Happy Monday! Today you get an old snippet from 2017. This was a non-starter at the time from the business point of view, but now you get to read it for fun. We’ve posted it once before, but it had been taken down, and someone asked me over the weekend to please repost it.
The sun rolled toward the horizon, painting the sky red and gold. The layers of mountains faded into dying light, each more faint than the last, until the furthest of the peaks seemed little more than ghosts. If Raina was home, she would’ve watched it for a while from the remnants of the castle wall, but now time was short. They were losing the light.
“Round, Puffles. Let’s scare them one more time.”
The aging dragon banked. Wind buffeted her face, pulling her wide-brimmed hat. She shifted her weight to stay in the saddle. Puffles turned and streaked above the green pasture. His shadow fell on the three sacrificial sheep in a small corral, and the ewes bleated in alarm.
Where were they? Here she had three delicious sheep crying their hearts out, and the pack was nowhere in sight.
The eerie howl soared to the sky, a vicious gleeful song of a predator catching the scent of its prey. Raina turned in the saddle. The howl had come from the east. She had expected the pack from the west.
Puffles raised his massive head. A puff of dark smoke broke free of his fangs.
“Yes, I heard that too. Easy. They’re not here yet.”
Another howl cut the silence, shorter and sharper than the first. The small hairs on the back of her neck rose. They’d found their victim and were closing in, and that victim was nowhere near her sheep. Damn it.
Raina leaned in the saddle. “Forward.”
The dragon beat his wings, surging through the air. The pasture jerked back, out of sight. Woods rolled under them.
“Faster, Puffles. Faster.”
The narrow strip of woods ended. A light ribbon of the road snaked its way north with a hundred yards of clear ground followed by woods on each side. A lone traveler in a grey cloak stood on the road, brandishing a long stick.
“Hold!”
The dragon’s wings snapped up, and he rode the updraft, hanging in midair.
Five dark shapes broke free of the copse of trees across the road and charged toward the traveler. The master shepherd was right. Wargs. The big shaggy hounds of Alsace had no trouble holding off the regular wolves and mountain lions, but wargs topped two hundred pounds each. They could shear through a sheep’s spine in one bite and carry off a three-hundred-pound ram like he weighed nothing. A regular wolf pack took one sheep and ate it for a week. When wargs came, they took one every night and they killed any hound or human who tried to stop them.
The man swung his cane, warming up.
The wargs sprinted to him. Nice tight group. They’d rip him apart.
Puffles was still hanging. His eyesight wasn’t what it once was. He couldn’t see them in twilight. She would have to be his eyes.
Raina released the reins and leaned forward, tucking herself flat against the dragon’s back. “Dive!”
The drake dipped his head, beat his wings once, and pressed them against his sides. The ground rushed at her with heart-stopping speed. The wind turned into a solid force trying to rip her free. A cold flash of fear and exhilaration burst in her, and she drank it in until the ground yawned, too close. Raina tugged the reins.
The drake’s wings snapped open. They leveled and zoomed over the man on the road at a breakneck speed, so close, the dragon’s claws could’ve locked on his shoulders. The pack was right in front of them. Puffles still didn’t see them.
“Warg!” she screamed into the wind. “Warg, Puffles, warg!”
A loud rumble began deep in the dragon’s belly. The terrifying jaws unhinged, and a gout of flame tore out. The three leading wargs vanished in a ball of white fire. The other two veered left, but it was too late. Puffles had seen them. He banked sharply to the left, following. They sprinted across the grass, but no animal on four legs could outrun a flying dragon. Another burst of fire caught the closest warg. The last beast dashed right in a desperate attempt to escape, but the drake claws caught him. The warg yelped. The great scythe talons squeezed, cutting off the sound in mid-cry.
Puffles beat his wings, gaining height, and settled into a wide circle.
“Best dragon ever.” She leaned forward and petted his muscular, scaly neck. “They didn’t stand a chance.”
Puffles coughed, little streaks of smoke escaping his mouth. It sounded like chuckling. He was quite pleased with himself and he wanted her to know it.
“So mighty. And fast. And brave.”
Puffles hurled the warg’s body into the air and dropped twenty feet down. Raina’s stomach made a valiant effort to jump out of her body. The warg plummeted in front of them and Puffles snatched it in mid-air. Raina swallowed, trying to catch her breath.
“That’s a fine warg. The biggest warg I’ve ever seen. You’re such a good hunter.”
Puffles chuckled.
“You know what’s bothering me?” She looked down where the man in the grey cloak watched her from below. “Why didn’t he run for the woods? Who sees five wargs coming at him and thinks, ‘I’ll just stay here and wave my stick!’ instead of climbing the nearest tree?”
Small puffs of smoke escaped between Puffle’s fangs.
“Yes, I know you wouldn’t run, but you’re a mighty dragon. He’s a puny human, and I haven’t seen him before. Why don’t we go down there and ask him who he is and what he’s doing three miles from our keep? Land, please.”
Puffles glided down in a slow arc. The great paws touched the ground. He ran for four steps, spread his wings, and trotted over to the man. Raina stayed in the saddle.
Most people confronted with a dragon rider on a Gallian Drake the size of Puffles reacted as if they were backed into a corner by a rabid dog. They watched him like a hawk and kept their movements small and slow. The man showed no tension. He leaned on his stick, which turned out to be a cane, his pose relaxed, the line of his shoulders easy. Either he had no sense at all, or he had a good reason to not be afraid.
Raina scrutinized him as Puffles trotted closer. The traveler was tall and lean, most of him hidden by a well-worn grey cloak. Nobody had even tried to patch the tattered hem or the burn on the left thigh. Tall leather boots, but no hat. He’d tied his grey hair at the back of his neck, and the wind was doing its best to throw the long white strands at his face.
It was a weathered face of a man in his sixties, creased by wrinkles, with a short beard and moustache. An old scar climbed up his left cheek up and disappeared into his hairline. He was smiling, but his eyes under the thick eyebrows watched her with the calm focus of a predator. Sharp and dark, they missed nothing. She was wrong. There were six wargs on this road, not five, one of them human.
She smiled back and tried to look not too bright. “Hello there.”
“That was some fancy flying,” the traveler said. “Much obliged.”
A light, crisp accent, the same one she’d heard from her mother every day. A man from the capital. Alsace was as far away from Bellesere as you could get and still remain in Gallia. She petted Puffles’s scaly neck. Mother always said that nothing good ever came out of the capital.
“Are you hurt?” she asked.
He raised his arms to the sides. “Completely unharmed. Thank you.”
“You’re welcome. We do what we can to keep the roads safe. We don’t get many visitors this way.” Unless they were wool merchants.
He smiled again, his eyes narrowing to mere slits. “Is that your subtle way of asking me where I’m headed?”
“Goodness, no. But if you’re lost, I can point the way.”
“I’m looking for a man,” the traveler said. “Maybe you know him. His name is Felin Belfort. He’s supposed to live somewhere around here. You remind me of him.”
He knew her father. “Do we look alike?”
“No. You fly alike.”
He knew her father during the war, and he came to find him. The question was, should she take this old warg in human skin home? He didn’t seem like a soldier. The bearing was wrong. She’d met veterans before. They looked you straight in the eye and they held themselves like they had nothing to prove. He felt more like her mother. A killer.
He probably knew exactly where Belfort Keep was, and if he kept going down this road, he would find it. If he somehow got lost along the way, any passerby would point out the way. She could take him home now, when father and Mother would be both there, getting ready to eat dinner, or she could fly ahead and announce that she met him. The second way meant risking him showing up at a time of his choosing.
No, better to bring him now. Three, three and a half, if she counted her brother, against one were good odds.
“What a coincidence. Felin Belfort is my father.”
Something moved in the deep shadows under the tree on the other side of the cleared ground.
“The Keep is just past that hill.”
She felt the weight of someone’s gaze. Too early in the season for Seaxonian bandits and they would think twice about taking on the drake. An urge to take to the air gripped her. She crushed it and kept talking.
“I’ll show you the way.”
“Much obliged,” the man said again.
“Do you have a mount?”
The traveler gave a short, sharp whistle. A mare trotted out from under the trees, from the spot where the darkness watched her and clopped her way to them.
Whatever hid in the shadows was still there. Watching. Waiting.
The man swung into the saddle. Raina touched Puffles’ neck and shifted her weight, urging him forward. They rode side by side, she on the dragon and the traveler on his horse. The spot between her shoulder blades itched. She pictured an arrow slicing out of the shadows and piercing her back.
“You never told me your name,” she said.
“Jehan.”
Just Jehan. No last name, no title. The name told her nothing.
“Raina Belfort.”
“Lovely name.”
“Thank you.”
“That’s an old fellow you have there,” Jehan said. “Is he going to be alright walking?”
“It’s good for him to stretch the joints a little.”
Puffles shifted the warg in his mouth. When he was younger, he was a fine example of a brown Gallian Drake. He was vicious and fast, the pride of the royal dragon stables. He fought against the Anglian shrikes, the Seaxonian adlers, and the colossal monster dragons of the Jutes and survived. Through it all, he carried her father on his back. He was no longer that fast, but he was still vicious.
“What’s his name?” Jehan asked.
“Garan the Proud.”
“He’s in his sixties, I take it?”
“Seventies.”
“Not many people would keep a dragon of this age. The upkeep must cost a fortune.”
He was probing for information. She would have to be careful. Raina patted the dragon’s neck again, feeling the rough edges of the scales under her fingertips.
“No matter how old he gets, he’ll always have a roost and a good meal at our house, because he brought my father home.”
Jehan nodded. “Felin always pays his debts.”
And what did her father owe him? A feeling of dread came over her, as she was watching an incoming storm brewing on the horizon and could do nothing to stop it.
“Must be a quiet life here in the Provinces,” Jehan said.
“Well, the wargs come at the end of winter, the Seaxonian bandits raid in the early summer, and the wild drakes fly down from the mountains in the fall, during the mating season, and during winter when the food is scarce. Other than that it’s pretty quiet.”
“Everything but the Jutes.”
“That’s right.” Alsace lay too far from the coast, away from the Jute raiding routes. The last time the northerners invaded the province happened over three decades ago and only because Gallian army had driven them inland.
“I’d imagine not much to do for a woman of your age.”
“I keep busy.” Odd topic of conversation.
“There are two types of young people in places like these. Those who are affianced and ready to start a family by eighteen summers and those who can’t wait to get out.”
Three days ago, when she’d come home from chasing off a young wild drake who’d been taking too much interest in the herd in the northern pasture, Father had asked her if she wanted to marry Dizier Sirrel, because his father had proposed a match. It took her a full minute and two gulps of wine to overcome the coughing. She told them that Dizier was mean to dogs and very proud that his parents were first cousins who married for the purity of his bloodline. Mother laughed about it for half of the evening.
“I’m not affianced.” She smiled at him. “But I’m happy here.”
