Tag Archives: Nicholas

Arc 8.1: Bloodmaiden

Bloodmaiden: Part 5

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Nicholas’ eyes darted over toward the table where his grandfather had opened a bottle of wine. “Uh… Let’s start walking.”

He pointed toward the nearest doorway. Amy raised an eyebrow, and they walked past a metal shelf that was covered with gears and a machine whose purpose Amy couldn’t even guess at.

When they reached the stairway, Nicholas said, “That way. I’ll show you the way up.”

The stairway wasn’t much. Only wide enough for one person to walk, the stairs were worn brown tile, accompanied by cracked, white plaster walls.

“You know,” Amy said, following him up, “if they were listening, leaving the room won’t make them less suspicious.” Continue reading Bloodmaiden: Part 5 →

Arc 8.1: Bloodmaiden

Bloodmaiden: Part 4

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Flame burst from the twin rockets on the boy’s backpack, and the boy flew upward toward the mooring mast. Then, lowering himself to the building and landing next to the mast,  he stepped behind a metal cabinet.

The airship moved closer to the mast, and when it was close enough that Amy wondered if the nose would hit, the mooring mast bent and extended toward the nose of the airship.

Amy didn’t see it, but she heard a metallic clank, and felt the airship stop moving forward. It hadn’t been moving much. She barely felt it, but she felt something. Continue reading Bloodmaiden: Part 4 →

Arc 8.1: Bloodmaiden

Bloodmaiden: Part 3

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Amy smiled as her father laughed at the man’s joke, and hoped he meant what he’d implied–that this was as much for them as for her, and that it was a stroke of luck that left her with protection, and them with a good hiding place.

Except her father ran the empire’s intelligence as well as the military, and he’d taught her and all of her siblings about politics. If she’d retained anything from that, she’d learned not to let the details distract her from the big picture. As much as the Harcourts might say that they were her bodyguards, the possibility that they were her assassins fit just as well.

“Well,” Mr. Harcourt said, “I’m sure you’ll want to say your goodbyes privately. We’ll see you inside.” Continue reading Bloodmaiden: Part 3 →