Blood Soup

By Kelly A. Harmon

Danger awaits the Kingdom of Borgund if a woman fails to take the throne. When the pregnant Queen finally gives birth, the king faces a terrible choice.  Will he choose wisely or doom the kingdom to ruin?

“Blood Soup” by Kelly A. Harmon is an award-winning novella first published in 2008 by Fantasy Gazetteers, and then again in 2009 by Eternal Press publishers. This tale of murder, betrayal and comeuppance has readers clamoring for more.

For more information about Ms. Harmon’s work, go to http://kellyaharmon.com.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Kelly Harmon
• Release date: Aug 1, 2013
• ISBN: 9781498958219

Book preview

Blood Soup

by

Kelly A. Harmon

Blood Soup

Copyright © 2012 by Kelly A. Harmon

All Rights Reserved

Published 2012 by Pole to Pole Publishing

www.poletopolepublishing.com

First published July 2008 as the Winner of the Fantasy Gazetteers Novella Contest on http://www.fantasygazetteer.com/

Cover art, Witchcraft, copyright ©  Ensiferrum/Dreamstime.com

Book and cover design copyright © 2012 by Pole to Pole Publishing

This book is licensed for your personal enjoyment only. All rights reserved.  This book, or parts thereof, may not be reproduced in any form without permission.

Book One ~ Sacrifice

Chapter One

Queen Piacenza dies by slow degrees, thought Salvagia.

She stroked the queen’s hair off her sweaty forehead, then soothed her mistress’s aching back with long strokes of her wrinkled fingers, low at the base of the her spine. Piacenza was heavy with pregnancy, but she had more than a month to wait, perhaps two, before the babe was ready.

In Salvagia’s mind, the birthing couldn’t happen soon enough; her mistress’s pale face and thin body, which so lacked energy, bespoke fatigue far worse than that of normal childbirth. Salvagia wondered where Piacenza found the strength to breathe. Her beautiful curls had straightened as her belly grew, so that now her hair resembled a twig broom, bone straight to her shoulder blades, and dry as straw. The pregnancy bleached her sienna complexion as white as the snow in the tiny courtyard outside. Blue veins lined the sides of her face.

Salvagia eased the queen to her feet and helped her to the cloth-lined tub laid on the warm flagstones near the hearth.

Into the bath, Piacenza. Let’s steam the kinks from your spine. She knelt and unlaced her mistress’s wool-lined boots, then stood to help the shorter woman out of her tunic, and slid the trousers over Piacenza’s bulging stomach.

Piacenza smoothed her hands down over her belly, rasping the tiny protrusion that was her navel with both thumbs, as she laced her fingers to support the bulge. The soft smile she wore so often now thinned to a hard crease.

The old woman stooped, and Piacenza placed a hand on her shoulder and stepped over the high rim of the tub. Her knuckles whitened on the rim as she lowered herself to the low stool, which made rising from the bath easier in her condition.

It will be a girl, do you think, Salvagia? Piacenza closed her brown eyes, and breathed deeply from the humid air rising off the hot water.

It must be, the nurse responded, adding chamomile, mint and a few precious drops of camphor oil to the bath water. The odors rose, mixing with the nutty, musky scent of the incense burning in the braziers around the room. Steam from the tub eddied up, joining the smoke from the burning incense. Without an open window to escape, it hung in the air like fog, dimming the firelight.

Behind a heavy wool curtain, sewn and hung by Salvagia in the early stages of Piacenza’s pregnancy, the room’s sole window rattled on its hinges, battered by wind and sleet. The wind howled, rushing down from the mountainside to the castle nestled in its bosom, carrying the sleet straight from the clouds. The precipitation covered the earlier snow with a glassy sheen, which reflected the courtyard torches. Salvagia did her best to shroud her mistress from the elements of this miserable holding, just as she had protected Piacenza’s mother, and just as she would do for the coming child.

‘If it must be, then it will be,’ Piacenza said, quoting Salvagia. She looked up at the nurse and winked, then lifted her bony hands to her hair, twisting the lifeless strands into a knot at her nape. Let’s cast the bones.

No. They won’t tell us any more than they’ve already said.

Salvagia knelt and thrust her hands into the water, sliding them down over the queen’s back. Piacenza leaned forward, allowing the old woman access, closing her eyes against the camphor steam.

