Jeda's Humble Beginnings: Excerpt from ASSASSIN'S CURSE

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<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-VAErhgyvAdI..." imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-VAErhgyvAdI..." width="213" /></a></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: Arial;">The
boy stood in the middle of the room staring blankly at the wall.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: Arial;">Choose well</span></i><span style="font-family: Arial;">
was all he remembered.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: Arial;">The
room was about sixty paces long and probably half as wide.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">  </span>It was two stories’ high with numerous
oil lamps set along the upper walls that provided more than adequate lighting
for the entire room.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">  </span>A balcony ran
along three of the four walls and provided a means to observe any event happening
below.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">  </span>There was one door leading
in and out of the room, but it was blocked by a large, well-muscled man dressed
completely in black.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">  </span>His eyes were
deadpan, like those of a cold-blooded killer.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">  </span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: Arial;">The
air was relatively cool, but the young boy felt a drip of sweat run down his
back.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">  </span>He tried to hide his
nervousness beneath a façade of serenity while staring at the wall, but he
could feel the butterflies roiling in his stomach, threatening to unman him.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: Arial;">The
wall the boy stared at contained all conceivable manner of weapons, from short
throwing knives to elegantly curved swords to long-handled halberds with
wickedly curved barbs and spikes.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> 
</span>The boy had to choose something soon or forfeit his chance to test again
for another year.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">  </span>He would not let
this opportunity pass, because this was the day he had trained long and hard
for, the day he had anticipated for the last three years, and the day when he
would finally prove himself worthy.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> 
</span>Today he would test to become an apprentice in the guild of assassins.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: Arial;">The
rules of the test were simple: choose your weapon and fight.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">  </span>Any novice who aspired to test for
apprenticeship had twenty short minutes to fight and draw blood from their
opponent.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">  </span>Whatever weapon a novice
chose to test with would be the school in which they would be apprenticed if
they passed.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">  </span>There were five schools:
Sword, Knife, Axe, Staff, and Bow.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> 
</span>The tests were short, brutal, and <a href="http://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blog..." name="_GoBack"></a>bloody, designed
to ensure that no one advanced who did not rightly deserve to.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">  </span>Their opponents were fully trained brothers
of the guild who gave no quarter or latitude to the would-be contenders.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">  </span>Many tested for the honor, but few
passed their first time, and some even lost their lives in the attempt.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">  </span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: Arial;">Jeda
had decided many months ago to choose a pair of fighting knives as his weapon
of choice.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">  </span>He was good with
knives, both in hand-to-hand combat and throwing, and liked the way they felt
perfectly balanced in his hands.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> 
</span>He had been steadfast in his weapon of choice until the moment he
entered the room and saw Brother Mave waiting for him.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">  </span>A slight grimace passed over his face,
but he quickly composed himself.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> 
</span>The last thing he wanted was for Mave to see he was scared.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">  </span>Mave was dressed in the traditional,
assassin color of black, but also wore a distinguishable symbol of red, crossed
swords on the bandana holding back his hair.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">  </span>That symbol marked him as a preeminent sword expert within
the guild, second only to the masters in the School of Swords.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">  </span>Knives were excellent, close-in
fighting weapons, but Jeda was not good enough with them to draw blood from a
sword expert like Mave.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">  </span>Now he
stood immobilized, staring at the weapons wall, furiously trying to think of
what he should do next.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">  </span>He knew he
would have to choose wisely if he was to survive this day.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">  </span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: Arial;">Damn, of all the brothers in this guild, how could I
be so lucky as to get Mave? </span></i><span style="font-family: Arial;">Jeda
thought sarcastically.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">  </span>He stepped
forward and reached for the weapon he thought he would have the most luck with.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: Arial;">No sense in changing now.</span></i></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Arial;">***</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: Arial;">Mave
saw the boy look his way and inwardly smiled.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">  </span>He knew the boy was scared, and rightly so.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">  </span>It was not chance that brought him here
today, but a carefully orchestrated scheme to make sure he tested the boy.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">  </span>He felt Jeda was no more than a third-year
upstart who did not deserve the opportunity to test for apprenticeship.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">  </span>Most novices trained for five or six
