Tachartasan Seachdaineil

Welcome once again to the week’s happenings.

First of all, I’d like to apologize for missing last week’s update. I was waiting for my newest release, The Shadows Rise, to finish propagating through IngramSpark before making the announcement.

I’m happy to report that The Shadows Rise, Book One of The Wounded Land Trilogy, is now available through all the usual retailers, as well as directly through my author site.

The Based Summer Booksale has also come to an end, and I couldn’t be happier with the results. According to the zon, I sold twenty-three books during the event. My best-selling titles were the LawKeepers Chronicles, which was wonderful to see.

The next sale I’ll be participating in is the Epic Indie Summer Booksale in July. For that event, I plan to put all of my books on sale at roughly half-price, or as close as Amazon and Ingram will allow.

The next round of chapter previews for The Draoidh’s Cearcall are now available on Patreon. For the price of a cup of coffee, you can read those chapters a full week before they appear on Royal Road.

All Patreon tiers have also received new lore entries, so if you’ve been enjoying the worldbuilding side of Crann Na Beatha, there’s plenty of new material waiting for you.

Meanwhile, work continues on my latest work in progress, The Draoidh’s Return, and I thought I’d share a small preview from the newest chapter.

They were still there when Rana and Sparhawk entered the room and looked for them. Hearing voices from outside, Rana crept across the room and peeked through the doorway.

Seeing her mother cuddled up to Rhyslin, Rana gestured to the scout. “You’ve got to see this,” she whispered as she waited for Sparhawk to cross the room.

For a moment, he wasn’t sure he should be disturbing the old man, but another wave from Rana helped him make up his mind.

After crossing the room, he looked out.

Rana grinned and stepped through the half-open doorway.

“You are up,” she chirped as she pulled Sparhawk through the door with her.

“Good morrow, yelde nin,” Rhyslin greeted her.

For a second, he was taken back to the last time he heard her say that. It had been the day she challenged him at the front entrance of the council chamber.

He called me daughter, Rana thought happily as she leaned in and hugged him. “Atar, Lieutenant Sparhawk wants to talk to you. Do you have time?”

“For you, yelde nin, I always have time. Would you mind going in and helping your mother with a few chores?”

“I don’t mind at all, Atar.” Rana said as she waited for Ria to crawl out of Rhyslin’s lap.

“If you need anything at all, just call,” Ria whispered as she rose and brushed the wrinkles from her skirt. As she passed Sparhawk, she gave him a casual nod.

The two men watched as mother and daughter retreated inside the house.

“Have a seat, Sparhawk.” Rhyslin meant it to be an invitation, but from the scout’s stance, he could tell Sparhawk didn’t hear it as such.

“If it’s all the same, I’d rather stand.” Sparhawk stood at an approximation of ease, watching Rhyslin as a mouse does an owl on the wing.

That wasn’t lost on Rhyslin, who casually leaned forward. “You act like a man who’s not sure if he’s bitten more than he can chew.”

“You don’t know the half of it, old man,” Sparhawk sarcastically replied. He caught himself and gave an apologetic smile. “Are all hin i-lith women so — so?” He held out his hands with the palms up.

“From my experience, it’s not just lithwaith. What did you do to my daughter, Lieutenant?”

Rhyslin could tell from Sparhawks guilty expression that he thought he had broken some taboo.

“I think I claimed her,” he admitted.

“You did what?” Rhyslin raised a brow.

“Well, she told everyone to call her Rana. How was I to know that shortening her name was putting a claim on her?” He looked at Rhyslin.

Rhyslin met his gaze, held it for a long minute, then chuckled. “I only found that out when I shortened Ria’s name and she climbed into my lap.”

Rhyslin watched Sparhawk relax slightly. “Do you love my daughter?”

Sparhawk didn’t answer for a span of time, then he shook his head. “I don’t know how it happened, but I do. She’s the first thing I think about in the morning and the last thing I think about at night.” The young man pulled himself to his full height. “Were we home, I would have already made her mine.”

Rhyslin watched Sparhawk freeze. He thinks he’s gone too far.

“Ria told me the women have put down deep roots. Do you intend to stick around?”

“I do,” Sparhawk admitted. “The locals have offered my squad a job mapping the county.”

Rhyslin nodded. “Rana is both my daughter and my apprentice. I don’t have to tell you that hurting her would put you in a world of pain, do I?”

“No sir.” Sparhawk grinned. “I’ve met Lady Ria. The interrogation wasn’t pleasant.”

Rhyslin chuckled, “Then you’ve passed a harsher test than any I could give you.”