do rather than an assistant. Apprentices received more training that what Jordi had provided, but then Sam realized that he hadn’t been seeking to improve himself. His focus was on survival, and survival alone wouldn’t get him anywhere.
He remembered Harrison Dimple, who survived in his cottage outside of Cherryton, his hometown. It seemed the man survived for most of the year, and then lived when he went out every summer as an itinerant healer to help the mountain villages. Sam rejected that kind of life when Dickey Nail, his snoop trainer, mentioned doing something like that in Toraltia.
Sam seemed to be falling into that mentality of being too passive, like Harrison. That wasn’t the path he wanted, and he decided, as he looked at those sitting at Captain Darter’s table, that he would have to change his current behavior.
~ End of Excerpt ~
A BIT ABOUT GUY
~
With a lifelong passion for speculative fiction, Guy Antibes found that he rather enjoyed writing fantasy, as well as reading it. So a career was born, and Guy anxiously engaged in adding his own flavor of writing to the world. Guy lives in the western part of the United States and is happily married with enough children to meet or exceed the human replacement rate.
You can contact Guy at his website: www.guyantibes.com.
†
BOOKS BY GUY ANTIBES
MAGIC MISSING
Book One: A Boy Without Magic
In the world of Mariopa, everyone is a magician. Even animals and plants use the ever present magical stuff some of the inhabitants call pollen to enhance their lives. The problem is, lightning coursed through Sam Smith’s little five-year-old body and burned out his ability to manipulate pollen. He became, in that life-defining moment, a boy without magic in a world filled with it.
SONG OF SORCERY
Book One: A Sorcerer Rises
Bound to a cruel grandfather, thirteen-year-old Ricky Valian is an orphan and a thief. Compelled to steal a valuable item in a public place, Ricky uses the only trick he knows, a magic trick. His crime doesn’t go unobserved. The Dean of Doubli Academy witnesses the theft and recognizes Ricky’s latent talent, volunteering to become Ricky’s guardian at the boy’s trial. Ricky finds himself, unlettered and untutored in sorcery, in a place filled with students. As he struggles with his unexpected circumstances, Ricky becomes a target of a vicious bully, who may not be above taking the life of someone who gets in his way.
Book Two: A Sorcerer Imprisoned
Ricky Valian always dreaded the Juvenile Home in the city of Applia. Killing a member of the Council of Notables is enough to sentence him for a stay. The lord’s widow is anxious for revenge and Ricky has to scramble to stay ahead of people out seeking his life. While there are strange things going on at the Home that will put him in peril, he finds a priceless treasure long forgotten at the Home. Can he stay alive long enough to save it?
Book Three: A Sorcerer’s Diplomacy
Back at Doubli Academy, Ricky finds new acquaintances and a new pastime. However, all is not bliss as circumstances converge to make it impossible to avoid confronting his nemesis, Duke Noacci, the man Ricky suspects of killing his parents. While on a school break, he finds himself in the middle of two powers ready to go to war. Ricky must make life-altering decisions as he struggles to save himself and his new friends.
Book Four: A Sorcerer’s Rings
Fleeing for his life, Ricky Valian heads to Duteria, home of an institute of sorcery. With the help of his two servants, Ricky must learn basic sorcery that he hadn’t needed before. His studies take him out of the Duteria and into new perils as he discovers an insidious plot to disrupt all the governments of his world.
Book Five: A Sorcerer’s Fist
Armed with knowledge of an insidious plot to assume power over the world, Ricky must battle religious zealots within the organization that took him in after begin branded traitor. Together with a secret society that Ricky never took seriously, he finds allies that he once thought enemies to fight against the enemy hidden among those he thought were allies.
FANTASY - EPIC / SWORD & SORCERY / YOUNG ADULT
~
THE DISINHERITED PRINCE
Book One: The Disinherited Prince
Poldon Fairfield, a fourteen-year-old prince, has no desire to rule since his poor health has convinced him that he will not live long enough to sit on any throne. Matters take a turn for the worse when his father, the King of North Salvan, decides his oldest will rule the country where Pol’s mother is first in the line of succession, followed by Pol, her only child. Pol learns he has developed a talent for magic, and that may do him more harm than good, as he must struggle to survive among his siblings, now turned lethally hostile.
