by Guy Antibes
As they approached the monastery dressed in black stone, Pol thought the place looked sinister and unfriendly. “It looks foreboding,” he said.
Darrol pulled on his lower lip and looked at their destination. “It’s not a particularly happy place, but I have mostly positive memories.”
Pol shuddered at the term ‘mostly positive’. He expected to be worked hard with a monastery filled with men as severe as Val. “What are you going to do now that you are back?” Pol asked Darrol.
“I may teach arms to the young things,” Darrol said, “or learn a bit more about Seeking.” He looked at Val. ‘Or both.” His face broke into a smile.
“Pol can help you with that,” Val said. “He’ll do well in the Seeker category.”
The way Val spoke put an end to the banter. They rode on in silence and finally clattered underneath the portcullis of the monastery gate. It looked more like a castle than a spiritual refuge. Pol remembered that monasteries these days were mostly secular orders in the Baccusol Empire.
“Stay here,” Val said as he left his bag with them in the large courtyard, and walked up the stairs into a newer-looking building on the castle grounds. Pol just absorbed the feel of his new home. He might die on the monastery grounds, he thought, unless the healer-monks cured him.
A short time later, Val emerged along with three older monks. They all shuffled down the stairs in their gray robes. Again, Pol thought it odd that they wore swords and boots, but these didn’t have spurs. They eyed the trio.
“Darrol, we know. You are always welcome amongst us,” the oldest-looking of the monks said. “Pakkingail Horstel?”
Paki halfheartedly raised his hand.
“You are accepted by virtue of this letter of recommendation from Malden Gastoria, Court Magician to North Salvan.” The monk waved a document in his hand and then turned to Pol. “You are the newly-disinherited prince, so Valiso says.”
“I am, sire.”
“Show me some of your power. Malden writes that you are somewhat of a prodigy.”
Pol drew within himself and detected the pattern of the seven of them standing in the courtyard. “If you will excuse me,” he said. He pointed to one of the monks and raised him six inches into the air, moved him backward and then forward before lowering him down onto the cobbled courtyard. “Will that work?”
The monk who had been moved smiled, once he shook off the shock of being transported. “You are what Val described.”
Pol smiled and then collapsed to the ground. His heart beat too fast, and his breathing began to get out of control. “I can do more, but if I do, I will faint.”
The monk helped Pol to his feet. “Val said you get overcome with fatigue. We will see what we can do about that. I’m sure you have stories to tell.”
The old monk nodded. “That will have to wait. A quick meal for Val—”
Val held up his hand. “The sea is a bit rough today. If you don’t mind, I’d like to enjoy my dinner only once, going down. I think I will be heading back on the next trip, after all.”
“Well, we will let you leave before the boat returns to the Mancus shore. Say goodbye to your friends.” The three monks returned to the building.
Pol looked at Val and really didn’t want him to leave. “You really aren’t staying?”
Val shook his head. “The Emperor must know the true story of what went on in Castle Borstall, even if he likely won’t do anything about it. Your father plays a shrewd game, and the Emperor won’t forget your mother’s murder. He won’t forget you, either. It’s hard to get an audience with Hazett, but if you need anything in Yastan, you can contact Farthia’s father, Ranno, for assistance.”
Val looked around at the buildings in front of him. “I learned most of my craft within these walls. Neither of you will lack for training.” Val put his hands on the boys’ shoulders. “Work hard. I’m sure we will run into one another in the course of time.” He threw his bag back on the covered car and climbed up on the front seat. The driver turned in the courtyard and drove Val out of sight. The man never turned to wave, which disappointed Pol.
~
The sparsely furnished dormitory wasn’t what Pol had been used to, but it met his expectations. Darrol merited his own personal cell, as they called individual rooms in the Monastery, but it looked like the boys would be sharing their living space with fourteen others, so Pol and Paki found two empty beds next to one another.
“Appreciate the solitude. A number of those identified during the Emperor’s processional are due to start arriving in a week or two along with our normal raft of new inductees. The dormitory will fill up. As far as I know, you two are the youngest pair of acolytes to be taken in at Deftnis in my lifetime, at least,” Gorm, a younger monk, said. “Tomorrow both of you will be given a battery of tests to determine how you can serve Deftnis. There are a number of specialties, but you will be required to learn a bit of everything.”
“What kind of specialties?” Paki said. Pol could tell his friend was getting excited.
“Archery, Swordsmanship, General Weapons, Seeking, Scouting, Healing, Strategy & Tactics, as well as a few others that we won’t talk about today. This dormitory is for those with magical abilities. Magic has a training regimen all its own.”
Pol thought. “Where does knife throwing come in?”
“Valiso taught you how to use knives?” Gorm couldn’t hide the surprise in his voice.
The question brought a nod from Pol. “I needed to defend myself from assassins.”
“I’ll note that. It fits in a few of our categories, but I think you will be a special case.” Gorm frowned and Pol didn’t know why. Was it his frail constitution?
