Tag Archives: Carthinal

fantasy, novel

Carthinal’s Practical Exam Part 3

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I apologise for going missing for a couple of weeks. I’ve had a few family problems, and while not entirely resolved, I’ve now got a bit of energy back.

So here is the final part of Carthinal’s Practical Test.

Carthinal has successfully negotiated the labrynth where the test takes place and faced and defeated several enemies as well as using his intelligence to solve some problems. Now he is faced with the final test.

The corridor widened and became a large circular room with four doorways leading from it. The four doors were closed, but in the centre of the room was a circular device made of metal. On the top was a second circle of metal, slightly smaller, with an arrow engraved on one side.

Carthinal looked carefully at the device and it became apparent that the piece of metal on the top rotated over the lower one. There were four lines engraved on the lower circle across the diameter and at right angles to each other. Carthinal did not touch it yet. He needed to know more before doing anything. He looked around the room, and saw that there was writing all around, just above the height of the doors. 

At that moment, his rush torch went out.

He lit another and, noticing that he was getting down to the last few, he approached the wall to the left of the door through which he had entered the room and held up the torch. There was a two-line rhyme, which read,

‘The spring wind blows cross mountains wide
‘Through land of horse where barbarians ride.’

Continuing round the room, he pieced together the following,

‘From icy mountains encased in snow
‘In winter, do the cold winds blow.

‘The summer winds are soft and warm
‘They blow from desert and waving palm.

‘The autumn winds are rough and wild
‘They bring doom for man and child.

‘So turn me round and I will show
‘The proper way that you must go

‘But get it wrong and sorry be
‘For you must fight or you must flee.’

‘It’s some sort of puzzle to locate the correct door,’ he muttered to himself.

He paused to consider the words again. He wanted to be absolutely sure he got it right as he did not want to face the consequences of a wrong choice.

‘“Turn me round.” That’s probably the device in the centre. It must be like a combination lock. I don’t suppose there’ll be any help in listening for mechanisms working. It implies that a door will open anyway, and if it is wrong, dire consequences will result. OK. Then the other rhymes must give the directions. The second one must be the south wind as the Great Desert is in the south. The Barbarians with their horses are over the Western Mountains, so that must be the west wind. The one from the icy mountains must be the north wind, which leaves, by a process of elimination, the east wind for the final one. Ah! Got it. The clue is in the word “doom”. The Mountains of Doom are to the east.

That means it refers to the compass directions in the order: west, north, south and east. That must be the direction I turn the wheel.’

The problem now was locating north. There had been so many twists and turns that Carthinal had lost all sense of direction. ‘Bas, I could do with you now!’ he said, thinking of the ability of dwarves to locate direction underground. ‘Or I could do with a lodestone.’

He considered for a little longer, then decided that the mages would not have given an impossible task, so maybe there was a lodestone, or some other hint, hidden somewhere and he had missed it. 

After searching the room carefully, nothing became apparent, so he backtracked to the corridor that he had missed. He entered it holding his light high and walking with care, on the lookout for enemies.

There did not seem to be any danger down this tunnel. Suddenly, his light glinted off something in the wall of the tunnel. It was the door to a cupboard cut out of the rock. It was the metal ring to the left side of the door that glinted. He did not know whether there were any traps on the door, so he took his dagger and, standing to the side and as far away as he could, he raised the latch. The door swung open. He waited for a few seconds until he was sure that nothing was going to go off belatedly, and then held his light so that he could see into the space.

At first, he saw nothing, but when he put his hand into the cupboard and felt around, he came across a small object. On withdrawing it, he saw that it was a small case with a glass lid, and suspended inside the case was a small piece of lodestone, one end marked with red paint.

‘Just what I was looking for!’ he remarked, feeling rather smug.

He retraced his footsteps until he came back to the large round room, and now he could establish which way north was. He put the lodestone down, and turned the upper wheel until the notch was pointing to the west. After that, he rotated it to the north, then south, then east.

There was a rumbling sound. Carthinal held his breath, and the second door to the right slowly swung open. He waited for a few seconds, but nothing came out. He put out the torch so he could use infravision better and carefully approached the tunnel.

No heat sources to be seen, so he cautiously entered. Feeling his way, Carthinal crept along a tunnel that wound backwards and forwards, sometimes seeming to go back on itself a number of times. By now he had lost all sense of time, but decided that since no one had come to collect him, he must still be within the six hours, although it felt that he had been creeping along dark tunnels for days. 

