FREE KINDLE FOR PC

FREE KINDLE FOR PC
So you can read my books

Wednesday, October 26, 2011

THE RULE OF 3 FINALE_OLD TOMORROWS



All the characters in my BOOK FAIR NOVEL of yesterday

are in this haunting finale so if you guys are back, you might want to read this as well.


THE RULE OF THREE BLOGFEST :
http://jc-martin.com/fighterwriter/2011/10/ren3-final-round-prompts/

reaches its eerie climax NOW!


OLD TOMORROWS :


I am Meilori Shinseen.

Time holds me prisoner. A frozen bubble of it. Maija, my sister, used my concern for her to capture me. I was taken in by her lie that she was in danger.

Awareness is seldom mine. Only when my Samuel leaves Time’s boundaries, as with his excursion here to Renaissance, does my link to my mate lift the gauze of oblivion.

Maija stands gloating, knowing the mayor’s fate will be a mystery for generations. Her cheeks blush with the blood of queens and kings. Was my face ever a’glow with cruelty’s bliss as hers now?

Memories of pleasantries with Caligula, screams of sacrifices on Aztec altars, and of the perfume of a death lotus gorging on a slave in Babylon’s Gardens warn me to withhold judgment for myself.

Maija’s whole body quivers. She is planning something. She never learns. All her days will be old tomorrows where she endlessly grasps for that which cannot be captured only given freely.

Samuel fills my world. Those eyes deep with sad wisdom. He cocks his head, looking at his companions. Seeing him thus, I feel as if my heart will burst.

When he smiles, I decide I would not mind it bursting if only he would turn and smile at me one last time.

Samuel smiles only at Alice Wentworth, who has bloomed like a watered desert rose since last I saw her. Victor Standish is clearly the reason. Victor laughs.

“Captain Sam, you were right. If we hadn’t come, Maija would’ve bought the mayor’s lies and been killed by those ghosts.”

Alice murmurs, “Maija killed by a lie would have been most poetic.”

I curse wordlessly. If she but knew how poetic it would have been.

Maija stiffens as if stabbed and turns to Samuel. “You knew I was luring you to your death and still you came to … to save me?”

Samuel looks sad. “I don’t know any other way to be.”

She bows her head, staring at the red carpet. “You are too noble for this world. I do you a favor with what is about to transpire.”

Alice floats closer to Maija. “I have little love for you and less reason to have it. But I tell you there is a path other than the one you have chosen to gain your heart’s desire.”

Maija’s voice is thick and forlorn, convulsed with scarlet pain. “I know of no other way to be.”

Maija’s head snaps up, cruel resolve freezing her blue eyes. “Attack!”

All the exterior doors burst open. A horde of Ningyo warriors, loyal, not to me their empress, but to Maija, storm in like fluid death. Victor laughs.

“You mean these flunkies you planned to take out the mayor with? Captain Sam knew about them, too.”

Maija frowned, “Wh-What?”

Victor smiles, “Hold that pose, Your Hind-Ass. You’ll make a great Poster Girl for DUH!”

Alice flows right up to Maija, her sharp teeth at my sister’s quivering throat. “Surely, you know Samuel can fold time as well as space.”

My Samuel smiles like a wolf, “We four exist a layer of time back from your assassins, Maija. They can’t touch us.”

Maija husks, “So again you spare me.”

Samuel’s face hardens. “Not hardly. Since I’ve been layered from time, I sense Meilori. You did something to her. I’ll find her. But you ….”

His eyes become windows into Hell. “You I leave a ghost in Time.”

“No!,” wails Maija.

The impossible happens. Samuel’s eyes meet mine. “I’ll find you, Meilori.”

And though oblivion again swallows me, I smile.

(596 words)
***
For Week 4, Empress Meilori Shinseen graciously chose all four of the following prompts:

•The misfortune is resolved/accepted {Maija was not happy about how.}

•Relationships mend/are torn asunder {Sam’s with Maija was torn asunder. Sam comes to realize Meilori did not leave him after all but was a victim of one of Maija’s plots.}

•The final event becomes another secret for generations to come. {No one in Renaissance will ever realize their mayor was a scion of an Old One or discover his true fate.}

•There is a new arrival in town. {The spirit of Meilori Shinseen, the Ningyo Empress and wife of Samuel McCord.}

***

If any of you are intrigued with the mysterious Meilori Shinseen, you might want to read RITES OF PASSAGE

which details the tempestuous love affair between Meilori and Samuel aboard a fantasy Titanic in 1853 crossing the Bermuda Triangle.