They both ate in the half-empty commissary. No one introduced themselves to the two boys, and Paki’s presence became a comfort. Pol finally felt that he was safe.
They returned to the dormitory just after dark to find a few of the beds now occupied. Pol collapsed onto his. He had no idea what Paki dreamt of, but Pol kept waking up after having dreams about his struggles during the summer. He had had to fight for his life time after time, and his survival had come at a cost. Pol had more battle scars than any fourteen-going-on-fifteen-year-old should have. He pulled back the right sleeve of his nightshirt and ran his finger along the latest one. An arrow had skittered along his forearm and carved a line. He could feel the newly healed wound in the dark.
How many more scars would he collect at Deftnis?
~~~
Table of Contents
Map of the continent of Eastril on the world of Phairoon
Chapter One
Chapter Two
Chapter Three
Chapter Four
Chapter Five
Chapter Six
Chapter Seven
Chapter Eight
Chapter Nine
Chapter Ten
Chapter Eleven
Chapter Twelve
Chapter Thirteen
Chapter Fourteen
Chapter Fifteen
Chapter Sixteen
Chapter Seventeen
Chapter Eighteen
Chapter Nineteen
Chapter Twenty
Chapter Twenty-One
Chapter Twenty-Two
Chapter Twenty-Three
Chapter Twenty-Four
Chapter Twenty-Five
Chapter Twenty-Six
Chapter Twenty-Seven
Chapter Twenty-Eight
Chapter Twenty-Nine
Chapter Thirty
Chapter Thirty-One
Chapter Thirty-Two
Chapter thirty-three
Chapter Thirty-Four
Excerpt From The Magical Monk’s Habit
Copyright Page
Author’s Note
A Bit About Guy
Books by Guy Antibes
The Disinherited Prince
Copyright ©2016 Guy Antibes. All Rights Reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced without the permission of
the author.
~
This is a work of fiction. There are no real locations used in the book, the people, settings and specific places are a product of the author’s imagination. Any resemblances to actual persons, locations, or places are purely coincidental.
Published by CasiePress LLC in Salt Lake City, UT, August, 2016.
www.casiepress.com
Cover & Book Design: Kenneth Cassell
The badge on the cover is based on the image of a “Victorian Scottish Agate Crown Brooch” from Isadora’s Antique Jewelry.
~
ISBN-13: 978-
ISBN-10:
AUTHOR’S NOTE
~
This is the first book in the Disinherited Prince series. The idea of the series came from a short story that I wrote some years ago. Although there are some references to events in this first book of the series to the short story, they won’t take place any time soon. I’ll leave it to the reader to discover just what that story was when it shows up as a book of its own in the course of the series.
Every series must have a beginning and for Book One of the Disinherited Prince series, I chose to keep the story and the action relatively compact, with the intent on showing how the main character of the book dealt with the dynamics in a turbulent four months of his life. I hope the concept is enjoyable and works for you.
I’d like to again thank Judy for her editing and Ken in the interior and exterior design of the book.
— Guy Antibes
A BIT ABOUT GUY
~
With a lifelong passion for speculative fiction, Guy Antibes found that he rather enjoyed writing fantasy as well as reading it. So a career was born and Guy anxiously engaged in adding his own flavor of writing to the world. Guy lives in the western part of the United States and is happily married with enough children to meet or exceed the human replacement rate.
You can contact Guy at his website: www.guyantibes.com.
†
BOOKS BY GUY ANTIBES
POWER OF POSES
Book One: Magician in Training
Trak Bluntwithe, an illiterate stableboy, is bequeathed an education by an estranged uncle. In the process of learning his letters, Trak finds out that he is a magician. So his adventures begin that will take him to foreign countries, fleeing from his home country, who seeks to execute him for the crime of being able to perform magic. The problem is that no country is safe for the boy while he undergoes training. Can he stay ahead of those who want to control him or keep his enemies from killing him?
Book Two: Magician in Exile
Trak Bluntwithe is a young man possessing so much magical power that he is a target for governments. Some want to control him and others want to eliminate the threat of his potential. He finds himself embroiled in the middle of a civil war. He must fight in order to save his imprisoned father, yet he finds that he has little taste for warfare. Trak carries this conflict onto the battlefield and finds he must use his abilities to stop the war in order to protect the ones he loves.
Book Three: Magician in Captivity
After a disastrous reunion with Valanna Almond, Trak heads to the mysterious land of Bennin to rescue a Toryan princess sold into slavery. The Warish King sends Valanna back to Pestle to verify that the King of Pestle is no longer under Warish control. The Vashtan menace continues to infect the countries of the world and embroil both Trak and Valanna in civil conflict, while neither of them can shake off the attraction both of them feel towards each other.
Book Four: Magician in Battle
Trak quells the rebellion in Warish, but is forced to leave to return the Toryan princess. He reunites with his father, but is quickly separated again. Circumstances turn ugly in Torya, and Trak returns to Pestle to fight a new, unexpected army. Valanna’s story continues as she struggles with her new circumstances, and is sent on a final mission to Pestle. The Power of Poses series ends with a massive battle, pitting soldier against soldier and magic against magic.