He stopped for another drink and looked around. Still no heat sources. He lit another torch, noting with dismay that it was his last, and praying to Majora he was near enough to the end for it to last.

After a short while, a wall appeared in front of him. He stopped, thinking there had been no side passages for him to miss.

He noticed a cool breeze around his feet. Looking down, he saw a dark shadow towards the bottom of the wall to his left. He knelt, and sure enough, there was a low passage, only high enough to crawl along. Carthinal did not like this idea, as he felt vulnerable being unable to run, and with insufficient space to cast spells or throw his dagger. 

Memories came unbidden as to how mages sometimes died in the practical test. The more he tried to push those thoughts away, the more they stalked him, like ghosts, quietly and almost imperceptibly. He broke out into a sweat, and felt himself shiver.

‘This is no good,’ he scolded. ‘If you want to pass this damned test, you’ve got to go in there! Remember you promised Mabryl to do your best to get through.’

With that, he hitched his robe out of the way so he could crawl, and put out the light, as there would be no possibility of using it safely. It would have been humiliating to set himself on fire and have to be rescued. With that thought, he entered the tunnel.

‘Thank the gods for infravision. This would be a dreadful ordeal if one couldn’t see anything.’

Occasional small heat sources could be seen, but they were just spiders and beetles. 

Carthinal’s skin crawled as he thought of them getting in his clothing and onto his skin. Second only to undead, Carthinal hated spiders. 

Eventually, after what seemed like hours of crawling, but was in reality only about fifteen minutes, the crawl way ended in another large room.
At the exit from the crawl way, Carthinal paused and looked. 

‘Oh shit!’

Ahead of him was a large shape glowing red. It turned its eight red eyes towards where Carthinal crouched by the tunnel. It was a gigantic spider.

‘Oh shit!’ he re-iterated as the creature ran towards him across the room.

He remembered the true seeing spell he had on a scroll. Reasoning the mages would not deliberately try to kill their apprentices, he quickly pulled it out and read it. 

The spell took effect as the spider was about to strike.

To his relief it disappeared. 

It had been an illusion after all. 

Behind where the spider had crouched was a door. 

Carthinal ran across to it, looking around for any more nasty surprises, and pulled the door open. 

Light flooded into the cavern, blinding Carthinal for a moment, and he staggered over the threshold. Hands guided him to a chair, and voices were congratulating him for being the first one back. 

Slowly it dawned on him that he was out of the tunnels, and had succeeded in completing the practical test. His sense of relief was immense, and he offered up a prayer of thanks to Majora for his success. It was several minutes before he realised what it meant. He had passed his test and was now no longer an apprentice.

‘I did it, Mabryl. You said I would, but I didn’t believe you,’ he murmured.

‘What did you say?’ A voice spoke from by his side.

‘Oh, nothing. Was I talking aloud?’ He turned to see who had spoken. 

It was the mage who had overseen his test, Yssalithissandra.

‘Well done. You got back with half an hour to spare. We’re expecting some of the others any time now. How are you feeling?’

She sounded genuinely concerned, so Carthinal stood and told her he was feeling fine.

He stretched and looked towards the other doors. One of them was opening, and through it came Olipeca. She looked very tired, but not completely spent. 

He guessed she had not needed to use all her spells either. Her examiner escorted her to a chair, and spoke reassuring words to her. 

She seemed to realise she was out of the test tunnels and within the given time. Her face lit up with a smile. Her hair had come loose from its customary tight and severe style. It hung loose around her face, and the ecstatic smile as she realised she had made it through in time, made her look almost pretty.

One of the other doors opened and through it staggered Grimmaldo. He managed to get over the threshold but collapsed into the waiting arms of his examiner, and was all but carried to a chair. He had made it with only a few minutes to spare, but he had made it.

Carthinal looked around. There were three of them back, and there were five arch-mages. 

Carthinal was going to ask where the sixth arch-mage was when another door opened and he came in carrying something. He put it down on the floor, and the others could see that it was Laurre. 

He was lying very still. The mage said something to the others which the now ex-apprentices could not hear. Then he came over to where they were waiting.

‘I am very sorry to tell you that your friend, Laurre, did not make it through the labyrinth. He died in the ambush section. A great pity. We always regret the loss of a student, but the tests are essential as I am sure you appreciate.’

