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Author Sean Michael Paquet
Booklocker
Rakuten kubo
Category:
Fantasy
Publisher: Booklocker
ISBN-10: 1647195101
Pages: 400
Copyright: February 3, 2022
ISBN-13: 9781647195106
Price: $2.99 (eBook)
Within all of us is a Darkness. For without Darkness there can be no Light. Light is that which creates Darkness.
Amra Raynecksdottir suffered a deadly childhood trauma which nearly claimed her life until she was embraced by a Dark Entity. While her life was spared, she lost many things. Such is the subtlety of Darkness. To lose empathy. To lose emotions. To always face the Darkness within.
For all that she lost, Amra gained more. Her Symbiosis with the entity known as Skadi granted her Power to control both Darkness and Light. As she grows so does the Darkness within her and she is trained in secret arts of death, and subterfuge as The Jarl's Shadow. A killer who strikes without question at the behest of her father, Rayneck the Red, Jarl of Numitgart.
As a dozen years pass, many are the notches on the hilt of her snaked eyed dagger. With each death, her Darkness rises and her humanity wanes. During the journey home from the Northern Reach and the Valley of the Balance she is called on to perform a mission of diplomacy by Myrnran Gaia, Steward of Threa.
As she carries out her mission, her skills, and abilities are put to the test as a near constant battle of wills ensues between her and her dark partner Skadi.
However, the strange new comrades she journey's with rekindle emotions and feelings she thought lost somewhere behind her in a trail of bodies and blood. As an ill fated battle looms on the horizon between two rival clans, the war within her comes to a head. Amra Raynecksdottir, The Jarl's Shadow, remembers something she had long ago forgotten. She is still human.
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Excerpt
Shivnr took up the dagger. With a swift strike, he brought it down, burying the tip into the tabletop.
Upon the tip of the hilt, he placed the double-ended spoon. It swayed slightly on one end than the other and then became still.
“Imagine that this is the Balance. Every life, every death, every action, every word or behavior affects the Balance. All that is in our world is part of the Balance.”
Shivnr’s voice was quiet, and Amra leaned forward to hear him.
“These are things you have told me before, Master. What does it have to do with what I just did, and why do you seem so angry with me?”
Shivnr was silent for a moment. “You feel no remorse for what you have done?”
Amra thought momentarily. “No, Master, I did what you taught me and what my father bid of me? So why should I feel remorse?”
At her comment, Shivnr smiled slightly. It was the first time she had seen him smile in all the time Amra had been his pupil.
“I understand now,” he replied. He lifted his eyes from the table. “Let’s put it into perspective, shall we?”
Shivnr picked up several round pebbles from the table. Amra had seen him and his companions use them countless times as wager pieces in their games.
Shivnr placed a pebble in each depression of the spoon. Amra saw that it remained in Balance.
“What occurred alters Balance in two different ways.”
He placed another pebble at one end. Again, the spoon swayed slightly lower.
“You saved your father’s life. In doing so, you ensured the peace and prosperity of Numitgart.”
He added another pebble to the heavier side.
“Because you saved your father, you maintained the stability of your family.” He added another pebble.
“Because you maintained that family stability, you have ensured the happiness of your mother and your siblings. With me so far?”
Amra nodded, and Shivnr continued, “these are all positive things that tip the Balance to the side of good. However, we must look at the other side. We must see all of the consequences of our actions.”
Amra thought she was beginning to understand.
“So, I did a good thing for many by just killing two men. I do not see my error in being proud of doing so.”
Shivnr nodded curtly. “I can see that. I believe it is because you do not perceive both sides of the Balance. For every positive action, a negative must occur for the Balance to be maintained.”
Shivnr picked up a handful of pebbles. He dropped two into the empty depression of the double spoon.
“Two lives were snuffed out before their allotted time. Untimely death, especially by violent means, causes an upset to the Balance, like a ripple in a pond.”
He dropped another pebble into the spoon. It began to sway. “A Karldom has lost its leader and second in command. Another will need to be chosen. This new leader may be good, or he may not. That is his choice to make that will drive his Fate.”
Shivnr added two more pebbles.
“Two wives lost their husbands. Two families lost their fathers. If the fathers and mothers of those two men still live then, they have lost their sons.”
Amra observed the double spoon. It was sitting evenly. “My actions maintained the Balance.”
Shivnr shook his head slightly. “To the casual observer perhaps. Remember that all things affect the Balance.” He added another pebble, and the spoon dipped again.
“That pebble is the anguish of two wives. How would your mother deal with the loss of your father?” He added another, and the spoon dipped further.
“The tears of sons and daughters who will never know their fathers embrace again. How would it feel to you if your father had died this night and you could have done nothing to save him.”
He added another pebble.
“Imagine the pain a mother and father would feel to lose a son or daughter before his or her allotted time. Parents are not supposed to bury their children. That pain in itself brings catastrophic ripples to the Balance.”
Shivnr added the last pebble, and the spoon weighed heavily to one side.
“Finally, what of the future cut off from these two men? Perhaps Fate would have seen fit for them to have more children who could have brought their ripples to the Balance. How would you feel if your father had died and your baby brother Jon had never been born?”
Shivnr sat back in his chair and regarded Amra.
“Yes. You did the right thing. You followed the orders of the Jarl, and you performed as you were trained. I commend you for that.”
He again leaned forward. “However, remember this. Never be proud of killing someone. Every life lost before its allotted time weighs heavily towards the dark side of the Balance. Sometimes there is no other choice, as tonight showed you. Sometimes we do what we have to do to protect the light side of the Balance. That is why we are what we are. We are the agents of the Balance, and our responsibility is grave indeed.”
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