Going Forth by Day is the sixth and final book of The Order of the Four Sons series. At the moment, it clocks in at 179,290 words. To celebrate, I thought I'd share a new excerpt with you.
My plan now is to let it breathe for a few weeks, then go in and do revisions. Then let it breathe again for a month. (Writing a novel sometimes is like making a very, very special loaf of bread-- you have to punch the dough down and let it rise.) Then, maybe, just maybe, I'll have a final draft done by July, and the book ready to roll before August.
Until then, here's a sneak peek-- SPOILERS AHEAD.
The geomancers
expanded the laboratory, creating a wide space in which to conduct the Sarosh trials.
They had drawn their usual painstaking series of symbols on the floor, inlaid
four concentric circles of silver. The center circle was empty. Kate stood in
one, the geomancers in another. In the outermost was Murphy. He had volunteered
for the job. When others had protested, he had pointed out, very sensibly, “It
can’t be Emily or Justin. If something goes wrong, we need them to take charge.
I’m the one who backed Kate on this, so let me do it. Let me be the redshirt.”
He stood, arms
crossed, watching as Dion got the bottle down from the shelf. Dion set it
carefully down in the center circle and backed away. Once he was within the safety
of the geomancers’ circle, he intoned, “Release.”
The curved neck of
the bottle straightened, revealing an opening in the side. A little wisp of
smoke floated timidly out. “My lords?” Its voice was very small in the wide
room. “Didst thou summon Sarosh? What wouldst thou have of me?”
“You said before
that you have no master or mistress at present,” Dion said.
“No, my lord,” the
spirit sighed. “Sarosh is all alone.”
“Completely alone?
You have no spirit compatriots to work your mischief with?”
“No compatriots,
my lord.”
“We’ve brought you
here to determine if you are worthy to serve us—that is, to serve Miss West.”
Sarosh rose
hopefully and swirled about the inner circle. “To serve Kate West?”
“Yes. Do you swear
not to harm her?”
If it was possible
for the spirit to gasp, it would have done so. “Sarosh would rather be pitched
into the darkest chasms of oblivion than to bring harm to Kate West! Sarosh
would rather be confined to yon foul bottle again for a thousand, thousand
years than to bring harm to Kate West! Sarosh would rather—”
“Just answer the
question, spirit,” Dion said sharply. “There’s no need for your histrionics.”
Sarosh cowered.
“Forgive me, my lord. Never, my lord.”
“And you will not
bring harm to anyone else—either directly or by treachery?”
“Only at Kate
West’s command.”
Throughout this
exchange, Kate had been looking back and forth between the geomancer and the
spirit. Now, Dion nodded to her. She took a deep breath and stepped into the
center circle.
Again, Sarosh
rose, coalescing more fully in the narrow space, a pair of eyes forming at the
center, the rudiments of a face.
“Sarosh,” Kate
said formally, the words borrowed from some of Doug’s notes on spiritism. “I
would have you as my familiar spirit. Before these witnesses, do you swear to
be faithful and obedient, to tell me no lies, to honor and serve me, from this
day until either my death, or until I release you from said vow?”
The eyes floating
before her flashed. Tendrils of mist encircled her, reached longingly for her.
“Oh, yes, Kate West! Let me prove to you my quality. I will carry out thy every
command to the syllable. I will serve no one but thee, faithfully and
obediently, until you would have me no more.”
Kate wasn’t crazy
about the next part, but she made herself say it. “And if you displease me in
any fashion, you will accept whatever punishment I deem fit?”
“Yes, my
enchantress, my lady, my mistress! Gladly, I would cede my fate to you.”
Kate did not turn
around, but she could only imagine Murphy’s expression right now. “Let’s just
skip the titles, okay? Kate’s fine.”
“Yes, my Kate,”
Sarosh sang happily.
“Good enough.”
“But let it be so,
in actuality if not spoken! Let it be so, and Sarosh will fly between high
heavens and wide infernos! What feats would we not accomplish, thee and me?”
“Okay,” Kate held
her hand out to the spirit. “Let it be so.”
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