‘What about Ebrassaria and Hammevaro?’ asked Grimmaldo. 

As he was speaking, and the final few seconds ticked away, one of the last two doors opened and Hammevaro literally fell into the room, and was immediately violently sick on the floor. 

One of the mages called for an apprentice to clear it up as he lifted Hammevaro to one of the chairs, where he immediately passed out.

‘Well, he’s just made it,’ Grimmaldo whispered, ‘but what about Ebrassaria?’

In answer to his question, one of the wizards entered the final door and a few minutes later emerged with Ebrassaria clinging onto his arm. 

She looked the worst of them all, barely able to stand, and paler even than Grimmaldo looked before entering. 

The arch-mage accompanying her led her to a chair and sat her down. He gave her sips of water and talked to her quietly. 

She did not seem to realise what was going on or where she was at first, then suddenly it seemed to dawn on her that she was out of the labyrinth and that since she had required an escort out, she had not passed the practical. 

She burst into tears.


Yssalithissandra spoke quietly to the others. ‘Of course, this means she has failed to pass this test as she did not get out of the labyrinth in time,’ she sighed. ‘A great pity as she did so well in the theory. Still, a mage needs to be a practitioner as well as a theorist. She can always retake another time.’

As the group of newly promoted mages left the room Yssalithissandra approached Carthinal. 

Grimmaldo, and Hammevaro left to collapse somewhere to sleep, and Olipeca to find her master to give her the good news.

‘I have something that Mabryl was bringing for you,’ Carthinal told her. ‘An old spell book he thought would help you in your research of the lost knowledge.’

‘Really?’ replied the woman. ‘How odd I should turn out to be your examiner. Come to my rooms later and you can give it to me. We can talk about Mabryl. I knew him well when he was in the tower and would like to catch up on his life after he left here.’

‘Thank you,’ Carthinal answered, ‘I would like that.’

He realised that he was telling the truth. He was now ready to deal with Mabryl’s death and actually wanted to talk about him.

If you would like to know what happened to Carthinal after the test, the first book of The Wolves of Vimar series is available from your favourite online store as a paperback, hardback, e book or audio book. Just click on the button below, or on the cover on the sidebar.

Get my copy of The Wolf Pack

Did you enjoy this chapter? I decided to eliminate it because it added nothing to the actual story, nor much to the character of Carthinal.

I love hearing from you, so please leave your comments in the comments box.

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A Recipe from The Wolves of Vimar Series

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These little cakes are a favourite of Carthinal, in The Wolves of Vimar series.

In The Making of a Mage, a Wolves of Vimar prequel, Carthinal becomes apprenticed to Mabryl, an archmage. He was known to sneak into the kitchen where Lillora, Mabryl’s housekeeper, was making the cakes and sneak one or two (or several).

Here’s a bit about the book.

Carthinal is alone in the world. His parents and grandparents have died. Without money and a place to live, he faces an uncertain future. After joining a street gang, Carthinal begins a life of crime. Soon after, he sees a performing magician, and decides he wants to learn the art of magic. But can he break away from his past and find the path to his true destiny?

You can buy the book from your favourite store, in ebook, hardback or paperback, by clicking on its cover in the side-bar, or here.

It is also available as an audio book.

Here is the US link

And this is the UK link

It is also available from The Independent Bookstore, which is Next Chapter’s online store.

Here is the recipe for nectar cakes if you would like to try them for yourself.

They were actually invented by my son, Richard, when he was about 7 years old. He was very fond of honey!

Nectar Cakes

Ingredients

Shortcrust pastry 

125g margarine

125g runny honey

125g flour

2 eggs

Method

Roll out the pastry and cut rounds. Place one pastry round in each hole of a bun tin.

Put all the ingredients into a food processor and blend on high power until creamy.

Put spoonfuls of the mixture into the pastry cases and bake in the oven at 180C for about 15 minutes.

You can find more recipes in Viv’s Family Recipes, along with some hints and tips garnered from Viv’s family members.

fantasy, novel

the prophecy

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The Wolf Pack starts where four friends are given a task to find the magical, lost sword of the legendary king, Sauvern. Prior to that, Carthinal had found a prophecy. This is the tale of the finding of that prophecy. I originally incorporated it in the book, The Wolf Pack, but decided to eliminate it.

If you want to know more about what happens later you can buy The Wolf Pack by clicking on the title, here or on the book cover in the sidebar.

