A Thursday taste of the epic fantasy novel
By Larysa Alexander
Chapter 1
The light hazel eyes were what made me stop in my tracks, a tankard of ale in one hand, a small cup of golden-honeyed medivka in the other. Those hazel eyes from that random patron sitting at the tavern bar were what made that fat merchant who was almost pawing at my back bump into me.
Instead of apologizing, all I heard was a growl from behind me which might have included the words “fucking cold elven bitch.”
Now, all those things were certainly not true, and I was not about to leave the threat disregarded. Plus, my inhibitions may have been lowered with the amount of honeyed medivka I’d had. I wasn’t drunk, but I wasn’t sober either.
I exhaled, knowing that my anger was getting the better of me, but I just couldn’t contain the frustration any longer. I’d had a long day, and all I wanted was to sit in this tavern in this little trading town of Avain and have a drink with my ward. The reckless ignorance of some of the humans around me didn’t allow me that simple pleasure though.
“A bitch is a dog; I’m not a dog. And I’m certainly not fucking cold. I just don’t like you,” I said as that cup of medivka pointed back at his sweaty face. He began his retort, but I’d had enough, my temperament was frayed from the previous night’s events, and my patience was thin.
That mug of ale met his face, the wood strong as it didn’t break, but you could hear that distinct crack coming from his nose as that broke. The ale sloshed out of the sides and onto his head, mixing with the blood coming out of his nose and turned it into a dark pink rather than that crimson red.
I should have simply turned around and walked away, but I couldn’t. He had friends, and those friends stood up from their seats and began to stalk over to me.
Shit. I really should have stopped drinking a while ago. The brown and black leather screamed armed guards to me, but I was the same height as the tallest of them. I also knew how to handle myself and my hourglass figure. Maybe not at this exact moment since I somehow managed to lose sight of the shortest of them. That mistake took my breath away as a chair smashed into my back and I staggered a bit.
The table next to me caught that step and as I leaned onto it, I kicked back and got that small one right in between his legs. He went down with a loud and audible groan. I may have ruptured something seeing as there was a dark, red stain gathering around his private parts and he curled up into himself. It wasn’t a valiant victory, but one I was going to gladly take. The drink may have also hampered my abilities to control my own damned strength.
The other two came at me, and that tankard was still in my hand. So, I threw it. It sailed passed the shorter one’s head when he ducked but landed in the middle of a surprised mercenary’s face. He didn’t see it coming since his friend was right in front of him. I guess I also had a pretty good aim seeing as he collapsed on the floor and blood began seeping out of that mark on his head.
A victorious and smug smile spread on my face, and I was about to start laughing when something crashed into me. My own arrogance having won the drunken night as I didn’t see that third bald guard get to the side of me. I felt it though, when he tackled me to the ground with an “oomph” escaping out of my mouth.
He landed a few blows, right above my eye. As he was concentrating his frustrations and anger out on my head though, I managed to get my legs in between his and used the tried and trusted method of kneeing him in the balls to get him off me. I could feel the bruising starting to swell above my eye, but I could also feel my blood coursing within me and starting to heal me already. I wasn’t human, I healed faster than they did.
A Path of Wrath and Valor
What would you do if you were destined to save an Empire?
If you were Valesa, you would run away and become a paid mercenary who like her drink but loves the freedom her life gives her.
Her latest job? To escort a human princess to a politically arranged marriage. Easy coin-until a drunken brawl lands them in a jail cell, a trio of royal guards arrives, and Valesa is summoned back to the imperial court she left decades ago.
Torn between her past and present, Valesa must navigate a brewing storm of political upheaval, ancient rivalries, and a growing attraction to a warrior who might be more than just her escort home. As secrets from the Vila Empire begin to surface and danger lurks just behind them, Valesa must choose: return to a role she never wanted or walk away from a world that may need her now more than ever… or something more.
In a land where loyalty has a perilous cost and love is the most dangerous weapon of all, Valesa’s greatest battle may be against herself.
Available widely as e-book and paperback.
Larysa Alexander
was a journalist, translator, volunteer, administrator, student, historian and a string of other random things that gave her the opportunity to live in Canada, England, Poland and Ukraine. She was as chaotic and nomadic as the main character in her first novel. Until she met a soldier in Ukraine and he became her anchor in life.
Obviously, she is Ukrainian and in her spare time volunteers with a Ukrainian youth group in Ontario, travels with her husband and tries to help in any way she can to the Ukrainian victory in their war against Russia.
When she’s not volunteering or working or writing, she also has a podcast all about Ukrainian history called Wandering the Edge. She loves winter when she can snuggle on the couch with a nice cup of tea, while overlooking the dangling willow trees that scatter her backyard.
Both Larysa and her husband are ruled by Pani, the couple’s grey British shorthaired cat, but are also allowed to dogsit Max, her brother’s white lovable husky.
Her first published novel is A Path of Wrath and Valor, available widely in e-book and paperback.
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