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"What did it look like before you cleaned?" he asked.
Reed went to the windows. They were dusty and undisturbed.
"Well… His Highness's hairpin was on the floor. But that's it," Marigold said. She pulled her apron between her hands, starting to get nervous with Patrick and Reed’s serious tone.
"Hard to make a mess when he's the only thing in here," Patrick admitted as he turned slowly, looking around the room as well. “Has anyone else been to see him this morning?”
“No. Everyone’s busy getting ready for dinner tonight,” Marigold said.
“How long was he alone in here?” Patrick asked, pulling out a notebook to start writing her answers.
“Eh…” she shifted nervously. “We’ve left him alone before. Why is it suddenly a problem?”
Reed knelt to look at the floor. Patrick was a good investigator, but some things he just wasn’t going to think to look for. Although Reed wasn't sure what he was looking for either. Circles of salt? Candle wax? Mythiric was a world that had a rich history of magic and swords that could cut stone, but all that was in the past. They’d lost the knowledge about two thousand years prior when the first queen of Durshand had purged the corrupt priests of some demon religion. His history lessons had been over five years ago and his disappointment that he couldn’t sling fireballs or summon monsters as pets had caused him to lose interest.
“It’s not a problem,” Patrick assured. “We’re just… looking into something.”
Marigold fidgeted. "Reed? What are you doing?"
"I'd say it was witchcraft, but y'all ain't got that here." He got up, dusting his hands and pants. Ten years he'd been in this world, and all that time he'd thought soullessness was just this low-technology world's way of describing birth defects. Boy, was I wrong… Apparently, inert lumps of flesh can spontaneously become complete assholes.
"What?"
"Never mind," Reed said in English, then waved it off. Correcting to Durrish, he asked, “Can you answer the question, Marigold?”
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Sometimes, even if it's not PERFECT, it's good enough.
Don't back out. You're doin great!
scheduled everything so i wouldn't chicken out and hold the ending off by saying shit like, "actually i gotta rewrite and edit EVERYTHING"
i know i'll chicken out so i'm already deciding for my future self
you can't back out cari
by the time december rolls around you're too busy wrapping up year end reports
sucks to be you YOUR SEPTEMBER 20 SELF HAS MADE THE EXECUTIVE DECISION TO FUCK YOUR FREE WILL!!!!
@huewrite
@thepirateschronicle @ravenrose124 @randomkelseym
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Chapter 15 of Soulless Prince has posted!
~~~~ Floritan burst to his feet. "You will not be considering that thing equally!" he shouted, stabbing a finger at Solace.
Slightly irritated at being called 'that thing' Solace considered throwing something at him.
Charlotte slapped the table hard enough to bounce their dishes. "Solace is the rightfully born prince of this kingdom."
"He's soulless!" another woman shouted.
“He’s an imposter!” someone else accused.
"Soulless. I keep getting called that, but I don’t particularly agree with that assessment,” Solace said, though his voice was drowned out by the cacophony of shouting now filling the room. Gwain heard, though, and looked at Solace with a hint of sympathy as if getting drowned out by other people was a common occurrence for him.
The blonde at the other end of the table bent forward and slowly sank back into her seat. She was laughing so hard that her face had turned bright red. The dark-haired young man next to her turned with an admonishment, but she wasn't listening.
"I'm not lying, Reed," Lorrie said firmly. "I saw his lips move. He spoke."
"Then let's see if he'll do it again?" Reed, the redheaded man, said jovially. Leaning down, he grasped Dunn beneath his arms and hoisted him out of the water.
Steadying Dunn on his feet, Reed grabbed his sleeves and waved unresisting arms at the woman as he said in a weird voice. "I'm coming to get you, Lorrie!"
Dunn snatched one arm free of the swordsman. "Do you mind?" He may have been weak and shaky, but this was too much. He scowled at the man over his shoulder.
Reed withdrew with an abruptness that left Dunn unbalanced.
