The Apprentice Sorceress
Page 18
Wet and sticky with blood, the wolf rolled to his feet with a snarl. He blinked bleary eyes to focus on his surroundings. The dogs closed in around him, pressing him back to a tight knot of trees. He faced the pack of snarling hounds as their masters rode into sight just through the trees. He tried to stagger out of the clearing, to shelter, to safety, but a hound snapped at him and, growling low, forced the wolf back.
The hunt thundered into the clearing, and the ground vibrated beneath his paws from the force of so many horses. Riders stalked the wolf on all sides, cornering him. Slowly the dogs crept nearer to tear him limb from limb for the delectation of their keepers.
Let them come. He snapped at the nearest hound, growling loud enough that his whole body seemed to vibrate with the sound. I am not a knight anymore, but I can still fight. This I will do to the end. To the death.
Through his haze of fatigue, he wondered idly why the dogs had not finished him yet. His human memory cheerfully supplied the answer to the wolf’s addled wits: in a hunt like this, the actual kill was saved for the highest-ranking member. In this case: King Thomas.
The king was going to kill him. Then the nobles and other worthies would hack him to bits. Very ceremoniously and reverently, of course, but all the same, there would not be much left of the wolf at the end. Then, last, in reward for a job well done, the dogs might get to eat some of his mangled carcass. As far as an ugly death went, it was hard to top that.
But oh, his body ached and his heart hurt, and if he got to see his king again…Fool that I am, that might almost be worth it.
Buy The Beauty’s Beast now.
Also by E.D. Walker
Fantasy Romance/Fairy Tale Retellings:
The Fairy Tales of Lyond Series
Enchanting the King
The Apprentice Sorceress
The Beauty’s Beast
The Changeling Child
Other SF/F Work:
Heir to the Underworld
Zandro: A SFR Novella (coming soon!)
The Weaver, An Anthology of Short Stories
Contemporary Romance:
(Writing as Beth Matthews)
Love’s Last Call
******
Thanks for reading The Apprentice Sorceress. I hope you enjoyed it.
Reviews are one of the best things you can do to support your favorite authors. I appreciate all reviews whether positive or negative. If you would like to leave a review for this book CLICK HERE.
You’ve just read the second book in The Fairy Tales of Lyond Fantasy Series. The other books in the series are Enchanting the King, The Beauty’s Beast, and The Changeling Child. Join my Facebook group HERE to chat with other readers about this series.
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
Many thanks to:
My sensitivity reader, Shadae Mallory.
My husband, whose support means the world to me.
My son, who provided the motivation to get organized and finally finish this book.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
E.D. Walker, a native of Los Angeles, is the author of The Fairy Tales of Lyond Series that begins with Enchanting the King. As a child, she grew up knowing all the words to the songs in Disney’s fairy tale retellings. (Sleeping Beauty was always her favorite.) Lo and behold, she eventually grew up to write fairy tale retellings of her own.
By day, E.D. helps corral engineers for NASA (without doing any of the tech stuff herself, of course). By night, she loves to write her clever heroes and heroines bantering their way to true love. E.D. is a total geek, a movie buff, and a mediocre swing dancer. E.D., her husband, and their son live in sunny Southern California with one of the neediest housecats on the planet.
For more information about E.D., please visit her website, “Like” E.D. on Facebook, and follow her on Twitter, Bookbub, and Goodreads. Make sure you also join E.D.’s newsletter to be the first to hear about her newest projects.
She’s always thrilled to hear from her readers. Email her directly at e.d.walker.author@gmail.com.