Now.Here: A Zephyr Before The Tempest

By Richard Haslam

One, two, three, four... That's how many Ringmasters there are that run each stadium throughout the four seasons in Gardenia, with each a unique story to tell during the Ringmaster's get-together at Saintmere Castle. One such story comes from Levtiqvah, when in the form of a gigantic tribal woman from ancient times 

• Language: English
• Publisher: Now.Here
• Release date: Apr 1, 2024
• ISBN: 9781738493692

Richard Haslam

Richard James Haslam is a humble individual who is the author of the Now.Here Saga. Born in Bolton, Greater Manchester on the 2nd April 1989 with High Functioning Autism, he lived with his older brother, Philip, and his parents, Christine and Martin near Horwich for a short time before moving to Whittle-Le-Woods near Chorley, Lancashire, where his childhood there shaped him with events, including TV shows such as The Dreamstone, Animals of Farthing Wood, Watership Down, Redwall, The Wind in the Willows, and other examples that would gradually overtime inspire him to write the Now.Here Saga. He was given an extra year in Nursery after coming down with Meningitis when he was three, and as a result, had a year gap between himself and Philip at Manor Road County Primary School (1995-2001). After Primary School, Richard went to Lostock Hall Community High School and Arts Collage (2001-2006), where throughout that long 11 year road of maturity, his carer, Sally, would help him mature his rebellious childhood and transition him into an adult. After High School and warm goodbyes to Sally, Richard gained more independence in living when attending a disabled boarding college in Wirksworth, Derbyshire called Callow Park, part of the Alderwasley School (2006-2008). After two years of staying with his parents, Richard eventually moved into Townley House in Chorley in June 2010, a disability-living apartment of flats. The ingredients that lead to Now.Here's conception was from that experience of a Born Again Christian. It was also inspired by Bethesda's video games of Skyrim and Fallout 4, Raymond Brigg's When the Wind Blows, and also the ridge and furrow landmarks when he was on his family's narrowboat holiday along the Oxford Canal in 2015. If there are many stories of a Post-Apocalyptic Future. Why not a Post-Apocalyptic Past. Richard's time in Townley House was an enjoyable one at first, but over time, many of the staff left and were replaced, gradually hiring fewer and fewer. 10 years later, in March 2020, Richard moved to Penwortham, near Preston to have a fresh start with Autism Initiative. The timing couldn't have been fortunate, because when Covid-19 struck, Richard was confined within his new home, but unlike his last home, he had a garden and space in the countryside to move about. The elements were now just right for writing Now.Here, and thanks to a college friend who had published his own books with the publisher Pag-e-nation, Richard had his first book published by them, Kiona the Gardenian on 12th October (Now.Here Day). A second, The Retanian Twins, was also in the works for the following year, until complications to the publisher had it delayed and them shutting up shop. After a lot of searching, Richard decided to publish his books through Kindle Direct Publishing in March 2022, merging the first two books into one to create the Kiona the Gardenian book that is now available, with the first half of the story renamed to The Eve of the Heart, while the second half still kept The Retanian Twins name. Richard had also written four more books, which he merged together to become two more books, The Maid of the Heart, and Rubecula & Nascha. Since 2023, his works had already received critical acclaim from Autism Initiative and Blog Preston. His first book, Kiona the Gardenian has been given a 5 - Star rating by Reader' Favorite and Authors Reading. From his childhood dream, to the first drawings of the five girls in 2005, Richard had came a long way of finally fulfilling it in the form of a book saga.

Book preview

A Zephyr Before The Tempest

Richard Haslam

NOW.HERE

Copyright © 2020-2024 Richard Haslam

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or used in any manner without permission of the copyright owner of this book and series.

All characters and events in this publication, other than those clearly in the public domain, inspiration or references to both fiction and non-fiction are coincidental or fictitious trivialities.

