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Back Forsworn
Chapters (53)
  1. Map of Kingdom of Finfalla and Surrounding Area- Western Half
  2. Map of Kingdom of Finfalla and Surrounding Area - Eastern Half
  3. Map of Kingdom of Finfalla and Surrounding Area - Full Map
  4. Important Trigger Warning
  5. Prologue
  6. PART I
  7. One
  8. Two
  9. Three
  10. Four
  11. Five
  12. Six
  13. Seven
  14. Eight
  15. Nine
  16. Ten
  17. Eleven
  18. Twelve
  19. Interlude: The River of Life
  20. PART II
  21. Thirteen
  22. Fourteen
  23. Fifteen
  24. Sixteen
  25. Seventeen
  26. Eighteen
  27. Nineteen
  28. Interlude: Fallow Fields
  29. PART III
  30. Twenty
  31. Twenty-One
  32. Twenty-Two
  33. Twenty-Three
  34. Twenty-Four
  35. Twenty-Five
  36. Interlude: Of Man and Monster
  37. PART IV
  38. Twenty-Six
  39. Twenty-Seven
  40. Twenty-Eight
  41. Twenty-Nine
  42. Thirty
  43. Thirty-One
  44. Thirty-Two
  45. Thirty-Three
  46. Thirty-Four
  47. POSTLUDES
  48. Postlude 1: Lana Vica
  49. Postlude 2: Ludo Vica
  50. Postlude 3: Cainan
  51. Acknowledgments
  52. An excerpt from Heartsworn, Volume II in The Forsworn Oath, available for preorder now!
  53. PART I
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With that, the woman turned and walked away, sandals never making a sound as they seemed to float just above the mud and muck, vanishing into the darkness.

The memory vanished, too, and now Perfidy balled up a part of her dress and stuffed it into the tiny pool of water that had gathered on the roof, slowly draining inside their home. She soaked up as much of it as she could, and then slathered a generous portion of putty into the gap, filling the space and then smoothing it out with her fingers.

Then she backtracked down the ladder, releasing a heavy breath when she planted her feet back on solid ground. Had she breathed at all while she’d been up there? A flash of golden light flared in her memory, but she blinked it away. She must be misremembering. Just because she’d fallen from a roof and been lucky enough to be uninjured didn’t mean there was some mystical force behind it. Certainly not her mother, who was as ordinary a woman as there was. And she didn’t mean that in a bad way. Ordinary was good in her town. Ordinary made certain your name wasn’t whispered on lips hidden behind cupped hands.

She felt the stares that followed her back inside the house but refused to give them the satisfaction of knowing that she noticed. She closed the door behind her, pressing her back to the solid wood, breathing slowly and evenly. Staring at the ceiling. Watching the water bead at the top and begin its arduous journey. Watching it gather, grow heavy, and fall. Drip…drip…drip…drip………

Drip.

She stared so long unblinking that her eyes burned with dryness. She stared a while longer, because the ceiling was equally dry. She’d done it! She almost cried out “Ma!” but caught herself, fighting back the tears that threatened. It would be a welcome surprise for her mother’s homecoming on the morrow.

A welcome surprise indeed.

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She awoke to a sense of panic, blinking away sleep and the light that was much brighter than it should’ve been for the pre-dawn hour.

Why had she slept so long? And so deeply?

Rain pattered on the rooftop, and her eyes automatically shifted to the bucket, half-expecting to find it overflowing and ruining her mother’s favorite rug. It was bone dry. She remembered, but any sense of accomplishment was chased away by the realization that she’d overslept. But by how long?

She didn’t bother to change her dressing gown as she flew out into the pale morning light, feet bare and gathering mud between her toes as she ran toward the jail. Ma! she cried in her heart. Ma! she cried in her soul. Rain soaked through her hair and clothes, until they both stuck to her skin.

A crowd was gathered in front of the stone structure. Of course they are, she thought. A bunch of busybodies. Prolly there to apologize fer not visitin’ Ma in jail, fer not believin’ her.