Book Two: The Monk’s Habit
With his health failing, Pol Cissert takes refuge in a monastery dedicated to magic, healing, and swordsmanship. As a disinherited prince, he thinks his troubles are behind him so he can concentrate on learning magic and getting his body repaired. He soon finds that his sanctuary isn’t the protection he hoped for.
Book Three: A Sip of Magic
Expecting to resume his studies after a long absence, Pol Cissert is disappointed when he is drafted by the Emperor’s Seeker to infiltrate into Tesna Monastery. His mission is to verify rumors of a new army being raised by the South Salvan King, a man he perceives as a personal enemy. Pol will face new challenges, not the least of which will be figuring out the mysterious roommate who arrives not long after he learns about the Tesnan’s plans to take over the world.
Book Four: The Sleeping God
Carrying an amulet given to him by his late mother, Pol Cissert seizes an opportunity to travel to a far-off city in search of his roots. He has no idea that the journey will be no easy jaunt. Chased by magicians, thugs, pirates, and priests, he searches for his legacy by seeking the Cathedral of the Sleeping God. Pol finds that the truth isn’t always something everyone wants.
Demeron: A Horse’s Tale - A Disinherited Prince Novella
Demeron, a Shinkyan stallion who can speak to human magicians, is cut off from his master and must find a way to return hundreds of miles to Deftnis Monastery, his master’s home. To do so, Demeron must travel through the country of his birth, eluding humans who would eagerly take possession of him. Sixty pages long, Demeron, A Horse’s Tale is best read between A Sip of Magic and The Emperor’s Pet.
Book Five: The Emperor’s Pet
On his way to return Shira to her home in Shinkya, Pol Cissert is called upon to solve two mysteries. His reward is something he does not desire, but he must put that aside while he travels to Tishiko, the exotic and dangerous capital city of the country of Shira’s birth. He finds that deadly politics badgers him every step along his journey.
Book Six: The Misplaced Prince
Pol can’t remember his name or his origin when washed up on the shore of a strange continent. Demeron, his horse, must find a way to get Pol to a magician powerful enough to remove his curse. Without his magic or his memories, it may take years to find the right person, and until then Pol has become the Misplaced Prince.
Book Seven: The Fractured Empire
In the final installment of the series, Pol Cissert Pastelle returns home after four years abroad to find The Baccusol Empire breaking apart with civil war erupting on multiple fronts. He reunites with Shira, the Shinkyan Princess, and gets to work trying to save his stepfather’s Empire. He finds more insidious spells invoked by the enemy, a society of magicians that has dedicated itself to domination. Pol has his own challenges as he navigates his way through drastic situations, not the least of which is a series of confrontations with old and new enemies.
FANTASY - EPIC / SWORD & SORCERY / YOUNG ADULT
~
POWER OF POSES
Book One: Magician in Training
Trak Bluntwithe, an illiterate stableboy, is bequeathed an education by an estranged uncle. In the process of learning his letters, Trak learns that he is a magician. So his adventures begin that will take him to foreign countries, fleeing from his home country, which seeks to execute him for the crime of being able to perform magic. The problem is that no country is safe for the boy while he undergoes training. Can he stay ahead of those who want to control him and keep his enemies from killing him?
Book Two: Magician in Exile
Trak Bluntwithe is a young man possessing so much magical power that he is a target for governments. Some want to control him, and others want to eliminate the threat of his potential. He finds himself embroiled in the middle of a civil war. He must fight to save his imprisoned father, yet he finds that he has little taste for warfare. Trak carries this conflict onto the battlefield and finds he must use his abilities to stop the war to protect the ones he loves.
