Today’s post is written by Calvo, emperor of Faustia. Here is his meeting with Dayraven the main character, who has just returned to Faustia after fifteen years as a hostage in the rival Magian empire:
Dayraven walked to the edge of the pool and stared across the steaming water at the man aged about sixty on his own, leaning back against the far side of the pool. Emperor Calvo the Great. His beard was silver now.
The emperor seemed to wake out of a daze and peered through the rising steam. ‘Urland? Urland? Can it really be you?’
‘I’m Dayraven, my lord - Urland’s son.’
‘Oh. You’re so like him, even with that touch of southern sun on your face and that beard. I thought for a moment -.’
The emperor lent back and gazed upwards through the mist of vapour. ‘We were all young and strong back then. Great days, with Urland at my side - and now his son is here. Welcome back to us, Dayraven.’
You will already be aware that I have issued an edict banning this book, ordering the destruction of every copy in existence and imposing harsh penalties on anyone possessing, producing or distributing a copy. As an “enlightened” ruler, I will explain my reasons.
If widely read, this book would have a damaging effect on the empire. I found this work so offensive that I was unable to even finish the first half of it. However, it is clear from those pages that the author is a paid agent of my enemies and rivals, the Clovian dynasty.
I am shown as an old fool, spending all my time bathing, feeding my pet elephant, gorging on red meat and living in the past, rather than running the empire. I am the emperor, and what kind of empire would it be if I were not free to do as I wish?
The author’s obvious bias towards my Clovian enemies is equally deplorable. In contrast with my unflattering portrait, they are shown as clever manipulators and black magicians, dressed in striking cloaks decorated with golden bees.
You have been warned of my disapproval. This notice to be posted in all public places by my order.
Calvo, regnal year 36. 575 FE.
[NOTE: Despite the above, Emperor Calvo couldn’t resist later reading the entire novel. Fortunately, he then decided that his ban was too severe and revoked it.]
Dayraven walked to the edge of the pool and stared across the steaming water at the man aged about sixty on his own, leaning back against the far side of the pool. Emperor Calvo the Great. His beard was silver now.
The emperor seemed to wake out of a daze and peered through the rising steam. ‘Urland? Urland? Can it really be you?’
‘I’m Dayraven, my lord - Urland’s son.’
‘Oh. You’re so like him, even with that touch of southern sun on your face and that beard. I thought for a moment -.’
The emperor lent back and gazed upwards through the mist of vapour. ‘We were all young and strong back then. Great days, with Urland at my side - and now his son is here. Welcome back to us, Dayraven.’
You will already be aware that I have issued an edict banning this book, ordering the destruction of every copy in existence and imposing harsh penalties on anyone possessing, producing or distributing a copy. As an “enlightened” ruler, I will explain my reasons.
If widely read, this book would have a damaging effect on the empire. I found this work so offensive that I was unable to even finish the first half of it. However, it is clear from those pages that the author is a paid agent of my enemies and rivals, the Clovian dynasty.
I am shown as an old fool, spending all my time bathing, feeding my pet elephant, gorging on red meat and living in the past, rather than running the empire. I am the emperor, and what kind of empire would it be if I were not free to do as I wish?
The author’s obvious bias towards my Clovian enemies is equally deplorable. In contrast with my unflattering portrait, they are shown as clever manipulators and black magicians, dressed in striking cloaks decorated with golden bees.
You have been warned of my disapproval. This notice to be posted in all public places by my order.
Calvo, regnal year 36. 575 FE.
[NOTE: Despite the above, Emperor Calvo couldn’t resist later reading the entire novel. Fortunately, he then decided that his ban was too severe and revoked it.]
*---------------*---------------*---------------*
Order THE HIDDEN FACE over HERE
GUEST AUTHOR INFORMATION: S. C. Flynn was born in a small town in South West Western Australia. He has lived in Europe for a long time; first the United Kingdom, then Italy and currently Ireland, the home of his ancestors. He still speaks English with an Australian accent, and fluent Italian. He reads everything, revises his writing obsessively and plays jazz. His wife Claudia shares his passions and always encourages him.
