Tag: The Book of the New Moon Door

The Book of the New Moon Door: Part Two, Chapter Nine

Temple

The Book of the New Moon Door cover image: A book with yellowing, wrinkled pages lies open on an old wooden desk, with a sprig of lavender lying in the center.

Table of Contents

“I’m afraid I have to leave tomorrow,” Berend says. 

Lady Breckenridge’s brows go up in a dubious expression. She holds up Berend’s old bandage, stained pink with less blood than he expected. “I don’t think you’re in any shape to go anywhere.”

He groans, a little louder than might strictly be justified, and props himself up on an elbow. The luxurious feather mattress adjusts to his new position. He’s going to miss it. He’ll miss Lady Breckenridge more. “I know, but I’ll live. I can’t let the Belisias find me here.”

“Belisias?” She scowls. “They wouldn’t dare.”

The fresh bandages wrapped around Berend’s chest are clean and neat, indistinguishable from the job the nurses did at the hospital. He’s never asked if Lady Breckenridge ever did a stint at a temple of Isra. “They’ll dare quite a bit, as it turns out,” he says. “The younger son murdered a serving girl, and his father doesn’t want it to get out.”

“I always thought there was something wrong with that boy.” She gets up and washes her hands in the floral-patterned ceramic basin, folding the dirty bandages into a towel. 

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There is something about armed guards under the sweeping arches and high columns of the churches of Alcos and Isra that unsettles him. They used to have knights, he reminds himself, whole armies of them.

The Book of the New Moon Door

The newest chapter of The Book of the New Moon Door is now available on Patreon! There’s a new chapter of THE BOOK OF THE NEW MOON DOOR up on Patreon! Berend is recuperating from his encounter with a serial killer and more ghosts than he’d like to count, and he discovers that the situation is even worse than he thought.

This chapter will make its appearance on the blog next week, but you can read it early and support my work (and my cats) on Patreon for just $3 a month.

The Book of the New Moon Door: Part Two, Chapter Eight

Rest

The Book of the New Moon Door cover image: A book with yellowing, wrinkled pages lies open on an old wooden desk, with a sprig of lavender lying in the center.

Table of Contents

Berend has, indeed, noted that Herard Belisia only wanted to do right by the girl his brother murdered after being cut off from his inheritance, but he can’t fault the man. He is, after all, a mercenary. By definition, his loyalty can be bought. Herard is buying it with promises, at the moment, and Berend’s conscience is heavy enough that he doesn’t need more. 

He can’t do anything for Bessa Kyne’s soul now. Not until Warder wakes up—and he will, Berend just has to believe it. His collection of incomplete, nonsensical, water-damaged notes crinkle and crunch under his arm. 

He’s headed for the city center, and the Lady Breckenridge’s apartments. Dressed in borrowed clothes from the hospital, he’s inconspicuous, but he looks over his shoulder every few paces, just to make sure. His ribs ache with every breath, and his steps are short, but he can walk. It’s midday, and the sun is warm and the wind is cool, and the first yellowed leaves drift down from overhead and skitter across the pavement. 

It’s a beautiful day, and he’s alive, after a second brush with death. He didn’t even lose an eye this time. 

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Lady Breckenridge’s good name will protect her from any overt action, but a name isn’t armor. It isn’t a sword. It isn’t even as good as secrecy.

The Book of the New Moon Door

There is a new chapter available on Patreon! Berend is recovering and trying to get his bearings, and he receives some concerning news. If you’re not a subscriber, fear not, you’ll see this chapter here next week. If you’d like to read chapters a week early, consider subscribing! It’s only $3 a month and helps me stay afloat and keep writing.

The Book of the New Moon Door: Part Two, Chapter Seven

Repent

The Book of the New Moon Door cover image: A book with yellowing, wrinkled pages lies open on an old wooden desk, with a sprig of lavender lying in the center.

Table of Contents

Once outside, Isabel takes a full breath for the first time in hours. Reder Angrove’s ghost remains, for the moment, inside the chapel, and the grip of his fear and grief releases. The air is cold, and it scrapes against her throat. Autumn has arrived in Mondirra. 

