Mark Paren
-
Posts
489 -
Joined
-
Last visited
Content Type
Forums
Stories
- Stories
- Story Series
- Story Worlds
- Story Collections
- Story Chapters
- Chapter Comments
- Story Reviews
- Story Comments
- Stories Edited
- Stories Beta'd
Blogs
Store
Help Center
Writing
Gallery
Events
Everything posted by Mark Paren
-
Thanks for commenting.
-
Morning came grey and unhurried, the kind of soft light that made the villa's frescoes look faded rather than glorious, and Marcus woke with the strange, hollow feeling of a boy who had crossed some threshold in his sleep without quite noticing the crossing. He lay for a long moment listening to the birds in the olive tree outside his window, trying to remember if the previous night had truly happened, the vast hall, the thousand lamps, Varus's eyes moving over him like a man reading a scroll. I
- 14 comments
-
- 15
-
-
-
-
I’m happy you’re enjoying it.
-
Better bring some Tums. Indigestion is possible. Thanks for commenting.
-
Marcus and Ingomar have many new experiences ahead of them. Thanks for commenting.
-
New chapter arriving next week.
-
Coming soon!
-
Should be a new chapter by mid week.
-
The service is set (characters introduced) and we start “feasting” (the story begins} with the next chapter.
-
The journey from the villa to the imperial palace passed in a blur of torchlight and the steady clop of hooves. Marcus sat beside his father in the litter, the curtains drawn back just enough to let in the cooling evening air, and watched Rome slide past in fragments: a fountain lit gold by a brazier, a knot of laughing revelers spilling from a wine shop, the dark silhouette of the Circus Maximus crouched against a sky gone the color of a bruise. The weight of his finely draped toga pressed
- 16 comments
-
- 15
-
-
-
-
There may be an imperial feast in the next chapter. I hope that will satisfy your appetite.
-
Glad you liked it. I hope you enjoy the story.
-
Thanks, the second chapter will post soon.
-
I’m glad it’s hitting a note. Thank you for the comment.
-
They have a lot to learn about each other. They come from very different worlds. Thanks for commenting.
-
Prologue The stench of Rome hit me first. Sweat and smoke and the sharp bite of too many bodies pressed together under a sun that felt weaker than our northern light. We rode through gates of stone so vast they seemed carved by giants, not men. Arminius rode at my side, his face a mask of Roman calm, but my blood sang with unease. This was the beast my elders warned of in the long winter nights. Towers of white marble clawing at the sky, roads paved smoother than any forest path, and everyw
- 11 comments
-
- 17
-
-
-
-
Marcus Valerius Pulcher, a Roman noble raised on music rather than war, is sent to Germania’s raw frontier under the ambitious governor Varus. There he meets Ingomar, a Cherusci warrior, and finds something neither of them has words for, something a cithara, a hidden grove, and two empires’ worth of duty were never meant to allow. But peace on this frontier is a fragile, borrowed thing. Warnings go unheeded. Confidence curdles into catastrophe. And as history’s most infamous ambush gathers in the forest ahead, Marcus and Ingomar must decide what love is actually worth paying for.
-
Thank you for your comments. I feel good knowing you enjoyed my story.
-
I’ve got nothing. No ideas on what to put in a sequel. I have been thinking about another story. In the first century of the common era, two youths — one of a noble Roman family, and the other the son of a Germanic chieftain — fall in love on the eve of the Battle of Teutoburg Forest, where their worlds will violently collide. Any interest?
-
Yes. Something will happen soon. Thanks for commenting.
-
Thank you for the insightful personal observation.
-
I’m happy Aiden’s growth is coming through on the page. Thanks for commenting.
-
Closeted with a dash of collective unconsciousness.
-
The ring is cold. It’s definitely a sad day.
-
Ginger’s are hot! But then again, I like most hair colors on the right man.
