In Pursuit Of Wisdom (Book 1)
Page 63
The Queen looked at the fierce man in front of her. He has passion, this one. “Tell me, Herodius, what is it you wish of me? You sail halfway around the world, with few provisions, for what? The opportunity of future revenge? Tell me that there is more to your efforts than mere bloodlust, because I wonder how that will be sustained as the weeks stretch to months just sitting here, waiting for our enemy to attack. Because if you think I plan to sail with my own troops away from our stronghold to meet his, you are gravely mistaken.” She fixed Herodius with a steely stare.
As stoic as ever, he looked at the Queen with unblinking eyes. “Your Majesty,” he began. “We are not looking for charity. Our men are proud, and they have some training already. With a modest bit of food and rest, I know that we will be a fierce addition to your army. I have already seen these men fight the Ogre and his mercenaries—we won our freedom the hard way, and we will fight for that freedom, whether as part of your army or on our own. I would have us join you, but that decision rests with you.”
He paused, briefly looked down before looking back at the Queen, boldly stepping forward. “My Queen, have you ever lost everything?”
I lost my King, my Husband, and my Partner to share this burden. “I have lost much, Islander, but not everything,” she said. “And neither have you,” she added, returning his gaze. “You live still, for one.”
Herodius blinked, wiping away a single, proud tear. He actually smiled sadly. “Yes, I suppose you are right. Perhaps not everything. But if you have lost as much as I have—my family, my home, my way of life—then you would understand that what I am asking for is simply a fresh start! Not just for me, but for all of us who came here. We do not want charity or a handout. We will work the land until we can buy our own. We will train with your soldiers and earn our wages at the very bottom of your army. We will serve in your castle as laborers to pay for the food we eat. We came here with nothing but information and pride, and if there is no place for us here, than we will leave with the same.”
Herodius raised both hands, addressing everyone in the Great Hall. “Our Queen has asked us a good question. A fair question. You ask what will keep the fire of revenge burning should we settle into a new life here. I can only speak for myself, but I daresay my sentiment is shared by every brother and sister of mine that journeyed here across the sea.
“The answer is hope. Hope is what will keep the fire burning. Not the presence of hope, but the very lack of it. What I have learned is that hope and fear are closely related: one cannot have hope unless one fears something to lose, and when one has nothing to lose, there is no hope.”
“You speak of despair, Herodius Cromwell. Of what value to my kingdom are 9,000 islanders, full of despair?” The Queen stood up, looking for answers. She stretched out her arms in a gesture that was somehow both empathetic and exasperated at the same time.
“No! Not despair. Never despair. I reject that a lack of hope is despair. What I am trying to tell you is that for all of us there is nothing else besides revenge. You take hope away, and you leave nothing but a void into which we pour our anger over this atrocity. Look at my wrist!” He held up his arm, upon which could clearly be seen his number: 1X5Z9. “I am a just number to this fiend. Do you think if we regain our strength, make new friends, and learn a new skill that we will soon forget what the Ogre and his Master have done? My Queen…how could we? It is written on all of our bodies.”
The Queen stepped down from her throne and walked over to Herodius. There were several gasps from some in her court. She gently extended her hand to look at his wrist. The arm was heavily scarred, but the tattoo was clearly visible: 1X5Z9. She softened her eyes and looked directly into moist ones of the proud man in front of her. Can I trust this man and his kind to fight for us when it really matters? Can I put them under my knights, or under my castle guards? Will these 9,000 mouths really earn their keep?
An unexpected flash of movement caught her attention from the corner of her eye. Stepping out from the shadows, Magi called to the same Queen who had put a bounty on his head. “He speaks truly, my Queen. It is a Dark, Dark World. But I assure you both: it is not a hopeless one.”
He smiled, holding aloft the brilliant Staff of Insight.