“Did they ritually remove your brain as part of your training, Sentinel?” Geray demands in her ear, voice shaking with suppressed rage. “Take it out and put it back in the wrong way, perhaps?”

Isabel places her hat on her head and pulls the brim down over her eyes. She can still see Geray, trudging half a step behind her with his feet two inches above the ground. “Whatever you have to say, I don’t want to hear it,” she says through her teeth.

“I had an easy solution,” Geray shrieks. “I practically served it to you on a platter!”

“Enough.” Isabel presses herself against the small kitchen’s exterior wall and cranes her neck to see out to the front of the building. Her uniform will hide her in the dark, but only if she’s careful. 

Geray floats out in front of her. “Whatever happens in there is on your hands, then.”

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“If there is a haunting, it is your duty to dispel it. What are you doing here?”

“I can’t,” Isabel says. Her eyes burn, and she swallows the catch in her throat. “Something is wrong.”

The Book of the New Moon Door

You can read this chapter on Patreon if you’re a subscriber. If you’re not, and you don’t want to be one, it will make its appearance here on the blog next week. Either way, I appreciate you!

The Book of the New Moon Door: Part Two, Chapter Six

Never

The Book of the New Moon Door cover image: A book with yellowing, wrinkled pages lies open on an old wooden desk, with a sprig of lavender lying in the center.

Table of Contents

Isabel turns to the door. Darkness has fallen over the chapel, and a black abyss stretches between her and where the constable, presumably, is trying to get in. The church is haunted. Maybe the incongruousness of a ghost on holy ground will delay the authorities’ realization of the fact, but the signs are obvious. 

The knock of a heavy fist sounds again. Geray gets up and floats through the black, his form disappearing like a breath on a cold day. A howl of agony shakes the chapel. 

There’s no way they can’t hear this. Isabel shelters her candle, the only light remaining in the church, with both hands. Her fingers ache with cold. 

Geray reappears, accompanied by a chorus of distant screams, both animal and human. “They’re going to knock down your door if you don’t answer,” he says. “They have a battering ram and everything.”

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New Patreon Post/ The Book of the New Moon Door: Part Two, Chapter Six

What are you going to do, Sentinel? Run? Turn yourself in? Listen to me.

Chapter Six

There is a new chapter of The Book of the New Moon Door available on Patreon! If you would like to support my work, a subscription is only $3 a month, and you get all chapters a week early plus access to exclusive projects like The Well Below the Valley.

You also support me by reading wherever you read my work! I appreciate you.

The Book of the New Moon Door: Part Two, Chapter Five

Holy Ground

The Book of the New Moon Door cover image: A book with yellowing, wrinkled pages lies open on an old wooden desk, with a sprig of lavender lying in the center.

Table of Contents

“There is another ghost in this house.” 

Isabel wakes with a start and sees nothing. It’s grown dark, which means she’s slept much longer than she planned, and she’s not entirely sure what day it is now. The translucent form of Arden Geray hovers beside her narrow bed, the sockets of his eyes as dark as the night outside. 

For however many blissful, oblivious hours she was asleep, she had forgotten about him. She groans and pushes herself up. “What are you talking about?”

“A spirit,” he says, enunciating carefully as though he is speaking to a child. “It’s just arrived and it’s none too pleased. What are you going to do about it, Sentinel?”

Continue reading “The Book of the New Moon Door: Part Two, Chapter Five” →

New Patreon Post/ The Book of the New Moon Door: Part Two, Chapter Five

The old monk bleeds from lacerations on his face and arms. One side of his thick lenses shows a crack through the center. “Ondir preserve us,” he wails. “This is holy ground!”

The Book of the New Moon Door

There’s a new chapter available on Patreon! If you’re a blog reader, you’ve probably heard my Patreon spiel, but if you’ve got an extra $3 a month, I’d appreciate your support. Otherwise, keep an eye out for this chapter on this website next week.