Clapping his hands at a job well done, Jyuth walked back to his boat and set about the business of sailing off into the wild blue yonder.
Call to Action
Thanks for reading the adventures of Mareth, Alana, Neenahwi and Motega. I hope you enjoyed it. I would appreciate you leaving a few remarks or comments on Amazon or Goodreads, and of course, telling your friends the good old fashioned way. It’s this reader led communication that helps to spread the word and get others interested in trying this book.
You can sign up for my newsletter to be notified of future releases, opportunities to become a beta reader, and behind-the-scenes discussion of what went into the making of Kingshold. Also, if you want to drop me a line, please do. My email address is dave@dpwoolliscroft.com.
Glossary
Groups
Higher Guilds:
Engineers
Law
Merchants
Moneychangers
Shipwrights
Weavers
Hollow Syndicate (Unofficial Status)
Lower Guilds:
Artists
Bakers
Brewers
Butchers
Craftsmen
Doctors and Druggists
Ironworkers
Saddle Makers and Tanners
Stonemasons
Twilight Exiles (Unofficial Status)
Kingshold Districts and Supervisors
Fishtown - Eldrida
Warehouse - Gonal
Central Market - Aldo
Docks - Colbert
Garden - Hertha
Cherry Tree - Jules
Fourwells - Win
Golden - Geary
Lance - Row
Redguard - Ifig
Whiteguard - Garet
Inner Narrows - Dyer
Outer Narrows - Lud
Four Points - Lowell
Garmond - Yetta
Bottom Run - Denley
Woodton - Odam
Randall’s Addition - Nara
Arloth’s Acre - Paine
Beggar’s Point - Medwyn
Cast of Characters
AEBUR: Spymaster General
AGNES: Old lady, lives on the Farm Road
ALANA: Palace maid, sister to Petra
ARTUR DANWEAZEL: Merchant, dealer of under-the-table wares and giver of extraction jobs to Motega, Trypp, and Florian
BALES: Lord Hoxteth’s steward
BALLARD: Guild master of the Stonemasons’ Guild
BARAX: Demon queen, trapped in the mortal world by Neenahwi
BARTHOLOMEW: Artisan of the subtle arts of persuasion and inquisition
BASHARAAT: Demon king of the pyxies
BENEVAL (Lord): Commander of the palace guard
BERTHA: Head maid at the palace
BOLLINGSMEAD (Lord): Father of Mareth
CADAWA: Childhood playmate of Neenahwi
CARNEY: Resident minstrel of the Griffon’s Beak Inn
CHALICE (lady): Managing partner of the Hollow Syndicate, rescuer of Neenahwi and Motega
CREWS: Naval commander under Sea Marshall Ridgton
DAVITH: Urchin, pickpocket
DOLPH: Bodyguard to Mareth, employee of Lord Hoxteth
DUKE OF NORTHFIELD: Brother of King Roland, Pienzan duke
DYER: District supervisor for the Inner Narrows
EDEN (Lord): Savior of Redsmoke, war hero, richest man in Edland
EGYED: Dwarf, ambassador of the deep people, Keybearer of Unedar Halt
ELDRIDA: District supervisor for Fishtown
ELKIN: Former chief of the Wolfclaw tribe, Motega and Neenahwi’s great grandfather
FISKE (Lord): Guild master of the Law Guild, head judge of the realm, candidate
FLORIAN: Friend to Motega and Trypp, originally introduced by Jyuth. Veteran of foreign wars, including the liberation of Redpool, mercenary for hire
FOLSTENCROFT: Administrator, employed by Lady Grey
FORGER: Elected leader of the dwarves of Unedar Halt
FREDERICK (Sir): Knight, bodyguard to Lord Eden
GARLICK: Smith in the Four Points District
GNEEF: A thief in need of a dentist
GONAL: Merchant, friend of Mareth and connection to Hoxteth
GREY (Lady): Lord Hoxteth’s wife
GREYTOOTH: Shaman of the Wolfclaw clan
GRIMES: Captain of the palace guard under Beneval, but everyone knows who to go to if there is a problem
HOSKIN: Lord Chancellor of Edland
HOXTETH: Lord Treasurer, merchant, Merchants’ Guild leader
HUTH: Hoskin’s deceased father, former Lord Chancellor
JULES: Owner and landlady of the Royal Oak
JYUTH: Wizard, founder of Edland, adopted father of Neenahwi
KANAVEEN: Wolfclaw champion and protector of Neenahwi and Motega after the flight. Lives in the wilderness of Edland
KARR: Pirate
KARKEN: Captain in the Unedar Halt guard
KING RANDOLPH: Father of Roland
KING ROLAND: Final King of Edland, husband to Queen Tulip
KINGSLEY (Lady): Candidate
KOLSEN: Pirate King