Book Three: Magician in Captivity
After a disastrous reunion with Valanna Almond, Trak heads to the mysterious land of Bennin to rescue a Toryan princess sold into slavery. The Warish King sends Valanna back to Pestle to verify that the King of Pestle is no longer under Warish control. The Vashtan menace continues to infect the countries of the world and embroil both Trak and Valanna in civil conflict, while neither of them can shake off the attraction both of them feel towards each other.
He staggered along one of the corridors he didn’t frequent often. He had found that the ship only had a half-complement of passengers. He heard a dog bark behind one of the doors. Sam didn’t believe his ears.
He had to knock on the door. “Hello, this is the assistant purser,” Sam said. “Is everything all right in there?”
The door cracked open, but Emmy jumped out, knocking Sam down and proceeded to lick his face. Her tail cracked against both sides of the narrow corridor. A face appeared at the opening.
Sam looked up in amazement. “Banna Plunk!”
The woman scowled. “I didn’t know the ship carried an assistant purser,” Banna Plunk said, her look of displeasure didn’t leave her face. “But I did find out you were aboard once we were well away.” She looked down at Sam who was still under Emmy’s body. “Perhaps it would be better for both of us if we called a truce.”
“If we can share Emmy, I’m all for it,” Sam said.
Her face softened a little. “And I’m all for that. She needs to get out of this cabin. We have been stuck in here for days to stay away from you. I have one condition,” she said.
Sam nodded as Emmy finally stepped back, allowing him to get up.
“Convince Captain Darter not to arrest me on board.”
Sam hadn’t even thought of an arrest, he was in so much shock. “This isn’t a Toraltian vessel,” Sam said. “Captain Darter sails out of Carolank.”
Banna pursed her lips. “I didn’t know that, I just took the first ship to Tolloy that could carry my cargo.”
Sam knew what cargo she meant, but he didn’t mention it, since he didn’t know how strong their truce was. Banna Plunk didn’t have access to red deer, but there were a few live sheep on board.
~
Jordi looked past Sam at Emmy, standing next to her reunited master. The rolling seas seemed to have gotten tired of the rolling during the evening, and Banna needed to do some cleaning up after being cloistered in her cabin with the Great Sanchian.
“That dog quickly made friends with you. I never got past the low growl. She seems friendlier outside,” the purser said.
“As it happens, I am acquainted with Banna Plunk, and I’ve known Emmy for nearly a year. I didn’t know they were aboard. Miss Plunk will let me take care of Emmy for awhile.”
Emmy barked as she usually did after Sam talked about her to someone else.
“I like the bark better than the growl,” Jordi said.
Sam smiled. “I am very happy she is with me on this trip.”
“Banna Plunk? Her ticket says she is going to Tolloy. She will be with you for a long time. We have three other ports on our way, Carolank, Port Hassin on the Wollian continent, and Pundia, the first port we get to when we reach Polistia. Our voyage to Tolloy will take about three months. You’ll get to experience a lot of happiness with Miss Plunk before we dock in Vaarek.”
“The ‘she’ I meant isn’t Banna, but Emmy,” Sam said, scratching behind the dog’s ears. He wasn’t sure at all what Banna Plunk’s presence on the Twisted Wind meant to him. He had to admit he felt a little fear from the woman who stole enough gold to produce thousands of Toraltian Lions, the most valuable coin in his former country.
~
Sam sat across from Banna Plunk at Captain Darter’s dining table. He wore his assistant purser’s coat. She kept looking at him, so Sam had to give her the barest of smiles. He either look down at his plate or at whoever talked at the table. They were four days from Carolank, their first port, and this was the first time the Captain had passengers for dinner. Sam had eaten a few meals with the formidable lady captain along with the ship’s officers.
The Captain’s questions finally came around to Banna. “Miss Plunk, I haven’t had the time to do other than greet you in passing on this trip. What takes you from Baskin to Vaarek?”
Banna raised her chin a bit. Sam was very interested to hear what kind of lie the woman would have to tell.
“I traveled to Toraltia to see my sister, who died while I was there.”
“I’m sorry to hear that. Toraltia has a strong Vaarekian connection, but the two countries are so far away from each other,” Darter said.
