Fallen from Grace: A Bonus Dark Mirror Short Story

By M.J. Putney

"Fallen from Grace" is a bonus Dark Mirror short story, from author M.J. Putney.

Allarde, a gorgeous, wealthy noble, has hidden his true nature. In "Fallen from Grace," delve into Allarde's diary and read about his life at the exclusive school Eton, the discovery of his magic, and his sudden fall from grace. Will Allarde be disinherited from his family estate? How will he survive life at the dreary Lackland Abbey—the reform school for children with shameful magical abilities? But soon Allarde discovers an exciting secret within the grounds of Lackland.

Also included is a preview of M.J. Putney's novel Dark Mirror.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Macmillan Publishers
• Release date: Mar 15, 2011
• ISBN: 9781429996488

M.J. Putney

M. J. Putney is the author of the young adult fantasy novels Dark Mirror and Dark Passage. As Mary Jo Putney, she is the New York Times bestselling author of historical romances. M. J. is fond of reading, cats, travel, and most of all, great stories.

Book preview

St. Martin’s Press

THIS IS A WORK OF FICTION. ALL OF THE CHARACTERS, ORGANIZATIONS, AND EVENTS PORTRAYED IN THIS STORY ARE EITHER PRODUCTS OF THE AUTHOR’S IMAGINATION OR ARE USED FICTITIOUSLY.

Fallen From Grace

Copyright © 2011 by M. J. Putney.

All rights reserved.

For information address St. Martin’s Press, 175 Fifth Avenue, New York, NY 10010.

St. Martin’s books are published by St. Martin’s Press, 175 Fifth Avenue, New York, NY 10010.

ISBN: 978-1-4299-9648-8

Contents

Begin Reading

Preview

About the Author

Excerpts from Allarde’s Diary

October 13th, Year of Our Lord 1801

I’M DOOMED.

Any minute now, I’ll be summoned to the headmaster’s office and expelled from Eton. It’s an upsetting prospect even though I never wanted to come here.

But my father said that heirs to the Duke of Westover always go to Eton, and that was that. (I’m still waiting for someone to explain why Eton is called a public school when every boy here is wellborn and from a wealthy family.)

Still, Eton has been better than I expected. I’ll miss the old place and the friends I’ve made here.

Which, if any, will still be my friends now that it has been scandalously revealed that I have magic? I’ve never understood why people of my class loathe and despise magic and mages when the common folk think magic is a blessing. This hatred made even less sense after my cousin Elspeth was exposed as a mageling. There is nothing wicked about Elspeth. Poor Elspeth, condemned to Lackland Abbey.

Now it will be Poor Allarde.

Even Eton’s fagging system wasn’t as bad as I’d expected. The theory is sound: Acting as a servant for seniors teaches humility since even the highest-born must learn to serve instead of being served. The fag-masters in turn learn to exercise authority and to be responsible for those beneath them. It’s like a rehearsal for being lords of our estates. I hadn’t realized I needed to learn that, but I did.

Since the system can mean that younger boys are bullied by the older ones,

Reviews for Fallen from Grace

[donnastafford · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Fallen from Grace: A Bonus Dark Mirror StoryTold from the POV of Allarde, it tells exactly how he ended up at Lackland Academy and covers the time period up to meeting Tory. If you've read and enjoyed the Dark Mirror trilogy, you'll enjoy the snippets of backplot contained in this story.

[readingdate · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

This Dark Mirror bonus short story shares the character Allarde's story as told through diary entries. It was interesting to learn more about him and get some insight into his character. This story can be read by anyone - you don't need to read Dark Mirror first. Following the story are the first two chapters of Dark Mirror.

[bksgoddess · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

Tells the story of how Allarde comes to be at Lackland Abbey. It was okay, but no where near as good as Dark Mirror.

[mirelyr_5 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Goodreads Says: Fallen From Grace A Bonus Dark Mirror Short StoryAllarde, a gorgeous, wealthy noble has hidden his true nature. Discover his diary and witness his sudden fall from grace.I think this was more of a 3.5 for me. This is a short story where we meet Allarde, a young aristocrat who will inherit his father's land and title one day until he finds out he has already inherited magical genes. To be of status and have magic is taboo in the in 1800 England. Any person found out will have to either go through a specialized purging of magical sense or become an outcast. Allarde's story is written as a diary. Even though this story was short I felt the author did a great job in giving us enough information that we didn't have to read the first book and served as a great intro to the series.