THE CAST (ALPHABETICAL):
Aaron: A food tester
Abel Steele: Opponent of Strongiron
Absynthe the Weak: Son of Torbeth, Ancient King of Elvidor
Arkin Steele: Disfigured Warrior, opponent of Strongiron
Arrington, Lionel: Ranger from Brigg
Arrington, Lord: Overseer of Shoal
Axel Steele: Opponent of Strongiron
Barnabus: A smitty in Briz. Half-brother of Thimble
Belara Kassar: Niku’s Number 2 Mage, a gifted Illusionist
Bertram: Master-at-Arms in the Fighting Pits of Kekero
Bingham, Lord: Overseer of Ilbindale
Black-John: Village smitty in Brigg
Bollinger, Lord: Overseer of Misk
Brandon Gains: Large-scale farmer in Brigg
Bronson: A deckhand on The Modest Mermaid
Bruno Stoney: Innkeeper at Stoney’s Drink
Captain Grull: A leader under Tar-Tan
Cherokum: Elven Scout
Chocktaw: Elven Chieftain
Corovant, Lord: Overseer of Gaust
Crystal: A serving girl at The Royal Steed
Daphne: Xaro’s Enchantress mother
Diana: Elven maidservant
Dymetra: One True God
Elmon: A miller from a hamlet near Briz
Elsa, the Ol’ Shakoor: Northern Prophet
Elyn, Lady: Elven Princess
Ethan Bollinger: Lord Bollinger’s son
Fate: Demi-God also known as Destiny, or Fortune’s Song
Genovieve: One of Malenec’s favorite zombie’s
Goodwin, Lady Melanie: Farmer’s Widow in Brigg
Gwen: Elven Maidservant
Hamath, Lord: Lord of Whilure
Hazelton, Lady Fran: Lord Daniel’s wife
Hazelton, Lord Daniel: Overseer of Paragatha
Helmut Bowhistle: First mate aboard The Modest Mermaid
Hem-see Rah: Ancient Elven King
Herodius Cromwell: Islander from Uncharted Isles
Horace Packard: Large-scale farmer in Brigg
Jacyntha Blacksmooth (Jaz): Magi’s Mother
Jamison, Lord Ian: Overseer of Shith
Jonathon Venerek: The Queen’s Steward
Kari Quinlan: Mage in Brigg, training under Marik
Karwin the Short: Warlord who overthrew Absynthe
Kenoshee Rah: Ancient Elven Queen
Kensington, Lord: Overseer of Kekero
King Alomar: King of Elvidor
Kuth-Cergor: The Anti-God
Kyle Quinlan: Mage in Brigg, training under Marik
Magi Blacksmooth: Mage in Brigg, training under Marik
Malenec: A Dark Cleric
Manny: Fish peddler in Gaust
Manoramoshi: Elven guard
Maria Cromwell: Herodius’s wife
Marik Kinshaw: Master True Mage, teacher of young mages
Markus: Captain of The Queen’s Arrow
Mika Lalonde: A Captured Islander
Mikel Lalonde: A Captured Islander, friend of Herodius
Morsus: A wight in the employ of Fate, the Master of Pain
Nathaniel Mist: Head of the Thief’s Guild
Nepalacerta: A scorpion-like creature, with a lizard’s head
Niku Whitestone: Head of Magic for the Queen
Norman: Lord Bollinger’s Steward
Nugget: Mage in Brigg, training under Marik
Orion: Xaro’s Warrior Father
Paul the Wanderer: Famous and accomplished Ranger
Peace-Arm Tuitio: Strongiron’s father, Knight of the Order of Thunder
Peter Massilon: Admiral of the Queen’s Fleet
Phillip Xavier Trenton: Village Elder in Brigg
Phineas: True Mage in the empl
oy of the Queen
Pilanthas: Ancient Elven Prophet
Queen Najalas: Queen of Elvidor
Quentin: Mage dispatched to Urthrax by the Queen
Quinn: Warrior dispatched to Kekero
Quixatalor: Ancient Archmage
Ragor Stri: Mage in Brigg, training under Marik
Rebecca: A Ranger from Brigg, known as “The Lady Ranger”
Reginald the Third: Ancient King of Elvidor
Renee: Lady friend of Trevor Blink
Rhee: Female True Warrior under Strongiron’s command
Robin Edgewild: Veronica’s father
Roc-San: Warlord who rose to power after Karwin
Ronbar: A miller from Rookwood
Samir: Recruited Veronica
Serenity Hopewell: True Mage, former student of Marik Kinshaw’s
Silas: Innkeeper of The Royal Steed