Banna nodded. Sam could see Banna’s eyes redden. Her sister, the owner of a brothel, died trying to escape from the rebels during the summer revolt, and Sam had his own indirect role in her death.
“I needed funds for a project in Toraltia and spent most of my time procuring them.”
“Were you successful?”
Banna nodded. “I was. Raising money in a foreign country when you have no real connections isn’t easy, but I managed.”
Captain Darter crinkled her eyes and smiled. “Good for you. It is harder for a woman to successfully accomplish ambitious projects in our world,” she said.
“You seem to have done so,” Banna said.
The Captain pursed her lips, but still smiled. “Owning The Twisted Wind wasn’t without its challenges and keeping her still isn’t.”
Banna kept asking the Captain questions, enough that the Captain finally had to ask Sam, the most insignificant person present, “Sam, what do you intend to do once you reach Tolloy, return to Baskin?”
Sam shook his head. “My fare has its condition not to return to Toraltia.”
Captain Darter shook her head. “Indeed, I forgot.”
“I don’t know where I’ll end up, but I have a scholarship waiting in Tolloy. I’ll see where that takes me. I only have compulsory level schooling plus nearly eight months as an apprentice.”
“But a distinguished one,” Jordi Hawker said. “I understand you solved a lot of crimes.”
Sam nodded. “I walked behind Dickey Nail, of the Royal Constabulary Investigative Division—”
“Snoops,” one of the officers said.
Sam nodded again. “He solved the crimes, but I was able to help as much as an apprentice is able.”
“You certainly caught the attention of Faddon Bentwick. We have a few mutual friends in Baskin and in Carolank,” Captain Darter said. “The way I hear it, you were responsible for solving some high-level jewelry thefts and even killed the Minister of Justice to save your friend, Nail.”
Sam glanced at Banna, who exhibited a neutral face. He had avoided talking to her about the events in Baskin. “It is true. The Minister had it in for Dickey, and he let his emotions get ahead of common sense. Dickey and I had to fight our way out of an ambush that the Minister had set up.” Sam didn’t want to talk about the details, so he shrugged, effectively ending his story.
“You know your pollen,” Banna said. “I heard that was the key to your success.”
Sam pressed his lips together. She was taunting him, and he didn’t want to talk about his disability, but he couldn’t let Banna’s question go unanswered in front of the diners.
“I know a bit. I have these spectacles,” he pulled a pair out of his pocket, “that help me see pollen better than others. The pollen used in the thefts was very fine, actually harvested, by some method we never found out, from a small herd of Polistian red deer. The pollen has the unique quality of erasing very short term memory. Seeing as how you are from Vaarek, you are probably familiar with the animal’s properties., Miss Plunk.”
Banna blinked hard, but her face otherwise remained passive. “I have heard of the effect somewhere,” she shook her head gently, “someplace.” She stopped at that.
Sam hoped she understood that he wanted his disability kept secret just as she wanted her role in the gold theft of the Baskin Precious Metals Exchange not mentioned.
“How do you like your duties as our assistant purser?” Captain Darter said, keeping the attention on Sam.
“You could just as well call me an apprentice purser,” Sam said, smiling. Indeed, Jordi had given Sam jobs that he didn’t want to do like checking on passengers and inventorying the food and water stores.
Darter looked at the purser. “He isn’t your servant, Jordi. That wasn’t part of our agreement.”
The purser blushed. “I use him where he doesn’t need much training, but he gets lots of free time to be a passenger.”
Sam nodded. “I do indeed.” He hoped he hadn’t made Jordi an enemy with his flippant comment.
The Captain seemed placated and the conversation turned to what everyone thought the upcoming weather would be like. Sam let out a silent sigh. The conversation reminded him that he had no solid friends on board the ship and he couldn’t afford to make another slip.
Jordi was nice enough, but Sam’s assignments were not much different that what Jordi would have a servant do rather than an assistant. Apprentices received more training that what Jordi had provided, but then Sam realized that he hadn’t been seeking to improve himself. His focus was on survival, and survival alone wouldn’t get him anywhere.
