Mike Carss

Late-morning sun shone into the spartan room, hitting Nathan’s pale face. He licked his dry lips and covered his eyes with an arm, groaning. Whenever he drank to excess, he never knew when to stop. Now, he was paying for it. Nathan glanced over to find Brohm already up, eating breakfast on the bed. As usual, he was never affected by too much drink. “Morning. I brought you some bacon, eggs, and toast. Eat up.” Nathan groaned again. “Not hungry.” “We’re riding out. You gotta eat som

Technology. Ain't it grand? 😬 Was it the site itself or are you on your phone?

😏

We're creeping up to the 25% mark in the story. The situation with Tarn will come to a head sooner rather than later. There's larger stakes coming, and they have very little to do with Nathan and Brohm keeping their true identities hidden. Check out the synopsis for a hint.

Honestly, it could be both depending on how you view it. The term to describe what I was aiming for in Nathan's actions is hamartia. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hamartia Although, in this case, Nathan is acutely aware of his error, but his want to "do good" is stronger than following through with common sense. Sure, but there's better authors than I who can craft a story where a reader doesn't question a character's seemingly poor choice of action, and then there's bad examples where readers are screaming at the book. Think about classic 80s slasher movies. All the characters have zero survival skills -- they're practically begging to get murdered. That's part of the fun, of course. Obviously in this case, I don't want my readers to be that angry, but I do want them to shake their head in disappointment. I mentioned it before, but I dislike "perfect" characters. I want my characters to make mistakes. Mistakes that might be obvious to others, but not to them. To me, it makes them more human. In a way, Brohm is the reader, trying his damnedest to help Nathan steer clear of the danger he's putting them in. He threatened to kill Tarn. Was he bluffing to try any sway Nathan's decision? Or will he follow through with the threat? As always, I appreciate everyone's comments. I feel it's really helping me in my craft. A part of me wants to defend my characters' actions, but I need to learn to accept these observations. I'm currently working on another novel, and I've taken much of your constructive criticisms to heart. Thank you. 💗

While I was writing this, I considered what they might do (or should do). As you say, the smartest thing would be to relocate where nobody knows about them. On the other hand, by throwing them into this situation, it creates drama and tension. Does that make it contrived? Ma-a-aybe. 😉 But at this moment, everything hinges on Tarn. If it wasn't for him, they'd be fine where they are -- literally hiding in plain sight. And even Tarn wouldn't have been a problem had Nathan kept his damn mouth shut and never invited him to help. There's the beggar as well, but he's an unknown playing piece at this point. Eh . . . Nathan's just being a penny-pincher. 😅 They didn't pay anything for the building, so I'm sure they have a healthy contingency fund.

Over the course of two days, Nathan and Brohm worked out the details with the carpenter, Gareth. On the morning of the third day, they arrived with cleaning supplies to find workers already raising scaffolding around the inn—soon to be their guildhouse. Gareth, acting as foreman, waved in greeting as they approached. “You guys don’t fool around,” Nathan said. “We weren’t expecting you’d start so early today.” “Aye. Well, you said you wanted to finish up before first snow. We’ve a lot o

Thank you. ♥️ In this book, I tried to show how their relationship has grown compared to how they treated each other in the first book. Brohm was quite shy about their blossoming relationship -- as well as coming to terms with his first experience with a man -- but he's quite forward in his wants now. Before, they didn't argue about anything. Now they're more comfortable with each other to speak their minds. No relationship is perfect, but if arguments or disagreements can be dealt with, the relationship is usually strengthened as a result. While the story is told from Nathan's POV, I hope it's pretty clear Brohm cares for him dearly. So when Nathan makes terrible choices, he gets angry. That's his temperament, but he also hates being angry with Nathan. Tension, tension, tension. It makes for great reading, doesn't it? 😁

Regarding the beggar, something to consider is what he said to Nathan and Brohm. He said, "I see the truth of you." That strangely worded, vague statement could be interpreted a number of ways. What is this 'truth' he sees in them? 🤔

Indeed. He's certainly taking a dangerous and foolhardy approach in trying to "be better."

