Whitefall by J. McCoy

Author:J. McCoy [McCoy, J.]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Fantasy, Epic Fantasy, Science Fiction Fantasy, GameLit, RPGLit, Mystery, Time Loop, Time Travel, Magic, Coming Of Age, Worldbuilding, Intrigue, Gripping, Fast-Paced, Page-Turner, Dungeons & Dragons, Sword & Sorcery, Action & Adventure, Young Adult, Fiction
Amazon: B0B8F23BQL
Goodreads: 61852994
Publisher: Aethon Books
Published: 2023-07-04T14:00:00+00:00

We slipped into the adjacent hall. Tamara and Cephur took turns bringing me up to speed.

Either my father’s estimation of our standing was drastically out of touch, or he’d outright lied to me. Whitefall was on the brink of civil war. It was bad enough that my father had executed an entire house—House Faircomb—a matter of months ago. The tactic wasn’t all that surprising, considering the source, but that the atrocity occurred within Whitefall itself was unheard of.

To make matters worse, the pending conflicts weren’t only inside our walls.

Cephur swirled his wine. “Couple factions—not small factions, mind you, have been pressing their luck. Nipping at the borders. They’re hard to pin down, even harder to interrogate when we can lay hands on ’em. That don’t happen often, because as open-minded as these new policies seem, among the regiments we’re still the king’s redheaded stepchild, pardon the figure of speech. Tend to be used in a supplementary and cleanup capacity, rarely more. Part of it is that we’re mixed, which makes us a risk to deploy when some men could turn tail and run in the instance we go up against their blood brothers and sisters.”

“What factions?”

“Allegedly independent factions of light elves and dwarves, mostly. Dark elves have been quiet. Little too quiet for my liking.”

I ground my teeth. This made little sense. I spent most of my teenage years in relative peace. There was no sudden upsurge until Thoth came out of nowhere.

But then again, she didn’t just appear from thin air.

She was working in the background the entire time, building allies.

Just as I was.

Had she held them back? Encouraged them to wait to strike until the perfect moment? It’s what I would do if I were her.

I grimaced. “Why now?”

Tamara and Cephur exchanged a look.

“It’s… hard to say,” Cephur hedged.

I straightened from my slouch, looked them both over. They were holding something back. More accurately, they didn’t want to tell me. My mind ticked on something Cephur said. Allegedly independent.

“Oh, fuck,” I groaned.

Tamara gave my arm a comforting rub. “To be clear, we’re not saying it’s your fault.”

“It ain’t,” Cephur grunted. “Light elves and infernals, or dwarves and dark elves, sure, but light elves and dwarves? Nobody but the mountain seers expect that pairing.”

Of course they wouldn’t. Because they’d never seen it before.

But I had.

And if the elves and dwarves caught wind of the king sending his son to the Enclave as a bargaining piece—in no world would he admit I’d run off on my own—they’d sense a shift in the balance of power and start making alliances of their own.

“What’s happening?” Maya stood in the doorway, her face barely lit.

I rested my forehead against my palm and waved her over. “Just in time. We’re talking about how my actions in the Enclave may have inadvertently antagonized our future allies.”

“Hey there, little purple,” Cephur said, giving her a small wave.

Tamara rose to greet Maya as she approached. “You look gorgeous.”

Maya took Tamara’s hands and squeezed them. “It’s wonderful to see you again.

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