by Mark Hayden
‘Of course,’ she said, lifting her nose in the air like the princess she is.
I’ve had to reconsider my father since I learnt about his affairs. He never gave me much advice, but what he did give was always excellent, including his advice about women. His first and most important rule was always let the woman have the last word. I was going to stop there, with Mina saying Of course, but there was someone else in the car who deserves to have the last word. They’ve been through a lot recently.
There was a snuffle and a blast of breath on my neck.
‘Arff.’
Conrad, Mina and the whole gang’s story continues in The Seventh Star–
the Seventh Book of the King’s Watch, available from Paw Press in Spring 2020.
You can also find out how Mina secured their engagement in:
Ring of Troth – A King’s Watch Story
Turn over for more…
Ring of Troth
The third King’s Watch novella is now available to pre-order from Paw Press on Amazon.
Mina is the happiest woman in the world: she has a job, a home and now a fiancé. The only fly in the ointment is a snake called Pramiti.
She owes a debt to Pramiti. A debt that requires her to find, steal and restore the serpent’s magickal ruby, last seen in 1903…
This is no job for Conrad, but if there’s one thing she’s learnt from him, it’s this: Get Help.
Find out who joins Team Mina in Ring of Troth.
And then…
Coming Soon
The Seventh Star
The Seventh Book of the King’s Watch
by
Mark Hayden
One Hell of a Party…
Mina’s Bollywood extravaganza is a huge hit – especially when a surprise celebrity makes a dramatic entrance.
While everyone queues for a selfie, Conrad is wondering why a Fae Countess has descended on him.
It turns out she has a problem, and her problem is about to become Conrad’s problem: amidst the dark Satanic mills of Lancashire, something is attacking the Fae.
Conrad has to leave his comfort zone in Clerkswell and break in another new partner. It won’t be long before he is praying for strength from Kratu, the Seventh Star.
And why not join Conrad’s elite group of supporters:
The Merlyn’s Tower Irregulars
Visit the Paw Press website and sign up for the Irregulars to receive news of new books, or visit the Facebook page for Mark Hayden Author and Like it.
Author’s Note
Thank you for reading this book; I hope you enjoyed it. If you did, please leave a review on Amazon. It doesn't have to be long. Reviews make a huge difference to Indie authors, and an honest review from a genuine customer is worth a great deal. If you've read all the books of the King’s Watch, please review them, too – even if you’re in a hurry to read the next one.
Shakespeare said that A good wine deserves a good bush. In other words, a good book deserves a good cover. I’ll never be able to prove it, but I strongly believe that The King’s Watch would not have been the same without the beautiful covers designed by the Awesome Rachel Lawston.
It therefore gave me great pleasure to not only dedicate this book to her mother, Maggie Pearce, but to include her as a character.
The King’s Watch books are a radical departure from my previous five novels, all of which are crime or thrillers, though very much set in the same universe, including the Operation Jigsaw Trilogy. Conrad himself refers to it as being part of his history.
You might like to go back the Jigsaw trilogy and discover how he came to the Allfather’s attention. As I was writing those books, I knew that one day Conrad would have special adventures of his own, and that’s why the Phantom makes a couple of guest appearances.
Other than that, it only remains to be said that all the characters in this book are fictional, as are some of the places, but Merlyn’s Tower, Pellacombe and Homewood are, of course, all real places, it’s just that you can only see them if you have the Gift…
This book could it have been written without love, support, encouragement and sacrifices from my wife, Anne. It just goes to show how much she loves me that she let me write the first Conrad book even though she hates fantasy novels. She says she now likes them.
As ever, Chris Tyler’s friendship is a big part of my continued desire to write, and thanks also due to the fellow members of Kendal Writers’ Café. Their critique of my opening chapters is always both merciless and justified.
Thanks,
Mark Hayden.