Ferod stood in shock in front of the shrine. He’d distinctly heard the words. “Are you sure you don’t want more?” He didn’t really believe in the old gods. Nobody even seemed to remember the names of whatever god or gods this shrine might be dedicated to. But he had run out of money to…
“Why were you in such a hurry to leave the last village?” Roban looked at his daughter. She was also his apprentice in his trading business. He drove his wagon on a circuit amongst the towns and villages that extended hundreds of miles and weeks in time, buying and selling things that were available in…
“You’re a great disappointment to me.” Jay’s father’s words hit him harder than when his boss fired him, or when he’d been expelled from his high school. He was still a teenager, and already he was practically unemployable. It wasn’t that he was stupid. He simply had a serious problem with the truth. This is…
“We’re not going to bother with any of that marching crap,” said Jeffords to his troops. They were his because he was the only one in town with experience in combat, little as that was. The villagers were lined up, sort of, in front of him. The idea was that he would prepare them to…
The old man sat in his simple room looking at the bag of gold. “Use it however you want,” the rich young fellow had said. “I feel I need to give it to someone, and I have no idea who. I think you may know.” The old man was renowned for his wisdom and his…
He couldn’t be more than four or five years old, thought the headman. He really should know, as this was the son of the resident priest at the little shrine on the north edge of town. But he really couldn’t remember. This is a work of fiction. All person’s, places, and events are products of…
(See also A Fresh Perspective I) The church council didn’t know what to do. Well, that isn’t precisely true. Individually they did know what to do, but they didn’t all know the same thing, and no one plan of action was acceptable to all the members. This is a work of fiction. All persons, places,…
(See also A Fresh Perspective – II.) For years merchant trains had passed through the town by the falls on their way to the great north-south trade route to the west. The terrain was terrible, but alternate routes were even worse. One could go two or three days journey southward, past the end of the…
He stood looking at the hole in the ground. He could feel his hand trembling. He knew he was terrified and was embarrassed, even though there was nobody there to see. A stairway going down. That phrase was loaded with all the psychological freight of his own claustrophobia, heightened by his choice in literature, which…
“The prince is coming here,” said the traveling merchant. “How do you know this?” asked someone from the crowd. “I saw him in a town far to the south, and members of his entourage told me he was heading this way. He plans to come all the way to the coast, and that will surely…
