King of Ash and Bones and other stories (eBook)

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By Rebecca Roland 
Short stories / Fantasy & Science Fiction
Release Date: June 4, 2013

eBook-only
Short story collection, approx. 80 pages

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Other books in the series: Shards of History, 1; The Road Home (in The King of Ash and Bones), 1.5; Fractured Days, 2

Description

Roland works her magic again in this four-story collection of eerie and enchanting works, including Rasmus’s story from after Shards of History: An exiled man attempts to return to the family he left behind. A sovereign whose kingdom has been reduced to ash and bones seeks to complete one last task. A man doomed to die cannot give his wife her greatest wish. A suspected affair leads to a shocking and wondrous surprise.

Excerpt

From the titular story “The King of Ash and Bones”:

A man is no longer a king without a kingdom to rule over. What did that now make me? I sought the answer as I spurred the gray gelding through the cobblestone streets, setting thatched roofs on fire.

We weaved our way among the dead. They walked slowly, their hands out to feel where they were going, as they were headless. Dried blood stained fine robes and drab wool garments alike. They were equals now, joined by the plague that had driven them all to sever their own heads. Once I saw to them, I would seek out the witch that had cursed them and ensure she could not do this again.

The gelding snorted and sidestepped as we rounded a corner to find a mob of headless people blocking our way. The stench of rotting flesh and loosed bowels was strong here. I turned the gelding, and we sought a different path, all the while my torch setting fires behind me.

Flames arose from the city center as the stables and outbuildings burned, surrounding the dark gray stone of the castle I had called home. Somewhere inside those buildings, my son and his family had already burned. An image of my granddaughters taking kitchen knives to their own necks came unbidden to me. Their blood stained my cream-colored linen shirt. I had tried to stop them, but the plague had imbued them with unnatural strength. I’d pray for their souls, but the words choked me far more than the smoke.

Having done all I could, I led the gelding on a gallop towards the nearest gate, his hooves clattering against stone. Once through, I reined him in and dropped to the ground, nearly falling when my quivering legs failed me. Digging my feet into the ground, I heaved the wooden gate along its ruts until it clanged shut. Then I mounted the gelding, and we surged up a grassy hill dotted with wildflowers in pink and yellow and violet. At the top, I turned him and watched as the town and my home became a giant funeral pyre.

I should have cried at the sight of Applewood, my city-kingdom, going up in flames, all its people dead, but those tears had been spent a long time ago, leaving me hollow.

The fire sent billows of smoke into the air, turning the afternoon hazy. Ash began to rain down around me like sooty snowflakes, and still I remained, to make sure every corpse burned and none escaped.

Within the leather bag tied to the saddle, the worm writhed. It had been the witch’s, the one I’d gifted her with, the one I’d wrenched from her body when I found how she’d abused her power. The wretched thing was the only survivor, save for myself and the gelding. [read more in The King of Ash and Bones, and Other Stories]

From “The Road Home” set after Shards of History:

Rasmus ran a hand over the short growth of hair on his head. Perhaps he should’ve kept it shaved, like an exile, for his upcoming hearing before the women’s council. But ten years was a long time to keep his head shorn, to keep reminding himself of his status. Things had changed after the war.

He dragged a travois behind him, following five other men on their way to Tanio, bringing salt, corn, and other gifts from the Jeguduns for the harvest festival. Amsted, the group’s leader, set down his own travois, wiped his brow, and said, “We’ll rest here a while.”

Here was the edge of the burnt woods, the fire an accident caused by Rasmus. Blackened trees poked out from the gently rolling hills. The late summer rains had dug deep trenches in the ground, and the air still held the smell of charred wood.

Amsted didn’t bother masking the glare he directed at Rasmus, the message clear. Look around. You did this.

Author

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Rebecca Roland is the author of the Shards of History series, The Necromancer's Inheritance series, and The King of Ash and Bones, and Other Stories. Her short fiction has appeared in publications such as Nature, Fantastic Stories of the Imagination, Stupefying Stories, Plasma Frequency, and Every Day Fiction, and she is a graduate of the Odyssey Writing Workshop. You can find out more about her and her work at rebeccaroland.net, her blog Spice of Life, or follow her on Twitter @rebecca_roland.

Praise

“The King of Ash and Bones is hands-down, one of the best collection of short stories I have ever read. I must admit, I already had a love-love relationship with Rebecca Roland after reading Shards of History, but this work just cements everything for me. ” 
— Good Choice Reading Five Star review

“Rebecca Roland is a newcomer to watch!”
— James Maxey, author of Greatshadow: The Dragon Apocalypse

“Her style is remarkable, her characters are amazing … worth every bit of time you spend reading.”
— Plasma Frequency Magazine

“Roland delivers the goods!”
— Susan Abel Sullivan, author of The Haunted Housewives of Allister, Alabama
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