Tag: Alerich Ashimar

Representation – A Books of Binding Flash Fiction

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“You did threaten to dissolve your last attorney.” Winter kept digging in her large, pale denim hobo bag without looking up. The occasional soft chink of thick glass tapping glass rose from the wide opening, the sweet tones of steel striking steel. Something was loose down there. Wonderful. If this kept up, she’d have to go back to the purple bag. But to start, how could a stack of folders that thick go missing in here? There were two full surgical kits, not to mention the complete stock of medical potions, for heaven’s sake. “That’s not how I’d put it.” Read More …

Kissing – A Books of Binding Flash Fiction

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Cian loved these early mornings with Winter, when the house was quiet, and it was just the two of them, the scent of rising bread, and the constant warmth of the English stove taking the chill off the predawn air. They would talk about the day, sometimes work on replenishing Winter’s stocks, and inevitably practice Cian’s favorite new skill, kissing Winter. Soon the house would wake—Etienne heading out to the forge, Noel needing to be fed and changed, Jessie getting ready for school, and Alerich and Fitz possibly pouring themselves into bed, still buzzed, from a long night talking literature Read More …

Some Assembly Required – A Books of Binding Short Story

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Aodhán balled up the fragile booklet and threw it to the carpet by his knee. So many nonsensical pictures, so few words, most of which made no sense in any of the languages that he’d picked up over the centuries. Some made sense singularly, but in groups it was a lost cause. Setting it on fire was looking better and better each time he glared at it. Stacks of flat boxes surrounded him, sitting where they’d been delivered that morning, seeming to loom over him where he sat cross-legged on the bare floor. All he had to defend himself was Read More …

Be Mine – A Books of Binding Flash Fiction

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The February wind chased Cian across the wind-chilled patio concrete and back into the house. He closed the sliding-glass door against the onslaught and set his covered basket of fresh cuttings from the winter garden on the table, tickling little Noel’s toes with cold fingers and eliciting a squeal of delight from the baby. He shrugged out of his coat and draped it across the back of a chair, stooping to kiss his son’s round cheek, then straightening and crossing to the big island counter to lay a kiss on the back of Winter’s neck. “I think I got everything.” Read More …

Ink – A Books of Binding Flash Fiction

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“You doing okay?” Alerich grimaced in the chair, the uncomfortable feeling of the needle penetrating his skin like the rough tongue of a cat scraping over a sunburn combined with thousands of tiny claws perforating his chest. The pain seemed to grow more intense the longer the artist worked on him, but Alerich was determined to see this through. “I’m fine.” The tattoo artist grunted and bent his head back over the design, wiping away blood and excess ink with a practiced swipe. Alerich watched him work, the outline of the blond raven done in white ink finished, and the Read More …

VHS – A Books of Binding Flash Fiction

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Alerich swirled the tumbler in his hand as he surveyed the disaster that was his new office. It had been weeks since his father’s things had been sent from Ashimar House in Surrey. Granted, it had been a busy time between the mess with the raven murder, Bertrand’s visit, and of course, going to war, but still, he felt as if the piles should have gotten a little smaller. The truth was, he was procrastinating with this project, sorting through his father’s papers. He was sure that there were dozens of things in these boxes that he needed to tend Read More …

Social Climbing – A Books of Binding Flash Fiction

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Jessie set two overly full fountain drinks on the small table and flopped down into the empty chair. “Rock climbing is thirsty work.” Cat Chen, her new friend from Seahaven Academy of the Arts, smiled around her straw and took a long drink as she adjusted her harness. “Fun though.” Jessie took several long swallows and nodded. “I’m glad we did this today. It’s been a rough month, and like half my house is in mourning. I feel bad for them and everything, it’s just…” “A little much sometimes?” “Yeah, a lot much sometimes. It’s good to get out of Read More …

A Midwinter Night’s Reading – A Books of Binding Flash Fiction

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A warm glow peeked out from under the Mulcahy Library doors and Cian smiled. Rick must be up late again. He had only been here at Mulcahy House a couple of weeks, but already it felt like he belonged in the Library. The House felt happier with him in there. Cian backtracked through the dining room and butler’s pantry into the kitchen and heated milk for cocoa. Rick had a sweet tooth, Cian had discovered, and would surely welcome a warm, sugary drink on this chilly January night. Though it wasn’t nearly as cold as last January had been in Read More …

Epiphany – A Books of Binding Flash Fiction

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Fire and chaos sluiced from Winter’s thin body down the shower drain, the remains of the vineyard that they had left burning in their wake. The humans could not be allowed to find evidence of the demons who had hunted them through the winter-dry vines, no evidence of the murders that had been committed in the night. No evidence that magic was real and would eat them in the dark. As soon as she shut off the water to the shower, Winter heard Etienne’s voice coming from her bedroom across the hall. She twisted the excess water from her white, Read More …

