About As It Should Be
by Sean Michael
151 pages / 57000 words
ISBN: 1-933389-85-5
Available file types - html, lit, pdf, prc
If you liked Sean Michael's fantasy Where Flows the Water you won't want to miss this collection! Set in the same world where magic users and their sworn mates find each other through a process of trial and error, these stories will tug at your heart. Among other things.
From a shapeshifter with a secret to a pair of twins who think they'll never find their lover, Sean Michael gives us a lot to love, just as it should be.
Review
Jane Davitt, author of Broomsticks and Stones, writes:
'As It Should Be' by Sean Michael is a vividly imagined set of stories, all set in a wonderfully convincing fantasy world. In five stories we meet a host of varied, sympathetic characters, all missing something from their lives, people with talents that define them and sometimes condemn them to loneliness until they find the person who can accept them as they are, sent by the winds that blow across the land, bringing change and magic.
The world and its customs, with the accepted pairing of ba'chi, those with powers, the ability to change themselves or the worlds around them, and hi’icha, their mundane guardians, lovers, partners, is persuasively drawn and the stories introduce us to some fascinating characters.
Exciting, unusual, and erotic, this collection of stories opens the door once again to the world of the author's earlier novel, 'Where Flows the Water'.
Sample
From the story Coming Home
Bren tried to melt into the side of the barn as he looked around nervously. He kept his head absolutely still, only his eyes shifting from side to side until he was convinced no one was nearby. Only then did he allow his head to move, making a more thorough sweep of the area.
The cabin was a good fifty yards away from the barn, one of the reasons they'd chosen this place to rob. That and the fact it was the only place for leagues with anything worth taking. Achen had been almost trembling with excitement when he'd come back from scouting. Horses, goats, vegetables -- all theirs but for the taking.
The chimney was still, no fire burned in the hearth. The job was supposed to be a breeze, in and out and off they would be. Four horses would carry them all if the lightest of them doubled up.
Not to mention they hadn't had meat in months.
Tucking his hands into his pockets and biting his lip against the urge to suddenly grow four legs and scurry away, Bren peaked around the corner of the barn, silently urging his companions to hurry up before they were caught.
He caught sight of a huge bear-like man carrying a thin, dark-haired girl through the trees. The child's laughter rang out, free and happy.
''Oh, Da! The flowers were so pretty! And the butterflies! And that little baby deer.''
''Fawn, baby girl. It's called a fawn.''
The pair was heading directly for the cabin, directly for the animals, directly for them.
He swallowed, trying to find breath to call out and warn those inside the barn; his eyes shifted from the bearded man and his girl, to the barn and back again.
Finally he found his voice. ''Achen. Someone's coming.'' He hissed the words as loud as he dared.
The man entered the clearing and, as the sun lit upon his nut-brown skin and lit his braid to bronze, his nostrils flared as if he smelled something, sensed something off. He put the child down slowly, keeping her close to his side. Squinting for a moment, he suddenly frowned and began to lumber towards the barn, pulling a heavy axe from his belt.
Oh, goddess, they were in for it now. No longer caring about being heard, Bren banged against the barn door. ''Get out, get out!''
The wide barn doors shot open, sending him onto his backside as a horse came barreling out, carrying Achen and Sern. Behind them ran Danid and Sulli, each with a bleating goat in their arms. Zindel brought up the rear, burlap bag over his back, long legs quickly overtaking the other two.
''Da!'' The child's scream was piercing, startling the animals.
''Rian, get back!'' The huge man rushed forward, brandishing his axe and roaring. ''Thieves! I'll split you all in half!''
''Achen!'' Bren shouted as he tried to scramble to his feet, calling for the leader of their ragamuffin group to turn the horse and help him. But the horse kept moving, far ahead of the boys running after it, all leaving him to scramble as best he could out of the way of the big man heading toward him.
He wasn't sure which scared him most, the man himself or the axe that glinted in his hand.
A huge hand snatched him up by the scruff of the neck before he even managed two steps. Bren found himself shaken roughly, feeling much like a rat captured by a large dog. ''What're you up to? Do you know how hard we worked for that mount? This is my home, you little bastard!''
He shot a longing look down the road, but his “friends” were gone, obviously leaving him to take the heat for the theft.
He let his eyes drop closed, hunching in the solid grip, hoping this was a man who believed in clean kills, waiting for the axe to fall.