Find out how Carthinal and his friends searched for an artifact the whereabouts no one knew, and read about the dangers they faced in tracking it down.

Prophecy

The half-elf leafed through the book he was studying. He was due to take the tests to end his apprenticeship soon. Mabryl, his master and adopted father had sent off to the Mage Tower in Hambara asking for the young man to be considered for the tests at the next opportunity.

He was a tall, handsome young man, just over six feet with shoulder-length auburn hair, a closely trimmed beard and eyes of an intense blue. He was sitting in the study at the home of Mabryl in Bluehaven, which was situated on the south coast of the land of Grosmer. With him were Mabryl’s other two apprentices, 14 year old Tomac and 16 year old Emmienne. Tomac pushed a lock of his unruly dark hair out of his eyes.
‘I think that’s the Master coming in now, Carthinal. You’d better look as though you’ve been doing something instead of moping around waiting for that letter or you’ll be in trouble.’

As he said this, the door opened and Mabryl entered, shaking his cloak out as he did so. ‘It’s cold out there and it’s turning to snow if I’m not much mistaken. Unusual this far south.’ He turned to his three apprentices. ‘Have you finished the tasks I set you?’

He hung his cloak on a stand by the door. Carthinal stood and walked to the fire, putting a fresh log on to the flames. ‘Come and get warm, and, no I’ve not finished. I can’t seem to settle to anything until I hear about whether I can take the tests soon. I think Emmienne has finished though. I can’t say about Tomac.’

‘Nearly.’ Tomac, jumped from his chair and carried his workbook to his master. ‘I was a little stuck on the moon phases though. It’s complicated trying to work out both moons at the same time.’

‘Stick to it, youngster,’ Emmienne said from the window seat. She grinned across at the younger boy, the grin lighting up her otherwise rather plain face. ‘I had problems too, but it comes eventually.’

Tomac groaned and went back to his seat.

‘I’ve finished though, sir,’ she said. ‘I’ve learned the new spell you gave me and am sure I can make it work. When can I try it?’

Mabryl laughed. ‘Such enthusiasm. We’ll try it out tomorrow. In the meantime, I’ve made what I think may be a big discovery. Perhaps the most important one for many, many years. Look.’ He put an ancient book on the table.

The three apprentices gathered round.

‘I think it may be a spell book from before the Forbidding,. Mabryl ran a finger over the book’s leather spine.

Emmienne gasped. ‘That is old, and if it is, we’ll be able to find lost spells. You’ll be famous, sir.’

‘Calm down, Emm. It may not be the spell-book of a magister, or even an arch-mage.’ Carthinal smiled at the girl’s enthusiasm. ‘It may only have the spells we already know and not any of the lost ones.’

Seven hundred years previously there had been a war between conflicting mages. It had caused such devastation and hardship to everyone that the king forbade the use of magic on pain of death and all spell books were burned. Some mages, however, managed to rescue a few books and occasionally these came to light.

During the time of the Forbidding, as it came to be known, much knowledge had been lost and there some mages currently worked to re-discover the lost spells. If this book were to be of use, it would need to be taken to one of these mages.

As they discussed this, the door opened and Lillora, Mabryl’s housekeeper entered. ‘Sorry to disturb you, sir, but a bird arrived a few minutes ago. I thought you should know.’

‘I’ll come and look then,’ The mage stood and left the three apprentices to their own devices.

Carthinal picked up the book Mabryl had bought and began to leaf through it. He could understand little of what was written there. It was in an archaic script and language and as he was only an apprentice he had not the knowledge to understand more than a limited number of spells.
He frowned as he tried to read the words on the page, then, lifting the book from the table he carried it nearer to the light.

As he approached the window a loose page fell onto the floor. He stooped to pick it up and realised he could read it, and it was not a page from the book that had fallen out, but a note someone had inserted. He sat opposite Emmienne to read it.

‘What’s that?’ asked the brown-haired girl, straining to read it upside down.

‘I’m not sure.’ Carthinal, wrinkled his brow. ‘It fell out of this book but it doesn’t seem to be the same writing, nor is it in the same script. It’s a note of some kind.’ He paused to read it.

Mabryl came back holding a paper in his hand. ‘It’s good news, Carthinal. There’s space for you to take your tests in the next batch, which takes place just before Grillon’s Day. That’s in about five sixdays time. We’ll need to leave here in three sixdays to allow us time to settle in before your ordeal.’ He looked at the paper in Carthinal’s hand. What’s that you’ve got there?’

