I heard this morning that the fourth novella in the Wolves of Vimar prequels is not available. This one tells the story of Davrael and Kimi; how they met and how they come to be in Grosmer.
BLURB
For all her life, Kimi has been taught that the Wanderers, as the nomadic tribes are known, are violent thieves.
But they are not a threat, and she hopes to have the life of a Settled Horselord, raising horses like her parents. When her family’s horses are stolen, everything changes. Kidnapped by violent tribesmen and threatened with a forced marriage to the chief’s son, she is terrified of what the future will bring.
Fearing for the lives of her father and brothers, will Kimi be able to escape and return home?
Here is a short excerpt.
CHAPTER 1
Ullin, the silver moon, was high in the sky when Kimi heard a gate creak. She shot up in her bed as she heard voices speaking in quiet tones. Horses whinnied and hoofbeats sounded, gradually disappearing into the distance.
She leapt from her bed and ran to the window of her small bedroom. There, in the silver light of the moon, horsemen drove a herd of horses across the plains.
She covered her mouth with her hand as she gazed through the window overlooking the corral where the family kept their best horses–the same animals that were now disappearing over the horizon.
In her haste, Kimi tripped over her nightgown and crashed against her parents’ bedroom door. The door flew open and banged against the wall as she stumbled into their room.
Gasping, she righted herself. “The…the horses have been stolen.”
Her parents sat bolt upright in their bed. “Are you sure, Kimi?” her father called after her as she sprinted to her brothers’ room. He came out of his bedroom pulling on his traditional horselord leathers.
Kimi grabbed her brothers and pulled them from their beds, not giving them a chance to get dressed.
“Of course I’m sure. The gate creaked, then hoofbeats. I saw them galloping over the plains.”
Eighteen-year-old Olias looked at his sister, a slight frown wrinkling his forehead. “Are you sure they didna jump the gate? Or break it? Did ya see any people?”
Kimi stared at her brother. “I’m not that stupid, Oli. The gate was open. Unless the horses have developed hands, someone did it for them.”
“By Zol’s balls.” Her elder brother, Yeldin, swore as he sprinted back to his room to get dressed.
“The Wanderers!” Her father turned to her mother as she came out of the room they shared. “It must be one of the tribes of Wanderers, thieving scum that they are.”
The family was one of several settled folk living close to The Barrier, the range of mountains that cut off the Western Plains from the rest of the continent of Khalram.
Once, the Settlers had been Wanderers themselves, following the herds of wild horses that roamed the plains. Several generations ago, some of the people decided they could rear better horses if they had more control, so they settled in one place.
There had been mistrust between the Wanderers and Settlers ever since.
Kimi’s mother emerged from the bedroom. “It don’t matter who it is, Har. They’re getting farther away every minute.”
“A Wanderer’s allus a thief. It’s bred into ’em,” her father lectured, as he strode down the stairs and out of the door. Looking back, he called, “Get dressed, and quick. Pick up your weapons and come wi’ me. We’ve some horses to get back.”
Kimi ran to her room and dressed in leather trousers like her father’s, and a fringed leather jerkin. She opened a cupboard and took out a fleece-lined jacket. This she donned over her jerkin. Once dressed she rushed out with her brothers to join their parents at the corral.
Her father was inspecting the gate as they approached. He stood and beckoned them to follow as he strode to a second corral. “You were right, Kimi. Someone let ’em out,” he called over his shoulder. “No sign of ’em breaking the gate. Let’s go after ’em.”
The family caught five horses from a second corral, put bridles on them and leapt onto their backs.
Kimi rode her piebald mare she named Magpie. She patted the horse’s neck. “We need to be quick, girl, if we’re to get your friends back. Pretend you’re the winter wind.”
The Horselords did not use saddles. They considered the use of a saddle and bit to be an insult and enslavement of their beloved horses. The animals responded to reins attached to a noseband, as well as their riders’ knees.
Kimi and her older brothers, alongside their parents, cantered westward across the plain following the tracks of their animals. They all carried bows, and the men were armed with knives.
It was winter, and snow covered the ground. The thieves had taken around twenty of the family’s best animals and they left plenty of signs of their passing in the snow.
After the family had ridden for a couple of miles the tracks split into three.
Kimi’s father pulled his horse to a halt. “They want to confuse us so as we don’t know which way to go. We need to split up to find ’em.”
Kimi’s mother pulled her horse nearer to her husband. “Don’t you think we’d be better off stayin’ together? We dunna know how many there are.” She glanced around her family. “There might be too many for two of us to take on alone.” She turned and looked at the three tracks. “P’raps we should go after one group and get those horses back. At least we’d have some of our stock.”
“Those’re our best animals.” Kimi’s father shifted his seat on his horse. “We need to get ’em all back. If we allow thieves to get even one, they’ll spread the word we’re easy and keep comin’ back till we’ve no horses left.”
Kimi gripped her reins and her lips trembled. She made up her mind to speak. “Stop!” Her voice sounded loud in the silence of the night. “We can’t waste time arguing.”
“She’s right.” Twenty-year-old Yeldin sidled his horse nearer to his sister. “We must get after ’em quick.”
They took a vote and all three young people voted with their father and the group split into three.
Kimi found herself with Yeldin. They followed one set of tracks to the southwest. The light dusting of snow made the passage easy to follow.
“D’you know how many are in this lot?” Yeldin gazed at the tracks left by the passage of many horses.
Of the siblings, Kimi was the best tracker despite being the youngest. She dismounted to study the prints left behind. “Nine or ten p’raps, but how many are ours and how many are ridden by the thieves…” She shrugged.
Yeldin smiled at her. “Well, little sis, they took twenty horses. If each group has the same number, then there’ll be six or seven animals in each. That’d be no more’n three riders. We can take ’em on. Let’s get going.”
Kimi’s stomach turned over as Yeldin mentioned taking on the thieves.
Yeldin smiled, and Kimi knew he realised her fear. “You’ve got your bow. You can shoot from a distance. No need to get close.”
They rode for two miles until they spotted movement on the horizon. “There they are,” Yeldin called from ahead. “I’ll circle in from the east and you approach from the west.”
Kimi nodded, pulling Magpie around and galloping in the direction Yeldin indicated. Guiding her horse with her knees and heels she readied her bow, nocking an arrow as she rode.
A small copse appeared. Kimi slowed her gallop as she rode past. She would round this small stand of trees and double back. By now she would be past where the thieves were and she and Yeldin would take them by surprise. True, there were only two of them, but surprise would give them the advantage.
But she was not prepared for the three mounted warriors who came from the stand of trees.
If you want to find out more, here are some links.
UNIVERSAL BOOK LINK: https://books2read.com/u/31XQ0a
This will take you to a page where you can reach the bookshop of your choice.
AMAZON: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0DSXZYC82
APPLE BOOKS: https://books.apple.com/us/book/horselords/id6740480997
BARNES & NOBLE: https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/horselords-vm-sang/1146825732?ean=2940180987600
GOOGLE BOOKS: https://play.google.com/store/books/details?id=dTo-EQAAQBAJ
RAKUTEN KOBO: https://www.kobo.com/ebook/horselords-1
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