Ellinca hesitated. On the railing her fingers twitched to a heartbeat rhythm. She wanted to say yes. Would he take it the wrong way? Did she care if he did? This could be fun, certainly more so than traveling by herself. And safer too, seeing he was half bludvoik. A smile crept upon her at that thought and spread to become an eye-crinkling grin. I am crazy.
“You’re welcome to join me, sir. More than welcome!”
“Sir?” He cocked an eyebrow. “Then, my lady.” He performed a theatrical bow, as if she were a queen. “Shall we away, and see the rest of the world?”
She chuckled – this was the only time she could recall Dost ever attempting to be silly.
Before she could move he took her hand in his and gently kissed the back of her fingers. His lips were warm. As if her body had sent extra nerves down to those fingers, they tingled for the longest time after he released them.
Oh my. He’s a bludvoik, you fool. Now she knew why she’d dreamed of kissing him. Maybe she’d get a chance to do so after all. At that thought, she smiled again. Yes, and those chances might be many if she planned things right. Sometimes fate needed a nudge.
After all she’d been through kissing was up there at the top of her list of things to do next.
He swept his arm about and she followed the arc of that gesture to the mouth of the harbor and the far blue horizon of the sea.
Then she edged a little closer to Dost at the rail until their hips touched. The world awaited. She just prayed she wouldn’t get seasick.
Glossary
CHARACTERS:
Ellinca Harpsicore – girl of 18 yrs, wild mage.
Pascolli – boy of near 18, mute, Ellinca’s friend.
Beth/Jerome/Kurt – Tag Traders/Theater Troupe.
Imperator – Ruler of Burgla’le Empire.
Thollemew Smythe – Imperator’s first adviser.
Hilas Frope – A Finder of people, appointed by the Imperator.
Princess Sasskia – daughter of Uster.
Dost – an apparent leper who helps Ellinca while she’s escaping from Hilas Frope.
Bertrand Jubb – Court photographer.
Immolators – The elite troops of the Imperator.
Mr. Therber – Owner of the tannery and tuskdog Gangar
Sania Therber – Magience Seer. Mother of Mr Therber.
Tracc – Leader of Grakkurds.
Dayna – Warrior of Grakkurd.
Krueger – a Kaddash weapon master.
Garmea – Punctologist/Needle Master.
Marla – an Auratrist.
Sir Alexander Blissman
Haddrash – rich man from an old secret family.
Samuel Xeujung – a great Trinketologist.
Gorren Threadwell – Trinketologist who made a warsuit worn at the Battle of Burgla’le Forest
Sakena – beggar girl.
Lumberger – crossbow man.
Bloodmen – tribesmen from North of Carstelan. Inventors of fingertalk.
PLACES (see map):
Hull
Strickly
Carstelan
Fresnan, Hertokan, Wurtgard, Sungea – lands across the sea to the distant west.
MOUNTAINS:
Grakkurd Mountains
Whistling Mountain range. Skysplitter is the southernmost peak.
Skysplitter Mountain
RIVERS:
Juba
Pang
PEOPLES:
Grakkurds or Grakks – Mountain tribespeople who worship mountain gods. At war with the Empire.
Burgla’le Empire – Ellinca’s country, ruled by the Imperator.
Andonny – Pascolli’s people, they are wanderers, thieves, and traders.
Urstani, Barskolians, Sungese – foreign peoples.
Bheulakks – only race that has conquered airship flight.
OTHER TERMINOLOGY
Magience – a magic fused with science.
Auratrist – Final judges in all cases of complex law in the Grakkurd Lands. They use a type of magience to see the truth.
Bio-energeer – healer who uses magience to gather data from people/animals. Some can tell how a person/animal died.
Wild mage/ Illegal mage – person who practices illegal magience, often shortened to mage.
Punctologist – Master of Needles/Acupuncturist who can use magience.
Herbologist – A magience practitioner who studies/sells herbs and masters their use in magience.
Seer - Person who can tell the future.
Trinketologist – magience practitioner who makes magical objects from many ingredients such as wood, metal or plant. These are powered by the animus (essence) of either an animal or, rarely, a plant. They usually cease working soon after the death of their creator.
Bludvoik – Undead, can only be killed by decapitation.
Kaddash – Weapons Master.
Duraviandes – Breed of mountain sheep owned by the Grakks.
Fennig and Grints – units of money in the Burgla’le Empire.
Gheist Guardian – A ghost guardian, its halo changes color when death of owner approaches
Salle – Hall.
Trinketton – any magical device made by a trinketologist
Gheist Pistol – most powerful hand weapon available – ammunition is the compressed ectoplasm of trapped ghosts.
Tuskdog – vicious type of dog bred by Grakkurds.
Janglar – Primary moon.
Jung qua – essence of dying auratrist.
Eucalypt Oil – Anti-bacteria oil.
Map
Cartography done rather badly by a drunken, one-eyed sailor sitting on the deck of a rolling ship.
About Cari Silverwood
I love to hear from my readers.
If you enjoyed Magience, please consider leaving a review on your favorite retailer or website.
Cari Silverwood is a New York Times and USA Today bestselling writer of kinky darkness or sometimes of dark kinkiness, (and sometimes fantasy, such as this book) depending on her moods and the amount of time she’s spent staring into the night. She’s yet to write a book on knitting or cooking but macabre death scenes are a specialty.
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Needle Rain is a book set in the same fantasy world as Magience though the only recurring character is the Imperator. It can be found at the following link on Amazon.
NEEDLE RAIN
Also by Cari Silverwood
If you’re primarily a reader of fantasy and not erotic fiction, bear in mind the only stories below that are not kinky (BDSM) and erotic are the magience-based books. In particular, the Dark Hearts and Pierced Hearts books are written to be very dark and very disturbing.
Magience world books
Needle Rain
Preyfinders Series
(Erotic scifi)
Precious Sacrifice (Originally published in the anthology, Kept)
Intimidator
Defiler
Preyfinders – The Trilogy
Preyfinders Universe
Cyberella
The Badass Brats Series
The Dom with a Safeword
The Dom on the Naughty List
The Dom with the Perfect Brats
The Dom with the Clever Tongue
Squirm Files Series
Squirm – virgin captive of the billionaire biker tentacle monster
Strum – virgin captive of the billionaire demon rock star monster
The Well-hung Gun – virgin captive of the billionaire were-squid gunslinger monster
Cataclysm Blues Series
Cataclysm Blues
(A free erotic scifi novella)
The Steamwork Chronicles Series
Iron Dominance
Lust Plague
Steel Dominance
Dark Hearts Series
(Dark erotic fiction)
Wicked Ways
Wicked Weapon
Wicked Hunt
Pierced Hearts Series
(Dark erotic fiction)
Take me, Break me
Klaus – a novella
Bind and Keep me
Make me Yours Evermore
Seize me From Darkness
Yield
Pierced Hearts Volume 1 – contains books #1, #2 and #3
Pierced Hearts Volume 2 – contains books #2 and #3
Pierced Hearts Volume 3 – contains books #4 and #5
Others
31 Flavors of Kink
Rough Surrender
(Released by Momentum, an eBook branch of Pan Macmillan)
Blood Glyphs
CONTENTS
Acknowledgements
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Chapter 14
Chapter 15
Chapter 16
Chapter 17
Chapter 18
Chapter 19
Chapter 20
Chapter 21
Chapter 22
Chapter 23
Chapter 24
Chapter 25
Chapter 26
Chapter 27
Chapter 28
Chapter 29
Chapter 30
Glossary
Map
About Cari Silverwood