‘It fell out of the book you bought.’ Carthinal, handed it to his mentor. ‘It doesn’t seem to be by the author of the book. It’s in a more modern script that I can read. It doesn’t make much sense though.’

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Dh2OtrPJgE8&t=54s
The Prophecy.

Mabryl read it, then read it again, this time aloud.

‘“When Kalhera descends from the mountains,
And orcs once more roam the land,
When impossible beasts occur
And the Never-Dying man is once more at hand,
Then the Sword that was lost must once more be found;
Only it can destroy the threat
And kill the immortal mortal to balance out his debt.”

‘That seems a strange thing to write and it doesn’t make a lot of sense. How can Kalhera descend from the mountains? She’s a god and the gods don’t come to Vimar.’

He turned the page in his hand and saw more writing on the back. ‘This says it’s a quotation from something the writer heard and wrote down. The author says he visited the Oracle on Holy Island and the priests were talking about what the Oracle had said earlier in the day when only the attendants were present.’

He replaced the paper in the book and turned to Carthinal. ‘We must take this book to a colleague of mine in the Mage Tower when we go. She’s working on finding the old spells and this may be of use to her. The loose note may be a prophecy if it came from the Oracle, but who knows when it was made? It could be it was centuries ago, or yesterday.’ He shrugged. ‘It could be referring to a time well in the future or even in the past. We should ignore it for now. Lillora says our lunch is almost ready, so I suggest we go to the table before she gets mad.’

The three apprentices forgot all about the book and the note as they enjoyed Mabryl’s housekeeper’s excellent cooking. After the meal they returned to their studies. Mabryl gave them all tasks to complete and went out again to visit the Duke of Bluehaven, who was an old friend of his, taking the book with him.

Duke Danu of Bluehaven had trained at the Mage Tower in his youth. He had some talent for magic, but with the death of his elder brother in an epidemic, he had to take over the duties and prepare to become the Duke. He had never taken the tests to end his apprenticeship, but he retained an interest in magic and still practiced it in a small way.


Today he was sitting in his study going over the accounts of the duchy when a knock came at the door.

‘Arch-mage Mabryl to see you, sir,’ said his butler.

‘Send him in.’ Danu rose from his seat and walked over to clasp Mabryl in a hug. ‘You’ve not been to visit in some while, my friend. Busy with your three apprentices, I suppose.’

‘Yes, they keep me busy. Carthinal’s ready to take his tests and become a full mage now.’

‘Is that so?’ Duke Danu raised an eyebrow. ‘Hardly seems any time at all when you took that scruffy little urchin off the streets. Everyone thought you were mad, you know. Taking a street child to be your apprentice and then adopting him. Well, it seems we were wrong. He’s turning out all right.’

‘Considering his background, yes. He still has his faults and I can’t say there weren’t times when I agreed with you I’d done the wrong thing. But I didn’t come here to talk about Carthinal. I’ve made a discovery and I want your opinion.’ He pulled the spell-book out of a bag at his side. ‘I’m going to take this to Yssa at the Mage Tower when I take Carthinal. She’ll be the best to decide how important it is.’

He handed the book to Danu.

The Duke whistled. ‘This is important, Mabryl. I can’t read it, but it certainly looks like a spell-book to me. It’s old and could easily date to before the Forbidding.’ He picked up the note still between its pages. ‘What’s this?’

‘A little note someone left in the book. Carthinal found it. It doesn’t seem to belong to the book and I thought it could be a hoax. Someone putting a seeming prophecy in an important old book.’

‘Maybe, but I don’t think so. Some research I’ve been doing suggests Grosmer is about to face some danger. This may be a prophecy about that. I would suggest you take it to Rollo in Hambara when you go. His library is much more extensive than mine and he can find out more.’

‘I don’t know Duke Rollo,’ Mabryl replied, frowning. ‘He may not believe me. I’ve heard he’s a suspicious man. I think this note maybe a hoax even if you don’t. I’ll need to prove I’ve come from you.’

‘I’ll write you a letter to give him.’ Danu walked to his desk. ‘I’ll also give you this.’ He picked up a small statuette of a trotting horse about three inches long and two high that sat on the desk. ‘It’s one of a pair we found in our adventuring days. He has the other. He’ll know I’ve sent you when he sees that, especially if you ask him about the other one. Now, sit down and I’ll get some wine for us to drink while we talk about other things.’

