Bow has hit bottom. Banished from the town of Dunwynn, his hands crippled by the town guard, he drinks his days away in a hut made of sticks and mud. He is a long way from being part of the legendary father/daughter duo Knife & Bow.
That's because his daughter is dead. Killed by The Maiden's Sleep, a plague that ran rampant through Dunwynn all spring and summer, killing only young women.
Now there are two children in his hut asking him to find their missing father. Against his better instincts, and to make a little money, he decides to help. Itâs a decision that will lead him into the darkest corners of Dunwynn, revealing a secret sect of alchemy, and a plot to achieve unspeakable power.
Can Bow play the hero one more time or will the truth about The Maidenâs Sleep be his end?
Bow has hit bottom. Banished from the town of Dunwynn, his hands crippled by the town guard, he drinks his days away in a hut made of sticks and mud. He is a long way from being part of the legendary father/daughter duo Knife & Bow.
That's because his daughter is dead. Killed by The Maiden's Sleep, a plague that ran rampant through Dunwynn all spring and summer, killing only young women.
Now there are two children in his hut asking him to find their missing father. Against his better instincts, and to make a little money, he decides to help. Itâs a decision that will lead him into the darkest corners of Dunwynn, revealing a secret sect of alchemy, and a plot to achieve unspeakable power.
Can Bow play the hero one more time or will the truth about The Maidenâs Sleep be his end?
I hate kids, and yet there are two in the pile of sticks and mud I call home.
âPlease help us,â says the girl with hair the color of flax seeds.
Her brother stands so close to her and is so silent I wonder if heâs real. I woke up with a bad case of double vision today, so itâs not impossible. It took an hour of drinking to make it go away.
The only kid I ever didnât hate was my own, but I should have. My daughter killed my wife when she was born. After that, I thought I would spend my days fighting the urge to throw her in a river. It didnât work out like that.
âWhatâs the trouble?â I say, rubbing my eyes with grubby fingers.
âOur father is missing,â the girl murmurs, staring at the dirt floor. I watch her breath turn white in the cold fall air.
âWhoâs your dad?â I grunt.
âAston Ozker,â she replies, expecting a reaction.
âNever heard of him,â I say, denying her one.
âWe havenât seen him in a week,â she continues.
âThen heâs dead,â I reply, trying to stand, wobbling, and then thinking better of it.
âNo he isnât!â the boy yells, flecks of spittle flying. The sound of his voice makes my head want to explode.
I have an urge to make sure the boy doesnât make that sound again. I consider killing him. I even grope for my bow before I remember I sold it three months back. I stare at him, back lit by the pale sunlight outside the doorway, and decide to humor him.
âWhat makes you so sure?â I say, unclenching my teeth and trying to sound comforting.
âBecause,â he replies, pausing for a moment before continuing, âmy dad is too tough.â I envy the boyâs certainty. Iâm jealous that he still believes in something when I no longer can.
My old man was shit. I had no illusions about that from a young age. Sure, homesteading on the fringes is a hard life, and thatâs bound to make for a hard man, but he went further than that. There were whole seasons when I wore more bruises than clothes, and I often wondered how the hell he expected me to work all day with cracked ribs.
âWhat do you want me to do about it?â I ask, genuinely curious what theyâll say. Why two kids would trek out here to this rundown sod house is a mystery to me. Any normal person would have run off at the sight of it, let alone the smell.
âFind him,â orders the girl. âWeâve got money.â
She fumbles in the pocket of her enormous frock coat and pulls out a small leather bag. With a lackadaisical flick, she plops it on the ground just out of my reach. It spills open, and a sea of worn copper pieces sluices across the ground. Itâs a paltry, laughable sum and more money than Iâve seen in months.
I flop over on my side, scoop up the coins and start counting. Dignity be damned.
âMonsters must have taken him,â the little boy blubbers, âhidden him in Turecek Keep.â
There are sixty-seven worn copper pieces and one-half of a silver piece from all the way back in Lord Elderbineâs reign. It will buy me food for a month, maybe more, but Iâll drink it away in a week.
âFairy tales,â I grumble, focusing again on the children. âEveryone thinks anything that goes missing around here is scooped up by monsters and taken to that pile of rocks. Itâs like I said, your dad is dead. Killed by bandits.â
âYou are Bow, right?â huffs the girl.
How do I answer that when Iâm not sure anymore?
âDoesnât matter,â I say, putting the coins back in the bag with my shaking hands, ânot interested.â
âI heard Knife and Bow help people,â whines the boy. âTheyâre heroes.â
âWell, Knife is dead,â I say, picturing my daughterâs face, âand Bow would like to be. So piss off.â
I close the bag and toss it at them, then I lay down and roll over on my side.