Stumbling backward, Dunn landed on the pavers. That would probably bruise as well. Looking up at the three, he scowled. "Is this how people act here? Screaming and being rude?" Reed had backed away some distance, hand on his sword. The dark-haired man had partially drawn his, Lorrie hiding behind him.
Dunn shivered, teeth chattering and ruining what little dignity he had left.
The door to the building abruptly banged open. "What are you three doing to my son?" a woman shouted.
"Your Majesty." Reed hastily bowed, slapping his fist to his chest. "He spoke!"
"Sir Owen, do you think me a fool?" The woman was dressed in muted colors, but the fabric was thick and looked soft. For that matter, Dunn realized that his own clothes were made of material he'd never seen before. He fondled the end of his coat.
"Your Majesty," Reed bowed lower, "Please, ask him yourself."
"I will strip you of your commission!" the woman shouted, standing nearly on top of Dunn now. When she moved, he noticed two men had come out of the building behind her. A tall man with shoulder-length silver hair and an older man with a thick, well-trimmed beard. Both were dressed well. The woman was now stabbing her finger in Reed’s face. “I have heard nothing but bad things about you. Now I find you harassing my son? Unacceptable!”
Sighing and more than a little annoyed at the noise, Dunn grabbed her arm, tugging as firmly as he could. She stumbled, choked on her words, and slowly twisted her eyes down toward him.
He stared back at her. "Could you quit shrieking? I did speak to them, though I don't understand why that's such a big deal." Fully expecting more screaming, he released her hand and waited.
Suddenly dropping to her knees as if she'd had them stolen, she stared at him, tears overflowing her eyes. "Solace?" Her hands crept up. Dunn looked between them and her face nervously until she cupped his cheeks. "Solace, my son, did you… what did you just say?"
Concerned, he leaned away slightly. "Why are you crying?" Had he been too abrasive? Who was Solace?
Her fingers tightened. Suddenly, she sprung, landing on top of him. "You did speak! My baby! My son!" She burst into sobs. He stared at the sky, then Reed, as he was closest. Unfortunately, Reed made no move to help. He just looked uncomfortable and pale.
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The third guard's eyes darkened. He reached into his jacket and Fabrian braced herself for a weapon to be pulled. Instead, it was a folded piece of beige paper. The guard handed it to her. “Never, not once, did you treat us as anything more than dirt. And yet here you are, talking to us like equals. I've never seen you so adept or perceptive.” He clenched his fist. “You hated us more than anything. All of us. So if we help you here, I want you to know that we were the ones who did so. Poor common folk who you'd snivel down on.” Fabrian frowned, what kind of woman was this queen? “It was wrong of me. I'll work the rest of my life to make sure that I won’t do it again.” The three guards observed her for a long time, before stepping back into the shadows of the building and disappearing into the crowd on the main walkway. Fabrian did not see them again, even as she left the city outside the castle walls, and their presence only disappeared once she reached the town borders.
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"What did it look like before you cleaned?" he asked.
Reed went to the windows. They were dusty and undisturbed.
"Well… His Highness's hairpin was on the floor. But that's it," Marigold said. She pulled her apron between her hands, starting to get nervous with Patrick and Reed’s serious tone.
"Hard to make a mess when he's the only thing in here," Patrick admitted as he turned slowly, looking around the room as well. “Has anyone else been to see him this morning?”
“No. Everyone’s busy getting ready for dinner tonight,” Marigold said.
“How long was he alone in here?” Patrick asked, pulling out a notebook to start writing her answers.
“Eh…” she shifted nervously. “We’ve left him alone before. Why is it suddenly a problem?”
Reed knelt to look at the floor. Patrick was a good investigator, but some things he just wasn’t going to think to look for. Although Reed wasn't sure what he was looking for either. Circles of salt? Candle wax? Mythiric was a world that had a rich history of magic and swords that could cut stone, but all that was in the past. They’d lost the knowledge about two thousand years prior when the first queen of Durshand had purged the corrupt priests of some demon religion. His history lessons had been over five years ago and his disappointment that he couldn’t sling fireballs or summon monsters as pets had caused him to lose interest.
“It’s not a problem,” Patrick assured. “We’re just… looking into something.”