Aboard that cursed ship you will find : Maija, Fallen (of THE LAST FAE), The Turquoise Woman (of THE LAST SHAMAN), the mother and father of Hibbs, THE BEAR WITH 2 SHADOWS, and...

Samuel's first duel with DayStar, the supernatural Hannibal Lector who crosses over into most of my novels.

Oh, and William Faulkner in the New Orleans of the Roaring Twenties begins and ends the tale. How cool is that?

http://www.amazon.com/RITES-OF-PASSAGE-ebook/dp/B004XQVPYM/ref=sr_1_1?s=digital-text&ie=UTF8&qid=1319642886&sr=1-1
***

18 comments:

  1. It's great to read a short story with already developed characters and back story! I do like the satisfying conclusion!

    ReplyDelete
  2. Thank you, Jenna :
    Your kind words make my morning, Roland

    ReplyDelete
  3. That ending gave me chills! Great job!

    ReplyDelete
  4. Amazing, even if a bit cryptic. Looks like I have some other reading to do.

    ReplyDelete
  5. A terrifying, yet satisfying ending. Good job and good luck.

    ReplyDelete
  6. J A :
    Glad I made the ending satisfying and chilling. You made my afternoon, Roland

    Joshua :
    I like to leave endings open as that is the way it is with real life. The thing about existing characters ... there is always a backstory. As Aristotle said, "There is always an earlier crime."

    Richard :
    Thank you for being happy with my ending. And good fortune for you as well, Roland

    ReplyDelete
  7. This was an enjoyable conclusion. Such a developed character (and the picture) brought great depth into your writing. You're an excellent writer! :)

    ReplyDelete
  8. David :
    After the kind of day that usually ends in obituaries, your kind words make all the difference in the world. Empress Meilori nods her head regally towards you!

    ReplyDelete
  9. Wendy's trailer looks awesome. Looks like a book I'd enjoy :) I am so far behind on my reading . .

    This ended with a nice wrap-up of everything going on. That Sam, always one step ahead; I'd hate to be the one trying to fool him . .

    Good job Roland.

    .......dhole

    ReplyDelete
  10. Donna :
    Doesn't Wendy's new trailer look awesome? And Maija did indeed fool him about Meilori leaving for 7 long years which cut the heart out of him. Which explains him leaving her a ghost in Time. Thanks for liking it, Roland

    ReplyDelete
  11. I love Meilori's voice. And her name! The story feels rich and layered. The ending is a good pause in an obviously much larger adventure.

    ReplyDelete
  12. What a great ending to this story--and excellent writing. :)

    ReplyDelete
  13. Love that last line.
    It's fun using characters from your novel, isn't it? :-)

    ReplyDelete
  14. Colleen :
    I mused for a long time on what name to use for Samuel's one great love of his epic life when I started RITES OF PASSAGE. It means "My Laurel" symbolic of several things in Samuel's and her life. Meilori has lived for so long, seen so much, that it has molded her voice -- thanks for liking it. And it is indeed a larger story -- one that stetches over centuries.

    Golden Eagle :
    It has been a hard day - no time at work to use the internet - so your kind words really help!

    Deniz :
    Thanks, I stewed on that last line for awhile. And you're right : using characters from my novels lends depth to them and I can blend their backstory into the current adventure! Roland

    ReplyDelete
  15. I loved this ending. I really hope that Samuel finds her. :-)

    ReplyDelete
  16. Misha :
    Thanks for loving this ending. In NEW ORLEANS ARABESQUE, Meilori and Samuel are reunited at the End of All Things as a universe dies and love is reborn, Roland

    ReplyDelete
  17. Okay, for about two seconds I felt sorry for Maija, but I ended up mad as hell at her again :-)

    ReplyDelete
  18. And...The End! What a journey it has been! And now begins the hardest part: the judging!

    ReplyDelete