by TR Cameron
“Are they in danger?” asked Ruby.
Morrigan shrugged, a little worried. “Not out of the woods, but if that’s the right potion, everything should be fine.”
“The kid?”
She chuckled. “Wanted to go back and help kick the bad guy’s ass.”
Idryll grinned. “Good start.”
Ruby stretched and sighed. “There’s nothing we can do to help right now?” Her sister shook her head. “Okay. Then let’s go find Abbot Thomas. I need a beer in the worst way.”
Chapter Twenty-Nine
Margrave sighed as he moved the oversized cat prowling his worktable away from the item he was examining, again. Ruby laughed. “Come on now. You know you love her.”
He shook his head. “No, I don’t think I do.”
Her laughter increased. “Give her time. She’ll win your heart.”
He frowned while poking at the collar of the magical armor set with a pair of tiny probes. “What kind of a name is Idryll for a cat, anyway? What’s wrong with Fluffy, or Noodles, or maybe Dust, given her colors?” The feline hissed at the insult, causing Margrave to join in Ruby’s mirth. He clarified, “Okay, not Dust. She is magnificent. I’m still not quite sure why she’s here, though.”
That was a legitimate question but difficult to explain. In part, Ruby had brought her along because she felt a little rocky after the fight, both mentally and physically, and needed the stability of having her partner around. She’d had nightmares about getting shot, about how close she’d come to dying. They all ended with her cursing herself for being arrogant, or naïve, or perhaps some of each. Fortunately, she’d survived to learn that vital lesson, and the bad dreams were lessening in intensity and frequency, to the point where she could almost hope that one day she’d be able to sleep through the night again. Physically, she felt weird although the magical potion had healed all her wounds. She couldn’t think of another way to express it other than off. If she had to place a bet, she’d go with it being the start of a deeply annoying cold.
She shrugged. “She’s my service animal. Anxiety, at the moment.” Another hiss from Idryll expressed her opinion on that matter.
Margrave nodded. “Whatever makes you happy, crazy person. Now, where did you say you got these?”
“From someone who won’t need them anymore.” He shot her a look, and she shook her head. “Sorry, you’re not getting any more than that.”
He tapped on the table with one of the probes, making a rhythmic clicking sound that communicated his annoyance. “It wouldn’t have anything to do with the fracas at the Kraken, would it?”
Ruby smiled. “I can neither confirm nor deny that.”
“Maybe you know something about the cat people or the archer everyone’s talking about?”
“Neither confirm nor deny.”
He heaved another sigh and pointed one of the probes at her face. “Remember our deal. You have an obligation to stay alive and healthy so you can test my stuff.”
She nodded. “No worries on that front. I’m doing all I can, believe me.”
He turned back to the items on the table. “Well, this stuff is pretty interesting, but I’m afraid it’s not going to be useful again anytime soon. You see here and here?” He pointed at where two missing chunks of metal ruined the etchings. She nodded. “Without filling these perfectly and a flawless fix on the etchings, it would be entirely unsafe to wear.”
She growled, “Dammit.”
He laughed and replied, “Careful with the salty language there, sailor.”
Ruby scowled. “This would’ve been an awfully handy tool for someone to have.”
“A cat person?”
“I don’t know. What do you think, Idryll?”
The cat gave a dismissive meow and sat primly, staring at them both. Margrave observed, “I’ve never seen such a condescending look on an animal’s face before.”
Ruby replied, “Right? She’s something.” Suddenly, her vision blurred and she grabbed the edge of the table as a wave of pain and sickness shot through her.
Margrave, startled, jumped up to steady her. “Red, are you okay? You just became a unique shade of pale green.”
Ruby shook her head, which turned out to be a bad idea as the pain increased. “I don’t think I am.”
“I’ll call an ambulance.”
She grabbed his wrist. “No. It’s apparently time to reveal a couple of secrets to you. First, that cat isn’t a cat.” The venamisha magic did nothing to stop the declaration as it traveled from her brain to her mouth.
Idryll jumped off the table and transformed into her humanoid form. She took Ruby in her arms, easily lifting her with one arm under her thighs and the other under her shoulders.
Margrave’s jaw hung open, but no words came out. Ruby’s head lolled a little as she confessed, “Second, I’m not human.” She let the illusion hiding her heritage drop and waved an arm, summoning a portal that opened to Keshalla's house on Oriceran, a connection the woman had instructed was for emergencies only. Dying is probably an emergency, right?