S. C. has written for as long as he can remember and has worked seriously towards becoming a writer for many years. THE HIDDEN FACE is his second novel and the first book in the Fifth Unmasking series. He blogs over at www.scflynn.com. He is on Twitter @scyflynn and on Facebook.
GUEST AUTHOR INFORMATION: S. C. Flynn was born in a small town in South West Western Australia. He has lived in Europe for a long time; first the United Kingdom, then Italy and currently Ireland, the home of his ancestors. He still speaks English with an Australian accent, and fluent Italian. He reads everything, revises his writing obsessively and plays jazz. His wife Claudia shares his passions and always encourages him.
S. C. has written for as long as he can remember and has worked seriously towards becoming a writer for many years. THE HIDDEN FACE is his second novel and the first book in the Fifth Unmasking series. He blogs over at www.scflynn.com. He is on Twitter @scyflynn and on Facebook.
OFFICIAL BOOK BLURB: A face without a face - an unmasking that leaves the mask.
Once every few hundred years, the sun god, the Akhen takes on human form and descends to earth. Each Unmasking of the Face of the Akhen ends one era and begins another; the last one created the Faustian Empire. Where and when will the Face next appear, and who will he – or she – be?
Dayraven, son of a great hero, returns to Faustia after years as a hostage of their rivals, the Magians. Those years have changed him, but Faustia has changed as well; the emperor Calvo now seems eccentric and is controlled by one of Dayraven’s old enemies. Following the brutal death of his old teacher, Dayraven is drawn, together with a warrior woman named Sunniva, into the search for an ancient secret that would change the fate of empires.
Powerful enemies want the secret as well, including a dynasty of magician-kings who were thought to have died out long before, a mad, murderous hunchback and a beautiful, deadly woman who is never seen. Sunniva and Dayraven fight to survive and to solve the mystery while their own pasts come back to life and the attraction between them deepens.
The Hidden Face is a fantasy mystery drenched in the atmosphere of the Early Middle Ages and in Kabbalistic riddles, and is the first book in the Fifth Unmasking series.
Checkout all the stops in The Hidden Face Blogtour:
23rd November - Bookworm Blues
24th November - Fantasy-Faction
25th November - Fantasy Book Critic
26th November - Bookwraiths
27th November: - The Tattooed Book Geek
28th November - Beauty in Ruins
29th November - MightyThorJRS
30th November - The BiblioSanctum
Once every few hundred years, the sun god, the Akhen takes on human form and descends to earth. Each Unmasking of the Face of the Akhen ends one era and begins another; the last one created the Faustian Empire. Where and when will the Face next appear, and who will he – or she – be?
Dayraven, son of a great hero, returns to Faustia after years as a hostage of their rivals, the Magians. Those years have changed him, but Faustia has changed as well; the emperor Calvo now seems eccentric and is controlled by one of Dayraven’s old enemies. Following the brutal death of his old teacher, Dayraven is drawn, together with a warrior woman named Sunniva, into the search for an ancient secret that would change the fate of empires.
Powerful enemies want the secret as well, including a dynasty of magician-kings who were thought to have died out long before, a mad, murderous hunchback and a beautiful, deadly woman who is never seen. Sunniva and Dayraven fight to survive and to solve the mystery while their own pasts come back to life and the attraction between them deepens.
The Hidden Face is a fantasy mystery drenched in the atmosphere of the Early Middle Ages and in Kabbalistic riddles, and is the first book in the Fifth Unmasking series.
Checkout all the stops in The Hidden Face Blogtour:
23rd November - Bookworm Blues
24th November - Fantasy-Faction
25th November - Fantasy Book Critic
26th November - Bookwraiths
27th November: - The Tattooed Book Geek
28th November - Beauty in Ruins
29th November - MightyThorJRS
30th November - The BiblioSanctum
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