“That makes things easier,” Jehan said.
She didn’t see how.
They cleared the hill. Beyond it, the ground gently sloped only to rise again, with the keep perched on the apex of next hill. The sunset had burned down to dim coals, and in its weak reddish light, Belfort’s white walls almost glowed against the greenery. The old castle sat atop a hill like a broken crown, part of its once tall wall missing. Thirty-six years passed since the Jute attack, but the black scorching marks of dragon fire still stained the walls, permanently embedded in the stone.
Raina fought a shiver. When she was a little girl, the survivors would tell her stories of that night, dark scary fairy tales of fire, monsters, and northern barbarians. It took only one blast from the giant Jute dragon to rip through the solid stone and set everything inside ablaze. The fire had been so intense that the wall had glowed red for hours.
Their family had since rebuilt the inner keep, with dragon and horse stables, but the ruined wall had been a much lower priority. At its lowest, it stood tall enough to stop a man and a warg, and that was good enough for now.
“Lovely place,” Jehan said. “Do you think your mother will be home?”
She was counting on it. “We’ll just have to see. I’ll go ahead by air and open the gate for you.”
“Can’t wait,” he said and smiled.
#
Puffles landed in the courtyard on the landing pad in front of the stables. Raina dismounted and opened the heavy steel gates of the dragon roost. Jehan would be here any minute. She had to secure the dragons. If things got ugly, dragon fire everywhere was the last thing they’d need. And things would get ugly. She was sure of it.
Puffles pranced past her inside, stopped by Korvan’s roost and waved the warg in the younger dragon’s direction. Like Puffles, Korvan was a Gallian drake, but where the older dragon was dark brown, almost black, Korvan’s hide was the color of whiskey, and when the light shone through his great leathery wings, they looked almost amber.
Puffles shook the warg, showing off. Korvan got up and shifted back and forth on his massive feet, whining.
“Stop teasing him.”
Puffles gave the warg one last shake, walked into his roost on the bed of soft white sand, dropped his prize onto the stone platform in the corner, and began to feed. Raina closed the metal gate, took a deep breath, and went to the front gate.
Jehan was waiting when she opened the gates.
“The stable is to your left.”
“Thank you.”
The mare clopped by her.
The sunset had burned down to coals, and long purple shadows claimed the countryside, stretching from the woods to lick at the white walls of Belfort. Raina peered at the darkness.
Nothing.
No odd sounds, no stray shapes sliding soundlessly in the twilight, no eerie feeling of being watched. So why was she still uneasy?
She shut the door and barred it. Jehan had put up his horse and was waiting for her by the stable gates.
“This way.” She led him to the main building of the keep, grasped the handle of the heavy metal door, and opened it. “Please. First doorway on the left.”
He smiled. “After you.”
Go first and give him the opportunity to stab her in the back? “No, I insist.”
Cold brushed her cheek, like the soft brush of a feather someone had chilled in the ice cellar. The tiny hairs on the back of her neck rose. The darkness had followed them home, and now it slipped inside the keep.
“If you insist.” Jehan strode into the building.
She pulled her hunting knife out and hid in her hand. Ahead Jehan turned through the
“I’m home, and I brought a visitor!” she called out. “From the capital!”
Jehan walked into the great hall. She was only a step behind.
An old wooden table, a scarred veteran of many culinary battles, occupied the center of the room. Massive and solid, it could sit twenty-four comfortably, but most days only four seats were occupied. Father sat on the far left, Mother across from him, Raul next to Father, and she would normally sit down next to Mother.
Her parents looked up. Father, tall, broad-shouldered, still athletic in his early fifties, dark hair worn short, left over from his days as a Guard. Her mother was his exact opposite. Short, curvy, with a waterfall of blonde hair, and big blue eyes, she was beautiful and charming, and she wielded beauty and charm like two daggers.
“Surprise!” Jehan said.
Father froze with a fork in his hand.
Smile died on Mother’s lips. Something vicious flared in her eyes. She flipped the knife in her hand.
And that went exactly as expected.
“You!” Mother hissed.
“Hello, Estelle,” Jehan said. “I’ve come to collect.”
Mother lunged forward, the knife in her hand. Jehan raised his stick.
A shadow stretched from the wall, as if liquid, heading for her mother. Raina lunged forward, knife out. The blade met solid flesh. A thin drop of crimson wet the polished steel.
The shadow fell apart, torn from the inside. A man glared at her. He wore black and her knife had caught him across his throat.
It was suddenly very quiet. Mother halted in mid-step.
“Well,” Jehan said. “She’s your daughter, Estelle.”
The man stared at her. She looked into his eyes. Like two chips of ice from a glacier. He would kill her, she realized. He would murder everyone in the room, including her twelve-year old brother, then he would help himself to their dinner and wine. He would eat well, he would sleep untroubled, and he would go on with his life, never worrying about what he’d done. Her life and her family’s lives meant nothing. He would snuff them out as if they never existed.
“Raina.” Father’s voice cracked with command. “Lower your knife and step away from our guest.”
She had to kill him now, because he would never forget that she held a knife to his throat.
“Raina,” Father said.
His ice eyes were calm. He was confident he would survive. If she sliced his neck, chances are she wouldn’t kill him. If she moved, he could disappear into the shadows and then there would be no stopping the violence that would come next.
She couldn’t cut his throat anyway, she realized. In the moment when he moved toward her mother, maybe, but not now, with him standing there glaring at her as if she’d stepped on his foot.
Raina lowered the knife and took a step back.
“Why don’t we all sit down and discuss this like civilized people,” Father said. It didn’t sound like a question. It sounded like command. He walked over to her mother and offered her his hand. Mother rested her fingers in his. Father led her to her chair and held it out for her.
Raina pulled out the nearest chair and sat, two seats down from her mother.
Jehan smiled and sat two chairs two her right. The shadow man rested his hand on the table, leapt over it, and sat into a chair directly across from her. The narrow gash on his neck dripped crimson. He picked up a linen napkin from the basket and drew it across his throat. It came away crimson, but the gash was already sealing. She’d barely nicked him.
“Raul,” Father said. “Bring two extra settings.”
Her brother took off for the kitchen.
“Raina, pass the platter to our guests,” Mother said, loading it with so much venom, Raina almost winced.
She rose, picked up the platter of chicken, and another with steamed vegetables. Normally the dinner would make her mouth water. Roasted chicken instead of the usual slice of smoked ham, a bottle of wine, freshly baked bread, a platter of cheese, steamed artichokes, and blackened asparagus. Raul returned with extra plates, forks, knives, and two wine glasses. She made sure to pass the platters to her left. Jehan filled his plate, and passed them to the shadow man, who picked out a drumstick and a slice of bread, and passed the rest to Raul.
She realized she hadn’t even put anything on her plate, so she rose, got some food, and sat back down.
For a few moments, nobody spoke. Jehan sampled the wine and raised his eyebrows. “Not bad, Felin. Yours?”
“Of course,” Father said, his voice calm. “We’re in Alsace. We raise sheep and make wine.”
Cold pinched her spine with sharp claws. She looked up. The shadow man studied her with his ice eyes. She raised her chin and studied him back. Broad-shouldered, tall, short blond hair, clean-shaven. The black clothes hid everything except his neck and face. She was reasonably sure he was older than her, but it was impossible to tell by how much. He had one of those faces that would likely look the same at twenty-five or forty. He could’ve been Gallian, Anglican, or Seaxonian.
“You took on an apprentice,” Mother said. “I thought you swore it off.”
“I did.” Jehan helped himself to the chicken.
Raina put her fork down. It hurt her to watch him eat their food.
“I couldn’t help it,” he continued.
Mother raised her eyebrows.
“The little bastard stole from me,” Jehan said.
The “little bastard” ignored the conversation, tore a chunk of bread, and put it in his mouth.
Choke on it, Raina willed.
“You mean, you let him steal from you,” Mother said.
“No, I meant I walked through the Twins Row, and when I came home, the amber crest wasn’t in my pocket.”
Mother stopped eating.
“I realized that he must be new, young, or dumb.”
“Why?” Raul asked.
“Because all of the regular pickpockets know not to steal from me.”
“Because you’ll kill them?” Raul guessed.
“No. Because I’ll cut out their eyes.” Jehan took another pull of his wine. “A corpse is forgettable. A man with two black holes where his eyes used to be begging on the street corner is a living reminder of lines one doesn’t cross.”
Father put down his fork. “Why are you here?”
Jehan reached into his cloak, withdrew a leather tube, and tossed it across the table. Father snapped it out of the air, gripped the tube, and twisted, snapping the red wax seal. It fell and dangled off the tube on a silken cord. A stylized Gallian drake holding an iris in its claws. The royal seal. Alarm squirmed through Raina.
Father pulled the top off, exposing a piece of paper rolled into a tube. He plucked the paper out, unrolled it, and read it. Mother leaned in to read with him.
Father put the paper down. “No.”
“It’s not a request,” Jehan said.
“Over my dead body,” Mother said.
“If necessary.” Jehan leaned back. “The Crown is in danger. He needs someone now. We’re all adults here. You knew the bargain you made.”
“I’ll go,” Father said. “The Guard always needs instructors.”
“No.” Jehan’s eyes turned hard. “He needs someone from the outside, without any ties or past loyalties to muddy up the waters. I saw her fly today. She executed a precision dive on a half-blind dragon. She’ll do.”
It was about her.
“No,” Father said.
“May I see the scroll?” she asked.
“No,” Father said.
“I’ve reached majority,” Raina said. “If the scroll concerns me, I have the right to see it.”
Mother took the scroll off the table and passed it to her.
Charles, by the grace of God, King of Gallia… titles, titles, more titles …in accordance with an oath sworn by His Father, Lothair the Stalwart, and as a reward for the meritorious service of Felin Belfort in Our Time of Need… …calls upon Raina Belfort to join the ranks of the Royal Dragon Guard for the good of God, King, and Country…
No.
…calls upon Raina Belfort to join the ranks of the Royal Dragon Guard for the good of God, King, and Country…
She read it again. It still said what it said.
“Can women even join the Guard?” she asked.
“They can,” Father said, staring at Jehan. “The Guard was started by a woman. They’re discouraged from it, however.”
“Why?” Raul asked.
“Because any time there is a dragon threat, the Guard is the first to defend and the first to die,” Mother said. “You’re not taking our daughter.”
The Royal Dragon Guard served as His Majesty’s personal guards, and when he flew his dragon, they rode beside him into battle.
Raina looked at the scroll again. For the period of fifteen years… Fifteen years. It seemed like an eternity. She would be thirty five if she survived. Almost middle-aged.
“Why don’t we ask her?” Jehan asked.
“It’s not up to her,” Father snapped. “She’s my daughter. She isn’t some pickpocket you plucked from the street and turned into a killer.”
