Shirley Meier's Blog, page 113

41 - An Unfortunate Suck-up

With the extra lessons I had very little time to myself unless I stayed awake late… which had its own problems. Then there were all the rituals the Heir must do. The remedies Misahis gave me helped. I was no longer a child, able to run about in the city, bored and looking for trouble. Before I would not focus on doing my best… but along with being polite I had learned well enough from my friend

]]art log segment 4972

]]art log sept 14 4972 0089 Wendy: “The fact that this kid is clinging to any kind of decency speaks well for him.”]]art log sept 14 4972 0089 Martin: “But that is unlikely to continue with this corrupt Empire. Wendy, you like him and that is clouding your attitude. You liked Curlion as a child, and Ilesias as well.”]]art log sept 14 4972 0089 Silvia: “That could be, but I think Wendy is right

A short fragment ob skene

“So, Skorsas… what did his Effulgent Pain in the Butt want this time?” Eosenas put down the empty laundry bin outside Svenavich’s door, next to Raikas’s, obviously eager for gossip. He must have been passed on the stairs by the Imperial brat."I dunno. Maybe he has a foot-rack and needed to measure. Or he’s figuring what size of splinters he needs to insert in Raikas’s toenails? His bratliness

40 - Ashamed for my Father

I skipped Shefenkas’s ninth fight but I had to go to his tenth because Father insisted. He was getting more and more fascinated with the Yeoli and credited me with the same good taste.Shefenkas's tenth fight was against a Tor Enchian. The man paced out of his gate, circling, cautiously. I couldn’t restrain myself and jumped up to see. I heard Father chuckle at my enthusiasm. “Enjoy yourself, son.

39 - Judge's Clemency

Before each Mezem fight the two fighters declared their weapons preference, a toss of the die deciding which mode both fighters would fight in to start. If the fight went into multiple rounds they'd switch between preferences in each round. This was the normal way of evening out the level of skill… but sometimes, the Judge, who sat next to the Director, would declare a ‘Clemency’ in that both

38 - A whole loaf sandwich

It felt as though I had purged some of my soul’s rot and I applied myself to the Geography text. I ignored the sensations I got from Ailadas as I bent to the book. I was certain he must had heard I did such things as I had done this morning, though I had never done something quite so… extreme and certainly not in his presence. It was as though my hatred… of what? … my anger… against whom?… burst

Author's Note: I'm Baaaaaa aaack!

The Technician just left... I might be down for a bit in twenty minutes or so because of port assignment issues but he just has to call the office, really. So apparently no big deal.Thanks to Karen for guest posting to let everyone know, a big thank you!We'll see how the highway construction continues to mess with my connection... your tax dollars at work!So I'll be back to my regular posting

37 - Mathematics versus Geography

Father has me by the ankle. My hair and jewellery hang down over my face. He turns me in his hand, so I spin and he can see me from all sides. I raise one of my dangling arms to claw my hair off my face. He pokes me with his finger and I swing. All I can do is squeak. He laughs and all I can see is the massive wet red cavern ringed around with sharp ivory grave slabs. His breath is hot,

[Guest author's note]

Hi Eclipse Court readers:Karen pinch-hitting for Shirley here: despite a promise from the nice folks at Bell Sympatico on Friday night that her Internet outage would be no longer than 30 hours, and a second promise that they'd send a tech out to her place yesterday, said tech never showed up and her connection is still out. Expect the next post whenever they get it together to get her back

36 - We'll do what we have to

Sitting where I was on the floor, when Shefenkas turned toward me I could see, in the bruising around one of his eyes a dimpled needlemark. I put out a finger and almost touched, just feeling the tickle of his brow on my finger. He closed his eyes for a moment and I pulled my hand away and put it back in my lap.“I have a question for you, Minis,” he said. “Though you might not know.”I looked