Works in Progress: Table of Stone and Forged in Fire, Week 7.

It occurred to me just now that every other time that I’ve done a WIP accountability post before this one, I’ve numbered them by what week it was.  So I went back and counted. This is week seven.

Table of Stone
Swords of Charlemagne, Book 4

Forged in Fire
Heir to the Firstborn, Book 2

I’m going to need to do some catching up on Table of Stone, it looks like.

Had a good writing week. The big reveal in Table of Stone happened (no spoilers, but it’s a scene I’ve been waiting to write since book ONE.) We have a new Companion in Forged in Fire (no spoilers there, either. If you want to know before August, you can come join me on Patreon, where we’re up to chapter five.)

Initial reviews on Written in Water have been excellent, and sales are going well. I will have copies with me at Oasis in May, now that I’ve gotten the cover issues straightened out.

Now, it’s already getting harder to find an unspoilery excerpt. Have a bit from Table of Stone, one that had me scrambling because this reading was also not in my outline.

***

“Cameron!”

The door opened, and Mister Cameron entered, his face pale. He’d changed back into his livery, although given the late hour, he’d left off the ascot. “Master.”

“Fetch your second deck. I want a three card reading,” Mystere said. Cameron came into the room, and reached into his coat pocket, taking out a bundle.

“I thought you might be asking, Master.” He handed the bundle to Mystere. “If you would, sir?”

“You didn’t have me shuffle the cards,” Margaret said as she watched Mystere toss the cards from hand to hand.

“I thought it best to keep your magic out of it entirely, my lady,” Cameron replied. “For your safety. I was correct in that, I think.” He took the shuffled cards back from Mystere and laid out three cards, all face down. Mystere reached across the table and turned the first card over to reveal the King of Clubs. He nodded, then turned over a second card. He frowned.

“The Knave of Hearts. Fletcher?”

“An unselfish relative, or a good friend,” Cameron answered.

“That… leaves me with more questions than it answers,” Mystere muttered. He turned over the last card, and both brows rose.

The card was blank.

“Fletcher, this is like before,” Margaret said. “The other deck had two Kings of Spades.”

“And this one…Fletcher, what card should this have been?”

Cameron counted out the rest of the cards, the cardstock snapping as he laid them on the table. Margaret counted along with him, then watched as he sorted them into suits. He frowned, and so did Mystere.

“There are no cards missing,” Cameron said. “The rest of my deck is intact. That card… shouldn’t be here.”

“And yet it is,” Mystere murmured. He sat back, holding the card up and studying it for a moment. “Quickly, what does a blank card mean?”

“Possibilities,” Cameron answered, while at the same time Margaret said, “Beginnings.”

Mystere nodded, still studying the card. All at once, his face went blank. His mouth hung lax for a moment, as a swell of magic like harpstrings rang through the room.

Begin at the beginning.

***


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