The shadow man rolled his eyes. It only lasted half a second, but she was sure she saw it.
Jehan had said he came to collect. She pivoted toward her mother. “Why is this happening?”
“It’s ancient history,” Mother said.
Raina turned to Jehan.
“Your mother killed a man to save your father’s life,” Jehan said. “A man who was important to my employer. A bargain was struck. They kept their lives, but when he called them to service, they couldn’t refuse.”
“That bargain was never meant to apply to our children,” Mother ground out. “If I knew…”
“What? What would you have done, Estelle?” Jehan leaned forward. “You would’ve done exactly the same thing. You would’ve sold him your firstborn to keep Felin breathing.”
Mother leaned back and smiled her charming easy smile. “You’re such a treasure, Jehan. We should get together more often.”
Father reached out and put his hand on her wrist.
“What happens if I don’t go?” Raina asked.
“Tell her, Estelle,” Jehan said.
“You’re the man with all the answers,” she told him.
“We’ll report back to my employer,” Jehan said. “Then we’ll return, kill you, your father and mother, and your brother. We’ll poison your dragons and burn your keep. There will be nothing left of the name Belfort except a smoking ruin.”
“Can they do that?” Raul asked.
Nobody answered.
He looked from face to face and turned to the shadow man.
“Yes,” the man said.
On one side, the lives of her family. On the other side fifteen years of her life. There wasn’t any choice, she realized. It’s already been decided for her. She wanted to stomp and scream that it wasn’t fair.
“Can we kill them now?” Raul asked.
“No,” Mother said. “If we do, the night king will just send more.”
“Think about what you’re doing,” Jehan said. “You’ve had twenty years in the countryside, raising your sheep, making wine, rutting like two rabbits. I bet when you look at your hands, Estelle, you can’t even see blood anymore. But it’s still there. Did you really think your old sins would be forgotten?”
“Raul,” Father snapped. “You’re excused from the table.”
Her brother took off.
A change came over Mother. The kind, charming, easy-going woman had vanished. In her place sat a grim ghost, and she was contemplating murder.
She had no choice, Raina realized. Her heart hammered against her ribs. “I’ll go,” Raina said.
“You will not,” Father said.
She had to wrestle it back from him. If he went to the capital, he would condemn all of them. She picked up the scroll and turned it to him. “It says Raina Belfort. See, right here. It doesn’t say Felin Belfort.”
Jehan chuckled. “The curse came true, Estelle. You had children who are mouthy bastards just like you.”
“Raina,” Mother said. “Don’t disrespect your father.”
She had thrown one stick onto the fire. Might as well toss in the whole bundle. “This is a royal decree. What are you planning to do, Father? Are you going to defy our king? Will you pretend to be me? You can’t pass for a twenty-year-old woman even if you shave.”
She looked at her father’s eyes and ran face first into an impenetrable wall of no.
“This matter is settled.” Father rose. “Come. I’ll show you to your rooms.”
He stared at Jehan. The old man tossed the rest of his wine down his throat and got up. The shadow man got up with him, and Father led them from the room.
Mother leaned her elbow on the table and rested her forehead against her hands.
“Who did you kill?” Raina asked quietly.
“There are two kings in Bellesere,” Mother said. “King Charles in the Terrade Castle rules the capital by day. Alasdair Rock rules it by night. He is the man nightmares are made of. I killed his nephew.”
“Did you do it to save Father?”
Mother nodded. They fell silent.
“Things that you do are never forgotten.” Mother’s voice was quiet as if she was talking to herself. “They follow you and eventually you have to pay for them. There is a price for everything.”
She seemed so old right all the sudden. Old, and weak, and defeated. Fear squirmed through Raina. She swallowed. She could do something about it. And she would.
“Stay away from Jehan,” Mother said. “And from his pet killer. That creature is an abomination. One way or the other, they’ll be gone by morning.”
“Is Father going to leave with them?”
Mother didn’t answer. She grabbed the wine bottle and hurled it at the stone wall. The thick glass bounced off the stones without shattering. The bottle rolled across the floor. Mother took a deep breath and walked out of the hall.
#
Raina climbed the stairs to her room, entered, shut the door, and leaned against it. Her home for the last twenty years. He whole life was in the this room. She knew every nook and cranny. She could move around it in complete darkness half-asleep, never bumping into anything.
The moonlight streaming through the window barely lit the bedroom, but her memory painted it as if she saw it sunlight at noon. The big, solid wooden bed with cream-colored linens and her favorite pillow. The ornate table carved out of a solid chunk of wood for her, supporting a lantern and the last book she was reading. The shelves where her memories lived: her stuffed toy cat Snowball, once white and now mostly grey; her books; a small chest filled with childhood treasures of colorful chunks of glass, weird rocks, and coins from faraway places… She shut her eyes. For twenty years, this was the safest place in the world. Her happy little corner. Her haven.
Just don’t think about it. You know what needs to be done. Just do it.
Raina crossed the room and pulled a travel bag from the chest. She tossed the leather holder with her certificate of birth into it. She pulled a small purse of money out of her dresser and dropped it into the bag. Her savings. Her family had money from the wool trade but asking for it now would be out of the question. She had to do this fast and quiet, before her parents realized what was happening. She threw clothes into the bag, socks, underwear, boar bristle toothbrush, a tin of powder, other necessities… She picked up Snowball and stuffed her into the bag. Then she stripped and put on the wool pants, blouse, the tall boots, and the riding leathers. She strapped her narrow saber to her waist, took the hat with a black feather off its hook, and put it on.
This was it. There couldn’t be any goodbyes.
Raina eased the door open. The way was clear. She padded down the hall and quietly knocked on Raul’s room. The door swung open, revealing her brother.
“I need help,” she whispered. “Go to the stables and saddle both dragons.”
He nodded and took off down the stairs.
The royal decree lay where she’d dropped it. Raina rolled it back into a tube, stuffed it in its protective case, and hid it in her bag.
Father would’ve put them in the west side, in one of the three guest rooms. They were the farthest from the front door and the farthest from her and Raul’s bedrooms. Only one door showed the faint yellow glow under it. She knocked.
“Come in,” Jehan called.
She tried the handle of the door. Unlocked. It swung open under the pressure from her fingertips. Father didn’t lock them in. It wouldn’t have done much good.
She walked in. Her heart was beating too fast. She took a deep quiet breath to steady herself. Never let your enemies know what you’re thinking, Mother’s voice said from the depth of her memories. When you’re in your darkest moment and they scare you so you can’t even think, laugh in their faces. Fake it if you must.
The room stood empty, the door in the far wall ajar. Two figures sat on the balcony, barely visible against the darkness of the country night. She shut the door, crossed the room, and came out on the balcony.
Jehan leaned against the stone rail. The shadow man sat on it, legs crossed. Neither had taken off their clothes.
“Mother used to say Bellesere was a nest of vipers,” she said, keeping her voice light.
Jehan nodded.
“You’re the vipers.”
“Yes.”
“You asked me if I had a fiancé. Why?”
“Because betrothal is a legally binding arrangement,” Jehan said. “There are only three ways to break it: money, intimidation, or murder. It’s harder to press someone into service after you murder their fiancé.”
Charming. “I’ll need a map,” she said.
Jehan reached into his travel bag and pulled out two folded maps. “The top is the dragon route to Bellesere. The second is the map of the city. When you get to the capital, go directly to the Rock estate. Do not land anywhere else. Do not speak to anyone. Try not to die on the way. Do you understand?”
“I’m mouthy, not slow.”
“Don’t mouth off to Alasdair Rock. It’s not wise.”
She took the maps and stuffed them into her bag. “You’ve got what you wanted. Leave. I want to see you gone.”
“We weren’t planning on staying.” Jehan said. He swiped his bag off the stone floor and walked out the door.
The shadow man pondered her.
She crossed her arms on her chest. “Which part of ‘leave’ wasn’t clear?”
He leapt off the stone rail, vanishing into deep shadows below. That had to be a twenty-foot jump. If there was any justice in the world, he’d break his legs.
Raina leaned from the balcony and watched as Jehan got his horse out of the stables, opened the gates, mounted, and rode out. She exhaled and hugged herself.
Bellesere was one of the biggest cities on the continent. She’d never been outside of the province. She’d never even seen a Jute, except for an old man in Gallian clothes, who’d made his living protecting wool merchants’ wagons.
If she thought any more about it, she wouldn’t leave. Now wasn’t the time for self-pity.
She shouldered her bag, slipped out of the room, and snuck across the keep and out of the front door. The moon was bright, lighting the courtyard like a lantern. She crossed the open space at a run and dashed into the stables, where huge wooden gates stood wide open.
Raul waited by the dragons. He’d saddled both and led them out of their enclosures to the gates, ready to take off, Korvan in front and Puffles behind him.
She hugged her brother. “Take Korvan and fly him.”
“Where?”
“Anywhere. As long as you keep him away from Father for a few hours. I need a head start.”
“Don’t go,” he said.
“I have to. Go on.”
He climbed into the saddle and picked up the reigns. “Out, Korvan. Out!”
The younger drake rushed the doors, banging them open, tore into the courtyard and flew to the sky.
Raina swung into the saddle. “Out, Puffles! Go!”
The dragon ran out the doors.
“Raina!” Mother screamed.
She turned. Both of her parents stood on the steps by the inner keep’s door. Father’s face was terrible.
“I’ll send him back,” she yelled, as Puffles beat his wings. “He’ll come home to roost. I love you!”
The aging drake took to the sky. Cold wind buffeted her. She took one last look at Belfort far below and turned east, toward the capital.
I missed this the first time around. Thank you for re-posting!
Yeah, I don’t remember it at all. When was it originally posted?
Of course, you know the BDH… We’re collectively wondering, when can I pre-order this?
Oops, originally posted 2017. Missed that.
+1 😀
Lol amen to the pre order ????
Sooo, can we pre-order this yet? I want Puffles. This looks to be yet another wonderful tale from House Andrews.
Always brilliant as per usual!!! Always wishing for more!!!
Thank you for sharing
+1 x 1,000
Yes please, pre-order link
If it is not too much trouble, a pre-order link would be lovely.. 🙂
+1
:SadFace:
I still REALLY want to read the trash dragon again – that disappeared too, but it lives on in my memory.
I ask about it hopefully about once a year …
This is outstanding! I love every word y’all have written! It doesn’t matter when you wrote it. It’s fabulous, just fabulous!! Thank you. And if my voice matters in the least, more please!
Such a wonderful story!
Strongly endorsed
I missed this too. Great to read something new to me! ???? Thank you! ????
+1!
Could you tell me if Puffles the dragon made it back home from the trip safely? I would love to have a full book but if we don’t, just want to know the elderly dragon made it back home to roost. ????
After ofc many adventures and touching loyalty , yes, he makes it back home, safely.
aww, thank you, glad to hear it!
