The grind continues and has now passed the milestone of 200 pages in the second part of the KoTohLan series, the work our hero Magnus Thistle is doing in Hoveria.
Reaching 200 pages in this, the exact amount I have written in all books for the year is 1,268,235 and for Hoveria 60,000+
I posted the first part of the first chapter a few days back so perhaps now would be good to post the first part of the second chapter
2) Welcome Home
“She’s here, that is wonderful and who is that next to her. I vaguely remember some little boy that looked like that at her wedding. But this is no little boy, she has brought a man home with her!” The general came down the stairs, slower then Celeste remembered he would walk down them before she had left her family to become a novice. He was grayer, but she had seen that the previous year when he came to her wedding. She had not noticed that he was slower, but he was past sixty now. It was inevitable she supposed and she caught back a sob as she realized she had missed many years of the love and affection that her parents could have given her by being away.
Perhaps wanting to be a sister of Nuln had been more of a curse then a blessing. Indeed sometimes and for other reasons it had been so. A curse to wed the monster that was Joran’s father and a blessing to be his stepmother.
Joran though looked happy. He had a wonderful time as they travelled on the road away from Karn and probably Duke Mikal as well. Adam had him at his side almost the entire time that they travelled, with his two cousins who were the first family members he had ever met, he seemed like he was the most joyous he had ever been.
Now a little more than year since his mother had died and he had not missed a day of smiling since they had left the capitol of Karnexia. Weeks had sometimes gone by where he did not smile at all.
“Do you remember your bow to the Vote-Holder?” Celeste asked. Her father was also called the General, or Council Leader, though a new election for Vote Holders and council leadership would surely be underway now that the Imperial was finished. Riders would have returned quicker than the column that Celeste had travelled with, telling the news that no one of Camoria, had won the Imperial Tournament, but also that General Adam had come in third.
After each Imperial the election of Vote-Holders took place and then from those election to the Council of Seven and its leadership. A position that General Zacharia had held for nearly five years since the last election. He had been a Vote-Holder for nearly ten years. Celeste did not wonder if he were too old for another term. Her father guarded a secret that she now knew and worried about. A secret that he was bound to keep and one that would cause him to seek a third term as Vote Holder and then do his best to remain at the head of the council of seven.
She caught another sob in her throat for the secret worried her greatly. Where was Magnus and what was he doing. He told her to come home to Lartes and Camoria, but he did not say where he was going. He did not even say if he would write or try and reach her. She might have believed he would for he knew where she was. Perhaps she had understood that he was going to do so. But neither she nor Adam remembered that he had said he would do so, and Celeste had quizzed Adam a great deal about what he knew about Magnus.
Her brohter didn’t know enough. Joran was happy, and Celeste was glad to be back with her family and home. But she was miserable as well. Her lover was in danger, more than she was, and she had no idea if he were safe or not.
“Bettia, look at our girl all grown up and beautiful as ever. Almost as beautiful as you my love when you were that age,” the general smiled to hint that he was teasing. “But there is something wrong. We must make that better while she is here with us. Now I shall take Joran for a time and show him the house though I do not think he will stay with us long. And you take our daughter and see if she remembers where the kitchen is. Perhaps she can brew you some tea and you can talk. It must have been a long trip on the road with Adam, his family, the other Ko masters, there fans and the regiment.” The general hardly paused for a breath.
“Yes dear, I shall do that. Remember that the traders guild is coming later to discuss the elections, before lunch,” Her mother had found purpose in keeping track of all his appointments and commitments.
“Come young man and tell me if you like this room here, or might want to spend time at the barracks with the other young cadets. You are the right age to begin your officer training. I do have a feeling about you, you know…” The general took Joran by the shoulder and led him away.