âLook,â says the girl, desperation straining her voice, âI donât know where our dad is, but I think I know who does â Freneck.â
I see my daughter, blue-faced and still. Iâm crying over her body, and next to her is an empty vial. It was supposed to cure her of the Maidenâs Sleep, but she hated the smell of it and wouldnât drink it. She always had better sense than me. I hid it in her food, convinced it was the right thing to do. I can still hear her rasping and trying to speak that horrible night I watched her die. âI love you,â she said over and over until all she could do was point and say âyou.â
Iâd bought that poison from Freneck.
I roll back over and sit up, almost throwing up the half bottle of booze thatâs sloshing in my gut. âTell it to your mom,â I say, âor Bennie or, hell, anyone but me. Iâm not going to be any help.â
âOur Mother has been dead for years,â snaps the girl, âand Bennie and the rest of the town guard laughed when we told them. Weâve tried everyone. Youâre all thatâs left.â
The boy moves the dirt floor around with the toe of his boot before saying, âPlease.â
My daughter was my heart. With my wife dead, all my love moved to her and magnified. I never wanted to be without her, so I resigned my commission in the royal guard, collected yearsâ worth of pay, and took to the road in search of a quiet life. I was a terrible farmer and even worse at the trades. Soon, money got tight.
But then I found a way to make money with my bow again. It was an accident. I was holed up in a village over night when thugs came looking for trouble. They found it in me. Come dawn, half were dead, and the others were running for their lives. The villagers scraped together what they had and gave it to us. Then, they told us that two towns over, they had the same problem.
I tried teaching my daughter the bow as soon as she could stand. She was terrible. Had no feel for it. But she always liked knives. At first, I thought it was because they were shiny, but that wasnât it. Killed her first rabbit at twenty paces when she was three. She only got better from there. By eight, Iâd taught her everything I knew about fighting. By twelve, not a man around could best her, especially not with a knife. Thatâs when people started calling us Knife and Bow. My daughter was always so proud of that.
I reach for the bag of coins, but the little girl grabs it first. She pours some of them onto the packed dirt floor. âHalf now, half later,â she says, ice in her voice.
âOkay,â I mumble, scrounging the coins from the ground and knowing Iâm about to be stupid. âIâll ask around, but thatâs all.â
The kids look happy. I wish I shared their enthusiasm.
The Maidenâs Sleep is a grungy, epic fantasy novella filled with action. Bowâs fortunes have plummeted. Once a celebrated half of the renowned duo Knife & Bow, he now finds himself ostracized following the tragic death of his daughter from a vicious plague claiming the lives of young women across Dunwynn. Drinking his days away in despair, two children wander into his hut one morning requesting his help finding their missing father. Despite his reluctance and in need of money, he agrees. This choice propels him into the shadowy depths of Dunwynn, where he uncovers a clandestine alchemical cult, entangled in a scheme to wield a power most vile. Can Bow rise and be a hero once more, or will the sinister revelation of the Maidenâs Sleepâs origins be his final undoing?
The Maidenâs Sleep possesses the essential elements for a successful novel or series, yet its novella format offers only a tantalizing taste of its rich characters, intricate plotlines, and vivid settings. The narrative tempo is well-matched to the unfolding action and suspense, ensuring that the story moves at an engaging pace. The authorâs prose is not only creative and technically proficient but also imbued with a distinctive voice that captivates readers from the outset. The book is a promising introduction to what could potentially be a more expansive and fulfilling narrative experience.Â
The Maidenâs Sleep tantalizes readers with its rich premise of a feud between the Interious and Exterious Alchemists, hinting at a world brimming with potential that begs for further exploration beyond the novellaâs scope. The lore and characters appear to be intricately crafted in the authorâs imagination, yet the novella format restricts their full realization on the page. A deeper dive into Bowâs backstory, particularly his life before the tragic loss of his daughter, would provide a more profound understanding of his characterâs intense struggles and redemption arc. Such depth would not only enhance the emotional connection with Bow but also solidify his role as a protagonist whom readers are eager to support and follow through a possibly extended series or a more expansive novel.
The Maidenâs Sleep is a captivating epic fantasy that offers a swift and thrilling adventure, perfect for an afternoon or evening escape. While the narrative contains elements of grit and gore, these aspects enhance the realism and depth of the story, though they may not be suitable for the faint-hearted. The intriguing characters, Knife & Bow, and the mystical elements of the The Four Arts, set within the enchanting realm of Dunwynn, leave readers eagerly anticipating further explorations in this richly imagined world. Â