Lovely posting! I like your picture as a bat! I started buying Halloween candy and am trying to cut out quilt pieces. Last night’s stack disappeared into my sewing room’s black hole. They will reappear when the quilt is finished. Oh well.
Ahhh … Halloween! So looking forward to this year. The last few years I’ve started feeling guilty about giving out so much candy but this year I’ve thought of something different to do. One of the local stores put six packs of 7oz. sodas on sale, at a very reasonable price, so I stocked up and they are going to be my treats this year. I’ve even got some sugar-free for those who cannot have sweets. I hope it goes over well.
Thank you for this tidbit! Even if we never get the full story this just makes my day!
Thank you! I was wondering the same thing. I also missed this the first time around and am very grateful for the reposting.
I loved the snippet, will we be able to enjoy a full book, soon?
PeteJ
Excellent. I loved Puffles. And I wouldn’t mind the rest of the story if it’s laying around someplace….
Oh man that is torture. Now I want the rest. Loved that!
I missed this too the first time. Like all their snippets of new work, it sounds intriguing. 🙂
Oh…well….Now I want the rest. Please. Pretty Please?
+1
Pretty pretty please?
[looks under desk, finds manners] Thank you for reposting, and writing it in the first place!
????
+1
You keep your manners under the desk? What a convenient location. Do they ever try to run away? My manners must be chained to the kitchen counter. It makes them difficult to use efficiently, but at least I don’t have to go roving the mountain-side to find them!
????
Also adding my +1! Pretty please can we have the rest?
Missed this the first time as well. Thanks for reposting.
Is this a project you’re interested in pursuing? In 2017, you still had contract work & Innkeeper. Is that what you meant “from a business perspective”? You didn’t get a contract for it and shelved it?
I’d pay for this
+1
Would love to see the rest of this story!
So would I!!!
I need the rest of Raina’s story! I hope this is on a list of projects you are considering <3
???? you are lovely to re post this.. happy monday!!
I agree! Thank you!
how did I miss this?? I also now want this book too
aw this seems like am amazing story, pity it was an no starter. you’d think with all the interest in dragons over the last few years it would have been snapped up.
I agree, everyone love a good dragon story ????
I dont remember seeing this but I really enjoyed it.
So….can we expect to learn about Raina and what happens at the capital ???????
???? I just asked too, and I got a “maybe”!
Maybe is better than no! Somehow I missed this the first time also and now have a new House Andrews world to *hopefully* look forward to
that ‘mabey’ is deadly I tell you, it gives us hope ????
Maybe the BDH can give pleading glances to House Andrews to keep the story going as a weekly serial. ????????
It’s not a no!!
Gimme, gimme, gimme some more – please!
Well, that’s better odds than when we got the April Fools Hugh book reveal.
yeah, but look what happened after that. the April Fool’s turned into a novel and series!. whoda thunk HA could actually redeem Hugh!
????????????
This is amazing!!! I love it love Raina & the shadow man. Would so buy this.
Thank you.
Wow! I am a fan!
Wow! Please tell me you are going to continue this. I got sucked in so quickly that when it reached the end, it was uncomfortable to return to reality. Thank you for sharing it.
Same! It was unusually engaging to read and by the end I had completely forgotten it was only a snippet. Glad it was reposted because I too missed it the first time around.
Fabulous! Gotta love those dragons! Better than Pern. ????????
If reread now would it still be good?
I still love rereading Dragon Song and Dragon Singer. Menolly was my favourite character.
Me too.
+1
Me too!
Super cool!
Thanks for posting this. This was before I discovered you. I’d love to read more if it’s something you are wanting to write.
O, I vote completely for this to be written. It’s wonderful.
For the record, THIS is why it’s so hard to find other authors to enjoy. You built an entire continent, if not a world, in just a few pages. You created an investment in the characters, fear, love and responsibility in just these few words. It’s wonderful.
+1000
Couldn’t agree more!!!
I don’t know why this didn’t lead to more. I’m sure you had compelling reasons as you’ve gone to great lengths to explain how things work for authors.
But I, a reader, desperately want to dive into this story and come back up sometime later, eager for a sequel. If my wishes have any way to compel, persuade, or otherwise influence, please make more of this tale. Please. I would give you my first born, but he eats a lot and it wouldn’t be a kind gift.
Lol!
Great story starter. I too wish for the rest. But I’m sure HA had plenty on their plate.
Big hugs everyone
+1 ????
???? Wow! Cool!
Thank you!
Oooh please….you have to continue this! Definitely something I would pay to read.????
More please! Is it possible to revisit this one?
Thank you! I missed this the first time.
Love it, hopefully someday we’ll have a full story to go with it. ????
+1. fantastic!!
New to me, makes me hunger for more. I always liked dragons. Cut my fantasy teeth in Pern.
Me too ????
such a wonderful thing to find first thing in the morning.
ooooooh.
Want more.
Thank you for reposting, I missed it the first time around.
How do you manage to make your characters so easy to bind to and me so willing to get to know more about them?
Whenever you finish the story – I will love to read it.
Thank you:-)
I love the well written dragon riding, assassin, stealth stories. As always, your story I want to keep reading.
This would be a lovely diversion from apocalyptic urban fantasy and space vampires.
wow! Puffles! I love Puffles!
Agreed. You have to love an aging dragon named Puffles.
I did not see this before. Why is this a non-starter???
+1
Chills, this was great, is this a possibility for development??
It’s “fun” according to House Andrews, so maybe ????
Yes, pretty please ❣️
Love it!!!
Missed it before! Thanks for reposting!!!!
Would love to read more!
Greetings from golden fall Switzerland!
Inga
This was wonderful! The world building and character development comes across so clearly in even just this snippet. I especially loved the personality quirks, like Puffles playing with his food and enjoying Raina’s praise, and Raina packing her beloved stuffed animal.
It would be great if this was chosen for further treatment. The BDH is so lucky!
Thank you! This little story is so compelling! Now I need to know what happens next 🙂 You are wonderful storytellers.
I just love everything you write. Snippets on your cutting room floor and better than gold and rubies!
I could see the dragon and feel the cold rush of the wind as he flew towards the capital.
Please, don’t leave us in suspense!
I also missed this the first time. I have no idea how I missed it but it makes me wonder what else I’ve missed. Thanks for posting. I’d love to read more.
If it makes everyone feel better, I missed it too ????
Definitely glad to know I’m in good company.
Love love ????
I love it!!! I just wish there were more! ❤️
Oooh, I hadn’t seen this one! Would gladly read more. ????
ughhh a possible series about dragon riders from my favourite authors would be the best. such a tease
I love it. want to read it all
Wow – missed this when it was posted before. Great opening!
Thank you.
🙂
Cool. Not sure how I missed this the first time around. So glad you re-posted. But now we, the BDH, have another item on our wish lists lol.
Thank you! I loved it and if you ever decide to return to it I’d preorder.
My first time reading it and I now want more, of course… thank you!
Do we get more???
What a magnificent tale. And I had never read it!
So, that’s it? Please continue the magic story!
So, when is this coming out Like – next week? Maybe? Hopefully?
😀 Devouring by name, devouring by nature hehe.
And dragons! Dragons & mysterious quests + BDH = BFF! 😀
I feel like this a classic House IA short – a smart, capable woman flies off to a nest of vipers to do her duty to family. I can’t imagine the adventures she falls into, but trying will keep me happy for a long time to come. Thanks for reposting, it makes you excited for what is to come, specially when it falls out the bonds of existing worlds.
I’m ready to purchase the finished book. Just sayin’.
Or enjoy another serial!
I feel a bit like a golden retriever must as someone teases about throwing a tennis ball. “Lovely, wonderful fun thing. Please? Please?”
Oooooh, I don’t remember this one. {happy sigh}
I hope it’s continued/released one day!
Wow such a Monday treat big rest of the week has a few treats/surprises like this it will be a good week.
Hope you and the family all have a good week. Thank you
Ah thank you for sharing – I hadn’t read it before and I’ve stalked your blog for ages. I would also vote for a continuation (pleeeeaaseee!!). The characters are compelling, the mystery of what is ahead and why she is called up… the world is vivid and I love dragons!
yay! What a way to brighten up a Monday. Is it too much to hope that we get the rest of the story someday?
please?
I sunk so fast into this story I was feeling the wind on my face…
Holy shit this IS good!
Thank you!
this was fabulous! more please? I would pre-order based on that excerpt.
I missed it as well, but hope this will become a full story some day. It sounds like a great adventure.
Thank you. But now I want to know the rest of her story.
We are a greedy BDH.
Well that was beautiful and intriguing! Thank you for that snippet!!
Yes, please.
Got to love the name Puffles
Engrossing!
It is a wonderful beginning, but if you decide not to write the full story, a coda of her coming home after 15 years, full of hints would be equally welcome.
Also, thank you for the vicious and terrifying pride of the royal dragon stables, Puffles. His personality shines, even in this snippet.
Oh good show. Throw more brandy (-flavored pie)!
I would absolutely buy it if you decide to make it into a book. ???????????????? Loved it!
If you write it, we will read it. ????
Wonderful world and characters. I hope that you’ll continue with it someday. Thanks for sharing
As always, I will buy anything you write.
Yummy start.
This is not a simple snippet, House Andrews, this is a short story. Thank you so much!
This is new to me and great! Thank you for re sharing!
How in the world did I miss this when it was first posted? (Maybe I was still in grad school??). Anyway – this is glorious and I hope someday to hear the rest of the story!!
If you ever turn this into a novel or series, I would buy it.
We are a lucky horde indeed. Thank you for sharing!
Loved the long snippet, hoping for more!
Love how genre-savvy Raina is! Great setting for a story.
I wouldn’t hesitate to buy this book. Just saying.
Thanks for posting, would very much like to read more!
Excellent!!! I really enjoyed it. I almost didn’t read it because I knew I would want the rest of the story. I am really intrigued by the Shadow Man. 😉
HA + dragons = heaven!
Agree +1000. My first love was the dragonriders of Pern. Fav author HA, would be magic to have both. Please write more and take our money.
I honestly can’t ever remember reading this but it’s great. If you wrote this story, I would read it for sure.
Thank you for sharing!
Somehow I missed this when it first got posted because I don’t remember it. I love it!! I hope one day it is returned to and becomes a full story.
But if not, thank you for sharing anyway it is a very enjoyable little snippet!
Dang, I would have read this!!
Is it . . . Is it still considered a non-starter business-wise? Would sad BDH puppy eyes work? Because I’m sure we’re all giving sad puppy eyes right now with our pleas to “take my $!”
I do love the “impenetrable wall of no.” Classic HA. (And Puffles. Puffles is awesome.)
Even if this still is a non-starter, thanks for sharing.
+1! Yep gotta love a dragon called Puffles! And I’m adding my sad puppy eyes to the rest hehe
I definitely missed this one the first time! It is riveting and I want to know so much more!