He remembered Harrison Dimple, who survived in his cottage outside of Cherryton, his hometown. It seemed the man survived for most of the year, and then lived when he went out every summer as an itinerant healer to help the mountain villages. Sam rejected that kind of life when Dickey Nail, his snoop trainer, mentioned doing something like that in Toraltia.
Sam seemed to be falling into that mentality of being too passive, like Harrison. That wasn’t the path he wanted, and he decided, as he looked at those sitting at Captain Darter’s table, that he would have to change his current behavior.
~ End of Excerpt ~
A BIT ABOUT GUY
~
With a lifelong passion for speculative fiction, Guy Antibes found that he rather enjoyed writing fantasy, as well as reading it. So a career was born, and Guy anxiously engaged in adding his own flavor of writing to the world. Guy lives in the western part of the United States and is happily married with enough children to meet or exceed the human replacement rate.
You can contact Guy at his website: www.guyantibes.com.
†
BOOKS BY GUY ANTIBES
MAGIC MISSING
Book One: A Boy Without Magic
In the world of Mariopa, everyone is a magician. Even animals and plants use the ever present magical stuff some of the inhabitants call pollen to enhance their lives. The problem is, lightning coursed through Sam Smith’s little five-year-old body and burned out his ability to manipulate pollen. He became, in that life-defining moment, a boy without magic in a world filled with it.
SONG OF SORCERY
Book One: A Sorcerer Rises
Bound to a cruel grandfather, thirteen-year-old Ricky Valian is an orphan and a thief. Compelled to steal a valuable item in a public place, Ricky uses the only trick he knows, a magic trick. His crime doesn’t go unobserved. The Dean of Doubli Academy witnesses the theft and recognizes Ricky’s latent talent, volunteering to become Ricky’s guardian at the boy’s trial. Ricky finds himself, unlettered and untutored in sorcery, in a place filled with students. As he struggles with his unexpected circumstances, Ricky becomes a target of a vicious bully, who may not be above taking the life of someone who gets in his way.
Book Two: A Sorcerer Imprisoned
Ricky Valian always dreaded the Juvenile Home in the city of Applia. Killing a member of the Council of Notables is enough to sentence him for a stay. The lord’s widow is anxious for revenge and Ricky has to scramble to stay ahead of people out seeking his life. While there are strange things going on at the Home that will put him in peril, he finds a priceless treasure long forgotten at the Home. Can he stay alive long enough to save it?
Book Three: A Sorcerer’s Diplomacy
Back at Doubli Academy, Ricky finds new acquaintances and a new pastime. However, all is not bliss as circumstances converge to make it impossible to avoid confronting his nemesis, Duke Noacci, the man Ricky suspects of killing his parents. While on a school break, he finds himself in the middle of two powers ready to go to war. Ricky must make life-altering decisions as he struggles to save himself and his new friends.
Book Four: A Sorcerer’s Rings
Fleeing for his life, Ricky Valian heads to Duteria, home of an institute of sorcery. With the help of his two servants, Ricky must learn basic sorcery that he hadn’t needed before. His studies take him out of the Duteria and into new perils as he discovers an insidious plot to disrupt all the governments of his world.
Book Five: A Sorcerer’s Fist
Armed with knowledge of an insidious plot to assume power over the world, Ricky must battle religious zealots within the organization that took him in after begin branded traitor. Together with a secret society that Ricky never took seriously, he finds allies that he once thought enemies to fight against the enemy hidden among those he thought were allies.
FANTASY - EPIC / SWORD & SORCERY / YOUNG ADULT
~
THE DISINHERITED PRINCE
Book One: The Disinherited Prince
Poldon Fairfield, a fourteen-year-old prince, has no desire to rule since his poor health has convinced him that he will not live long enough to sit on any throne. Matters take a turn for the worse when his father, the King of North Salvan, decides his oldest will rule the country where Pol’s mother is first in the line of succession, followed by Pol, her only child. Pol learns he has developed a talent for magic, and that may do him more harm than good, as he must struggle to survive among his siblings, now turned lethally hostile.
