For day five of TAT (The Aerowyn Tales) launch week, here are the first chapters from each book in the trilogy for you to enjoy.
Bellarose
Who enjoys reading a riches to rags story? I don’t. Bellarose Bonnay—Bella for short—thought as she stared down at the drained, winterized pool. She lowered herself onto the cold concrete and crossed her legs at the edge of the gray, protective tarp. Her new dismal surroundings reminded Bella that even though she loved books for escape, her own life story wouldn’t be one she’d enjoy reading.
Her thick green sweater was all she needed for the unseasonably tepid Colorado December temperatures. She missed the normal blanket of snow that may have livened up the drab surroundings. Bella had planned on taking advantage of the good weather and read outside, but the hard, chilly surface added to her misery and distracted thoughts. Still, she wanted anything to escape from her new reality and the rundown meagerly furnished apartment.
Instead of a retreat, however, stale cigarette odors wafted from nearby ashtrays—another thing that cemented the truth of her dismal circumstances. The “castle” in the name Castle Creek Apartments promised luxury, but the complex was anything but luxurious.
The small two-bedroom apartment was stifling and there was nowhere else to go to enjoy her favorite past time. Bella turned another page, but she couldn’t concentrate on A Christmas Carol. Not even her annual December favorite could drag her away from the surroundings and its lack of Christmas cheer; the reminders of her miserable new life.
She wanted to be grateful her family wasn’t homeless, but it was easier to focus on the negatives in her current state of mind. Her favorite stories were normally an escape to help move past the pity party, but she kept rereading the same sentence multiple times.
“You must be the new girl.”
Bella’s wandering attention jerked up to see a girl who seemed close to her own age near the gate. The girl’s pretty blonde hair reminded Bella of her former friends’ salon-maintained color, but the resemblance stopped there. Her friends would have mocked the worn unbranded boots and jeans this girl wore. That part, the shallow materialism, of her old life, Bella didn’t miss. That was one more thing to be thankful for.
The other teen flashed perfectly straight white teeth. “I’m Elayne, but I like to be called Layney.” She sat down beside Bella and crossed her legs to sit at the edge of the pool too.
Bella scooted over to avoid touching this girl who was invading her personal space.
“What’s your name?”
“I’m Bellarose.” She paused, and then added, “You can call me Bella.”
Layney’s blue eyes brightened. “Bella. That’s pretty.”
“Yeah, my parents wanted the French word for ‘beautiful’ because Mom got pregnant with me when they went to Paris. Since roses are my mom’s favorite flowers, she added the rose to it.”
Bella bit her lip. She didn’t know anything about this girl except her name.
“‘Beautiful rose’? That’s cool!” Layney’s smile grew. “It sounds like something from a book.” She nudged Bella’s arm. “You like to read?”
Books were a safer topic, and Bella relaxed. “I really do. What about you?”
“I love books!” What’s that you’re reading?”
Bella closed the book to show Layney the cover.
“A Christmas Carol—Is that about those ghosts? I think I saw a movie about it, but I haven’t read that one yet.” Layney paused as if anticipating a response from Bella, then continued, “Since you’re new I could show you around unless you already know this part of town.”
“I don’t.” Bella didn’t want to get into the details, but she knew she needed to make new friends after her old ones ditched her.
“Where did you live before?”
Bella heaved out a huge breath. “It’s a mess.”
Layney leaned back on her hands and studied Bella. “It’s alright, you know. We’re all a bit of a mess here.”
Read the rest: BATB First Chapter
Jasper
The day Jasper led a mutiny, a gentle breeze blew the Black Fear’s sails, but the sea only stirred where the ship sliced through it. Jasper’s racing heart thumped in his chest, but his grip remained steady on his knife’s hilt. His bare feet made almost no sound while he approached Captain Starr as the pock-faced man glared at a pod of dolphins on the starboard side.
“Don’t take this personally,” Jasper said as he deftly sliced the blade across the captain’s throat.
The older man dropped to the deck, copper-scented crimson bubbling from his mouth.
Jasper’s bloody weapon glinted in the sun. He stabbed it into the railing before he bent over the body.