Oh, I love this! I know you have a thousand great ideas to work on, but if you ever decide to return to this one, I’ll be thrilled to read more.
This is wonderful, will we get a full book (please, please, please)
I also missed this the first posting, and goodness I would love to read more! Thank you!
I’d read that, but I find I’d read just about anything you guys write. thanks for the snippet!
Oh, my! I would read the heck out of this! And, yes, it demonstrates such deftness. Master painters can convey a story in just a few strokes, and HA does the same with words. Grateful to have this tidbit.
+1
I’d pre-order…
Thank you ????
Aaah I need more of this! Would definitely be interested in the full story.
I liked this. Thanks for re-posting. Missed it first time around.
This was so good! Thank you for reposting!
I’ve not read this before and frankly I love this snippet. Must have been posted before I started haunting the blog regularly, because I definitely followed One Fell Sweep serialization. I surely do hope you’re thinking of expanding it some time! Thanks!!
Thank you so much for resharing this, I hadn’t seen it 5 years ago. I’ll just add my name to the pile of people who would pay money for this (honestly have yet to meet anything of yours I wouldn’t pay for).
What an absolute delight! I want to read more!!! Thank you for sharing the snippet.
As a few people have said, this is really a short story, as much as it is a snippet. It really feels complete, although I would love more stories set in this world.
HA’s ability to create a universe in these few words is flipping amazing. I’m in awe, as usual.
Thank you very much, and now I must get back to reading Blood Heir for an Oct Readathon…
Gosh, I’d forgotten this.
Kinda sadistic of you, isn’t it? Not telling us what you’re working on but posting snippets that make us drool.
Torturous gifts ????. ‘Tis a consumation devoutly to be wish’d
Where does that come from? Is it a quote? It sounds so familiar….
The second part is from Hamlet ????
Beautiful. It made me want to smack Jehan but I loved Raina.
I missed this! Awesome start, I hope further ideas for the story is percolating in your minds.
I don’t remember this at all, and I’ve been a devout member of the BDH for years!
Now I wanna know what happens…dang it.
Along with Ryder #2, Iron Covenant #2, a novel centered on Arabella, and anything you’d care to write about Dali and Jim, now I want Raina #1.
No pressure
Don’t forget our mystery Maggie – I’m looking forward to her too ????
also want the seer, too (the one who saw the future). oh and…wow his name just left my mind the one who married Curran and Kate, and can’tkeep a girlfriend. I guess, I don’t care I just want whatever you both decide to write. thank you for this snippet…vaguely had remembered something about dragons way back, but missed this. so thank you
Roman, and all of the above as well.
Ooh so good. Another series in the making!
Ohhh… this is quite different! But I love it! Lots of suspense, mystery, dragons, strong women… everything I love and will pay oodles of money for to read more of… ^__^
Thank you for sharing again! <3
Thank you for posting, I think I missed the first also.
What I really appreciate about House Andrews is how much world building you can do in a snippet. Outside of the very obvious DRAGONS! There is magic, there were wars, there were and still are conflicts, there are lots of different people. You get a real feel of the heroine. Little bits like Puffles playing with his food. So many new authors don’t do the world building properly or barely. There is too much talking not enough developing pictures in your head with words. Swearing, belching, fighting with everyone, or having sex with every stick and twig does not develop a good character or story. So House Andrews thank you so much for providing a small peek into a new world.
Fabulous
This is wonderful, could definitely read this novel! Maybe someday ????
Now I want to kill people. Jehan. His shadow guy. The nightmare king. Oy. (I have a weird and extreme reaction to stories where someone is compelled against their will. Even in mundane genres.) I would read the rest of this. Thank you for sharing it.
does Michael know that his family is from one of the Edge territories???
Hi Akeru,
Which Michael are you referring to? Is it a question about today’s snippet?
his “shadow magic” just tasted like HL’s Michael…
and, of course, I now refer to all cross-overs as Edge-related…
but I was actually joking… though good ideas are plausible exploratory subjects… and I would love to see this as a serial/snippet challenge. though I doubt the shadow prince will be as amused.
Now I need the rest!
Yummy! Thank you for this “non-starter” snippet. ????
Wargs…bloody Auto-mess-up
Bless you for this snippet. It transported me to another place for a while – a mini-break courtesy of HA! You bring such depth and humour to the page; thank you for sharing your work.
❤️????❤️. If you write more Raina, I’ll be happy to read it and buy it ????????????❤️❤️❤️
How did I miss this the first time? Oh, well, at least I got to read it this time!
Thank you.
Oh, here’s just a little something that has been sitting in a drawer….another MASTERPIECE!! Put me on the preorder list!
And Nancy Upchurch’s previous post beautifully describes why you are incomparable, my favorite authors.
Great Post, Thanks!
I missed this too when it was originally posted. I would love to read this series. I love dragons and to read a House Andrews dragon story would be awesome!
I love dragons!
It gave me Mulan vibes, but probably any daddy’s girl who goes off to war in her father’s stead will remind me of it. I wish there was more though. Did I mention I loved dragons? ????
It’s my first time reading this. Thanks for reinstating this snippet!
So mean….So cruel….(BDH salivating at the door)….Please just a little more!!!
You guys are just so good!
Puffles – enough said.
Well now we need Shadow Man’s name so we can start coming up with a ship tag. ????
Lovely. Ready to read the rest of it ever (fingers crossed) comes off a burner.
What a nice surprise! Thank you for generously re-posting this for your readers who missed it the first time. I hope you are enjoying the respite from posting and deadlines, and want to add my voice to the clamoring horde in case you are now able to consider writing more of Raina’s story. It’s fabulous!
Would you consider continuing the story now? *looks hopeful*
new to me- want the next installment PLEASE
I didn’t see this before. Thanks for reposting!
So…..WOW! Apparently I’m in good company with missing it in 2017. I’m also quite willing to pay to read “the rest of the story” as Paul Harvey used to say. I ( and The BDH) would be so blessed if this was one of the future projects of House Andrews. I’m so invested in Puffles! Thank you for such a wonderful moment in time.
All I hope for is Puffles’ safe return home. A nice easy retirement and no mistreatment or dying during the story. Haha. Great snippet, definitely different in terms of setting for sure. But to be fair, its the deft pairing of humor and tension that drives your work so well. So the setting doesn’t really matter. As an avid fan I’d obviously read it, but I’m also enough of a fan to regularly read the blog and comment, haha.
I would love to see the finished product! It has so much potential.
Personally, I think it’s excellent. I would buy it TODAY!
As I learned from countless K and Cdramas – witch is entierly your fault as well let me tell you – you have to take responsebility.
Each time something happens, like a kiss, the initiator has to take responsebility. I feel kissed a second time around already and you didn’t take responsebility.
I hereby call upon you.
pleeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeease write this and the one with the tea house. I am always wondering about it, and now there is a second one that will keep me up.
please
please
please
please
please
please
please
please
*bigpuppyeyes
can’t wait
I do hope it is somehow possible in the near future.
Link to ‘tea house’?
The Blademaster snippet (which had the tea house scene) was only available for a few days.
It *is* one of the projects House Andrews is working on and thus subject to changes and edits ????
No, No, No!!!! First you offer a snippet of the swordmaster and now this fantastic story. Now my brain cant decide which story it should follow, fantasize about and hope to be able to ready the full story. This is literally torture! I would buy both stories in an instant.
Right?! I can’t stop with the k/c dramas. I’m addicted. I feel like I need a support group to gush too.
Also, yes. I would be super grateful for more of this. I feel like 35 yo Raina would be my best friend. I want to catch up with her every Friday and hear what she’s neck deep in.
Oh, that was lovely. May we ‘ave s’more, please?
Would love to read the rest of the story. Please.
Fascinating! Cool, if it comes back out somehow.
I don’t remember this at all, so I probably missed it, like quite a few other BDH members.
It felt like a first chapter, so well rounded, than just a snippet. I’ll add my +1 for you to consider writing more in this world. Let’s face it Dragons, and feisty young woman ready to take on the world, what’s not to love!
Loved all of it!!
That was terrific. I’m completely captured (and gobsmacked at how many different worlds you can create that I want to live in).
This was wonderful. Different from other things you’ve written, but still sucked me in. If this never becomes more than a snippet, I’m am glad to have at least gotten to read this much. Thank you
Thank you, this was very enjoyable. I am always impressed with your imagination.
Oh wow, I need more of this! I don’t remember reading it before, so thank you for reposting, and I really hope someday you feel the desire to write the rest of this books.
“If the sky could dream it would dream of Dragons” Ilona Andrews
Now I am dreaming of Puffles and Raina
Thanks for the snippet. hope we get to buy the whole story one day
I am looking at a tote bag with that quote on it right now. (Current crochet project inside).
Love the story and would definitely buy the expanded version if written,,,
My eyes are very wide. Please madam and sir, more!!
A lovely read.
Hope the dragons make it back safely.
Really fun read with lots of feels.
Raina is awesome ????
Thank you for posting this! I’d love to read more of this if you’re interested in finishing Raina’s story. I’d buy anything you put out 🙂
Fabulous, I don’t remember it from the first time around.
this was wonderful. thank you!
ohh this is great. thanks for reposting, it made my lunchtime a highlight in an otherwise exhausting day.
This is great! Somehow I missed it when it was first posted, thanks for re-posting!
But now, of course and rather predictably, the BDH will begin clamoring for the
Rest Of The Story.
You know the agonizing feeling you have when you’re reading something so delicious and you know it’ll end and you just don’t want it to?
Thanks for reposting, can’t believe I missed it the first time.
I’d pay money for this..instantly captured both my imagination and interest. I’m always amazed at how you can create a world, and all the history/customs/emotions/family drama that goes with that in such a compact package. It’s not like you need more positive feedback on this but..where is my credit card…ah! there…Ready when you are.
I think House Andrews needs to be cloned. Three pairs of Ilonas and Gordans should be sufficient to write all the books the Blood Sucking Horde demands.
I will take one Puffles the Dragon plushie please…
Also, is that name a reference to Puff the Magic Dragon?
MM, so would shadow man have been her love interest?
I feel like the BDH needs a sign:
– don’t feed or tease the horde, for we are ravenous.
Thank you! A nice treat on a cool fall evening.
I got sucked in. I was hoping it would go long enough for her to meet Alasdair.
I will pay to read anything you write. Thank you for reposting.
I haven’t read anything the two of you have done and not enjoyed the reading. Thanks so much for what I hope is a teaser.
Well, that was awesome.
I’m sorry there were business reasons against it back then…but we got many other amazing stories in the meantime so it was time well filled.
But you know, if you feel the urge to turn this into a novel now I’d totally read it 😀
I would 1000% like to read more of this, please 😀
That was great.
Thank you for sharing it.
One day I hope we get to read the rest of the story, but that was brilliant.
