About A Poor Sort of Vacation
by KC Warwick
54 pages / 14300 words
ISBN: 978-1-61040-265-1
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Rowan, the trainee enchanter, and his elf bodyguard, Valiance, are taking their promised trip back to the Great Forest to introduce Rowan to Valiance’s family. As usual, things don’t go entirely to plan, and what should have been a complete rest turns into something entirely different. Rowan may be able to survive dragons and hostile enchanters, but how is he going to deal with his lover’s parents?
Sample
The room was very nice, Rowan had to admit. Valiance unpacked their things
quickly, inspected the bathroom and pronounced it adequate, then suggested
they have supper. Rowan was hungry and was glad to settle in a chair
downstairs by the fire, while the landlord bustled round, preparing the best
for them. The trouble was, people kept coming up and congratulating him on
his deeds as an enchanter and remarking on what an amazing job he had done
with the demons.
It was no use saying, "But that was months ago. I've done a lot of boring
things since then." The incident had clearly caught the imagination of the
populace, and as Valiance remarked ruefully, he was a hero. It was just a
pity that it meant he couldn't get more than a few mouthfuls of soup before
he had to break off and acknowledge some more adulation.
He might have known that Valiance was not going to stand for that. The elf
finished his own soup and sat irritably tapping his fingers on the table,
while Rowan watched him nervously out of the corner of his eye.
As what seemed like the five hundredth person approached, Valiance got to
his feet and placed himself between Rowan and the rest of the room. "Now
look," he said loudly, "the enchanter is very appreciative of your good
wishes, but he is here to rest. He wants to eat his supper in peace. He does
not want to answer questions. He is to be LEFT ALONE. Is that understood?"
The room fell silent. After a moment, some brave soul ventured, "We only
want to let him know how much we admire him."
"Yes. You've done that. Now let him eat."
"But--"
"I want this room empty in two minutes."
Valiance was very good at getting people to do as he wanted, Rowan
reflected, watching the crowd melt away. It was probably something to do
with the way he was growling under his breath.