The old friends passed the afternoon remembering past times and gossiping about the goings on in the city of Bluehaven as the afternoon passed into evening and the Duke’s work lay unfinished on the desk.

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an excerpt from Jovinda and Noli a new release

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Have you ever wondered what happened before a story begins? I am releasing a number of novellas that tell the story before the story. The first one is the very beginning and tells how the parents of Carthinal, in The Wolves of Vimar Series met and fell in love.

This novella is now released and can be bought from Amazon. It is available in ebook format and paperback (including pocket book and large print).

Click the book cover to go to Amazon where you are.

Here’s the blurb.

At sixteen years of age, Jovinda is to be presented to the Royal Family. She fantasizes about catching the eye of Prince Gerim and becoming Queen, but her fantasies evaporate when she meets a young elf called Noli.

The pair fall in love, but parental opposition, mainly because of their different lifespans, leads them to meet in secret, despite warnings of severe repercussions from Jovinda’s family.

But can the young lovers overcome the opposition of their parents?

And to whet your appetite, here is an excerpt from the book.

Jovinda is attending her first ever ball and banquet at the royal palace in Aspirilla. She is to be presented to the King and his family, and she is very excited about meeting the Crown Prince, who is almost the same age as her. She has dreams of romance.

The Young Lovers

Jovinda and her parents stood at the top of the stairs leading down to the reception room in the Palace. Jovinda scanned the room looking for Prince Gerim. The prince was not quite sixteen, but would be at such an important banquet as the heir to the throne. She frowned slightly as she noticed a young elf watching her as she descended the stairs.

Ellire had decided the best style for her dress for the banquet would be, not like the elaborate dresses they saw hanging in Madame Frimb’s workroom, but a simple style.

Jovinda saw the green velvet fabric and fell in love with the colour. Ellire agreed it would look good on her, and then went to discuss a style with Madame Frimb. The dress she now wore had a high neckline with small pearl buttons sewn around it. The buttons continued down the centre of the otherwise plain bodice with sleeves that stopped at her elbow. They also had pearl buttons around the cuffs. The skirt flared from her waist giving room for her feet to move when dancing, and more pearl buttons graced the hem. She wore small pearl drops in her ears and a white orchid in her hair.

The family walked down the stairs as a butler announced them. Jovinda stared around. The stairs descended from the balcony where they had entered, and flared out towards the bottom. A red carpet ran down the centre. Large floor to ceiling windows to her right opened onto the Palace gardens, and doors carved with vines and fruits stood open on the opposite side. Torches in sconces lit the room, and glinted on the gold-leaf that covered the cornice. More gold covered a few chairs scattered around for those unable to stand for long, and at the opposite end of the room was a dais with two thrones, again, covered in gold leaf.

A waiter brought a tray of drinks. Jovinda took a glass of Perimo, a sparkling wine from the islands, as she chatted with many of her parents’ friends and acquaintances, feeling very grown up.

Suddenly, a horn sounded. Everyone stopped talking and looked towards the stairs. The Royal Family entered and made their way through the crowd to the dais. As they passed, people bowed their heads or curtseyed. Once the King and Queen settled onto their thrones, the butler announced the first of the young people to be presented.
As it was her first social occasion, Jovinda was one of those young people.

When the butler called her name, she looked at her father who mouthed “Go on, Jo”.

Her mother gave her a little push to start her on her way.

She took a deep breath to try to calm her racing heart, and ascended the dais where she curtseyed to the King and Queen.

The King smiled and his eyes twinkled. “We are delighted to meet you, Jovinda. Enjoy the occasion. There’s nothing quite like your first ball.”
Then she moved on. Prince Gerim smiled at her and shook her hand.

“Pleased to meet you, Miss Jovinda.”

Jovinda curtseyed. He’s quite good-looking. I wonder if I can attract his attention? He may even ask me to dance. I wonder what kind of girls he likes?

The call came for everyone to go into the banqueting hall and be seated. Jovinda was surprised to be seated well away from her parents. She found herself sitting between a young man she knew, whose father was the head of the leatherworkers’ guild, and a handsome young elf—the very same elf she had seen watching her as she descended the stairs. She drew her eyebrows together.

The elf turned to her and asked her name.

“Jovinda. What’s yours?”

