THE LEGEND OF THE GREAT HORSE trilogy | Blog
Eclipsed by Shadow • The Golden Spark • Into the Dark
The initial Book Launch Giveaway ended this week, attracting 801 entries on Goodreads!
Two new Giveaways begin today and tomorrow (Sunday 12/4/10) at Goodreads and LibraryThing for the final Advance Review Copies of the new volume, “The Golden Spark.”
When the driver did not leave, Meagan sat up straighter. Maybe some Romans were friendly, she thought. One shouldn’t judge based on a few. “Have you been a driver very long?” – Eclipsed by Shadow (excerpt)
A lone shape approached from the shadows of the barracks. “Of an evening!” the dark figure called. “May I join you?”
“Of course!” Meagan called back. Horace usually retired early, but she would be glad of his company.
Instead it was the Emperor’s chariot driver who approached. He knelt, two eyes shining in the moonlight. “Are you planning your place among the stars?”
She swallowed, unable to think of anything sensible to say in English, much less Latin.
“I have seen you here before. You like this little grove. Are you a worshipper of wood nymphs?”
“Oh, I am. They are so clean.” When the driver did not leave, Meagan sat up straighter. Maybe some Romans were friendly, she thought. One shouldn’t judge based on a few. “Have you been a driver very long?”
“All my life. I have driven three seasons for the Emperor. I drove Cerberus to his greatest victories.”
“Did you say ‘Sir-Bearus?’ Is that one of the horses?”
The driver laughed. “I do not mean the demon hound that guards Hades! Of course Cerberus is a horse!”
“Oh,” Meagan said politely. “You named a horse after a demon?”
“Yes, the three-headed dog-beast who devours all who try to escape the Underworld.” The driver spoke with admiration. “Our stallion Cerberus does the same to any who try to pass him.”
“I see,” she answered, trying to sound impressed. Then she asked casually, “have you seen any new black horses lately … say, a really tall mare?”
“We keep no mares in the Emperor’s stables,” the driver said curtly. “We favor stallions.” He lowered his voice. “I wonder, how does it feel to know the time of your death?”
A flash of panic went through her. “Well, I do not know that yet.”
“The Festival of Mars begins in six days. Are you not sad, not miserable?”
“I suppose.” Meagan felt a chill beyond the cold. “Are you trying to be nice?”
The young man’s teeth shone in the moonlight.
Book II: The Golden Spark will be published soon.
Read the 1st Chapter online!
Copyright © 2008 John Royce
Almost all of our modern ideas on history and mankind have been anticipated in Greek & Roman thought … human nature has not changed enough to make knowledge of our ancestors obsolete.
We can recognize our common (if unsavory) humanity in the prevalent Curse Tablets of ancient Rome, which were inscribed on thin lead tablets and hidden in advantageous spots … chariot racing was a hotbed of sabotage and curse tablets.
Here is an actual Roman curse typical of the day: ‘I command you, demon, and demand from you this hour and day and moment, that you torture and kill the horses of the Greens and that you kill in a crash their drivers.’
Other authentic Curse Tablets were more elaborate and featured detailed instructions:
‘I conjure you, holy beings and holy names, to join in aiding this spell, and bind, enchant, thwart, strike, overturn, conspire against, destroy and kill the charioteer and all his horses tomorrow in the circus at Rome. May he not leave the barriers well. May he not be quick. May he not outstrip anyone. May he not make the turns well. May he not win any prizes, and if he has pressed someone from behind, may he not overtake him; but may he meet with an accident; may he be bound, may he be broken; may he be dragged along by your power, in the morning and afternoon races.
Superstition is an ancient custom and, then as now, not always a pleasant one.
THERE IS MORE to chariot racing than its appearance of runaway horses, Meagan soon learned. The game was more about survival than speed. Charioteers rode as upon a galloping skateboard, using their weight to change direction. Communication with the horses was limited to slaps and pulls.
Of course, the true horseman’s challenge of chariot racing was in keeping the animals sound. The most popular chariots were teams of four horses, the Quadrigas, which meant sixteen delicate legs exposed to overreaching and missteps, apart from the disaster of collisions. Because of these risks, chariot horses were not raced until five years of age.
As spring took hold the workout track was swamped with spectators hoping for a glimpse of the Emperor’s team. Ajax and Saxon were now sound, with only bare spots to mark their injuries. Trotting out with floating strides, the recovered Saxon was applauded for his beauty. With his large eyes and dished profile, the sleek stallion resembled an Arabian, the oldest pure breed of horse. He had been born in the fiery deserts of Persia, and each year a fleet of mares sailed the fabled stallion’s blood back to his homeland. Indeed Saxon had one of the most beautiful heads Meagan had ever seen, if the horse would only stop tossing it.
Ajax was a special favorite of the guards. The men stiffened in salute whenever the stallion jogged past, as if to a wartime hero. The short-backed, burly horse had been raised in a barracks in Gaul. He was trained to a simple, brutal code, and was eager in the extreme.
The stallion Cerberus was a daily spectacle, scattering grooms into his flocks of admirers. The Emperor’s infamous favorite had been born free in a Greek village’s semi-wild band of horses. In his youth the stallion had been allowed to choose his mares peacefully, but when the new Emperor Trajan’s preference for black horses was made known the stallion had been hauled away to Rome. It was clear from the stallion’s flashing limbs and teeth that Rome was not forgiven.
Book II: The Golden Spark will be published soon.
Read the 1st Chapter online!
Copyright © 2008 John Royce