“You taught me everything I needed to know to take this ship, but”—Jasper hoisted Starr with a grunt—“you forgot your most important lesson.” He whispered in the dead man’s ear, “Never trust anyone.”
His tattooed biceps flexed as he heaved the corpse over the side. Starr’s body splashed into the water and bobbed for a while, but before the Black Fear had sailed far, the corpse sank beneath the billowing waves where it would be devoured by the ocean—or perhaps sirens.
After all, legends told of sirens who swam the oceans and wooed sailors into the water to feast on their hearts. Jasper paused. Were mermaids different from sirens? The fire-haired mergirl of his childhood dreams hadn’t been vicious, only kind.
Bah! That’s folklore and nonsense!
Jasper pulled a handkerchief from his pocket and wiped his hands clean. The late Captain Starr had been fond of saying, “No regrets and never look back.”
That will be my next tattoo. I’ll have it inked across my shoulder blades, so my enemies will see it as I leave them behind to rot.
“Is it finished, Cap’n?”
Jasper jerked around. The red-haired man looked from the bloody cloth to the water below, and Jasper drew a deep breath. Jeb’s stealthy arrival had startled him, but he shoved any comparison of the sailor’s sudden appearance to his attack on Starr aside. Now was not the time to allow anything to ruin his victory over putting Starr in Davy Jone’s locker. Besides, Jeb was loyal. Jasper forced a smile.
“Yes, Jeb. Captain Starr has gone on a permanent leave to the bottom of the ocean.”
“What next, Cap’n?”
Read the rest: BATP First Chapter
Bellarose
Bella made her way past the brigantine’s masts to the bow and gazed across the turquoise depths. Overhead, ropes and riggings creaked in the wind, which tugged on her clean clothes and pulled the ribbon from her hair. The stiff breeze mussed her brown locks, and she pushed a wisp out of her mouth. Bella raised her chin to breathe in the salty air. The exhilarating motion of whipping tresses matched the wild spirit breaking free inside her. The prim and proper girl with perfectly coiffed hair no longer existed. Her messy strands and sun-reddened cheeks mirrored her internal transformation.
No story in any book—however detailed—could ever come close to being entangled in those heart-stopping moments like the fantastical ones she had read about in fairy tales, moments when the world no longer felt safe. Although…
Bella bit her lip. While visiting Ageless Isle with its mythical creatures had been perfectly enchanting, most of those events were harrowing times she wanted to forget. She breathed out.
Nothing was mundane about the way the Notre Dame sliced gracefully through the water. Only an hour before this mesmerizing calm, a hurricane had wreaked havoc on the now placid ocean. Captain Modo had swum through the tumultuous waves to rescue her from drowning. No, her current situation was far from humdrum.
Bella wrapped her arms around her middle. For all its beauty, the ocean reminded her of the thing she wished to forget—how an exciting voyage to a new world became a path to misery.
She mentally replayed her conversation with Modo after he salvaged her from the sea. He was too formal and stated rules of propriety like she needed to be schooled. Recalling the captain’s stern demeanor didn’t prevent Bella from pondering his handsome face. He would be even more dashing if he smiled.
Ocean mist moistened her cheeks and playful dolphins splashed before the ship, sending more spray into the air. She chuckled to herself. If the austere captain could channel the dolphins’ energy, then perhaps the journey back to New Orleans wouldn’t be as long and boring as it promised.
At least the spectacular views wouldn’t be monotonous.
Bella did want a calmer life, so perhaps the no-nonsense captain was exactly the sort of person who could return normalcy.
The wind carried Modo’s scent of pine and a hint of something familiar along with the sound of his boots on the wooden deck. She turned to face him. Sunlight caught on his brown hair revealing copper highlights, and his warm brown eyes would have been comforting, if they hadn’t reminded her too much of Quinn, the one she loved and lost. She quickly blinked away the tears.
Captain Modo’s posture was impeccably straight as he strode to her side, a leather pouch in one hand. Bella tilted her head to meet his eyes, but when their gazes connected, he quickly looked away and cleared his throat.
Read the rest: BATC First Chapter