The Orphan Girl, part 3:

Quietly, I picked up the tray and walked out from the room.  When I stepped out in the hallway, another nurse gave me look filled with compassion. “You got another patient that it will require a miracle to heal.”

“Yes.”

“They are the worst patients, since you know that there are nothing you can do.”

I was relieved when she was called away before I had to answer.

I continued down the hallway, pondering what she had told me.  I knew that she was right. Most cases, the really sick patients would die. I hated when they died. If I let the girl die, while knowing that I could have saved her, I would never forgive myself.

My mind made up, I put the tray in the tray cart, before I walked toward the First Healer’s room. I knew that he was more likely to be there this time of the day, than later on.

I knocked on the closed door, waiting for permission to enter.

“Come in.”

I opened the door and stepped inside.  The room was small, or maybe the shelves overflowing with herbs, potions and scrolls made it feel like it was smaller than it really was.

The First Healer sat behind a desk, a frown on his face.  My stomach fluttered, as I stopped in front of him.

“Did something happen to the girl?”

“No, she is sleeping. I wanted to talk to you about the source of her disease.”

The First Healer raised an eyebrow. “Go on.”

I took a deep breath. “There are something called the Wasting disease that hits elemental mages when their mage gift stirs. My Grandmother said it happens when the gift is trying to connect with the leylines.”

First Healer cursed. “ There are no  leylines in Kanida.”

“ I know. I want to transport her to the temple in Chidu, and see if that helps.”

The First Healer shook his head. “She is too weak to survive a trip through a Portal.”

Disappointment filled me, but I pushed it away. “But what if I managed to  improve her health, so that she can travel?”

The First Healer sighed. “If you against all odds manage to do that, I will let you take her to Chidu.”

Relief replaced the disappointment. “Thank you.”

“No one wants to witness a child die,” the First Healer said softly.

Especially not when there might be a chance to save said child.  I merely nodded.

Schedules and stuff

Ever since I got a call from Dad, asking if I was interested in a job, my life has been in a slight chaos.  To be fair, it isn’t the day job. It is just that the rest of my family don’t seem to realise that I’m working part time and  in my spare time, I’m taking the first steps on a career that will be more hectic than the day job.   The last two weeks? I’ve been home 4 nights  ( or was it 5?).   The main reason is that I’m too nice to say no.  Yeah. Need to get better at that.

The result is that while I have made some progress, I’m not making much progress on the revision, and the B4YHS assignments I tend to catch up with during the weekends.

I have made some decisions though.

I wrote a prequel short story to Daughter of the Dark in January, Exile.  Originally, it was planned to be a freebie but I’ve decided that I need a test run since I’m uncertain if  Publit/Overdrive distributes to Amazon ( I don’t think they do, but it would be so much easier if they did), so it will be able for sale sometime this summer.

This means, Daughter of the Dark will be out after Exile.  Not the way I had originally planned it, but things like that happens sometime.   Doing it this way means that I’ll be able to release both books in the duology close together.

Meanwhile, I’m busy revising The Wild Hunt so that you will have more to read later. I have so many plans!  One of the plans is to start posting snippets regularly.  These snippets would either be from whatever I’m working on.   Yes, this means I’ll be posting snippets from things that might be years away from being published.

So here is a snippet from the Wild Hunt ( This scene was rewritten from scratch so it is a bit rough):

Brid stepped out from the forest, grateful for the fact that the paths hadn’t made her utterly lost. All thoughts of the enchanted paths of the forest vanished when she saw the gleaming carriage in the middle of her grassy yard. It was sleek, with large wheels better suited to the paved streets of Myrddin than the rutted dirt road leading to her small hut on the outskirts of Tanglewood. Hide, her subconsious whispered. Brid took shaky breath. It was tempting, but she was the drysa of Tanglewood. She couldn’t hide every time a patient showed up.

 

 

 

 

 

Review: Silent Blade by Ilona Andrews

Silent BladeSilent Blade by Ilona Andrews

My rating: 4 of 5 stars

 The blurb:
On Meli Galdes’ home planet, the struggle for power is a bloody, full-contact sport—in business and on the battlefield. For years her lethal skills have been a valuable asset in advancing her family’s interests. She’s more than earned her right to retire, but her kinsmen have one last favor to ask.

Kill the man who ruined her life.

The Review:
Since Silver Shark was released today, I decided to review the prequel. The world of the Kinsmen is fascinating. At the same time high tech, yet it almost feels regency when it comes to the families. I’ll admit, the fact that Meli was engaged to Celino at the age of 10 felt wrong, yet it is a part of society. I loved how Meli accepted the contract, and used all she knew about Celino to snare him in.

The result is a delicious dance of love past and present. As she plans to get her revenge, Celino falls hard. And so does she. Yet she walked away. I loved that, there felt like poetic justice. But, they get their HEA, so don’t worry. And I loved the ending. It fit the story perfectly

View all my reviews