First Edition Published in 2024

Written and Illustrated by Richard Haslam

Edited and Proofread by Richard Haslam

Independently Published

ISBN: 978-1-7384936-4-7

www.youarenow-here.co.uk

The Four Ringmasters

Thursday, 19th May 332 (1735)

The Changing Seasons

Isonash will never forget that beautiful experience he, and many of the new participants had at the Trials of Maturity’s Opening Ceremony in Zaltana. Musical instruments, vibrant colours, and joyful singing herald the fantastic news that the time of First Flower has finally arrived. With the arrival of the time of First Flower came a new cycle within the Trials of Maturity, and what better way to showcase it than to introduce the new participants to the four Ringmasters of Gardenia. Isonash had already known about the four when his twin sister, Hasinaw, confronted them during the Final Trial that seemed only yesterday. Mostly, he knew of the last two, Kiona and Kaniehtiio, whereas the first two, he’d finally get to adequately meet face-to-face.

The first Ringmaster to appear to them is the Meadow Ringmaster of Kennebec, Wayra. After him appeared the Wold Ringmaster of Saintmere, Helaku. After him appeared the Forest Ringmaster of Shenandoah, Kiona. And last of all, after her appeared the Tundra Ringmaster of Riven, Kaniehtiio. Helaku was the one Kiona gave her cider to when she met Rubecula for the first time in Saintmere months ago.

To the two girls, this is their first official appearance, as announced by King Arthur IV’s announcer, of whom he gave his heartfelt respects for Kiona’s father's passing and Kaniehtiio’s grandfather’s retirement.

The four Ringmasters, standing together as a formidable team, had the crowd clapping and cheering, even from countries that are members of the Mawchick Alliance, with some having their own Trials of Maturity, from Retania to Luso. Instinctively, Isonash smiled at Kiona to get her attention, only to be given the hinting glare of, Don’t think I’m going to go easy on you, in return. This is for real, and his experience of how Hasinaw played wasn’t going to be enough to help him pass even his first trial in the Trials of Maturity, the Meadow Trial with Wayra.

In the meantime, most of Isonash’s focus was settling down with his newly wedded wife, Birtá, in their newly acquired home in Kimiaiya. Birtá chose the location partially for being her childhood village, and partially for being located close to Shenandoah where Kiona lives. This fortunate turn of events for Isonash to ask Kiona where to get his clutch staff, where to practice, and what the rules were as he needed reminding, turned out to be a fool's errand… You have to wait until you see Wayra, Kiona told him. Ringmasters are forbidden to give away their secrets to their participants, and challenging Kiona lay two talismans away, two seasons away before he can get anything from her.

Becoming Ringmasters invited Kiona and Kaniehtiio to be part of the Ringmasters’ usual get-togethers at Saintmere Castle. This beautiful Post-Firestorm construction once acted as a headquarters to The Shepherds while the Bakewell Garrison was being built. To revive and strengthen the Anglo-Portuguese Alliance, King Arthur I of Gardenia had his daughter wedded to King John III of Luso. As part of their wedding presents, Luso gave Gardenia the Alegres Islands, while Gardenia gave the Lusoan royal family Saintmere Castle.

The present owner of the castle is Helaku, or Ferdinand, as that’s his real name. It was a similar case with Kiona’s mother's real name being Amelia before changing it to Nakoma. Like all prior Ringmasters, their titles had been passed down from the children of King Arthur I after he made the Trials of Maturity a national tradition to Gardenia. This soon led to Luso adopting their own Trials of Maturity, with Saintmere Castle having enough space to establish the Wold Trial Stadium for Saintmere, along with many of Luso’s Tournaments.

All four Ringmasters arrived for this get-together, and Kiona kindly invited Rubecula over as a humble guest after she returned early from her training in Austrinia. It is a well-known fact that women have always been hired as auxiliaries within some armed forces, since men mostly bore the brunt in all military combats. With that said, both Rubecula and Nascha, as well as some women within The Coalition, volunteered to join the Gardenian Free-Force to help liberate the islands from the tiring yoke of the Scots and the French.

Observing what five years of training within Rubecula’s world can do, she intrigued The Coalition and the Gardenian Free-Force enough to allow her to join the Air Corp, along with Nascha with her skills. It amazed everyone, including Abigail, when invited to observe the training for herself, for how well Rubecula had adapted herself to the skyfighter