(Swords with Souls)
Fantasy Fiction
By Dan Watt
(Author of BARD series)
(Author of the Plagueborn series)
– Adult content –
A Gathering of Mourners
Other strange creatures, barely visible against the tree trunks or plants they stand near wipe tears away. Upright standing rabbits wearing jerkins and smoking long pipes watch from an open patch of grass before a blackthorn hedge. Peering between ash trees is a large headed person with a boulder sized body. The eyes of this person are wide with interest. A bulbous nose sniffs while a gaping mouth chews on leaves.
She shivers from the sight of what she can only imagine are faie but then settles into the warmth of Crimthann’s arm. That’s when she notices Endellion is missing. She glimpses around and sees the hooded figure standing near Lara. It was a mistake to tell Endellion about Lara’s natural abilities to fight. When Lara was still a little girl her mother brought her with her to the brothel with bottles and jars of ointments and perfumes. Lara had noticed the curved Romani knife she kept strapped to her left thigh. Intrigued by the girl’s interest she took the knife out and demonstrated some of the knife techniques Damian had shown her. Lara asked if she could try. She had turned to Celima, who nodded her approval. Lara emulated her technique exactly, and with vigor. The girl was a natural fighter. Perhaps that’s why Celima and Stian let her ride out on her own.
She turns back to the burning corpse of Stian as his rowboat floats to the middle of the pond.
“When are you leaving?” she barely hears Crimthann ask her. His tone is cool as usual but with a tinge of shakiness.
“It’s warm enough to sleep outside,” she says, leaning into him. He used to pay to visit her but over the years he stopped paying for her bed and just brought her fresh vegetables and occasionally fruit and wrapped meat. For her and the girls, he would say shyly, before quickly departing.
“I have a question to ask you in the morning,” he says with more sternness than perhaps he intended. Or maybe not.
“Well, you’ll need to stay near me than,” she coos.
People I follow
Megan Skelton (artist)
Caedar Writing & Artwork 