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Sulphur knows hers. This 13th-century woman has trained as a fighter all her life in hopes of joining the army. Then, within days, both of her older sisters announce plans and suddenly Sulphur is expected to find a man to marry instead.
Is it her good fortune her homeland is gripped by fear of a pending invasion and the army now goes door to door encouraging recruits? Sulphur thinks it is. But once she’s forced to kill in a small skirmish, she’s ready to rethink her career decision. Too bad it’s too late. The invasion is coming, and Ilari needs every good soldier it has.
Once Sulphur learns Ilari’s army has made the strategic decision to not defend certain parts of the realm, including the one where her family lives, she has to re-evaluate her loyalty. Is it with the military she’s always admired? Or is it with her sisters, who are hatching a plan to defend their homeland with magic?
The problem with being a woman who fights for what’s right is that now, she has to figure out what is.
(The War Stories of the Seven Troublesome Sisters consists of seven short companion novels. Each tells the personal story and perspective of one of seven radically different sisters in the 1200s as they prepare for an invasion of their realm. While these historical fantasy/alternate history books can be enjoyed as stand-alone novels, together they tell the full story of how Ilari survived.)
The northern edge of Ilari rises rapidly into a high mountain range. The nichna of Tolo occupies this border, where Ilarians pass into the high mountains as needed for travel and trade. Early this morning word reached the Svadlu that troublemakers from further up the mountains had overrun a small village in Tolo. At first I worried these invaders were the dreaded Mongols unexpectedly entering our realm, but reports said otherwise. A small band from the north had commandeered the town, demanding food, bounty, and more from the residents.
Tolo has the most extreme winter weather of any nichna and is sparsely populated, with only a couple of thousand Tolovians who mostly mine ores and act as if the rest of Ilari barely exists and hardly matters. No one wanted to charge up into the mountains in winter to defend ungrateful Tolovians from their newly aggressive neighbors.
My commander, Tamara, was Tolovian and her Mozdol superior placed her in charge of the force being sent. As I watched her get ready for our departure, I understood this was no nuisance to her. She would be defending those she loved.
In the end, forty-five of us left at mid-day, heading into a snowstorm fully armed and bundled in furs. Rooslin and I began the ride side by side.
“Does it make you nervous going into battle for the first time with almost nothing but other untested new people?” he asked.
“What do you mean? The Svadlu would never do that. I’m sure this group contains a good mix of skills.”
He laughed. “I love how trusting you are. You’ve never heard the phrase ‘If it doesn’t sound pleasant, send the new people?’”
No, I hadn’t.
“I recognize a lot of these faces from our rock-moving days,” he explained. “But ask around. Maybe I’m wrong.”
I trotted ahead and made my way up to ten riders, introducing myself and asking each one a few polite questions. Most chatted with me as they answered but even those who didn’t fancy talking gave me the information.
“How many of the ten are first timers?” Rooslin asked after I rejoined him.
“Ten.”
Neither of us said more about it as we rode upward along the western banks of the Little River.
She’s made a lot of stops along the way to writing these novels. She’s lived in seven cities, visited forty-six countries, and worked as a waitress, technical writer, and geophysicist. Now she answers a hot-line. Along the way, she’s lost several cats but acquired a husband who still loves her and three kids who’ve grown up just fine, both despite how eccentric she is.
All her life she has wanted to either tell these kinds of stories or be Chief Science Officer on the Starship Enterprise. She now lives and writes in the mountains of Western North Carolina, where she admits to occasionally checking her phone for a message from Captain Picard, just in case.
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ReplyDeleteThanks for having me here today and sharing my excerpt.
ReplyDeleteI liked the excerpt, thank you.
ReplyDeleteGreat excerpt and giveaway. :)
ReplyDeleteThis sounds like a very good book.
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