LLEWDON: Emperor of Pyrfew, wizard, ancient
LUD: District supervisor for the Outer Narrows
MAMA BATTY: Producer of world famous blood pies
MARETH: Son of Bollingsmead, bard, former adventurer, former pirate
MOTEGA: Warrior and archer of renown from the wild continent, brother to Neenahwi, mercenary for hire
MRS. SKRUD: Neighbor to Alana and Petra, busybody, gossip, heart of gold
NEENAHWI: Of the Wolfclaw clan, wizard, adopted daughter of Jyuth and older sister to Motega
ORLAN (Lady): Chair of Kingshold University, candidate
PENSHEAD (Sir): Knight and Commander of the City Guard
PERCIVAL: Personal assistant to Lord Hoskin
PETRA: Bar maid at the Royal Oak, sister to Alana
QUEEN TULIP: Final Queen of Edland, wife to King Roland
RIDGTON: Sea Marshall of Edland
SHARAVIN: Mother of the Twilight Exiles
SHAREF: Former chief of the Wolfclaw tribe, Motega and Neenahwi’s father
SILAS: Former father of the Twilight Exiles
SPINNET: Master of wardrobes for Lady Grey
THORLEY: Owner and landlord of the Salty Hull
TRYPP: Friend to Motega and Florian, former thief with the Twilight Exiles
TUFT: Neenahwi’s cat
UTHRIDGE: Lord General of Edland
WHITE: Guild master of the Bakers’ Guild
WIN: District supervisor for Fourwells
WREN: Guild master of the Moneychangers’ Guild
ZAFF: A minstrel
Acknowledgments
Writing Kingshold has been a labor of love, and it would not have been possible without the love and support of my wife, Haneen and daughter Liberty.
I’d also like to thank Jaya Balasubramaniam, Robby Craig, Erin Duncan-O’Neill, Ryan Ehrlich, Joe Smith and Bernie Zimmermann for their immense help as beta readers. They were the first to read any of this writing and their positive feedback and great suggestions have been invaluable. It is not an exaggeration to say that had they not liked the book, my writing career would likely have proved very short.
Thanks to Ronesa Aveela, Tim Marquitz and Therin Knite for their editing assistance and for helping a first time author with the things that he’s long forgotten from secondary school.
And last but not least, Jeff Brown, the illustrator and cover designer, produced stunning work that really brought the city to life for me.
Thanks again to everyone.
D.P. Woolliscroft
April 2018
About the Author
Born in Derby in England on the day before mid summers day, David Peter Woolliscroft was very nearly magical. If only his dear old mum could have held on fo
r another day. But magic called out to him over the intervening years, with many a book being devoured for its arcane properties. David studied Accounting at Cardiff University where numbers weaved their own kind of magic and he has since been a successful business leader in the intervening twenty years.
Adventures were had. More books were devoured and then one day David had read enough that the ideas he had kept bottled up needed a release valve. And thus, rising out of the self-doubt like a phoenix at a clicky keyboard, a writer was born.
Kingshold is David’s debut novel and Tales of Kingshold, a series of companion short stories are flooding onto the page as fast as David can write them. You can keep up-to-date on all new releases at www.dpwoolliscroft.com.
David, his wife Haneen, and daughter Liberty all live with their mini goldendoodle Rosie in Princeton, NJ. David is one of the few crabs to escape the crabpot.
Also by D.P. Woolliscroft
Tales of Kingshold
I am Mareth and I collect tales - tales that do not make the official histories. Join me and learn the secret stories of those who sparked the wildfire. Stories from our past, from that fateful summer and its aftermath.
If you loved Kingshold, discover the next installment in the epic Wildfire Cycle.
Tales of Kingshold, Book 1.5 of the Wildfire Cycle, includes four novelettes and six short stories.
NOVELETTES:
Of Buccaneers and Bards (previously published separately)
All That Shimmers
Hollow Inside
Visions
SHORT STORIES:
Twin Lies
Narrowing It Down
The Working Dead
From Father to Daughter
Jyuth on Magic