Yup. Brohm's anger is absolutely justified. 😅

A few days later, Brohm acquired a pig for their second meeting with Ramsey, and managed to work a deal with the trader to borrow a small cart to carry it. Grey skies warned of rain as they rode north out of town, but they’d wasted enough time already, and decided to take their chances. The fields, teeming with workers just days earlier, stood bare now. “Do you like autumn?” Nathan asked. Brohm gave him a questioning glance. “Never thought about it. Why?” Nathan shrugged. “Ther

I'm honoured and humbled to have my novel featured. Thanks so much, @Cia 💗

After nearly a week on the road, laying eyes on Croydon cresting the horizon was a welcome sight. The ride back took them on an alternate route that broke through deep forests. The road was safer and regularly patrolled, but slower to traverse. Roadside inns were cleverly positioned to welcome weary travellers after a day’s ride, but the three men were tired all the same. Early afternoon sun broke through the clouds, welcoming them as they reached the town centre. Laird took a direct route

@drpaladin asked a similar question. The story is told third-person limited (Nathan's POV) and the answer isn't known to him. People hire assassins to rid them of their problems, and nobody's gonna hire an assassin who asks too many questions.

No reason they couldn't, but without the resources provided by the guild, it'd certainly be harder.

As we discovered in the first chapter, Nathan and Brohm's fighting prowess are what caused Laird to not trust them. They'll learn Laird's final decision in the following chapter (next Monday.)

Being of a higher station, he's prey for kidnapping and ransom.

Fair. I think this might be due to two issues: The novel consists of nine chapters, however I've broken them into eighteen to make them more "bite-sized" for GA. The second issue being the delay in reading each chapter (I'm posting chapters every Monday and Thursday), some details are going to be forgotten. In the previous chapter, Brohm says: “What’re you doing? We kill ’em now. Otherwise, they’ll get their buddies and come back.” He knows how these crews operate because he used to be on the other side. Had both chapters been read back-to-back, I think it would've been more obvious. I'm not saying anyone should do that, of course, but I'm guessing that caused the disconnect in the narrative.

Both attacks were from the same crew. The few that escaped the first attack got backup and instigated the second attack. Brohm wanted to chase them down, but Laird stopped him, so it's his fault all this happened. In any case, their job was essentially done. They'd passed through the dangerous road they were travelling, which was the main reason the senator hired them in the first place. Laird would've never been satisfied without another story. By playing into his want to be proven right, N & B were able to placate him.

Guildhouses are sort of like franchises. The franchisee takes the risk of opening (primarily a financial burden), but are otherwise supported by the guild in nearly every other way, including employees.

That evening, both men tried their best to keep busy and dodge Laird’s ability to corner them with questions. Nathan used his newfound interest from the guards to act as a shield, and Brohm kept company with Randy the cook, offering to help. Their camp sat on an embankment twenty metres from the road. Surrounded by sparse deciduous forest with some undergrowth, it gave them a tactical advantage against attacks during the night. As soon as Nathan was done eating, he stood up and check

All chapters have been posted, so you're more than welcome to binge it. 😁 I hope you enjoy!

Easier said than done when someone's giving you the hairy eyeball. 😄 Characters with perfect lies and never showing cracks tend to make for boring characters. I want to show that despite their attempts to deceive, Laird can see right through them. That doesn't make Laird superhuman -- he's just seen enough BS to be able to see through their lies. If Laird keeps pushing, N & B might need to revise their story. But how they do that without causing more distrust? 😬

The problem remains that they've proven themselves too good. Laird's instincts are tingling -- he doesn't trust Nathan and Brohm's backstory. Had N & B said they were soldiers, then no problem. But what do soldiers know about running a guildhouse? They wanted to better their chances, hence why they leaned toward being traders.