FANTASY - EPIC / SWORD & SORCERY / YOUNG ADULT
~
THE WARSTONE QUARTET
An ancient emperor creates four magical gems to take over and rule the entire world. The ancient empire crumbles and over millennia. Three stones are lost and one remains as an inert symbol for a single kingdom among many. The force that created the Warstones, now awakened, seeks to unite them all, bringing in a new reign of world domination—a rule of terror.
Four Warstones, four stories. The Warstone Quartet tells of heroism, magic, romance and war as the world must rise to fight the dark force that would enslave them all.
FANTASY - SWORD & SORCERY/EPIC
Book One: Moonstone | Magic That Binds
A jewel, found in the muck of a small village pond, transforms Lotto, the village fool, into an eager young man who is now linked to a princess through the Moonstone. The princess fights against the link while Lotto seeks to learn more about what happened to him. He finds a legacy and she finds the home in her father’s army that she has so desperately sought. As Lotto finds aptitude in magical and physical power, a dark force has risen from another land to sow the seeds of rebellion. It’s up to Lotto to save the princess and the kingdom amidst stunning betrayal fomented by the foreign enemy.
Book Two: Sunstone | Dishonor’s Bane
Shiro, a simple farmer, is discovered to possess stunning magical power and is involuntarily drafted into the Ropponi Sorcerer’s Guild. He attracts more enemies than friends and escapes with his life only to end up on a remote prison island. He flees with an enchanted sword containing the lost Sunstone. Trying to create a simple refuge for an outlawed band of women sorcerers, he is betrayed by the very women he has worked to save and exiled to a foreign land. There, he must battle for his freedom as he and his band become embroiled in a continent-wide conflict.
Book Three: Bloodstone | Power of Youth
When usurpers invade Foxhome Castle, Unca, the aging Court Wizard of the Red Kingdom, flees with the murdered king’s only daughter, taking the Bloodstone, an ancient amulet that is the symbol of Red Kingdom rule. Unca uses the Bloodstone to escape capture by an enemy and is transformed into a young man, but loses all of his wizardly powers. Unca must reinvent himself in order to return the princess to her throne. Along the way he falls in love with the young woman and must deal with the conflict between his duty and his heart, while keeping a terrible secret.
Book Four: Darkstone | An Evil Reborn
As the 22nd son of the Emperor of Dakkor, Vishan Daryaku grows from boy to man, learning that he must use his unique powers and prodigious knowledge to survive. He succeeds until his body is taken over by an evil power locked inside of the Darkstone. Now Emperor of Dakkor, Vishan is trapped inside, as the ancient force that rules his body devastates his homeland while attempting to recover all of the Warstones.
As the amulets are all exposed, the holders of the Moonstone, Sunstone, and Bloodstone combine to fight the Emperor’s relentless drive to reunite the Warstones and gain power over the entire world. The armies of Dakkor and the forces of those allied with the three other stones collide on a dead continent in the stunning conclusion of the Warstone Quartet.
~
Quest of the Wizardess
Quest of the Wizardess chronicles the travels and travails of young Bellia. After her wizard family is assassinated when she is fourteen, Bellia seeks anonymity as a blacksmith’s helper. When that doesn’t work out as expected, she flees to the army.
Her extraordinary physical and magical skills bring unwanted attention and she must escape again. After finding a too-placid refuge, she takes the opportunity to seek out her family’s killers. Revenge becomes her quest that takes her to a lost temple, unexpected alliances and a harrowing confrontation with her enemies.
FANTASY - EPIC/NEW ADULT-COLLEGE/COMING OF AGE
The Power Bearer
How Norra obtained the power and the extraordinary lengths she went through to rid herself of it.
; What’s a girl to do when all of the wizards in her world are after her? She runs. But this girl runs towards the source of her power, not away from it. Along the way she picks up, among others, a wizard, a ghost, a highwaywoman and a sentient cloud. Through thick and thin, they help Norra towards her goal of finding a solution in a far off land that no one in her world has even heard of.
YOUNG ADULT EPIC FANTASY
Panix: Magician Spy
Panix has life by the tail. A new wife, a new job in a new land that has few magicians and none of his caliber. His ideal life takes some unexpected downturns and Panix finds himself employed as a spy. He has no training, but must make things up as he goes if he is to survive the politics, betrayal, war and, at the end, his own behavior.
FANTASY - ADVENTURE
THE WORLD OF THE SWORD OF SPELLS
Warrior Mage
The gods gave Brull a Sword of Spells and proclaimed him as the world’s only Warrior Mage. One big problem, there aren’t any wars. What’s a guy to do? Brull becomes a magician bounty hunter until the big day when he learns he not only has to fight a war with the magicians of his world, but fight the god that the magicians are all working to bring into being. He finds out if he has what it takes in Warrior Mage.
EPIC FANTASY
Sword of Spells
Read about Brull’s beginnings and earlier adventures as a bounty hunter of magicians in the Sword of Spells anthology.