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Sneak Peek 1: To Take a Throne ~ Eliot’s story

I know, we all love Annabeth.
I do too.
However, I knew when I finished that there was another character in the book that wanted to tell his story.
Eliot.
I kind of held a grudge against the man…
I mean can you blame me? (If you’ve read Annabeth’s War, you’ll know what I am talking about.)
He was also super difficult to deal with, so for years I put off telling his story, and then this year, I finally sat down and wrote his story.
It took a few weeks, it’s only a short story, but it tells the final chapters of Eliot, it also gives a brief look at a few of our favorite characters, and is the first book that actually let me into Falway! SERIOUSLY I KNEW THAT COUNTRY WAS AWESOME, but seeing it through Eliot’s eyes was really special.

This book, is actually ready for beta readers after I make a few more changes, then it’s off to the editor, and into your hands.

Also, this book is Eliot, so it’s a little more violent because let’s be honest, that is what Eliot does well….we all know this.

Chapter One

“I can’t believe you’re abandoning me for a pretty maid,” chided Eliot following Ransom to collect his things from the tent.
Ransom laughed lightly. “Just wait for your turn Eliot.”
“What? You think a maid will turn my head? You’ve got the only interesting maid I’ve seen in two or three kingdoms.”
“And she’s mine,” said Ransom with a smile.
“I do think I would have gotten the job done a little faster than you have.”
“Well,” smiled Ransom. “Good thing you didn’t have this job.”
“Really? I was too busy and then I had to come in and clean up your mess as always.”
“My mess? I am not the one who dragged her to that horrible villain and…”
“I see we shall never agree on the whole matter. Perhaps you’re right,” sighed Eliot. “Besides if we keep talking this over you’ll never be ready, and I’d hate to be the reason that Annabeth is kept waiting.”
Ransom smiled, and swinging his pack on his shoulder. “We’ve had a good run, we had each other’s backs and we had plenty of adventures together, but now our paths turn, so until we meet again ol’ friend Godspeed to you and may you find a wife who makes you feel like a king.”
“Is that what Annabeth’ makes you feel like?”
There was no wiping the smile off of Ransom’s face. “Better.”
“Ransom,” it was Annabeth’s voice outside of the tent flap.
“I am coming my love.”
Eliot rolled his eyes. As Ransom left the tent, his arm slipped around Annabeth, dropping a kiss on the face that was upturned to look at him, a blush came to her cheeks—that were still pale from time to time. She had been battered by life, but was now beginning a new one with Ransom to be at her side, to be her protector and love.
In a moment they were gone, and Eliot flopped himself back down on his cot. When one was on a mission sleep wasn’t always the easiest to come by, and there was no knowing when his king would need him again, so he would sleep, eat, and practice with his sword until he was needed again, and right now seemed the perfect time for a nap.
“Eliot sir?” it was the sound of a page at the tent flap—a young page at the sound of it. Eliot sir indeed.
“Yes,” he yawned with a stretch.
“The king has sent for you.”
Rollin to his feet Eliot looked down at the page with a lifted eyebrow, “Yes?”
“Oh?” the page looked up at him in wonder and he held back the corner of his mouth from smiling at the boy’s wide-eyed awe.
“Lead on then,” he commanded.
“Yes!” said the boy leaping into motion and charging in the direction of the King’s tent. He very well could have gone their himself, but a page in training was something to be handled carefully, the boy needed to learn how to take responsibility, and next time it might not be him—but perhaps an overbearing lord or a foreign ambassador he was sent to fetch.
Reaching the King Fredric’s tent, the small page, stopped at the tent flap. “Just a moment if you please, I’ll make sure the king isn’t occupied.”
He nodded and tucked his hand behind his back waiting.
A moment later the boy appeared. “He will see you now.”
Eliot entered the tent and bowed low to his king.
“Eliot, I am sorry to be sending you out again so soon, but I’ve received word that Chambria is in need of help and I am sending you.”
“But we have no treaty with Chambria my king.”
“Not at this moment, but we soon will, it seems that Lord Raburn was in league with the Lord Chancellor of Chambria, and set up a coup. The king and queen were slain, along with their second son, but the heir and his younger sisters escaped to Raven Castle. I cannot send my men to war very easily after bringing them home. However, I am sending you to fetch Princess Regina, my son is in need of a wife and eventually an heir.”
“A marriage alliance, for our fighting men?”
“I wouldn’t interfere but I knew the king of Chambria, and he was nothing but a kind man. The Lord Chancellor is quite a different story. If even half the stories I’ve heard are true. I do not wish for such a neighbor. Power hungry monsters never do anyone any good.”
“At once your majesty?”
“I’ve sent for them to have your horse saddled and ready. I’ll see you at home in less than a week. We’ll give the soldiers a day to toast my son and his new bride and have a force sent across the way. Once it’s put down, they can go home to their families once again. I hate to keep my men fighting more than I have to.”
“At once your majesty.”
“Thank you.”
King Fredric dismissed him with a wave of his hand.
“Oh! The king of Beltera knows what is going on, You of course have full freedom to circle into Belterra on your way to and from Raven Castle—not that we needed it but considering the situation.”
“Thank you, your majesty.”
The king nodded and Eliot stepped out of the tent, the page was standing there holding onto his black horse’s bridle.
“He’s ready sir, provisions and all.”
“Thank you,” said Eliot leaping into the saddle and taking the reins, He nodded the young page and kicked the horse into a loping canter.
Crossing the stream where they had defeated Lord Raburn and his men a few days before,
Speeding across the forest and plains, he at last reached the mountain pass that led up to legendary, Raven Castle.

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