Marigold fidgeted. "Reed? What are you doing?"
"I'd say it was witchcraft, but y'all ain't got that here." He got up, dusting his hands and pants. Ten years he'd been in this world, and all that time he'd thought soullessness was just this low-technology world's way of describing birth defects. Boy, was I wrong… Apparently, inert lumps of flesh can spontaneously become complete assholes.
"What?"
"Never mind," Reed said in English, then waved it off. Correcting to Durrish, he asked, “Can you answer the question, Marigold?”
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Chapter 20 is posted, but don't worry, Soulless Prince will continue to chapter 30 before the entry period ends!
Did Vice-Captain Fisk actually give Reed permission to fight Sir Blanch, or was it a lie to trap him in assault charges? High nobles can't be trusted, after all…
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@memyselfnchester
AITA for choosing to continue in a competition that I am wholly unqualified for just to wreck someone else’s chance at winning?
I (M 17? 36? I never really knew my age; I don't think it matters now) got volunteered by my mother for a competition. Winning involves a lot of politics. I ran a clinic for the Temple before, so I am not wholly unfamiliar with being in charge of something, but this position requires being nice to a bunch of greedy assholes who can't comprehend that we're trying to have a society here.
I was going to withdraw, but then one of those jerks killed some of my guards to cover his own theft, and now I'm just angry.
Would I be the asshole if I continue with the competition just to make sure the other guy loses? I'm not sure what I'd do with the country if I won...
Reblogs will get follows.
I’ve started making character drawings for my five mains from my new web novel, The Midnight Hand. First out is Sigurd! He is a country boy who gets strange, alarming visions about events that have been and events not yet happened. His village has secrets buried deep down, which will affect his whole life. 👀
He is one of five main characters in The Midnight Hand, all with separate stories, until somehow they are pulled together.
To Sail on Seas of Sky Excerpt: EloKas
Note: This excerpt is from one of my current wips, a pirate-themed high-fantasy that I'm aiming to bring to my platforms by next summer. I thought I might as well post a little excerpt for Talk Like a Pirate Day.
One of the features of the work is the tangled love-pentagon between the five young leads. One of these pairings is Elodie/Kas, and here is their first real meeting! Enjoy!
“Ah, it’s good to see milady out here.”
She turned her head to see none other than the gaudy blond pirate boy with his back against the railing, turned away from the endless ocean. It unnerved her, as she had not known how long he had been there.
“I’m Kas, by the way.” He leaned his head back, his hazel eyes gleaming with something she did not understand. “Kas Beaumont—I don’t think we had the chance to exchange names.”
“Elodie Fleetwood,” she said, mostly out of reflex. She then felt the heat rising to her face. “Sorry—you probably know that already, don’t you?”
“I do, but I never correct a lady, if I can help it.”
Elodie pressed her lips together, and looked back out at the water. The golden light turned the sea as dark as wine or the liquid that came from the jeweled-looking fruits that grew in the trees around Port Augustine.
“Enjoying the view?”
There was something softer about Kas’s voice, something that made her feel more at ease.
“I’ve just never been outside of Port Augustine before,” she confessed. “I had no idea that the world was so. . . so big!”
Kas laughed good-naturedly. “It still doesn’t fail to amaze me, for what it’s worth. And I traveled plenty before I ever set foot on a ship like this.”
“A ship like this?”
“A pirate ship—sorry, privateer, Captain will give me an earful if I don’t use the proper terminology.” He grinned all the same.
“How did you end up on a privateer ship, then?” Elodie asked.
She noticed the briefest darkening in his gold-rimmed hazel eyes. His smirk did not falter, however. “Have any theories, my lady? Maybe I was born to sail the seas and skies. Or perhaps I am like your friend we picked up, or dearest Jade, born among the pirates?”
“I don’t think you are.” Elodie pressed her lips together as she examined Kas. “Your accent is much crisper, and you speak like the students at the college. Clearly you have expensive tastes given—“ she gestured at the jewelry— “All of that.”
