Coyle The Adventures of Mad Gad the Bard

1. Auflage 2024
ISBN: 979-8-3509-4271-2
Verlag: BookBaby
Format: EPUB
Kopierschutz: Adobe DRM (»Systemvoraussetzungen)

E-Book, Englisch, Band 1, 262 Seiten

Reihe: The Adventures of Mad Gad the Bard

Gadriel is a bard with a knack for getting himself tangled up in complicated situations. An easygoing man with a gift of wit, Gadriel's specialty is singing and playing his flute in front of crowds-and getting into trouble. And so begins a captivating tale of a whispering gemstone, adventures on the high seas, a parade of villains, harrowing rescue missions, and an unexpected plot twist when we discover that Gadriel's best friend, Shanks, isn't what he appears to be-it's a revelation with the power to drop jaws and summon tears. The Adventures of Mad Gad the Bard ends on an intriguing note that hints that another installment might be forthcoming. Given the author's ability to weave a tale replete with action, humor, colorful characters, and unique elements of fantasy, a sequel would no doubt be eagerly anticipated by enthralled readers everywhere.

Autoren/Hrsg.

Coyle, James

Leseproben

2 Turf, Munty,
and Dint The next day started the same, just slightly more hung over than the last. Shanks hadn’t gone to bed any earlier than Gadriel, but he certainly appeared more rested. The two got ready to attack the day and hit the streets of Lulin with purpose. The purpose of the day was to gather more information on this stone or, if that failed, to find other ventures. Much like how he preferred to work, Gadriel wanted to be where the people were. He liked hearing their stories, their plans, about their days. Walking down high street, Gadriel and Shanks came to a rather busy establishment named The Kitchen. Gadriel leaned over to Shanks and murmured, “An eating establishment called ‘The Kitchen.’ Must be pretty good; look at all the people.” As they sat, a young lady by the name of Anne greeted them with, “What’ll it be, what can I get’cha?” Gadriel responded, “We’ve been told the . . . coff . . . ffee is something to have here.” “Aye, we think you’ll like it; we just started getting it from a place across the sea. Are you expecting someone else?” Anne asked. Gadriel said, “No ma’am, we’ll take two ‘coff-ffee’s, please.” Anne simply nodded and entered The Kitchen. Anne looked to be a lovely young woman who appeared to be born into a merchant life and was not quite considered the “help.” Though she was of a merchant class she still worked for a living, and this showed on her clothes and by how she deftly assisted customers. Anne’s thick black hair was pulled tightly back into a bun, and her dark skin only became more beautiful as the sun climbed higher in the sky. Violet was clearly Anne’s favorite color judging by the ribbons and her apron, but her blue eyes contradicted this. Before Gadriel was lost in thought, Anne delivered two hot cups of a dark black liquid that smelled delicious. Anne smiled and said, “Start with a sip I think, sir.” And so he did. Gadriel sipped the bitter liquid and it burned his tongue and throat all the way down to his belly; he liked the little shiver it gave him. The Kitchen was a delightful little establishment. Sitting on a terrace surrounded by wrought iron, the cafe overlooked most of the town square. The sun came up slowly to light up the outside of the shop and all the guests enjoying their food and drink; the gray cold stone became a warm orange as the clock chimed its seventh chime of the morning. He could steal peeks of the inside, which was filled with dark hardwood, but Gadriel wanted to be where the people were, and the people liked the terrace. “And then she said—” . . . “God rest him, he had taken all the—” . . . “Mother that’s funny, just like my dog Br—” Conversations flowed around him, and Gadriel began to close his eyes. Shanks did nothing in particular, just sat back and relaxed in the cool morning air, enjoying the surroundings. “I didn’t take it—I thought you were going to?” . . . “I was but I didn’t!! A lot of people were going to but it weren’t me!” . . . “Oh, Lara!” Gadriel’s eyes sprung open at the sounds of this hushed, almost frenetic conversation. Two women, who appeared to be maids or servants of a sort, were at a side entrance to The Kitchen, likely for workers of this station. It was clear that Shanks heard this conversation as well, as he stood up slowly but with purpose with Gadriel, leaving coin on the table for Anne. Gadriel and Shanks calmly waited for whomever Lara and the other women might have been to begin leaving the area to follow them, a difficult task this early in the morning. However, the two decided that when the ladies began moving in a direction, because Lulin was laid out in a sun pattern from the town square, they would simply walk faster and ahead of the women, then wait at some point for the ladies to pass them, doubling the tail time moving half the distance to avoid suspicion. In a way, this gambit worked, as they were not discovered and they identified where the