Wonderful!
Oh lord, how is it that everything you guys write is so good!
Thanks for posting such a lovely snippet, can only hope to someday get more of the story.
+10000
I loved this dragon rider snippet. thanks for reposting. I would definitely buy this story if you ever pursued it. I expect the dragon rider stories would make money especially since that tv show House of the Dragon on HBO has dragon riders and is popular.
As much as I want more Innkeeper, I sure wouldn’t mind this getting the serial treatment. I hate the thought of y’all bored with nothing to do 🙂
Seriously, Its fairly clear that you have a lot of projects with proven profit potential you need to do and there’s only so many words a day, month, year you can write without melting your brains.
All that said, I hope we see that story someday.
I don’t remember catching this the first time! Thank you for reposting.
Also if you do decide to have fun with it someday, the capital of the Old Kingdom is Belisaere. Maybe not close enough to matter, but seemed like the sort of similarity you might like to know.
I hope you’re getting much deserved time to rest and rejuvenate!
That was marvelous!
Lovely!
I want to read more about this
Thank you for the lovely surprise today!! Go, Raina!! And a very cool dragon companion in Puffles!!
????????????????????????
I’d buy and read this! Thank you very much for the snippet! Reminds of a cross between Dragons of Pern and Dragonlance.
Thanks for re-posting this snippet! I too missed it the first time around and I had started stalking… err, I mean reading… from the early blog posts. ????
The sky is indeed dreaming of dragons and, as you well know, if you write it, the BDH will buy it. ????
Very enjoyable snippet!! Thank you.
So, yes, all of the BDH would love you to write more about this story, if and when it feels good to do so!
Ahhhhhh , so many questions! I would definitely pay for this story , please, please, please write this one at some point. Either way thank you so much for the super long snippet ❤️
It’s sort of gobsmacking, to an aspiring writer, that something of this caliber is not salable. This is so good. And yet. Yikes, bar is raised…
Honestly, how do you write such compelling stories?!? In just these few pages, I care about this character and her future. You are wonderful, thank you!
sigh. you know you have to finish this….
Wow. Knowing this is a ‘non-starter makes me sad. This will be stuff of dreams for a while.
Thank you for sharing
I remember this always wondered what happened next.
Reminds me of the sword and sorcery series I read years ago. Dragon series by McCaffrey and Shannara series by Terry Brooks. Love those stories…would be interested in reading more like this.
I like Raina! And I love Puffles <3
Thank you so much for posting this! I hope one day to see more of this story. (Even if just as a snippet 😉
Dragons!!! Dragons are near and dear to my heart. Small town were I grew up….dragons are the school mascot. “Every where we go; People want to know; Who we are; So we tell them; We are the DRAGONS, the mighty, mighty DRAGONS”.
Thank you for this delicious literary snack.
Thanks so much for sharing, I really enjoyed it!! Hope you decide to revisit this story one day, would love to read more. (We need to know what happens, the BDH is forever hungry… ) 😉
Amazing!!! If there was more I would buy it!!!! ❤️❤️❤️❤️
Thank you … really miss reading your prose.
Wasn’t this snippet a lot shorter the first time around?
OMG THIS IS AMAZING! How did I ever miss this?!
Now I need the book lol
Ok ok seriously please continue this OO I’m in love…maybe this can be the next blog serial?
Oh and Dragons are awesome
I am so down for this story, sign me up!!!
Thank you for this post! That was wonderful. In case you’re wondering, I’d be thrilled to read more about Raina’s adventures. Gotta love dragons… and yes, more about the assassin shadows. I’d preorder this just based on what you posted 🙂
so sad we have to wait for this story….its do promising!!!i love it!
Wonderful! “He was mean to dogs” is such a trenchant, damning description. I think we all like a brave, mouthy 20yo and a world with castles, dragons, and eye- taking vengeance.
Darn it, I got sucked in again.
Add another log onto the fire of those hoping this might end up on the “books we plan to finish” pile.
I have to admit, I ADORE Puffles. He’s got some serious attitude. And I also love how Raina feeds his pride. This is a very different take on how dragons behave. We’ve all seen multiple variations, some with human intelligence, some pure animal. Puffles seems about halfway between.
Sigh. You’ve gone and activated my “want glands.” Now what?
ooo! I love this ???? what happens next!?
If you ever decide to finish Raina’s story I would love to read it.
This was an absolutely lovely beginning of a story. 🙂
Oh wow, thank you for this amazing mega-snippet! It’s awesome, I love it!
I would certainly read it if you feel like picking it up again. Although I suppose you have a few series on the go so you wouldn’t want additional pressure. Perhaps when you have finished some of them? Thanks for the snippet.
I missed this when it was first posted. a great story. if you ever do decide to continue this, you know you’ll have it sold before you say boo to the BDH????
Very Anne McCaffry-esq, Love it! More please!
This is the first time I read this and it’s wonderful thank you for pulling it out of the archives.
Thanks for the short story!
Where can I preorder? :)) <3
Okay, I’m putting my vote in with everyone else. Please give us more! That snippet
was so enticing! Is there more? A book in the works perhaps? Is this why you would need medieval names?
Ohhh I did not even make that connection between the ask for linguist for medieval names….I thought it could be Hugh or something else. This gives me hope.
I so loved this snippet and I’m with the rest of the BDH, please, pretty please, can we have more? (with a nod to Oliver Twist 😉 )
Love Puffles showing off his warg. This is an object lesson. If you’re going to kill someone, kill everyone. Because, in the words of Joan Wilder, “bastards always have brothers” (sponsors/henchmen/etc).
Love it, must have missed it first time around <3 Thank you!
Now that you guys are self-published and don’t have to listen to other people’s opinions of what is commercially viable, do you still think it is a no-go? Or is it maybe getting a revisit when you start deciding what the next book is going to be. I think the BDH would be willing to buy your grocery list if you published it.
LMAO
The plums would be a dark and decadent purple, not too hard, not too soft, skin glistening with a rich aromatic fragrance. Ready for our white teeth to sink into, slowly piercing the skin as juice lovely dribbles down our faces.
OMG loved it – now I am going to languish wondering what happens next – simply awesome
Excellent, as all the stories you share with her us are. Thank you!
How on earth did I miss this first time round? Goes without saying if you decide to publish this, I will buy it and devour it!
The snippet I remember, and really hoped you would continue, was the one with the woman who was a Cleaner.
This was such a fun read! You guys are the best. Would happily preorder ????
I love HA’s imagination! I’m so sad this doesn’t make sense to publish, but if you ever change your mind my fingers are over the Amazon preorder button as we speak. It’s been really hard to find new fantasy with a complex female protagonist who’s whole life doesn’t revolve around her love interests. I think Naomi Novik’s Scholomance series’s success is a good indicator that there might be a market for this! But of course you guys know best what works for you in your industry. I hope you’re taking care of yourselves, thank you for the window into another world!
I have a soft spot for older characters (dragons, people, etc) and what happens to them and of course, following up on old debts. This sounds like a fabulous story! Thank you for sharing this snippet.
This is wonderful. Thank you.
This was fun. Caught my interest immediately. I also would enjoy the story continuing. I was thinking last night that I missed the blog, and then today was this wonderful story. Thank you.
That was awesome, no idea how I missed it. . . Would totally read it, but there are so many stories I already want you to tell already. Can you clone yourselves? Please?
Thanks, I would love to know more about Raina and her parents.
BTW, I love the image/picture. Who painted it?
It’s not painted :). It’s a stock image from Tithi Luadthong https://www.shutterstock.com/image-illustration/man-riding-on-white-flying-dragon-519475330
You are “Lightning McQueen”, so fast.
Thank you for the information.
It’s a shame this never turned into Chapter 1 of many – it’s got lots of potential!
Really enjoyed it. Shame it wasn’t a goer from a business point of view. Id have bought it.Thanks for reposting it.
Gee I hope you finish the story someday. Very interesting.
I love this! Can we please make this a book? Puffles please??
Sooooo goood….
Nice story interesting adventure started here
A bit Princess Bride, a bit Dragon riders of Pern ,a lot both of you ….
I do love me some dragons! I also love the way you weave a tale and the characters you create. You pulled me right in! I would read more! ???? Thank you! ????
Please go back to this at some point! I need to know more about shadow man!
I endorse all of the above – more would be lovely!
I have never read this before! What a fantastic start to an interesting story. It would be great to see where Raina goes with her adventure.
Thank you for sharing!
This sounds amazing! I really would like to read the whole story! Thank you for being absolutely wonderful writers!
PUFFLES
May I respectfully say that I hope this goes from being a non-starter to a completed project? It grabbed my attention instantly! Thank you for sharing it again. 🙂
Love it. This is from the Weird, yes?
No, this is a completely separate project from the Edge.
Ok, yep. Hook, line and sinker. I’m already emotionally invested. This is beautiful and I look forward to the full work coming out someday.
Good dragon stories are hard to come by. I would live this to be published! Take my money.
I never saw this. I love the idea. I will hope along with all the other BDH members that this becomes a book/series I will even take novella. I like it a lot. Also I love dragons so a story with dragons written by IA is already a bestseller in my book!
Mod R IF this is not going to become a novel or official project can we keep this snippet anyway? Does it have to go back into the vault of all things awesome? Can we keep it pretty please. Puffles is too awesome to be hidden away even if this is are only chance to appreciate him pretty please with sugar on top!
There’s been no talk of putting it back in the vault ????
Yeah! I was not sure so wanted to double check.
I really love this story. I’m caught. I’m curious. I hope you pick this back up. It’s different from everything else and although this slice of genre has been explored by other authors, I know that you would craft an original.
I had missed this also. I enjoyed the heck out of it (no surprise to anyone, there), too.
This illustrates House Andrews’ genius.
In what would have been about 1/2 of a page, the story had grabbed my attention and I was immersed in a new world – at least new to me. I read until I ran out of story and would have continued to read for much longer if that had been an option.
Enough people have asked for more of this world. I will just add my willingness to throw money at it – early and often…
What an extraordinary beginning! I am so invested!!! Take my money!
Thanks for posting this. I missed it (or forgot it) the first time. I enjoyed it and wish you’d had time/inclination/incentive to complete it. If you ever do, I’ll be on the pre-order list.
It’s just so wonderful that you have reached the point where you know your audience and are able to finally write what you want and know we’ll scoop it up no mater what it is.
I had a an NYTBSA in a writing group once who said she sent chapters to her editor. The editor told her that X chapter needed work, so she submitted rewrites 5
(count’m) times getting short wining replies every time. Finally, out of frustration,
she sent in the original chapter with the tag, “is this more like what you want?”
Back came the reply,”Now that’s exactly right! That’s great!”
We trust you to know the BDH better than anyone else. Trust us to be here for you.
I missed this… I vote this story replaces Innkeeper when the book series is done. It feels like it would be a great chapter adventure.