Sounds came through a long tunnel to reach her ears as Margrave asked, “You’ll take care of her?”
Idryll replied, “On my life, always.” Her partner stepped through to the other planet, and Ruby let the portal collapse.
She asked, “What’s going on? Am I dying?”
Idryll shook her head as she carried Ruby into Keshalla's bedroom and laid her down on the bed. “No, you’re not dying. You’re being called.”
Memories of the venamisha crashed down on her, but that pain had been nothing compared to what she felt at the moment. She hoped it wasn’t an indication that whatever challenge awaited her would be proportionately worse.
Ruby managed to force out only three words before she tumbled into the blackness of unconsciousness. “Again? Bloody hell.”
Ruby has made new allies and faced new challenges, but those challenges haven’t ended. Her destiny still awaits her in A FLUSH OF DIAMONDS.
A Flush of Diamonds
Book three in the series is A Flush of Diamonds, and it’s available now at Amazon and through Kindle Unlimited.
Author Notes - TR Cameron
December 24, 2020
Thank you for reading Book 2 in the Magic City Chronicles, and for continuing on to read these author notes! I hope you enjoyed the tale, especially the involvement of the Federal Agents of Magic!
This book was hard to write. Like, really hard. Usually when I’m writing there’s a pivot point where it feels like the uphill climb turns into the downhill spring, and the story just rolls out. In this case, I didn’t get there until the second chapter in the Kraken, which is far later than usual.
I’m not overthinking the reason; as always, I’m just grateful that it all came together in the end like it was supposed to do. I love the way Morrigan progressed in this book, really enjoyed the parts with Diana, Rath, Glam, and Deacon, and made myself laugh out loud a few times at the things that came out of Idryll’s mouth.
In writing communities there’s a lot of talk about whether you’re a “plotter,” or a “pantser,” the latter meaning that you just write by the seat of your pants, making it up as you go along. Stephen King is a great example of the latter group, as he’s said before he just thinks of people in a situation and goes from there. I tend toward the former, since my books tend to have a lot of moving parts. Ultimately though, I think it’s a blend – I make a plan, and then the characters mess up that plan, and then I make a new plan.
For instance, the second part of the venamisha wasn’t supposed to happen until book 4, but apparently it’s coming earlier. While that makes the road a little rocky and requires some solid rethinking of things, it’s also what makes the process so exciting for me as an author. I find turning points that I never expected and treat them as gifts.
Another example is that I had planned to give Ruby the magical armor she took from the assassin. But I realized that gave me the Superman problem –
if your protagonist is too powerful, what threat is there, really? So it’s broken, at least for now. But I wouldn’t be shocked to see it coming back again soon.
World of Warcraft was a bust, but it only cost me $15 to avoid spending a couple hundred on a game that no one was going to play with me, so I count that as a win. I finished Avengers, but haven’t done the first DLC yet. I’m playing Cyberpunk 2077, but I’m really, REALLY disappointed. The glitches aren’t so much of an issue as the storytelling. Coming from the game studio that did the Witcher 3, this game just doesn’t come close to what they’re capable of. Such a deep set of ideas to work with, and they’ve just rehashed a ton of stuff we’ve seen before.
The holiday season always means new board games for us. The thing I’m most looking forward to is Sherlock Holmes: Consulting Detective, which we’re going to play as a family. I’m a huge fan of mysteries in general and Holmes in particular, so I think it’ll be fantastic.
The Expanse is every bit as amazing as it promised to be. I’m not sure there’s ever been any sci-fi as good as this show on the small screen. Watching season 2 of the Mandalorian, but seriously, the first episode is Raylan Givens in space. I loved Justified with a deep and abiding passion, but for heaven’s sake, at least change the accent a little. The darn thing is even called “The Marshal.” Come on people. Work with me here.
The holidays are always a weird time for me. The lack of structure is a challenge. I’m one of those people that just wants to rest while I’m working but can’t relax when there are things left to do. It’s a devious little catch-22.
I’ve been rereading the entire “Foreigner” sequence by C.J. Cherryh to keep my brain from obsessing about things I can’t control. It’s a really lush, wonderful tale. Slow, rich, and vibrant. I can’t think of another series that has those qualities that I enjoy even half as much. I highly recommend it to you if you’re a fan of science fiction.