Salvagia splayed her hands across Piacenza’s lower back, pressing her thumbs to Piacenza’s spine over and over. She paid special attention to the sore area above the queen’s hips, kneading the tightness with her outstretched fingers, sometimes grasping Pia’s hip bone in one clawed hand, gaining leverage to force the heel of her other into the tight muscles. After the harsh massage, she smoothed her palm against Pia’s skin in slow concentric circles, hoping to impart the healing benefits of the herbs suffusing the water. Long moments later, she sat back on her heels, dried her hands on a linen cloth, and reached for a kettle of water warming in the coals.

Streaming it into the tub, she said, Relax in the heat for a few more moments, then we’ll massage pure camphor oil into your tired muscles. Perhaps you’ll sleep better this evening.

It feels so much better, Salvagia. Thank you. She smiled up at the old woman. You take such good care of me.

As I am charged to do.

As you desire to do, Piacenza said. She leaned back against the rim of the tub and closed her eyes again. Roll the bones, Salvagia. I want to see if they’ve changed their mind.

To what end? In six months they haven’t changed. It would only hurt you more.

My time is close. I want to be certain.

"It only feels close because you are so uncomfortable. Let’s see if we can ease the pain in your back

Reviews for Blood Soup

[a.r.hill · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

A Truly Enjoyable Read That You'll Want to Finish In One Sitting: When Queen Piacenza's nurse reads the bones, they tell her only one thing: "A girl child must rule or the kingdom will fall to ruin." But Queen Piacenza's husband King Theodicar finds such a thing completely unacceptable - and the kingdom in question is his. When Piacenza's child is finally born, Theodicar must make a decision that will affect his kingdom for decades to come.Kelly Harmon has written a story with richly-drawn characters who are neither good nor evil, but completely human. With careful attention to detail, she brings to life the country of Borgund through its economy, the choices of its rulers and the careful dance of politics between Borgund and her neighbors. The end result: "Blood Soup" is a delicious mix of political intrigue, magic, dark personal secrets and deep emotion that's so good you'll want seconds.

[droupou_1 · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

Blood Soup is a good read. The story is solid, and the Characters are engaging. I enjoyed the book very much. One word of caution I would re-iterate is that this story has some very descriptive scenes that might be disturbing for some people. Reader discretion is advised.

[bleached_1 · Rating: 2 out of 5 stars]

I don't know if Blood Soup just wasn't my type of book, but I really wasn't into it and glad it was a short read. I must have misread the synopsis because it wasn't what I expected in the slightest (I more expected a woman overthrowing a thrown with some action, since that's what the cover implies as well). In my opinion, it was just overly feminist with the main male characters having the personalities of complete and utter turds -- including the main "bad guy" practically announcing that women are just punching bags while beating his pregnant wife. Although it was visually well-written, it skipped too much and the ending was too sudden and would leave most readers bewildered because of the lack of resolution.

[kl1028 · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

an interesting read- draws you in and leaves you to your imagination in the end

[jynxpierce · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

A quickie. I loved the time frame and the dark setting. The characters were well written even though the story was so short. A great book for the lunch break reader.

[melhay_3 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Salvagia give the feel of magic to the story with her fortune telling bones mixed with blood. When overly pregnant Queen Piacenza asks, again, to cast the bones to answer her question - What will this child need to rule wisely and justly? The bones cast the same answer, over and over again. Piacenza is convinced by the answer she will have a girl child, but King Theodicar wants a boy. A boy is always the one to rule the kingdom, not girls. A boy is born - Amalric, but at a cost...Blood Soup was a quick read for me with only 79 pages. The story touches on different point of views in Amalric's and Theodicar's lifes, as Amalric grows up and takes the thrown. In these short snippets you see what kind of person Amalric is and did with the crown. And you see how Theodicar rethinks his decisions. Is there any way for King Theodicar to correct his wrong that set his kingdom down the path its on?I enjoyed this quick read. There was a dark feel to the magic of Blood Soup to me... the blood. I had a moment of getting use to the transition of Amalric suddenly being older, as I didn't know what to expect while reading when I started the book. This is a great start for Kelly. I am looking forward to reading novels by her in the future.