I'm writing a novel...

[Seeds&Stems]

heres the prologue, if you guys like it I have several more chapters written and i'll post em:

Proulogue:
Young Prince Trevor stared out the window of his lavish wagon watching the gentle rolling countryside of Iveria pass by with more than a sense of teenage restlessness. Oh how he would love to be out in the lush green land rolling down hills and smelling the many exotic flowers in bloom this time of year in his kingdom. He glanced wistfully at the ornate sword at his side and imagined thrusting it into the heart of a vicious goblin which from time to time wandered down from the great Tragarn Mountains in search of spoils. And Trevor was no novice with his sword; he trained three times a week with Earlend, his father’s personal bodyguard in the ways of swordplay and young Trevor’s lean frame had filled out quite nicely because of that training. He topped nearly six feet and there was no doubt he could outfight most of the nobles his age. But, as the heir to the most important kingdom in the land, there was no possibility of Trevor finding real battle except on those days he sparred with old Earlend.

Yes there were many things the young prince would rather be doing than visiting his Uncle Klidand, Duke of distant and rugged Tragarn, on such a wonderful spring day. Such was the duty of a soon to be king he mused. Maybe when he ascended the throne (and it would be soon for his father seemed a great and ancient thing these days!) he would find more time for adventure. Trevor suppressed a sigh at that unsettling notion, for the king of Iveria was more trapped in politics and bickering of petty nobles then even the young prince with all of his courtly training. From the coach’s small round window he imagined what it must be like to live as a fur trapper or a one of the King’s Border Knights finding danger at every turn.

“My young prince;” Said Solana, a beautiful young woman who served as King Iver’s vizier, “You’ve said not a word our entire journey and Tragarn is less than a day away, what troubles you?”

Solana was only a few years older than Trevor’s 16 summers, but she was possessed of a wit and charm many times her age. Often she could garner information from a visiting dignitary simply by batting her long eyelashes or twirling her shoulder length hair although her charms lay much more beyond her alluring figure for there was cunning within those almond shaped eyes. She was one of the few people in the court whom Trevor actually trusted to tell his true feeling and knew she would keep his confidence from the other nobles.

“Oh, Solana how I wish to be free of the trapping of my station. Better that I had been born a potter’s son,” Trevor said with a chuckle.

Solana reached and squeezed Trevor’s shoulder affectionately. The smell of her auburn hair tantalizing his senses, Trevor squirmed in his seat a bit, for even though he had know her all his life there was a certain feeling she stirred within him recently when she touched him which he did not quite understand.

“And how many potters’s sons wish to be king one day my prince? It is quite understandable that you are full of wonder and are eager to see the entire world, but you will learn to temper you energy and may find that being king is or can be a wonderful thing”

Trevor nodded seeing her unbeatable logic, but still he sighed. “Look at my father though, once a strong and vital man, now he seems a broken thing. The toll of duty has bent his square shoulders and every day his seems on the verge of …” Trevor couldn’t finish, for the thought of his father dying and himself taking on the role of king was almost too much to bear.

Solana smiled knowingly and said “Your father has ruled his kingdom fairly for 60 years, he is an old man, ‘tis true, but in his younger day he was so much like you. Did you know that when he was twenty he snuck off and joined a merchant caravan headed to the southern desert! Oh his father was frantic, he sent the entire garrison looking for him and it took almost a month to find him. But don’t get any ideas my prince, for you grandfather had the king restricted to the castle for a fortnight.”


They both laughed at that notion and it amazed Trevor how Solana, not much older than himself, knew so much about his father. Indeed Solana was among the king’s most trusted advisors. Even at her young age Solana quickly proved her aptitude in the ways of the king’s court and the politics and intrigue that followed such a position. Though she was barley five feet tall and just over a hundred pounds she was a skilled fighter with or without a blade. Also Solana possessed more than a little magic about her, mostly insights into men’s thoughts and feelings which allowed her to advise the king when certain nobles tried to take advantage of situations. It was also said that Solana’s voice, her song, could calm most wild beasts and indeed in the courtyard of the castle itself Solana kept a pet tiger. Although pet was a misnomer, for the tiger was more of a companion, coming and going of its own accord, though never attacking any within the court due to Solana’s magic charms.

“Though don’t ye be thing of running off, me prince. Your father would have the heads of all twenty of his knights accompanying on this voyage!” She finished with another laugh and Trevor joined in even though the thought occurred to him and didn’t seem all that unappealing.