His eyes gleamed as his head bobbed back. “Very good. You have an eye for detail—you should ask Captain to put you on lookout.”
“You still haven’t answered my question.” Elodie tilted her head. “You don’t have to, if you don’t want to. You can come out and say it.”
“And where’s the fun in that?” Kas turned around, propping his elbows on the side and leaning back so he could look up at the sky between the billowing sails. “Besides, it’s no real secret. I don’t mind telling you.”
Elodie planted her hands on her hips. “And you’re going through all this song and dance about it why?”
“Because that’s what makes a conversation fun, my lady, it’s a battle of wits!” He adjusted his hat, so it wouldn’t blow off as the sea-winds picked up. “You should try it sometime, it does get so terribly boring being on the sea for so long.”
Elodie huffed a sigh. “If you aren’t going to talk, you might as well not waste my time.”
She started to storm off when Kas grabbed her arm.
“I’m sorry,” he said, the smile less conniving and the slightest bit more sincere. “Look, maybe I’ll tell you the story some other time. But let me at least escort you to dinner.”
“Escort me?” Elodie raised her eyebrows.
“Well, I suppose you haven’t been there yet, and Jade’s a bit busy at the moment.” He let go of her arm, but his hand still hovered over her skin, lingering like the kiss of the sun. “Besides, I thought you might not want to be on your own.”
“I guess not.” Elodie tilted her head, reconsidering Kas.
“Don’t worry, I can be a gentleman at least sometimes.” He tipped his hat to her, then slipped his arm into hers. “May I?”
“You may.”
The Crew of the Albatross: Elodie Fleetwood
Elodie was born out of wedlock to the villainous, infamous Keira Fleetwood and Captain Felix Vance. It was her birth that saved her mother’s life and bought her a pardon from the same fate that befell her father, on the condition that Keira return to her father’s estate. Thus, Elodie has grown up on land all of her life as a part of the rising upper class of merchants and lawyers and such. Her mother raised her with sea-shanties as lullabies, and stories of her time aboard ships with whispers of a greatest treasure that Vance left behind. Still, Elodie for a long time has no desire to take to the high seas, instead looking forward to her debut into a high society that keeps her at arms-length due to her mother’s reputation and Elodie herself being born out of wedlock. Her mother and her struggled because of these differences, but they were still relatively close. Her mother taught her swordplay and a few other tricks for if Elodie should ever feel the call of the sea in her blood, as is her birthright. These came in handy when her mother disappeared, claiming that she had to leave for Captain Vance’s ‘greatest treasure.’
Chapter 21 drops today! Reed is stuck in the attic, hiding from the Aristocrats, when he discovers an old notebook from his first year on Mythiric. How did it get there? What memories will it dredge up from the bottom of his whisky-soaked brain?
The plant of the GODS
Is daikon radish. Why? Because probably someone who got sent last time decided this was a good vegetable. Or maybe they kept talking about home and started claiming it all the land of the gods. Who knows what the last 'little chick' was like?
But they affected an entire culture thanks to that.
It kinda makes you wonder, what will Enoki's impact be? No better time to find out!
OMG
it's Reed!
Me 24/7
I'll talk to people :D
my favorite topics are in the tags.
Just checking something. Interact with this post if you don't mind ppl dropping by your inbox when you're inactive/on hiatus. Whether it's to check on you, drop some STS, WBW, Blorbo Blursday, and other type of ask. <3
I follow back
AITA for choosing to continue in a competition that I am wholly unqualified for just to wreck someone else’s chance at winning?
I (M 17? 36? I never really knew my age; I don't think it matters now) got volunteered by my mother for a competition. Winning involves a lot of politics. I ran a clinic for the Temple before, so I am not wholly unfamiliar with being in charge of something, but this position requires being nice to a bunch of greedy assholes who can't comprehend that we're trying to have a society here.
I was going to withdraw, but then one of those jerks killed some of my guards to cover his own theft, and now I'm just angry.
Would I be the asshole if I continue with the competition just to make sure the other guy loses? I'm not sure what I'd do with the country if I won...