Morgan Rice: A Fate of Dragons

Gareth laughed heartily, and she could see how maniacal he was. He looked possessed.

“I hope your soul rots in hell,” she spat, seething with fury.

“It already is, my sister. And there is nothing left you can do touch me. But there is quite a deal still that I can do to touch you. Come tomorrow, you will be out of my hair, too. Primos Livarius Stantos ,” he said. “Do you know what that means?”

She stared at him, her heart cold, wondering what hideous plan he had devised.

“It is the legal term for a king’s right to arrange a marriage.”

He nodded and smiled.

“Very good. You always were the learned one. Far more learned than me. But that doesn’t matter now. Because I’ve invoked it – I’ve invoked my right to force you into marriage. I have found a common man, a savage, a Nevarun soldier, the crudest province in the southern reaches of the Ring. They are already sending a contingent of men to fetch their bride. So pack your bags. You are chattel now. And you will never see my face again.”

Gareth laughed hysterically, delighted with himself, and Gwen felt her heart tearing to pieces. She didn’t want to believe any of it. Was he just playing with her mind?

She couldn’t stand to be in front of him for another second. Gwen turned and fled the chamber, running down the corridor, up the spiral staircase, higher and higher, until she reached the parapets.

She ran to the far side, leaned over the edge and looked down over the town square. She had to see if it was true, if Firth was really executed, if everything he said had been a lie.

Gwen reached the edge and looked over, and as she did, her blood ran cold. She clutched her chest, gasping for air.

There, hanging by his neck from a rope, in the center of the square, was Firth. His body dangled, swayed in the wind, and a growing crowd gawked around it.

It was true. It was all true.

Gwen turned and ran to the other end of the parapets, looking East, searching desperately for Thor and the Legion. She spotted them on the horizon, hundreds of them, all on horseback, a great army, kicking up dust. The cloud was growing higher and higher, and she could see Thor among them, galloping with the others, so desperate to earn his glory. She thought of Gareth’s words, of Thor being sent into a trap, sent to be ambushed. And as she watched him gallop away, she knew there was nothing she could do about it.

“NO!”

She screamed out to the heavens, sinking to her knees, wailing, pounding the stone, wishing it were anybody else, anything else. She couldn’t imagine the thought of it. Gareth could kill her, could sell her away, could destroy everything in her life – but she could not imagine the thought of Thor being harmed.

“THOR!” she screamed.

She wished he could hear her, that he could somehow turn, on the horizon, and return to her.

But her cry was picked up by the wind, carried away, and soon it vanished into nothing.

A CRY OF HONOR

(Book #4 in the Sorcerer’s Ring)

In A CRY OF HONOR (Book #4 in the Sorcerer's Ring), Thor has returned from The Hundred as a hardened warrior, and now he must learn what it means to battle for his homeland, to battle for life and death. The McClouds have raided deep into MacGil territory – deeper than ever before in the history of the Ring – and as Thor rides into an ambush, it will fall on his head to fend off the attack and save King’s Court.

Godfrey has been poisoned by his brother by a very rare and potent poison, and his fate lies in Gwendolyn’s hands, as she does whatever she can to save her brother from death.

Gareth has fallen deeper into a state of paranoia and discontent, hiring his own tribe of savages as a personal fighting force and giving them Silver Hall – ousting The Silver and causing a rift in King’s Court that threatens to blow up into a civil war. He also schemes to have the fierce Nevaruns take Gwendolyn away, selling her off in marriage without her consent.

Thor’s friendships deepen, as they journey to new places, face unexpected monsters and fight side by side in unimaginable battle. Thor journeys to his hometown and, in an epic confrontation with his father, he learns a great secret of his past, of who he is, who his mother is – and of his destiny. With the most advanced training he’s ever received from Argon, he begins to tap powers he didn’t know he had, becoming more powerful each day. As his relationship with Gwen deepens, he returns to King’s Court in the hopes of proposing to her – but it may already be too late.

Andronicus, armed with an informer, leads his million-man Empire army to once again attempt to breach the Canyon and crush the Ring.

And just as things seem like they can’t get any worse at King’s Court, the story ends with a shocking twist.

Will Godfrey survive? Will Gareth be ousted? Will King’s Court split in two? Will the Empire invade? Will Gwendolyn end up with Thor? And will Thor finally learn the secret of his destiny?

With its sophisticated world-building and characterization, A CRY OF HONOR is an epic tale of friends and lovers, of rivals and suitors, of knights and dragons, of intrigues and political machinations, of coming of age, of broken hearts, of deception, ambition and betrayal. It is a tale of honor and courage, of fate and destiny, of sorcery. It is a fantasy that brings us into a world we will never forget, and which will appeal to all ages and genders. It is 85,000 words.