For the next hour or so Solana coaxed Trevor out of his melancholy and they spoke easily about what they might encounter in distant Tragarn. The land of Tragarn was rugged and mountainous and sparsely populated, the only real city being Hefferton, which would be the caravan’s first stop.

Solana started to tell the prince a story of a younger duke Klidand when the lead coach called out.

“Move from the road or be trampled!” Trevor heard the coachman cry.
Adrenaline coursed through Trevor’s veins, the first real excitement during the whole journey. He eagerly tried to see who was blocking the road but could only see the other knights rushing forward to the lead coach.

Suddenly the sounds of battle rang out breaking the tension and more then a little fear mixed with Trevor’s excitement.

The carriage door opened and one of the king’s knights, Redallery spoke “Sire stay in the coach, we’ve been ambushed by goblins, Solana, make sure he stays!”

Solana nodded her head in agreement but Trevor met her with an icy stair. How he wished to rush out and kill a goblin; the hero prince of Iveria!

The knight closed the carriage door and there were further calls to arms amidst screams and the sounds of swordplay. Through the window Trevor could several of the spindly armed, grey skinned, four foot goblins bearing crude spears pass by. Solana held his arm and said “We must stay put, the knights will handle the goblins, but if you go out and are injured or killed the consequences will be dire for the kingdom.”

Trevor knew she was right but still… Suddenly the carriage rocked hard almost tipping on its side. A spear came dangerously close to breaking through the window close, too close to Solana’s head.

The prince unsheathed his sword and nearly opened the carriage door but he noticed Solana mouthing a spell. Suddenly the prince felt as if he was light as a feather.

“Open the door, my prince, and my spell will allow you to fly high above the battle, head for the nearest copse of trees and await the all clear signal.” She said urgently.

“What will you do?” Trevor asked his friend.

“Protect my prince.”

He opened the carriage door and as instructed and his body felt weightless. Soon Trevor floated high above the battle, and from his vantage point he could see that the battle was going poorly for the knights. He could hardly make out the number of goblins swarming the carriages, but they outnumbered the 20 knights by at least double. Though he wasn’t consciously willing himself farther from the battle toward a small grove of trees he felt compelled to do so. His heart sank as he watched as a spear pierced thorough Redallery’s back and laid him low. To his credit the knight turned on his knee and took a vicious swipe at the goblin with his short sword, nearly decapitating the beast.

Sitting on a high branch of an oak he watched as the knights formed a tight circle on their horses trying to prod the goblins away with their swords. For every three goblins felled, a knight fell from his horse clutching a mortal wound. Suddenly Trevor’s thoughts careened to Solana and he knew he had to help, the kingdom be damned. A flash of light near Trevor’s carriage gave him some hope. Solana had unleashed a vicious lightning bolt at a group of goblins trying to out flank the knights.

Trevor climbed down the oak and crouched low trying to find where e might best fit in. Another flash of lightning, weaker this time, felled several more goblins but Trevor could see the beasts were gaining ground. He watched as Solana pulled her sword from its scabbard and rushed ahead into a group of the beasts a look of pure anger on her fair face. She would be doomed, to save him.

That realization spurred him into action. “Over here, you ugly bastards!” The young prince yelled as loud as he could. Several of the goblins surrounding Solana turned and in that instant Solana gained a slight upper hand. She slashed forward at one beast then spun on her heals and deftly blocked a spear at her side, using the momentum to kick out and trip the creature.

[Seeds&Stems]

Trevor saw that all of the remaining knights had all fallen save Gallaker, the captain of the troupe. He was furiously parrying spear thrusts from four goblins while several others retreated from the vicious Solana to finish him off. Trevor rushed ahead to help the man, but before he could even reach him a crude sword sliced across the captain’s chest. The captain howled in pain and gripped the nearest goblin and throttled it, both locked in death throes.

Now the goblins regrouped and focused on the young prince, looking apparently an easy target. Trevor bravely gripped the hilt of his sword and prepared to meet the rush and death with dignity. The first of the smelly creatures reached him and awkwardly thrust a crude sword his way which Trevor easily batted away but it was only a matter of time before they encircled him and finished it.

Two more of the creature joined its companion and soon Trevor was sorely pressed dodging and parrying as fast as he could. One spear sliced is right arm and he winced in pain but tried to kept his focus, vowing to take a few of the beasts with him.

Suddenly a flash of light in front of Trevor blinded him and knocked him to his feet. He could smell his own burning hair but more then that could smell burnt flesh. He tentatively opened his eyes expecting to see his body charred, but instead all the goblins lay before him smoldering, some writhing in pain, most simply dead.