The Parting Glass – A Books of Binding Flash Fiction

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The wizard, Alerich Ashimar, ran a loving hand down the neck of the old guitar, chord after gently played chord resounding in softness, the mellow sound filling the dark music room. It wasn’t his rosewood-fretted Hummingbird beauty, hidden away in his rooms at Ashimar House in England, but the old Martin Dreadnought he had found still fit his hands well and was a joy to play. “Of all the money that e’re I’ve had,I spent it in good company.And all the harm that e’re I’ve done.Alas it was to none but me.” “Alas it was to none but me.” But Read More …

One Step at a Time – A Books of Binding Flash Fiction

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Ice crystals frosted the window, catching the early morning sun and splintering it across the palm of his hand. Alerich sat on the padded window seat and stared at the prism effect. The light was beautiful, but broken, diminished. Like him. He rested his head against the alcove and looked above the frost toward the cold ocean he could see rolling beyond the cliffs the house perched on. He had been so excited to see it last week. Had it only been a week? It felt like months had passed since he, Thomas, Fitz, and Elspeth had sped their way Read More …

Personal – A Books of Binding Flash Fiction

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“I don’t have this recipe. Are you sure this is right?” Winter frowned as she seeped magic into the thickening crimson liquid while she stirred with her focus object, a graceful oaken spoon thickly engraved with spell glyphs inherited from her great-grandmother. The nascent potion—poison?—had little odor, but the color just looked… malevolent. “Yes. Just keep pouring in power. It’s just about there.” Elspeth picked up her own focus object, a large silver spoon with glyphs elegantly engraved over the handle following the art deco pattern of polished and unpolished metal and began tapping it in a rapid pattern on Read More …

Lead Me Not into Temptation – A Books of Binding Flash Fiction

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“It would be so easy.” Elspeth blinked, confused. She did not remember coming outside. Could not remember anything past laying down for a nap. But here she was, in the cold quiet shade of the clifftop gazebo, staring at Winter’s back with Arariel’s voice in her head. Again. Nothing she did would shut him up. No matter how violent, how painful, she could not chase the demon away. “Just a push. No one is looking. And you’ll have Alerich all to yourself again.” Elspeth’s breath caught. She didn’t want that—did she? To be honest, she did not like the other Read More …

Midnight Feeding – A Books of Binding Flash Fiction

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A plaintive cry pierced the night and woke Etienne from a light sleep. His son, Noel, was hungry and it was his night to tend him. Etienne swung his legs over the side of the bed and sat up, running a hand through his hair, then catching it up in his hand, and securing it with a hair tie from his nightstand. He stood and stretched to his full height, his back popping, and pulled on the pair of jeans he had thrown over the back of the chair when he had gone to bed. As he reached for the Read More …

Musketeers – A Books of Binding Flash Fiction

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“Work in groups of three and be ready to present your project to the class at the next session. I’ll give you the rest of our time to find your groups and get started.” Alerich looked to the desk on his right at Thomas, his roommate and newest friend. Thomas was kind and funny and put up with Alerich’s melancholy and exuberance, both. They had been thick as thieves since the first day of term. “You and me then, mate?” “Yeah, but we’ll need a third, won’t we?” Alerich looked from the chestnut-skinned boy to the other lads in the Read More …

A Difference of Opinion – A Books of Binding Flash Fiction

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Lunch with his fiancé. Alerich stood beside the corral gate, watching Celia’s car arrive. That was going to take some getting used to. Lunch with his fiancé. His grandmother, Hildreth, the matron of both House Ashimar and House Van de Mere, considered it the arrangement of the decade, and it seemed a lot of their set agreed. The congratulations flowed in in an endless stream. Grandmother thought Celia was perfect for him. She was politically powerful, the only child of Roland Carralond, the Archwizard of the Wizard’s Council. With Alerich as his father’s heir, marrying Celia would give their family Read More …

Morning at the Vineyard – A Snippet from Ties of Blood and Bone: The Second Book of Binding

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Alerich woke up to wintery sunlight filtering in through the gauze curtains and his grandmother’s lady’s maid, Odette, rapping on his door, her pretty, polite voice carrying through it. “Breakfast is served.” Alerich rolled onto his back and stared up at the ceiling. Odette’s presence meant his grandmother, Hildreth, was here. And if Hildreth was here it would be non-stop wedding talk for the next two weeks. He wondered if there was a trellis outside the window. Was it sturdy? It wouldn’t be the first time he’d escaped out a window and wouldn’t be his first trellis climb, but he Read More …

Uh-Huh – A Books of Binding Flash Fiction

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Elspeth plunked down the last square tile with enthusiasm. “I’m out.” Alerich eyed the pieces, trying to keep the corners of his mouth from twitching into a smile. He waved at the board. “You’re cheating.” Indignation gave her voice an edge. “Am not.” “Elspeth, ‘spong’ is not a word.” “Yes, it is.” “No, it’s really not.” “Yes, it really is.”  She picked at a speck of lint on her blouse. “It’s a potions word.” “Uh-huh.”  Alerich settled back in his chair and took a sip of his bourbon, then motioned at her with the glass.  “Define it.” “A spong is Read More …