Finally, if this is your first taste of my Urban Fantasy, look for “Magic Ops.” I promise you’ll enjoy it, and you’ll get more of Diana, Rath, and company. You might also enjoy my science fiction work. All my writing is filled with action, snark, and villains who think they’re heroes. Drop by www.trcameron.com and take a look!
Until next time, Joys upon joys to you and yours – so may it be.
PS: If you’d like to chat with me, here’s the place. I check in daily or more: https://www.facebook.com/AuthorTRCameron. Often I put up interesting and/or silly content there, as well. For more info on my books, and to join my reader’s group, please visit www.trcameron.com.
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Author Notes - Martha Carr
January 18, 2021
In my never-ending quest to get healthy, stay healthy I’m trying something new. Instead of taking one more exercise class with someone yelling about just one more while I wonder if planks count as some kind of torture - I’ve ditched everything that I don’t like.
This is the radical advice of my trainer, Laura Weiner, who I’ve known for years. (The thing I like about her the most is when I ask a question, sometimes she says, I don’t know, and goes off to research a thorough answer. Rare and wonderful.)
And, instead of looking for ways to exercise, we’ve been looking for fun things to do that involve movement. Stay with me here. This was weirdly mind blowing.
Laura’s direction was to ditch everything I approached as a chore and look for things I’d actually look forward to doing. This conveniently fits in with my quest to regain the optimism, curiosity and joy I had as a kid. You know, that feeling when you wake up on a Saturday morning and realize the day is yours and your best friend is just a few houses away. I would jump on my purple Schwinn and race down the hill on Juniper Drive, wondering what adventures the day held. That wasn’t exercise, even though the bike had no speeds and weighed a ton. It was the start of something fun.
I’m sixty-one years old, so it’s a long way back to that little kid, but there’s something strange about when you get to be this old. You let go of a lot of the have-to’s and shoulds and ask yourself better questions. Like, what do I want to do? That question changes everything.
So far, I’ve found boxing and since we’re still in a pandemic I’ve set up Quiet Punch in a doorway. It’s a lot of fun punching something over and over again. The session is over before I know it and I’ve let off some steam.
Next up is yoga. I’ve been using videos from YouTube in the living room. Sure, the good dog Lois Lane usually parks herself on part of the mat, but that’s just part of the ambience. Like being in a gym when a latecomer puts their mat down super close to yours. Ah, the memories of actually being in tight quarters with others. Yoga is perfect because most of the videos start with breathing and meditation and end with the same. By the time it’s over I’ve been sweaty, I’ve stretched and I’m a lot calmer. Plus, there’s hundreds to choose from and they all emphasize different things. I know that sounds like an ad for yoga, but it’s my jam.
I tried running, which I loved but it turns out my back did not. That’s another part of this experiment. I have to be willing to admit defeat with some of the ideas, let go and try again. So, running was replaced with kayaking in Lady Bird lake in January. This is Austin, which means sixty-degree weather, which to me sounds perfect. However, the rental place said, I’m the only one who’s asked about lessons. Apparently, everyone else waits for the ninety-degree weather.
That meant the instructor and I were the only two boats on the lake, along with a lot of birds and turtles. It was perfect. I didn’t even notice I was paddling.
Hardest part of kayaking? Getting in and out of the boat. I did some kind of weird backward entry and roll out, but it worked without entering the water. Awkward but efficient even if the twenty-something instructor, Aubrey looked confused.
What I’ve gotten from all of this is that moving around was never supposed to be torturous. It can actually be fun. Friends have tried trapeze lessons and hula hoop with flames. Yeah, that last one is a thing. It’s all got me looking forward to what comes next instead of dreading ‘exercise’. That Laura is a very clever trainer. More adventures to follow.
Other series in the Oriceran Universe:
THE LEIRA CHRONICLES
SOUL STONE MAGE
THE KACY CHRONICLES
MIDWEST MAGIC CHRONICLES
THE FAIRHAVEN CHRONICLES
I FEAR NO EVIL
THE DANIEL CODEX SERIES
SCHOOL OF NECESSARY MAGIC
SCHOOL OF NECESSARY MAGIC: RAINE CAMPBELL
ALISON BROWNSTONE
FEDERAL AGENTS OF MAGIC
SCIONS OF MAGIC
THE UNBELIEVABLE MR. BROWNSTONE
DWARF BOUNTY HUNTER
OTHER BOOKS BY JUDITH BERENS
OTHER BOOKS BY MARTHA CARR
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