The Written (54 page)

Farden shook his head. ‘None.
That last we heard she was out of the city and in the north, with
her father. Vice remains in the Arkathedral for now.’

Towerdawn crunched pebbles as
he shifted his wait from foot to foot. ‘Dark times are ahead, he
has no love for us dragons.’

‘You should have killed him
when you had the chance,’ said Svarta quietly, more like a regret
rather than an accusation. Farden nodded.

‘Who have you brought with
you?’ asked Brightshow, with a hint of excitement in her
yellow-flecked eyes. Farden smiled and moved Elessi out from behind
him. ‘This is my friend Elessi, from Albion. She’s never met a
dragon before,’ he said.

Farfallen bowed his head in a
formal gesture. The others followed suit. ‘And it is a pleasure to
meet you Elessi of Albion.’ She smiled and looked as if she would
start giggling. Farden rolled his eyes. ‘And this is my superior,
Durnus,’ said the mage. Durnus stared at Farfallen with his pale
blue eyes and bowed low to the ground. ‘I’ve heard a lot about you,
and let me tell you what an honour it is to meet you,’ said the
vampyre with a smile. Svarta looked slightly taken aback at the
sight of his fangs but Farfallen lowered his head once again ‘Well
met Durnus. It is a pleasure to have you all in Nelska,’ replied
the Old Dragon.

Brightshow piped up again. ‘In
case you forgot, Farden, you left something behind the last time
you were here,’ she said, looking behind her at her rider, Lakkin.
The tall Siren moved forward holding a box, and Farden looked
slightly confused. Slowly he crouched down and tipped the box
gently on one side, and out came a small black cat. Farden’s
weathered face creased into a smile. It was Lazy, the ship’s cat.
The little creature stretched and looked around, but when it saw
Durnus standing there it made a curious sound and wandered forward
ponderously, daintily stepping over the wet pebbles. She came to a
stop a few feet from him and curled her tail around her body. To
everyone’s utter surprise the cat opened its mouth, and spoke
aloud. ‘I have a message for the vampyre,’ it said calmly. Every
eye turned to Durnus, and his mouth hung agape. Elessi leaned close
to Farden and whispered in his ear. ‘Is this normal in Nelska?’ she
asked.

Farden couldn’t tear his eyes
away from the cat. ‘Not in the slightest,’ he replied.

###

Acknowledgements:

This was my first book, and
mark my words it shall not be the last. It’s also been a long time
in the writing, and thanks to the following people I actually
finished it! So without any further or much ado at all here we
go:

First I would like to thank my
parents Paul and Carol, and this is for two quite basic reasons.
The first is that they quite obviously and simply produced me, and
the second is that as a child they insisted, nay demanded, that I
read everything in sight, and without those two reasons I would not
be where I am right now, scribbling this on the back of an
envelope. (I’d like to thank Royal Mail for the envelope).

I’d like to thank the
incredibly tolerant people who, for over the last sixteen months,
have had to put up with my constant badgering. Nancy Clark read and
edited the first ever manuscript, as did Roger Clark, and their
feedback and suggestions were invaluable to me. Nancy made sure it
was suitable for all you Americans out there. Charlie Elwess was
there to keep the Yorkshire tea brewing and point out any
irregularities. (He has a band called Arcady Bliss, you should
listen to them. No excuses). Sarah West, my eternal thanks, for the
final edits, and for a room in her house, for which I am utterly
grateful. Spotify, for your musical archivery, and my thanks to the
music of the innumerable artists that have provided the emotions.
Thomas Bulfinch, for the stories and myths, Mikael Westman for the
cover, and Ollie Latham, for giving me a book that changed my whole
perception of writing. I don’t think he even realises what he’s
done. I’m expecting a phone call any day now...

And to Claudia, for putting up with the
constant summons to my room, for reading all the little snippets
and excerpts and experiments and dialogue, for nodding and smiling
all the while, and for the encouragement and love and faith, thank
you. One day she might read the whole thing.

And thank you, for reading my
debut book, I promise I won’t take this long to write the next
one.