More from Song and Sword, the first novel I published, since I’m working on a sequel and need the motivation. This follows immediately after last week’s snippet.
Picking up from last week. Dakkas and the hunting party returned to the camp and discovered that the young women had been attacked, and that Kashrya, the object of Dakkas’ interest, is missing.
“We have to go get her!” The words burst from his lips before he could stop them and everyone fell silent, staring at him.
“Who are you?” someone asked.
“His name is Dakkas,” Thanor said before he could reply. “He helped us with our hunt and I invited him to share our fires.”
“But Kashrya—” Dakkas had started.
“No.” The new speaker was unmistakably Thanor’s father. “I will not risk my people to go after her.”
“But she held them off,” one of the young women protested. “She put herself between them and us so we could escape.”
The chief shook his head. “No. She is not worth the risk.”
Dakkas felt a surge of anger but before he could speak his attention was drawn to the shaman, who was suddenly standing at Rebel’s shoulder, looking up at him. “Find her,” he whispered. “But do not bring her back here. I love her too much to subject her to any more of their whispers and prejudices.”
Dakkas, suddenly unable to trust his voice, merely nodded, and the shaman shoved a bundle into his saddlebag. “Those belong to her,” he said, and Dakkas nodded again, but the shaman was gone, as suddenly and as silently as he had appeared, and Dakkas looked back to the chief.
“If you will not go after one of your own people,” he said, “then I will.” He turned Rebel toward the river, shaking with anger. Not worth the risk?
Blurb:
Pashevel: a simple Elven Bard — and the Crown Prince
Marlia: a Paladin of Arithen, the Elven God of Justice – seeking vengeance for the destruction of her village
Dakkas: heir to the Drow throne — if his father and elder half-brother don’t kill him first
Kashrya: raised among a tribe of nomadic Humans, she is unaware of her true heritage — or of the prophecy that made her mother an outcast
Their goal: build a bridge between the Elves and their outcast brethren, the Drow, reuniting them and undoing the damage caused in a time so far gone that history has become legend and legend has become myth.
But first, they have a problem to solve: how do you stop a war that hasn’t started?
Available for Kindle at Amazon
and at Smashwords for everything else
Novel Notes 
Very poignant and I suspect ironic. I’m sure she has a key role.
The comment about her not being worth the risk, after she’d just saved the others, struck me as shallow and insincere.
I agree with Ed about that comment. Talk about ingratitude.
So sad. She risked her life. I’m glad Dakkas is going to go help her.
Wow…
I have to go back and catch up on a few posts. Very tempted to get the book :-) Such a different genre to what I usually read, so big compliment!