Bettia did the same with Celeste, “Well now that you are home, I do not see any reason to let you go running off again. Camoria has need of its daughters just as much as its sons. And you should know that the general is serious about having the Korman scion train in our army. Strange move that Duke Mikal would allow him to come to us. It places some stones in front of the Krache, but with the abundance of stones against us, your husband has to know that it is but a few years before we will be fighting the barbarians across the passes. I should not be surprised if one of your brothers does not find the proof that it is the Krache that has been stirring them up all this time as well.”
Her mother led her to the kitchen where three ladies were working, “I can fill the pot for tea myself, Olanes. Do you remember my daughter? Olanes is head cook here. This is a light group for her, for when the councillors are in town, or the house is full of guest we have five times as many helpers.” The kitchen was huge. Much bigger than she remembered, but then she had lived in the Vote-Holders hall but a couple years before she had left to become a novice.
“Oh the Chief Lady need not make water for tea. I put a kettle on the minute the guards tramped into the hall with the precious chick. And all her favorites for dinner tonight, too, provided your mother remembers them correct after these years and your tastes are still what they were when you was a child. Now my dear, do you still like the chicken with the rich brown sauce? Over rice from Haltoria? Costs are dear for that, with the trouble on the roads of course, but we have several bags of rice from when times were good,” the cook said.
“Oh, I do of course if it is no trouble, but if things are dear, I have money to help. I, I also like more vegetables now with my dinner. I think much more than when I was a child,” Celeste said. Her mother seeing that the water was hot, was looking for a teapot, for Celeste remembered her mother had several nicely painted ceramic ones, and then Bettia found them and chose one to pour the water into over her tea leafs. She had several tins of different quality and flavored leafs on a little shelf that she reached for.
“You dear, did not like any vegetables with your dinner when you were a child. Nor did any of your brothers or sisters except Mara. Such an angel.” Bettia laughed. “I say the same about you when I am alone with one of your sisters. I thought now that you are a mother you would see that it is a little fun to do so. No other child to think of. Your letters have been sparse to come by since you married.”
Celeste realized she was remiss and shook her head. “I am sorry.”
Then while this endeavor has been going on I thought of another plot for a future book. It just fell right into the world of my Steam and Thunder duology. It seemed to fall inline with a story for the children of our heros and the title of Shot and Tiaras came to mind. I have the plot thought out and it may be the work that follows this, though I have spent a great deal of time writing fantasy in 2010. It is a romance set in my fantasy world with the political, socio and economic background that would carry from all the changes of the first two books. Perhaps then the romance will set it apart.
I wrote recently of some of my downloads from Project Gutenberg 
. I have an online book catalog and a program on the mac I use as well. For years I cataloged books starting with dBase, which those who really know computing will remember. It’s last iteration that I used was in Filemaker but since I have begun to use Bruji’s Bookpedia. I am at a loss though if now the downloads of public domain works, like that of GA Henty 
which I have wanted for years, is something I put into the Catalog. Books that are just files here on the computer
The Gratitude Log
- Men of a Certain Age—
This is me. I am a man of a certain age, nearing fifty. Some of the shenanigans these guy get into is not what i get into, but issues of health, relationships and other items they cover I can relate too. - Project Gutenberg—
I remember when this project had less than a hundred works and I found it. But reading them then on the computer was something that did not keep my interest for long. It took these many years and devices for better reading of the works electronically to make this truly be a valued resource. One thing, when i was doing research, having a searchable PDF copy of one of the transcribed works was invaluable. - Bruji’s Bookpedia—
Having over 6000 books (now many damaged by rats) a cataloging system is a necessity. This one does almost all that I need so I can easily recommend it and say that it is a valuable resource. - G.A. Henty—
The writer of boys fiction. Historical fiction, they are works that I have always wanted and with Project Gutenberg, it looks like I can add to my collection and find some very inexpensive (free) reads. - Little Fuzzy—
I wrote a whole blog about this a few days ago. Now it is time to put in the Gratitude Log because i am thankful I have read it.
The Things That Catch My Eye 