women were going. Shanks pointed out that it was nothing they did in particular that allowed for this, however, as the women stated, “See you later at the Governor’s mansion, Anne!” while carrying a basket from The Kitchen when leaving. Gadriel was never one to throw away victories, however small. Gadriel and Shanks knew that service staff of a house typically knew almost everything happening in such a house, and if Lara and her cohort didn’t know who took the stone, they felt it was likely service staff did not take it, even if they might have wanted to. There was a sudden tap on Gadriel’s shoulder, which caused him to yelp in the most rugged and manly way possible. He turned around to find none other than Rose standing there with a great big grin. “Following the Governor’s servants, ey?” she asked. “No, madam, I were simply listening to something interesting,” Gadriel said. “Oh, so you think it was an inside job?” Rose smiled conspiratorially. “How may we help you, madam?” asked Gadriel. “We?” Rose asked. “Yes, yes, Shanks is my most trusted ally and helps me do jobs even for sneaky beautiful women.” “Huh,” she said curiously, but as a statement, not so much a question. She then continued, “Well, I’ll be meeting new importers at the docks this afternoon and was wondering if you’d like to come with me? It isn’t always a safe proposition, so I will pay you in sausage rolls.” Before Gadriel had a chance to respond, his ear was suddenly flicked, hard, by someone next to him that wasn’t Rose. “Ye-YES. I was going to say yes! Anyway!” “Excellent!” Rose said with a genuine smile. Several hours later, the trio found themselves walking along one of Lulin’s canals, past its locks, and toward its docks. The Lulin docks and harbor were a marvel for a town its size. Being a seaport, Lulin made good use of its canals to transport imported goods to the rest of its duchy; it also made excellent use of tariffs to maintain its substantial docks, which included two dry docks, canal locks, cargo lifts, and several large berths for high traffic. The warm hardwood of the Lulin docks had withstood the test of time and no longer creaked as much as balked at the weight of man and his devices. Walking past the Dockmaster’s Office, they descended the seawall on stairs with a railing worn smooth from a lifetime of use. The steps had been replaced as needed, but this railing, a helpful boundary, had outlived generations. A young porter ran by as the three made their way toward the end of the dock, as was arranged by the flour importer. There was one small ship and two empty berths at the end of the docks. Shanks took special notice of the boy then special notice of the lack of other porters, longshoreman, and sailors in the area at midday. Shanks then tapped Gadriel and made an abortive gesture. Rose continued her confident pace toward the end of the docks, which caused Gadriel to shrug and silently motion toward Rose, eventually giving up trying to silently communicate and saying in a defeated tone, “Oh it’s not like we haven’t done this before; of course we’re being ambushed.” Alarmed, Rose asked, “What’s that?” From overhead on top of the seawall, several men quickly climbed and jumped down behind them, cutting off a quick getaway, surprised to see multiple adversaries instead of one lady merchant, but enjoying the element of surprise all the same. From the gangplank of the ship swaggered a middle-aged woman with a dagger on each of her hips. Dark brown, braided hair was knotted back into something not easily grabbed. Her billowing black blouse looked like something to confuse her opponent in a fight as much as it did appear fashionable. She wore her men’s trousers and boots in a way that suggested men were doing it wrong, and there was no mistaking that this was her ship. Following just behind her must have been many of her crew; Gadriel and Shanks stopped counting after six, and they were all pleased with themselves. “Well, well, well. Look here, boyos, it’s Lulin’s thorny Rose, and she’s duped some help?” Gadriel, as much as he wanted to stay quiet and find out why Rose was thorny, could not help himself. “Hey, we weren’t duped, we volunteered.” Rose said, “Hello, Tamara,” followed by a very dry, “oh no, what an unexpected surprise.” “Told you,” a slight man behind Tamara said too loudly. “Shut it, Think,” the captain said. “If it pleases the captain—” cut in Gadriel; “It does not,” cut off Rose. “I’m here to speak with Thorny, not her help,” said Captain Tamara. “What’ll it be, Thorny?” asked Captain Tamara. “Well, seeing as how you just got into town, I thought maybe you might be interested in some information,” Rose said, dripping with intrigue. Gadriel and Shanks stood there like lost children. “And what information might that be? I’ve been disappointed before, Thorny,” the captain asked skeptically. “Oh, about the Governor’s little treasure,” said Rose. From behind Tamara, Think hissed, “Cap’t, the Whisper Stone.” “And I said shut it, Thinker. What about his lump of green glass, Thorny?” ...