New York Times & USA Today Bestselling author
Paula Quinn
Making Knights out of Highlanders, dragons & faeries one page at a time.
CHRISTIAN FANTASY
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He veered his steed to the right with a murderous cry that shook Willomenia to the marrow of her bones.
She pivoted around slowly, already feeling the thunder as it vibrated under her feet. The oaths she was about to deliver faded from her lips and died on the stagnant air before her.
Catchers were racing toward her, twenty men strong, clothed in black robes from head to foot. They carried long poles with nooses attached to the end and rode on fearsome war-horses whose black, willowy trappings flowed outward like wings of demons coming to snatch away her life. Great clouds of dust rose to their haunches as though the pits of hell had just spit them out and delivered them to the dry earth.
Willow ached to run, but her feet rooted into the ground like ancient trees. Her father had told her about the Catchers too. They rode the plains searching for wanderers and sold them as slaves. Sometimes ravaging villages when trade was slow, snatching children right from the arms of their mothers. They were nomads as far as anyone knew, never remaining long enough in one place to be completely stopped. Their victims never turned up again, often being sold to other countries.
Her father had warned her about the Catchers, but she wanted to believe they were naught but a myth used to frighten ill-behaved children. But they were as real as the Warriors behind her, their voices raised in a chant that lifted her hair off the back of her neck. The harrowing sound broke the spell the Catchers had over her and Willow tore her eyes away from the nightmare quickly approaching, lifted her hand to her throat in horror, and ran for the cover of the largest rock she could find.
Here's a little excerpt from The Mountain King. Our hero Joah was so much fun to write. He's clever and compassionate, and though our heroine Elywa was hard to love, with God's help he found a way to see the best in her.
"Elywa speaks in her hardened way and all I hear is anguish."
She felt Joah Makai’s gaze on her many times throughout the day. When she looked back to see if she was correct, he looked away. She almost smiled back when she caught him looking and he curled his mouth into a playful smile.
“Elywa Tajyar,” he called out in a whiney, pleading voice.
She stopped and turned around to look at him full on. What was he doing?
“Take pity on me,” he begged.
She wasn’t sure if she wanted to smile or run in fear of something meaningful.
He called her name again. His husky voice made her feel as if she’d had too much wine when she hadn’t had any.
“What?” she called back. “Take pity on you for what?”
By now, he had come closer. She wanted to turn away, but she didn’t. She did lower her chin when he walked past Levi and nearly walked straight through her. She thought he was going to try to kiss her. He didn’t. But he spoke close to her ear. “I am wretched and betray my own heart.”
She lifted her chin and gave him a steady look. “Please step back.”
He did and took his warmth with him.
“How did you betray your heart?” she asked him on a shaky breath.
“I promised myself,” he said, pouting full on. “I would never be swayed by a pretty face, or a beguiling back.”
Did he believe he could win her heart? If he was Prince Jair did he think she wouldn’t kill him? Was this a strategy of his? If he was the prince, did he truly think she had time for romance?
She laughed. “You really are a fool, aren’t you?”
She pivoted on her heel and left him there.
“Yes. Yes, I am,” he called out and then laughed, as well.
Meet Elywa from The Mountain King. She an Assassin, just as there are Catchers and Warriors in this land, Elywa belongs to a Guild that trains killers for hire. She is the most merciless in the Guild, especially when it comes to Catchers who killed her parents and separated her from her brother. Can Joah get through the almost impenetrable armor she has clothed herself in?
“Who are you?” Prince Tarrant circled her like a predator playing with its prey.
Elywa smirked inwardly. Let him think what he wanted.
“Elywa Tajyar of Keldari,” she told him.
He waited. She knew he wanted her to show some sign of submission, of reverence. She wanted to laugh. He’d get none of it. Neither would his treasonous mother.
“Well, Miss Tajyar,” he said in a softer tone, one that almost sounded like Joah’s, if not for the arrogance lacing his words. “I won’t stand for your insolence. You come from Keldari so you might not be aware that I’m the crown prince.”
She spared him an impatient glance. Where had they taken Ekarr? She’d protested against the separation, but he was taken anyway. As were what few weapons she had left on her person.
“What have you done with my friend?”
He slapped her in the face.
If he wasn’t the prince, she’d knee him between the legs as hard as she could and as he was going down, she’d knee him in the face and break his nose, maybe even his jaw. It wasn’t difficult. Two moves and he’d be down, helpless against her. She was trained in much more complex moves. She’d even been practicing what Joah had taught her and Levi. But touching him would mean her certain death.
When she set her gaze on him again, her eyes burned and her shoulders straightened.
“I said I won’t stand for your insolence.”
She felt blood trickle down a corner of her mouth and clenched her teeth.
He saw her temper flare and curled his upper lips in a smirk, then finished with a short laugh. “You’re spirited. I like that. But you’re a fool.” He lifted his fist this time.
She side-stepped, lifted her hand behind his extended arm, pushed it out of her way with ease, took his wrist, bent it backward and lifted her other hand to the back of her head. Without giving him time to take another breath, or his men around her to lift their blades, she plucked a long, sharp comb from her hair, bringing the tresses around her face down in a cascade of glossy waves, and held the sharp tip level with his eye.
She shouldn’t have done it, but she wasn’t going to let him hit her again. Prince or not. She didn’t regret it and clenched her teeth at him. “Put your hand to me again and I will take a piece of you, Your Highness. Do you understand?”
He nodded.