Not replace, please , add to. Innkeeper is my favorite!
Okay, I’m in, team Raina, really really wish there would be could be more to come.
Thank you for the story 🙂
This is wonderful! Thank you!
A lovely treat, I feel like a cat ???? begging for more.
Thank you.
I would read the heck out of the rest of this story!
Thank you for reposting this! I wasn’t following the blog back in 2017. This story sucked me in—I would absolutely pre-order this if you ever decide to write more of it! (Let’s be honest—I will pre-order ANYTHING you write.) IA never fails to write amazing stories!!!
Yay, what a treat! Thank you for sharing!
It’s been a while since I’ve read something by HA that is not written in first-person. That was an interesting change.
This looks to be the start to a great story – has it been published as a ‘whole’ book anywhere ?
No ????, as the article says, it’s a shelved project from 2017.
Wonderful – I can’t wait for the new book/series to be published.
Awesome story, thank you.
I am so hooked already. Self publish and we will pre-pay if that means you do it.
Oh man, now I need to read the rest! Posting only that much is exquisite torture! I’m going to be up all night wondering what happens next.
Wow! I absolutely love this! Thank you ????
OMG! How could I have missed this the first time?? Ooo I want further stories,please please pretty please ????
I like it. Please continue. 😀
I’m Hooked!!! When can we read the rest of Raina’s story?
I’m going to need a stuffed Puffles asap along with a pre-order link when possible. Cause I gotta know what she does next since I know it’s going to be good.
yes to a stuffed Puffles!!
Thank you for this-I want to find out more about Raina and Puffles!. Would love for you to turn this into a novel!
BDH: chanting – We want Puffles! We want Puffles! We want Puffles!
BDH: more chanting – Pre-Order. Pre-Order. Pre-Order.
also BDH: Hail the authors! *Hail* *Hail* Hail*
You knew better, and yet you posted it anyway – now you must face the full force of the BDH! *cackles*
Truth: BDH in tiny – please, *whine, moan, beg* pretty please, oh most benevolent authors, pleeeeeaaaaassseee!
BDH: *groveling continues until pre-order link goes up*
This^^^.
That was awesome; what a fantastic start that makes me want to dig in and read.
I missed the original pisting; thank you for doing so again!!
I love you. your writing is phenomenal. your works brighten my life. thank you
Pre order? Go Fund Me? How do we get MORE. ‘-)
Ahh! So good. Would love “shorter” stories set in this world of the creative urge ever took you to continue in it. Very evocative word choices and instantly engaging ???? It is so hard to find other authors I like after reading your books :p I have ruined many friends reading happiness by introducing them to your works 🙂
100% would read this book, if it ever get written. please, please write it. ????
Also, I LOVE that the badass, warg eating, old half blind dragon is named Puffles. seriously, I want to read this story.
I would SO read the rest of this!! Can’t believe I missed it when it was first posted. Thankyou for the snippet and a look into another world!
I missed this first time around also. Snagged and dragged me in instantly.
Thank you
You could publish your grocery list and it would be a best seller.
I must have missed it the first time but I love it. It is totally fascinating and I love Puffles. Will this ever be a book. I’d buy it for sure!!
YOU’VE SEEN THE OUTPOURING….
EVERYONE AGREES, THIS IS YOUR NEXT BOOK.
OUR NEXT UNFORGETTABLE SERIES.
We all wonder how we missed this, why it became floor confetti, but most
importantly….
WE LOVE IT
I’m so hooked and would love to get the book and audio book. I love your worlds. Such good story telling. Thank you for your addictive prose.
Fun! I don’t thinkI was following when this was first posted. Interesting dude,the shadow man. Thank you for re-sharing!!!
This is amazing! House Andrews are masters of leavng us on the edge of our seats wanting more. I love imagining what will happen next (I’m almost always wrong) but unlike Inkeeper there is no relief for the curiosity. It is like a literary version of an ear worm song. Now this is stuck in my head! It’s keeping the chorus of Dead Man’s Party company in my head…..grrr….
Oh my God! I want a book (preferably a series) on this! Please please, pretty please!
I would love to read more!
PLEASE, can we have this? PLEASE!
This is so so so good and now I’m hooked and begging for a book to devour!
LOVE IT!!!!
OMG, sooo good. Please write more!
I would love to read the book these scenes belong to, because they’re excellent.
Thank you for posting this snippet, it was new to me and a treet to boot!
Wow!! I love this!! +1 to pre-order!!
thank you, I enjoyed the story very much. And now I want more, of course. 🙂
If some editor/buyer deemed this a nonstarter, they need find another career path. I hope it someday speaks to HA, and demands to be finished! I would love to get it for my kindle library.
Yummy!!! It would very much be commercially viable in my world.
Ready for more of this wonderful heroine whenever you are.
Actually, just ready for ANYTHING whenever you are. I really really hope you are enjoying the creative process on your own terms.
Puffles!!!!!!!!! That is all.
I am consistantly surprised by how the authors draw me into a new world with a single snipet. I am looking for a new book, and this one is stuck in my head. In the words of Oliver Twist “Please sir I want some more.”
Thank you! I liked this a lot…and now I really want a Puffles plushie…
I want this.
I echo the others, when can I preorder. Even a stand alone novella would do, but a 2-3 part series would be wonderful.
I realize this is posted as not to be continued but I just wanted to say that I would read this book if it ever came up in the future. Thanks for the snippet.
I enjoyed the one. Thank you for posting it.
That is a excellent snippet. Color me intrigued.
Thank you for sharing this. I enjoyed it throughly! Will there be more?
Sounds great. I hope it is a good proposition now.
Thanks for sharing.
This sounds so good! Very much enjoyed it as I missed it the first time it was posted. <3
I hope some day you all decide to finish it. I’ve been reading you a lot longer than 5 years. But don’t remember this. It’s definitely intersting
If only there was a pre-order button, I’d be pressing it so hard that I’d be landing on the other side of the planet.
What a tempting snippet! I wish you felt another serialized novel would be a good idea and built it from this–or just another novel in any format. I’d pre-order immediately!
Can’t believe this was a “non-starter”! Such a captivating idea for a story and would love to see more. Now that y’all are self publishing maybe the BDH can get more. I know I personally would love to!
Love it! Thank you so much for sharing it! ???? ❤️ ???? ????
You have tempted the ravenous beast that is the BDH by dangling a juicy tidbit of a story in front of us. You are brave, HA, very brave. ????
All joking aside, I’ve always been partial to dragon stories (they were some of my first fantasy/sci-fi ones as a child) and this was a wonderful beginning!
I haven’t had a chance to read the comments, but I’m guessing that most of us are all “when can I buy this?” and “take my money!”. ???? So I’ll try to not be too redundant (but I’m sure that I am!) and say that if you decided to complete this and publish it, I would definitely buy it. ????
Yup. I’d read the heck out of this.
I am already diving into this world in my imagination. Would love to read more. Thank you for sharing.
Love it! I am hooked. However, I understand that my interests do not always line up with the masses and you’ve got mouths to feed and bills to pay. But I would definitely read this if you continued. Thank you for sharing.
Please write and self publish this!!!!
ok. so like the entire BDH, I would go “Please, pretty please, pretty pretty please, write this series!”. it will be awesome!
pretty please?
I do not remember reading this in the past, and now I am intrigued by this story and the world it belongs to.
Do you think you will ever do more with it?
i would totally read more of this story! thank you for sharing it.
and like one of the earlier posters commented: an artist, with a few brush strokes, creates art – a person, a castle, a universe. HA, in a few words, create a world, a family, a dream, an adventure, and have us all hooked. amazing how they do that! oh, house fire in 2017 which is why I missed this.
I would totally read more of that! I wish you could wiggle your noses and poof all your fab ideas right out onto the pages. Then in my dream world you could do it all and we could read it all, wether it was approved from the “business point of view” or not. Heavy sigh…
oh yeah, I would buy that. it reminds me of Patty Briggs earlier work, When Demons Walk I think. Now I’m going to have to go back and read those…
Another fabulous world built in an instant! Puffles is wonderful and I’m so glad he has a nice, safe roost. Was Korvan a wild drake they tamed?
The humans are also nice (and I would love to read more about them!)
This was new to me. Thank you for that and if you do ever to continue it, I would buy it.
Me, too. I’m ready to pre-order right now. Why don’t we just set up an auto-pre-order for anything written by HA? Wouldn’t that be convenient?
Thanks for this! I take the devouring part of BDH seriously and thought I had read all of your books and stories, but I have no recollection of this one! It sounds like an intriguing story that I absolutely would read. You guys are the best at world building!
I love it! I need to know what happens next!! PLEASE!
Please, please, please finish the story! Omg, the beginning was amazing.
Oooh. What happens next? I want to turn the page and find out! Please? All about a pre-order here and a whole series. Yep. Greedy. Smile.
wonderful snippet. of course we all want more. 🙂
so, from a business point of view, now that you’re answerable to yourselves in deciding what’s publishable . . .?
just wondering. or have I run face first into an impenetrable wall of no?
Of course it had to be wonderful and oh so tantalising…. Ah well – suffering is good for the soul right? Thanks for sharing.
How wonderful! And how much do we want to hear more now! Thank you for sharing your gift of words with us.
Thanks bunches. This helps make waiting for your next book more bearable. That said, now I want more of this story. More words, please! Loved it.
You know what did, right. The chant of we want, we want is slowly building
oh yes. I hear it too…
Aaaaaaah! I want to know more about Raina!!!! ????????????
I’ve been thinking about this excerpt all day. I hope you choose to tell this story. Thank you!
Recovering from a nasty bug. This is better than fuzzy blankets and a hot tea. Thanks you for sharing your gifts with us. I always go flying and soaring when I read your work, even when the characters keep both feet on the ground.
Thanks for the snippet – although now I’m very intrigued as to what could happen next… my mind is already pondering:
What’s the background and capabilities of the shadow man; What will their relationship be;
Will she have to use a new dragon or will she find a use for Puffles – perhaps Puffles is a mentor for a another younger dragon she partners;
Will she immediately (but accidentally) run into the person she’s supposed to avoid?
So many musings from just this snippet. HA are so capable of pulling the reader into your ‘worlds’ and making us eager for more.
What a tasty tidbit I’ve just consumed! Delicious.
Didn’t see this in 2017. I quite enjoyed it. Your usual interesting and engaging story telling, but a little different too. Whatever made it a non-starter in 2017 is, I hope, no longer in play in 2022. Huge potential here and I side with the pre-order horde.
DRAGONS!!! *SQUEEEEE* House Andrews and DRAGONS!! Oh pleeease pretty please oh PLEASE continue this!! It’s so good! I’ll buy it! BDH will buy it! Beautiful setting, story intriguing, shadow man?, Night king?, DRAGON guard?! Will beg unashamedly.