Silverfist: Head of the Assassin’s Guild
Silvia Edgewild: Veronica’s mother
Simon Brisbane: Captain of the Queen’s Guard
Sindar: Warrior from Brigg
Skylar: Mage in Brigg, training under Marik
Strongiron Tuitio: Warrior son of Peace-Arm, member of Queen Najalas’s inner circle
Tarsh Minster: Mage in Brigg, training under Marik
Tar-Tan: Warrior half-ogre
Thimble: A dwarf travelling with gypsies
Thomas: Scribe in the Great Library of Gaust
Thorax: Iron God
Tinkle: A gypsy from the black markets of Paragatha
Tomas Blacksmooth: Magi’s Father
Tonthor: Elven guard
Torbeth the First: Son of Reginald, Ancient King of Elvidor
Trevor Blink: Talented Thief
Vartan: A cook at The Royal Steed
Velvet, Lady: Innkeeper at The Last Call
Venatus Carrion: Ranger from Brigg
Veronica Edgewild: Talented Assassin
Vincent: Lord Kensington’s Son
Windomere: Ancient True Cleric
Wyzle: Keeper of the Books, Great Library of Gaust
Xaro: True Mage who conceals his status
Zender: The Mystic Under the Mountain
Zephyr (Captain Z): Captain of the boat, Sheila’s Bane
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Technically speaking, Steve began his writing career more than two decades ago as a teenager with the outline, map, and first hundred pages or so of what would become In Pursuit of Wisdom. It was always a project he promised himself he’d “get to” when he retired. Well, who among us is guaranteed tomorrow, right? So after some ungentle prompting from his wife of 16 years (and counting) and his best friend (looking at you, Mark), he dusted off the old Trapper Keeper notebook from the 1980’s that housed his manuscript to see what kind of shape it was in.
(As an aside….if you ever have the opportunity to peek back through time at what was important or creative to your fifteen-year-old-self, Steve highly recommends it. It’s, eh, illuminating).
After reading the hundred loose-leaf, yellowed, hand-written pages in the most God-awful cursive you can imagine…Steve scrapped it. He chuckled first of course, but scrapped it nonetheless. Fifteen-year-old Steve apparently wanted to take the story in a bit of a different direction than modern-day Steve. So that’s a long way of saying his writing “career” began in earnest in 2012.
Between scribbling the plot foundation in the 80’s and now, Steve enjoys his day job as a Management Consultant, Practice Leader, Father to two amazing children, and Husband to the love of his life that he met in an acting class.
Table of Contents
DEDICATION
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
Chapter 1: Rites of Passage
Chapter 2: Of Thieves and Assassins
Chapter 3: A Sight, a Flight, and a Fight
Chapter 4: Many Returns
Chapter 5: Games and Plans
Chapter 6: Treachery Revealed
Chapter 7: The Price Men Pay
Chapter 8: An Unknown Future
Chapter 9: The Forging of A Team
Chapter 10: Changes In Direction
Chapter 11: Revelations
Chapter 12: Many Journeys
Chapter 13: The Cleric and the Mage
Chapter 14: Threats and Prophecy
Chapter 15: Schemes
Chapter 16: If Ignorance is Bliss, is Knowledge Misery?
Chapter 17: Seek, And Ye Shall Find
Chapter 18: Opportunities Presented and Witheld
Chapter 19: Familiar Faces
Chapter 20: Making Adjustments In a Dark World
Chapter 21: Leaving One City, Entering Another
Chapter 22: Rejection, Doubt, Failure, and Lies
Chapter 23: Prosecution or Persecution
Chapter 24: The Cost of Power
Chapter 25: Reunions
Chapter 26: The Choices of Men; The Power of Women
Chapter 27: The Seeds of Hope
The Cast (Alphabetical):
ABOUT THE AUTHOR