The King of Gears and Bone

By K. A. Cook

In a nation of liars, an honest man cannot rule.

Einas ein Iteme knew he wasn’t a princess. That first truth provoked violence, murder and war, leaving him the heir to the throne of Ihrne—a throne he doesn’t want and can’t hold. How can he when he struggles to put words together, won’t look courtiers in the eye and avoids people on general principle? Yet the Eyrie, even Zaishne, simply assumes Ein will find a way to become the allistic ruler he can never be.

When his brother Paide invites him to a private discussion, Ein sees a chance to voice the second truth. Paide, though, keeps secrets of his own—and doesn’t seem to recognise the fate bound to him by hundreds of devouring angels.

To begin to save Paide’s soul, Ein will have to learn what the world never stirred itself to teach: trust.

• Language: English
• Publisher: K. A. Cook
• Release date: Mar 31, 2018
• ISBN: 9781370032419

K. A. Cook

K. A. Cook is a panalterous, aro-ace, genderless, autistic feminist who experiences chronic pain and mental illness. They write creative non-fiction, personal essays and novels about all of the above on the philosophy that if the universe is going to make life interesting, they might as well make interesting art. They are the author of several short fantasy stories combining ridiculous magic, cats, disability, bacon, mental illness, microscopic gnomes, aromanticism, the undead, verbose eldritch entities and as many transgender autistics as any one story can hold.

Book preview

the king of gears and bone: a tale of the eagle court

K. A. Cook

table of contents

imprint

blurb

dedication

content advisory

author’s note

the king of gears and bone

additional works

about the author

imprint

The King of Gears and Bone, © 2018, K. A. Cook.

Published by K. A. Cook at Smashwords.

Produced in Geelong, Australia.

This publication is under copyright. No part of this book may be copied, reproduced or distributed in print or electronic form without written consent from the copyright holder.

The King of Gears and Bone is a work of fiction. Any resemblance to persons living or dead is unintentional. Any references to persons living or dead do not necessarily espouse the views of the author.

Layout and cover design: K. A. Cook.

Credits: Stock images from Clker-Free-Vector Images, OpenClipart-Vectors, b0red and SignsPub. Cover text typeset in Theano Didot by Alexey Kryukov and Scriptina by Apostrophic Labs.

blurb

In a nation of liars, an honest man cannot rule.

Einas ein Iteme knew he wasn’t a princess. That first truth provoked violence, murder and war, leaving him the heir to the throne of Ihrne—a throne he doesn’t want and can’t hold. How can he when he struggles to put words together, won’t look courtiers in the eye and avoids people on general principle? Yet the Eyrie, even Zaishne, simply assumes Ein will find a way to become the allistic ruler he can never be.

When his brother Paide invites him to a private discussion, Ein sees a chance to voice the second truth. Paide, though, keeps secrets of his own—and doesn’t seem to recognise the fate bound to him by hundreds of devouring angels.

To begin to save Paide’s soul, Ein will have to learn what the world never stirred itself to teach: trust.

dedication

For my readers, anxious and avoidant, who have been subjected to a world of stoic fantasy heroes with still knees, steady breaths and ready blades. For my readers, anxious and avoidant, who need protagonists that shake, stutter, cry, run, stumble, hesitate and panic. For my readers, anxious and avoidant, who deserve to see their courage writ in a genre that too often forgets us.

content advisory

This novelette takes place with reference to a history of long-running autistic-targeted ableism, cissexism, and abuse—both verbal and physical. While nothing happens in the story itself, there are constant and ongoing references to these things by a character who is living the anxiety, distrust, suspicion, self-hatred, confusion and chronic pain he earnt from enduring them. The ableism, cissexism and abuse that has been suggested at in the previous stories with regards Ein are shown far more clearly now that he has taken over the narrative, including the physical and mental consequences. Ein’s memories also depict, in a sense more of the moment, some of the acts of cruelty—physical violence and emotional abuse—he has experienced.

It goes without saying that this may be triggering.

This story also contains references to necromancy and the use of corpses, the pressures of amatonormativity and allosexism, and an heir who doesn’t believe in monarchy.

author’s note

The King of Gears and Bone is the third story of The Eagle Court, so we’re starting to get into territory where reading the previous stories is a requirement.

The referenced characters Amelia and Kit March belong to the short stories Old Fashioned and Conception in addition to my ongoing web serial The Unnatural Philosophy of Kit March, all set in the same universe.

It may help to know that allistic is a word used by some corners of the autistic community to refer to people who are not autistic.

the king of gears and bone

One sentence. Einas ein Iteme mouths it as he enters the family wing, his left hand resting on Key’s ruff: Paide, I don’t want to be king.

Passersby look, of