He laughed. “I doubt you’d be able to pronounce it.” His smile lit up his deep blue eyes.

“Try me.”

“Well, it’s Nolimissalloran, but you can call me Noli. All my friends do.”
Jovinda looked at the elf. He’s very handsome.

His extraordinary eyes fascinated her. They were slanting, like those of all elves, but it was their colour that attracted her attention. They were a deep blue. Much deeper than any eyes she had ever seen before. She no longer felt an interest in capturing the attention of Prince Gerim.

After the banquet, the king announced that the ball would commence in thirty minutes in the ballroom. Everyone left the tables and stood around in groups talking.

As they passed through the double doors, Jovinda’s mouth fell open. She would have stopped in her tracks if Noli had not been urging her forward.

When the music began, people started to move toward it. Noli held out his arm to Jovinda, beating the young man who had sat on her other side at the banquet. She took it, blushing, and the pair strolled into the ballroom.

The chandeliers hanging from the ceiling cast dancing lights around the room as the candles flickered in the currents of air. Everywhere she looked she saw gold leaf. On the carving on the dais, on the thrones for the king and queen, on the urns in niches on the walls.

A delicate blue paint covered the walls,on which were painted scenes of dancing couples, The ceiling was painted a deeper blue with stars covering it.

The quartet on the raised dais was playing a jolly tune and people were beginning to drift onto the dance floor.

“May I have this first dance?” Noli bowed to Jovinda. She nodded her assent.

He swept her into his arms and whirled her around the floor. Noli was an excellent dancer and she found herself dancing better than she had ever done before. He was so easy to follow.

After the dance Noli escorted her to a seat at a small table occupied by her parents. They were sitting with Salor and her parents. He bowed and drifted off towards a group of elves.

Jovinda watched him go. He bowed to one of the young female elves and escorted her onto the dance floor.

“Jo.” It was her mother speaking. “Jo, Krombo is asking you to dance. What’s wrong with you?”

“Oh! Sorry, Krombo.” She rose and they joined the dancing couples.

A constant stream of young men came to dance with Jovinda. Some danced well, but some were clumsy. None danced as well as Noli. She kept looking around to see with whom the young elf was dancing.

Does he like her better than he likes me?

This thought ran through her head over and over again whenever Noli danced with another young woman. All thoughts of the Prince fled as she watched the handsome elf.

He asked her to dance again before leaving her once more to dance with others. But he danced with her more than anyone else, and danced the last dance with her.

All too soon the evening ended and Jovinda and her parents took a carriage back to The Swan in Flight. They were leaving the next morning for the ferry back to Bluehaven. Jovinda found herself hoping she would see Noli again. After all, if he stayed with the delegation, then he would be based in Bluehaven. She smiled.

“What are you grinning at?” her father asked her.

“Oh, nothing. Only that I had a really good time this evening.”

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On March 5th and 6th The Wolf Pack will be available on Amazon.

Hurry. don’t miss this opportunity to get Book 1 of The Wolves of Vimar Series for only $0.99, £0.99.

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About the book.

When Carthinal leaves Bluehaven to go to take the tests that would end his apprenticeship and make him a full mage, little does he realize the changes that are about to take place in his life. Strange prophecies dog his footsteps and he meets new friends. They are sent on a quest to discover a long lost artifact. On their journey they meet with sorrow and pleasure as well as many dangers. Help is found in the most unexpected places, they face their innermost fears and have great surprises. None of them returns unchanged.

 

 

 

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Jovinda and Noni part 3

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Here is part 3 of the story of Jovinda and Noni, Carthinal’s parents. Since I missed last week’s post entirely in the end, I am continuing with my normal schedule with the third week of the month.

 

Jovinda went about her chores humming to herself. That afternoon she was going to see Noni again. It had been a week since she had last seen him. It was not always easy for them to arrange their meetings. Noni had his work to do and also they had to keep their meetings secret from their parents.

Salor helped the lovers. She thought it was exciting and romantic. She gave Jovinda alibis whenever the pair were to meet, and if the girls seemed to be meeting more frequently than previously, Jovinda’s parents did not seem to notice.

Noni could not get away as often as he would have liked, but every time he had any time to himself he and Jovinda would meet. Usually they went to the woods out of town. It was quiet there and there were many places they could be totally alone with little fear of discovery. The summer passed and the trees began to put on their autumn colours.

