Home For The Holidays

By Reis Asher

The war is over, and Adrian is returning to the village in which he was born. But the last time his mother saw him, he was living as a woman. Now, with the aid of Bethas' Tea and years of hard fighting, he's a scarred, grizzled man in need of some family acceptance and love—and a place to call home once more.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Reis Asher
• Release date: Dec 29, 2019
• ISBN: 9781393224563

Book preview

Home For The Holidays

The war is over, and Adrian is returning to the village in which he was born. But the last time his mother saw him, he was living as a woman. Now, with the aid of Bethas' Tea and years of hard fighting, he's a scarred, grizzled man in need of some family acceptance and love—and a place to call home once more.

Part One

The war, was in fact , over in time for the winter solstice. Adrian was grateful for that, but also fearful. He scoffed as he tugged on the reins to draw his horse, Sun, in from his heavy canter. The horse came to a standstill long before the cliff's edge, huffing and snorting from its arduous climb up the mountain path.

Adrian jumped down from his horse, grateful to be out of the saddle after so many hours riding. He looked back along the trail, where Sun's hoofprints were quickly being erased by the snowfall. He left the horse behind and walked to the cliff's edge. He peered over to see the village he'd grown up in covered in a blanket of white, powdery snow. The tiny church where the villagers gathered and sang praises stood tall, its spire undamaged by the war. The heavy fighting hadn't come this far north, and he was grateful.

Though he hadn't gone to war to defend Valley Brook. Joining the army had been a means of escape and an attempt at validating his feelings as a man, and a heavy sigh escaped his lips, turning to vapor in the freezing air. The pouch of herbs the apothecary called Bethas' Tea—after the god of transformation—sat heavy on his belt next to the bag of coin he'd earned in military pay. A thick beard had sprouted on his face since the last time he'd been here, and it terrified him to consider facing his family in this body. Would they even recognize him? Would they gasp in horror once they knew he was their child, come home in another form from the one he'd left them in? Would they