Book Two: The Monk’s Habit
With his health failing, Pol Cissert takes refuge in a monastery dedicated to magic, healing, and swordsmanship. As a disinherited prince, he thinks his troubles are behind him so he can concentrate on learning magic and getting his body repaired. He soon finds that his sanctuary isn’t the protection he hoped for.
Book Three: A Sip of Magic
Expecting to resume his studies after a long absence, Pol Cissert is disappointed when he is drafted by the Emperor’s Seeker to infiltrate into Tesna Monastery. His mission is to verify rumors of a new army being raised by the South Salvan King, a man he perceives as a personal enemy. Pol will face new challenges, not the least of which will be figuring out the mysterious roommate who arrives not long after he learns about the Tesnan’s plans to take over the world.
Book Four: The Sleeping God
Carrying an amulet given to him by his late mother, Pol Cissert seizes an opportunity to travel to a far-off city in search of his roots. He has no idea that the journey will be no easy jaunt. Chased by magicians, thugs, pirates, and priests, he searches for his legacy by seeking the Cathedral of the Sleeping God. Pol finds that the truth isn’t always something everyone wants.
Demeron: A Horse’s Tale - A Disinherited Prince Novella
Demeron, a Shinkyan stallion who can speak to human magicians, is cut off from his master and must find a way to return hundreds of miles to Deftnis Monastery, his master’s home. To do so, Demeron must travel through the country of his birth, eluding humans who would eagerly take possession of him. Sixty pages long, Demeron, A Horse’s Tale is best read between A Sip of Magic and The Emperor’s Pet.
Book Five: The Emperor’s Pet
On his way to return Shira to her home in Shinkya, Pol Cissert is called upon to solve two mysteries. His reward is something he does not desire, but he must put that aside while he travels to Tishiko, the exotic and dangerous capital city of the country of Shira’s birth. He finds that deadly politics badgers him every step along his journey.
Book Six: The Misplaced Prince
Pol can’t remember his name or his origin when washed up on the shore of a strange continent. Demeron, his horse, must find a way to get Pol to a magician powerful enough to remove his curse. Without his magic or his memories, it may take years to find the right person, and until then Pol has become the Misplaced Prince.
Book Seven: The Fractured Empire
In the final installment of the series, Pol Cissert Pastelle returns home after four years abroad to find The Baccusol Empire breaking apart with civil war erupting on multiple fronts. He reunites with Shira, the Shinkyan Princess, and gets to work trying to save his stepfather’s Empire. He finds more insidious spells invoked by the enemy, a society of magicians that has dedicated itself to domination. Pol has his own challenges as he navigates his way through drastic situations, not the least of which is a series of confrontations with old and new enemies.
FANTASY - EPIC / SWORD & SORCERY / YOUNG ADULT
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POWER OF POSES
Book One: Magician in Training
Trak Bluntwithe, an illiterate stableboy, is bequeathed an education by an estranged uncle. In the process of learning his letters, Trak learns that he is a magician. So his adventures begin that will take him to foreign countries, fleeing from his home country, which seeks to execute him for the crime of being able to perform magic. The problem is that no country is safe for the boy while he undergoes training. Can he stay ahead of those who want to control him and keep his enemies from killing him?
Book Two: Magician in Exile
Trak Bluntwithe is a young man possessing so much magical power that he is a target for governments. Some want to control him, and others want to eliminate the threat of his potential. He finds himself embroiled in the middle of a civil war. He must fight to save his imprisoned father, yet he finds that he has little taste for warfare. Trak carries this conflict onto the battlefield and finds he must use his abilities to stop the war to protect the ones he loves.
Book Three: Magician in Captivity
After a disastrous reunion with Valanna Almond, Trak heads to the mysterious land of Bennin to rescue a Toryan princess sold into slavery. The Warish King sends Valanna back to Pestle to verify that the King of Pestle is no longer under Warish control. The Vashtan menace continues to infect the countries of the world and embroil both Trak and Valanna in civil conflict, while neither of them can shake off the attraction both of them feel towards each other.