Really enjoyed this…where can I get the entire book?????????
Wow! So efficient! in this short beginning, I LIKE Raina, I admire her dragon, and I feel curious about her parents’ story…and I want to know more about about Jehan and the shadowman. This is an excellent example of why y’all are one of my very most favorite authors. I’ll be thrilled if you continue this story, but I enjoyed it as is, and thank you for it.
First time seeing this! Thanks for re-posting. What loyal member of the BDH isn’t begging for more? Any chance?
I didn’t think I wanted to read another dragon book, but apparently I want to read this dragon book. Now I’m sad it doesn’t exist!
so when will i see chapter 3?
I didn’t see this when it was posted the last time, so this was a nice surprise and a real treat…thank you! ????
OMG! Dragons! feisty heroine! weird shadow man! I am in!
thank you for sharing! I don’t remember reading this before but as usual I was captivated!
*drags hands down face, eyes frantically searching for MORE*
OMGoodness.. that snippet is so amazing and like everyone else who has commented, I would LOVE to keep reading about Raina. Such skill you have in making a complete world that we all wish to live in.
I’m now going to drag myself around for the rest of the day imagining Raina flying Puffles towards the city and the dangers they face in the future!
I suspect Puffles will have opinions on flying back home to roost… If you write, I will buy it. Thank you!
Just throwing my two cents and a proper yes please in the ring with everyone else.
I just finished a four hour binge of Skyrim vs ES and came up to find a chapter about a dragon rider… hmmmm… I like how this is going. It is working out for me. 😉
Editing myself- Skyrim ES V -typing too fast. Urgh.
Amazing and thank you! Would totally buy this <3!
More please!
Oh my gosh! I want more. Where is the pre order button? 🙂
Oh my, I love it! And I knew I would love it as soon as I read that the dragon is calles “Puffles”, but well, I love all your tidbits and stories and book so no surprise there! Thank you for posting this story!
Please write a whole book about this, loved it. But then again I love everything you both write.
???? thanks. <3
Has House Andrew’s ever considered crowd funding? I bet we, the devoted BDH, could be convinced to crowd fund this lovely gem. I love Raina already!
Oooh! A new story! I love it. The part that mentions a woman started the guard sort of made me think of a course I was watching on the Great War. Something about some female guards who defended a palace. I can’t remember exactly what at the moment, but I’ll go back take a look to see if I can find it. Anyway. Awesome story.
loved the snippet, a full book would by great
Oh wow! Count me in please if you ever decide to resurrect it…..
I love dragons!
Thank you for reposting this – our appetite is whetted…more, please?
Dragonriders of Alsace? count me in!
A delightful little nugget which only makes you want more…
That was fun, and I’d happily read more should inspiration ever strike
I love dragon stories ???????? I was totally intrigued by this. I would totally buy that if you would make a book out of it. ????????
ahhhhhhh sooo good
Please write the next chapter of this story.
And then the next one.
Just a few more.
Pretty please.
And now I want to know what happens next.
I can’t believe I missed this as well! Wonderful opening to a new world to hopefully immerse ourselves in at some point. PLEASE ???????? ????????????????
I would preorder yesterday!!! ????
Ahhh. High fantasy. No longer in vogue. But I love it and would buy it. You got me hooked.
I needed this. Thank you!
I hope there is more to the story sometime.
I hope this snippet develops into a full fledged story! This is intriguing and would love to read more.
Thank you for posting, I too missed this when it was first released. I hope that the business environment has changed enough to reconsider working on this one because it is seriously amazing. Really want to know what happens next!
Please write this. Put up for pre-order and the BDH will show all the love. Promise, pinky swear. Thank you for the snippet.
I’ve read the snippet and felt so gleeful at the idea of dragons and IA. I do solemnly swear to buy this novel/series if you are interested in writing this project. If not, I very much enjoyed it and where my imagination took me. Thank you!
Please take my money. Please!
This is fabulous and I solemnly swear to buy multiple copies
This is so good – I would totally read it! Too bad it was abandoned.
I don’t understand how I missed this…. I check the page every day.. 2017?? Where was I??
More importantly, is there more from where it came from????
Wow!!! Just wow!!!
HA ! So so wrong … not a non-starter.
Definitely started BUT … where to go from here. 2017 hmmm, do you even remember
Ah well thank you for what there is …
I look forward to reading more of this if it ever goes anywhere! thanks for posting it!
i hope this is the start of a new book. a new series. FINISH IT NOW!! lol
I too, would love to read the rest of the story.
Thanks for reposting.
Thank you for this! I think it’s fascinating! You don’t tend to see stories with the elderly mounts, always the young and fierce ones…
More please.
It tastes like a delicious beginning to an intriguing tale.
You can’t stop there?!?
Thank you. I loved it.
Daaaaaaaaaaaamn I really want to read this story! It’s incredible and thank you for sharing!
More please.
I would really like to know what happens next.
Thank you, that was an incredibly intriguing snippet! I can already tell it will stay with me for days, I won’t be able to help wondering what will happen to Raina. Perhaps now that you are self-publishing this story can be told! ???? Thank you for the escapism!
more snippets please!! For those of us who haven’t been following that long….!
Thank you for fantastic stories 🙂
Why was or is it a non-starter from the business point of view? Is it about not having too many series going on at once, or what?
I liked it. I know it’s just another idea consigned to oblivion. Why do you torture us like this! 😉
Thanks anyway.
Please, please continue this story. I love it! I LOVE it!
Thank you so much for the snippet. I had missed in in 2017 and am very happy for the re-post. I would gladly pay for a story there but am also content with whatever you feel like sharing. No pressure, just saying, I’d buy it for sure. 🙂
Waited a couple of days to read this. What an amazing story, I join the thousands of others who would love to see more. If it is not possible, then thank you for sharing the portion that you did.
I would pay for this. I somehow missed it the first time around, thank you very much for posting it again!
A titillating beginning that just leaves me begging for more.
Please please please: let the neurons fire and the grey cells burst into a storm of creativity to produce another story that will grab us by the gonads and not let go til the last word. Pretty please?
Thank you for the repost. I missed it the first time. The BDH would like a pre-order link if it is possible.
Wonderful! Thank you for the goodie, even one which may never be finished.
Is there more?
Great snippet. ???? Thank you.
Like this girl and her dragon. Hope a book is coming.
Ooh, I hadn’t seen this before! Interesting!
I would read that. More importantly, I would buy that. Can’t Wait for the next installment.
I know we are not called the BDH without a reason, but id pay upfront just in CASE you decided to finish it.
Im already hooked!
Cool draft! Nice, concise world building, while introducing our heroine & a potential rival/ally (only time will tell *smiley*). 2 quick questions: was she going to bar the gate before leaving?; & what happened to the sheep she left out for bait that didn’t get eaten by the wargs after all?
Love your writing. Even this discarded snippet has me waiting for chapter 2.
Thank you, Ilona Andrews for the snippet.
Count me as yet another faithful member of the BDH who missed this the first time around. Not sure how that happened! Thank you to whoever asked for it, and thank you House Andrews for re-posting it. Sounds like a fun adventure. I’d definitely click that pre-order link. ????
Mod R indicated that writing this was fun for you all. I am hereby requesting that you have Lots of Fun!
If you like Hugh book 2, or Julie book 2, or Roman, or Raina book 1, or Maud book 2, please go enjoy yourselves! The tea house snippet was a bit dark for me, but it would have been fascinating–this, on the other hand, is going to be probably way high on my list of must-reads.
I will enjoy doing pre-orders and re-reads for anything you two write.
I sincerely hope this is now viable from a business point of view, and that y’all are excited to work on it. It promises many a twisty turny intrigue ????
I keep thinking about this story. It feels like I started a book, but had to put it down to go to work. Just need to make it through the day, and I can read it tonight. Then I realize there is no more. Sadness. I’m hooked.
This is amazing! Thank you for reposting, I don’t think I followed the blog back in 2017 so I definitely missed it the first time. As everyone else has said, I would totally pay for a full story lol
Oh please please look at this as a full blown adventure
I’m already hooked
Sigh. If you ever decide to make this a thing, I will buy it and read it with great glee. Thank you for this much.
Another keen member of the BDH, card in hand, ready to pre-order, should you decide to have more fun and make this a book ……… . Awesome fun read as always, many thanks !
I’m hooked already! Adding my pretty please to the pile????. And my manners are kept in the junk drawer in the kitchen. Sadly I have 4 junk drawers and can’t remember which one I used.
I want to read this!!!
I’m left hanging. Torment.
Oh, man. How much begging is needed for this story to come to life? It sounds absolutely magnificent!!! From the dragon’s name to the shadow man and all points in between.
I truly hope you think about writing this story.
PLEASE!!!!! Shameless begging. Whining can follow if needed.
Why is this a non-starter exactly?????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????
Loved this like all your work! Hope one day it becomes a new series.
Wow! That’s really good, I enjoyed that a lot! Of course now I want more! 🙂
amazing! you guys have a gift with words. if this becomes a book I would definitely read it. always appreciate what you put out. thank you ????
Thank you so much for reposting. Love it! ????
I keep thinking, ‘after dinner I am going to read Ilona Andrews’ new book’. Or ‘at lunch, I am going to read and see how long it took the dad to find a dragon’. While doing dishes ‘I hope they got to the city safely. I want Puffles to enjoy his retirement’. Then I remember this was just a snippet.
You guys are such great writers I know there is a whole world we only glimpsed in a blink.
When convenient, may I please have the rest of the story?
More!
One chapter at a time. We are ready, we are waiting. . .
. . .
Well it’s not just simple greed that makes me want more.
I absolutely love this. I missed it the first time around; thank you for re-posting it!
Aaaaand now I want more haha.
Would love to see that story fi n ished
Oh my oh my oh my. I want MORE!
This has totally sparked my interest. I think it has legs!!!
Or dragon wings, as the case may be 😀
Wow!
wow great story will it ever become a book?
This was soo good. And now I too am sad that it didn’t get to go further.
Lovely. Just lovely enough to tantalize the dry taste buds. Now where is that old barrow of wine you been hiding in the hidden vault of your mind called book series on tap.
I know, I know your plate is full and “damn it” you don’t want dessert. But when the chill of the arctic breath dust the fields and fireplace is lite, open the vault and let the dragon and Raine stretch their wings. (Gently asking)
wow. I loved this!
That was cool. Thanks.
Ok, I’m hooked, just from this snippet. Thanks for the tease, but when can I read this story?
Please write the rest!!!
I missed this the first time around, whenever that was. I just want to add my voice to the “please pick this up and develop it” group. I’d buy it in a heartbeat. I love dragons, and Raina is clearly a strong female lead.
I realize this is about a month late. Just a comment… I really appreciate all that you write. Thank you! For various reasons, I can’t read you every day/week/month, but I do appreciate all your hard work.