Reunited

By Shaun Kilgore

Young Ren ekes out a small living as a petty thief. But one day he discovers that his activities in the slums of Waterley and beyond haven't gone unnoticed. Now he faces a highborn noble who will turn a blind eye provided that Ren returns a necklace he's stolen. The the nobleman wants more... he wants Ren to steal something far more valuable: The royal seal of the king. More shocking is the revelation that Ren is the bastard son of the princess. Now he is face with the most decision of his life.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Founders House Publishing LLC
• Release date: Apr 28, 2021
• ISBN: 9781005501709

Shaun Kilgore

Shaun Kilgore is the author of various works of fantasy, science fiction, and a number of nonfiction works. His books appear in both print and ebook editions. He has also published numerous short stories and collections. Shaun is the editor of MYTHIC: A Quarterly Science Fiction & Fantasy Magazine. He lives in eastern Illinois.

Book preview

Reunited

Shaun Kilgore

Ren leaned against the soot-stained brick wall and scraped the muck and filth of the streets from his boots. Molly Cray would box his ears if he forgot again. Nothing she hated more than dirty floors. He scratched at the foulness, using a piece of scrap wood he found on the ground to get most of it off so he wouldn’t have to use his hands. The smell was awful.

His head jerked up at the crack of a whip. A cart rolled by being drawn down the clogged steet by a sad-looking horse. The beast flinched only slightly at the driver’s well-placed blow, resigned to the treatment. Ren watched both move by. The street in the lower city where Molly Cray had her boarding house was filled with buildings of plain stone and dark, weathered wood. Everything was covered with the ever-present soot from the coal fires. The smoke hung in the air like a cloud making everything look gray and lifeless.

Ren craned his neck up and caught a glimpse of the sun, but it was quickly hidden in the smoke. The traffic was light that morning. The mud was hampering movement in the streets. As he looked back down at his boots, the sucking sounds of passersby drew his gaze up again. The mud was everywhere and had been churned up so badly by the rains that it was just above ankle deep and difficult to walk in without losing a boot. People cursed as they continued struggling in the slough.

Ren inspected his boots one last time then pushed away from the wall and turned around to look up at the drab three-story building he called home. There were four windows to every floor, all of them shuddered to keep out the rain. Or at least that was what they were supposed to do. It didn’t help ones like Ren on the top floor where the roof leaked. Even now, the water dripped steadily in porcelain pots he had arrayed across the planked wood.

A sign hung above the door: Molly Cray’s Boarding House.

Ren clambered up the steps and opened the door.