The Gift of Gold

By Eve Morton

Gideon's father's a liar and a gambler, which means Gideon must pay for his mistakes. He's done it in the past, and he'll do it in the future. This instance with the King should be no different.

But when Gideon's father claims his son can spin straw into gold, Gideon is captured and forced into a locked room filled with a substance that only makes him sneeze and his eyes water. The King's men intimidate him and the King demands perfection. Gideon knows nothing of magic, so what will become of him?

Just as Gideon believes his life is over, a small man shows up and offers Gideon a lesson in the gift of gold. The price for this lesson is quite simple, though carnal. Will Gideon agree? Or will his pride stop him from saving his own life?

• Language: English
• Publisher: JMS Books LLC
• Release date: Feb 25, 2023
• ISBN: 9781685503864

Book preview

Chapter 1

Gideon had been about to burst into tears when he realized the doorknob was gold.

The fat man with the gruff voice had just given him his dinner. Beans, he’d said as he dropped down the metal dish. A bubble of sauce fell on the floor, which was covered by a thin residue of hay. Enjoy.

The door slammed. The man shoved the keys in the lock on the other side, barricading Gideon in once again. Then, all of a sudden, right before his ribcage cracked open with a reign of tears, the metal that was down and grimy, like the way silver got when it touched air after a handful of days, was now a treasure. Gold. A gold doorknob. A golden handle, a golden way out of his prisoner, where he’d been shut up and told to make straw out of gold.

He grasped the handle, but it didn’t come away. It didn’t come clean, either. No matter how much he rubbed it, the blackness remained. Yet so did the gold. It was somehow stained, but pure.

I don’t understand, Gideon murmured. He touched and rubbed, and nothing changed. The gold remained. So did the blackness. How can you be both?

There was no answer. But until morning, he stared at that knob, and tried to remember how he could channel the energy of light and wholeness in order to spin gold for himself. When he fell asleep, he didn’t dream. But he had the gift of hope for the first time since his ordeal began, once upon a long time ago.

Chapter 2

The man entered the room in the morning with his breakfast. He threw the bread down in the same way as he’d thrown the dinner plate. A rat had now woken and scurried out along the floor, stole a hunk of the bread, and then disappeared. The man didn’t notice the rat, but he stared at the floor covered in hay.