years before petitioning to test.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">  </span>Mave
was going to make sure that the boy did not pass.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">  </span>That was as it should be, for it was Mave who had brought
Jeda to the guild in the first place. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He should be the one to put the boy in his place and teach
him humility.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: Arial;">Jeda
finally reached up and took a pair of fighting knives off the wall.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: Arial;">Mave
shook his head at the boy’s choice.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> 
</span><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">I knew it.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">  </span>The boy may know how to fight, but he
knows nothing of winning.</i></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: Arial;">“Begin,”
said the dispassionate voice of the master-in-attendance judging the test.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: Arial;">Mave
strode forward, closing the distance and eliminating the only advantage knives
would give the boy.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">  </span>Without the
distance to throw them, they were completely useless against swords.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">  </span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: Arial;">The
boy stood stock-still, visibly trembling as Mave approached.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">  </span>His frozen fear was pathetic and almost
embarrassing.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">  </span>Mave would cut him
slightly with his first blade and knock him out with the handle of his second,
putting a quick end to this charade of a test.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">  </span>Twirling his swords in a deadly dance, Mave felt no sympathy
for the boy.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">  </span>Today’s failure would
set Jeda back at least a year and give him more time to learn proper respect
and modesty, traits Mave felt he was sorely lacking.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">  </span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: Arial;">The young fool doesn’t know what he’s in for.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">    </span></span></i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: Arial;">As
Mave swung the first blade to catch the boy across the cheek, something
unexpected happened.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">  </span>Jeda dove
forward, under the first blade, and whipped one of his knives at Mave’s exposed
side. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Mave deflected the throw
with his second sword.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">  </span>If he had
not been such an excellent swordsman, the throw would have a scored a hit. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: Arial;">Maybe not quite the fool I took him for.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">  </span></span></i><span style="font-family: Arial;">Mave spun around swinging the sword in a deadly arc to face the boy as Jeda
jumped to his feet.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">  </span>The swing cut
the boy high on the arm and he cried out in shock and pain.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">  </span>The cut was deep and bleeding heavily,
rendering the arm useless.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">  </span>The boy
went down on one knee, but Mave moved cautiously forward.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">  </span>He would not be caught off-guard a
second time by the boy’s cleverness.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> 
</span>When Mave came within a sword’s reach of him, the boy jumped forward
into a diving roll and threw his second, remaining knife.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">  </span>Mave anticipated the move and easily
deflected the throw, shaking his head at the boy’s stupidity in throwing away
his last means of defense.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">  </span>As he
turned to face Jeda, he realized his mistake. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He felt a blade slice through his trousers, burning and
drawing a bright-crimson line along his leg.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">  </span>Jeda had used the second throw to distract Mave from his
true objective: the first blade that Mave had deflected.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">  </span>The boy had used his diving roll to
reach that first blade, left forgotten on the floor.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">   </span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: Arial;">How did he get that knife so quickly and throw it so
precisely?</span></i><span style="font-family: Arial;"> Mave wondered, looking
down at his bleeding leg.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">      </span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: Arial;">“Enough.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">  </span>Blood has been drawn by Novice Jeda,”
said the master’s voice from the balcony. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>“He is elevated to the rank of apprentice.”</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: Arial;">Mave
studied Jeda with a smoldering anger.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> 
</span>He was a good fifteen feet away and was wobbling on his feet from loss
of blood.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">  </span>It didn’t seem possible
that he could have thrown that knife in his condition.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">  </span>Mave knew the boy must have somehow
cheated.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">  </span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: Arial;">This is not over; no one makes a fool of me.</span></i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: Arial;">Buy at <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Assassins-Curse... | <a href="http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/assas... | <a href="http://www.kobobooks.com/ebook/Assass... | <a href="https://www.smashwords.com/books/view... </a></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: Arial;">Also available in paperback:  <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Assassins-Curse... style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: Arial;"> </span></i><span style="font-family: Arial;"></span></div>
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