His vision still blurred Trevor saw another figure approach. He tried futilely to grab for his sword but a sharp pain ran up his arm and nearly made him wretch.

“You were told to stay in the trees my prince.” It was Solana, alive!

Tears welled in Trevor’s eyes as she gently scooped him up and led him back to the ruined carriages. Solana found a horse that hadn’t run off and gently laid Trevor upon it. He offered Solana a weak smile then darkness consumed him and he knew no more.

****
Angrily pacing his dark musty chamber Duke Klidand had not spoken a word upon receiving the parchment form the king’s courier. The nervous courier waited patiently averting his eyes to the stone floor not wanting to further anger the imposing duke. Though on pain of death the courier, Dellian, had not read the letter, he knew well its contents. Prince Trevor’s caravan ad been sacked and all had been killed, including the young prince, the king’s vizier Solana, and Captain Gallaker of the king’s personal guard

Finally Klidand looked up at Dellian and waved for him to take his leave. .The surely duke walked to the room’s single barred window to look upon his land. Tragarn was a rugged land of sharp mountains capped with snow year round, its folk hardy and strong, living mostly by harvesting the yvelian lichens which brought a great price at market in the south. He crumpled the paper in his huge hand and threw it upon the floor without even reading it.

How could this have happened? He thought angrily. Surely goblins and other monsters were common in the foothills of the Tragarnian Mountains, the Duke had taken great pains to have his soldiers clear the goblin tribes for the prince’s impending visit. He had even hired bounty hunters to fetch goblins ears at a gold coin a piece. Somehow a large tribe had slipped through his northern defenses and slaughtered his uncle’s son! Not that Klidand held any love for prince Trevor or any nobles from the court of his uncle, no this disaster held dire consequences for any designs he had for furthering his holding in the kingdom. If he was lucky King Iver would simply accept the loss as a terrible accident with no blame of Klidand. At worst Klidand would be stripped of his title and exiled from the kingdom.

Klidand slammed his fist hard against the window sill. How long had he served in this god forsaken land, clearing it of monsters, cutting the timber to build glorious buildings in the south. How long had he waited patiently in line for a more dignified duchy like Gheastia in the west near the gorgeous and fertile coast. Why had his uncle even thought to have his heir visit Tragarn? Klidand knew the folly lay squarely on the King’s shoulders for the loss; for even with all the precautions set up beforehand Tragarn remained a wild and dangerous land.

Slowly regaining his calm the duke retrieved the crumpled parchment and read it aloud.

“Duke Klidand, my dearest nephew, grave news has no doubt already reached your castle. My son, my only boy, was killed by a vicious tribe of trolls, though he fought valiantly and killed ten of the creatures himself. The trolls carried away most of the dead, my son and my vizier included.
Even in my time of most profound grief I must still attend to my duty to the kingdom. I am without an heir as you know for my brother succumbed to consumption earlier this spring. The duke Reglin of Gheastia is currently engaged in an expedition of the islands west of his duchy and cannot fill this role. Should Reglin return before my death, which I fear will be soon, he will be crowned king but should I die before that event the kingdom will fall into your able hands.

I would expect you to return to Iveria Proper posthaste for the funeral of my son and the other who fell that tragic day.

Be decree and made law - King Iver Lord of Iveria and duchies and holdings in the known world"


Very suddenly all anger melted from the duke. It seemed things would work to his favor after all. Preparations would have to be made this very day to attend his cousin’s funeral. And Klidand did not doubt his grand mood would fade even during the somber event.

[Smaerd]

Sounds like a cool fantasy book(not really my pitch but appreciatible). Usually I find the common traits for writers is to not introduce the main characters name in the first sentence. But in doing what you did, it seems more objective and that is kind of nice because that's usually why I can't read fantasy books, shit is just too confusing too fast. Easy to follow, now let the story develop!

[Seeds&Stems]

thanks man. after a few more replies i'll post chapter 1.

[Smaerd]

and once again... the literary side of this forum is lacking.. BUMP cuz I wanna read chapter one.

[Seeds&Stems]

by tommorow at the latest. got to get it from paper to msword then to yahooka. but thanks for the support dude, it makes me want to keep writing.

[Smaerd]

hell yeah with the book thing I've been writing that is always the best part. Cuz then you can refine your ideas better and you don't have to bore yourself with editing(editing = puke). well there is no time limit you can give to writing something so just take it easy breazy and go at your own pace(even if you are just copying it over).