‘What are we going to do when winter is here?’ Jovinda asked one day. ‘It’ll be cold and wet. We won’t be able to sit on the ground then.’

Noni looked at her and stroked her auburn hair. ‘Something will turn up, darling,’ he said. ‘We’re meant to be together. I feel it deep inside my soul. Nothing will part us, not even winter.’

He was right, of course. As the last leaves fell from the trees and the summer warmth left the land, Jovinda came to a terrible realisation. She had missed her monthly bleeding. It was now time for the next one but still nothing happened. She had been in such ecstasy that she had not thought about anything other than Noni. Now she realised she was pregnant.

How could she tell her parents? What would they do? Would they disown her? How would Noni react? Would he stand by her or would he abandon her? Oh why had she been so foolish. She had not thought about possible consequences when they had made love in their glade in the wood. Now she was suffering the results of that lack of forethought.

‘I’m going to see Salor,’ she told her mother after she had finished her chores. She left the house and hurried to her friend’s home. Salor had become engaged to a young man during the months that had passed and was due to be married in the spring. He was the son of a friend of theirs and they were delighted with the engagement. They had been going to suggest the pair get married when the young people themselves said they wanted to get married.

It was so different from Jovinda and Noli’s experience that Jovinda was a little jealous. She would not change Noli in any way, though, even for approval by her parents.

She arrived at Salor’s house and was admitted. Salor took her to her room where she burst into tears.

‘Jovinda, what’s wrong? It’s not a problem with Noli, is it?’

Jovinda dried her eyes and sighed.

‘Well, it is and it isn’t. Oh, Salor, I’m in so much trouble. I’ve missed two monthly bleedings.’

Salor put her hand to her mouth.’That means…’

‘Yes. I’m pregnant.’

Salor looked at her friend with eyes opened wide. ‘I didn’t think you’d be so foolish, Jo,’ she said. ‘How did you not think this might happen?’

Jovinda’s eyes began to leak tears again as she tried to push them back. ‘I didn’t think. Oh, Salor, it seemed so right. We love one another and soon kisses weren’t enough to show our love. What am I to do?’

‘Does he know?’

Jovinda shook her head. ‘I’ve not seen him since I realised.’

‘Will he marry you? Or do you want to go to a witch woman and get rid of it?’

‘I don’t know,’ wailed Jovinda, crying again.

Eventually the girls decided that Jovinda must tell Noli. He was as much to blame as Jovinda for the predicament she was in. Salor privately hoped that Noli was not one of those men who ran away from responsibility. She had seen young women left with an unwanted baby when the father decided he did not want a wife and child. He had his fun then ran. The girl concerned never regained her reputation. It was different if the man married the girl. Oh, there was scandal at first, but later people either forgot the child was born rather early or deliberately forgot when the wedding had been.

Salor helped Jovinda get a message to Noli and the pair met at their usual place the next day.

It was cold. The fallen leaves made a multicoloured carpet on the ground in the glade where Noli waited. He pulled his cloak round him as he wondered what Jovinda wanted to see him about so urgently. He heard a crackle in the leaves and turned to see Jovinda crossing the glade. He opened his arms and she ran into them. They kissed passionately before saying a word.

He looked into his lover’s eyes and saw they were red. She had been crying. Had her parents found out about them? He held her close and waited for her to speak.

‘Noli,’ she said through her tears, ‘I’m pregnant. I am thinking of going to a witch woman to get rid of it though.’

For the first time since they met, Noli became angry.

‘You will not kill this child,’ he said, and he stalked to the opposite side of the glade.

‘It is a new life beginning. Who knows what great deeds it could do, or how important its decendants could be. We elves will never destroy a life, even an unborn one.’

‘But, Noli, what are we to do?’

He came back to her side and put his arms round her again. ‘We’ll get married, sweetheart. It’s what I would like and I hope you would like it too.’

‘Of course I would like that. We can have this baby and then lots more.’

Noli laughed. ‘I hope so. Elves aren’t very fertile as a rule. I suppose it’s because we live so long. If we had too many children we’d soon overrun the world. But an elf and a human…who knows?’

They parted after discussing whether Noli should go with Jovinda when she told her parents. He wanted to be there to support her, but she said she thought it would be better if she told them alone.

Jovinda walked slowly back home having resolved to tell her parents the very next day.

How will Jovinda’s parents react to her news? The next installment will be on the third Tuesday of April.

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