{"id":3764,"date":"2015-07-23T09:38:39","date_gmt":"2015-07-23T13:38:39","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.thegreathorse.com\/?p=3764"},"modified":"2017-06-01T13:02:09","modified_gmt":"2017-06-01T17:02:09","slug":"book-excerpt-6-poet-gladiator","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/thegreathorse.com\/book-blog\/2015\/07\/book-excerpt-6-poet-gladiator\/","title":{"rendered":"A Poet Gladiator"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n

\n\"\"<\/p>\n

\u201cThe driver listens to no one. Fame has deafened his ears.\u201d Horace stepped into the early morning sun. His marred face was ugly in the naked light and Meagan fought her urge to step back. He led her a short distance away from the gates and lowered his voice. \u201cIf you are planning to escape you will have no interference from me.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI am not, Horace, I promise. I just want to help the horses.\u201d She saw his quizzical look and corrected herself. \u201cHelp the Emperor, I mean.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cGood. Helping the Emperor cannot be wrong. It can even bring you freedom.\u201d Puffed from sleep, the man\u2019s pale gaze was unnerving. \u201cYou are different than other women, Meagan. I want to ask\u2026\u201d His voice became carefully impassive. \u201cWhat will you do if you receive freedom? Will you go home?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI don\u2019t know.\u201d Quick tears formed which she wiped away. \u201cSometimes I don\u2019t think so.\u201d<\/p>\n

Horace rubbed his face and looked at the morning sky. His profile was clean and unblemished. With quiet conviction he recited, \u201cAnd yet more bright shines out the Julian star, as moon outglows each lesser light…\u201d <\/p>\n

\u201cThat is nice, Horace. What is a Julian star?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThe moon at its fullest. Or, one who outshines.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWhere did you learn it?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cMy mother. She believed in education.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cMy parents did, too.\u201d She hurried to change the subject from home. \u201cHow old are you, if you don\u2019t mind?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cAn old man. I have twenty years.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThat isn\u2019t old, Horace. You be anything.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cAnd I would be, now. \u2018A good scare is worth more than good advice.\u2019<\/em>\u201d<\/p>\n

She nodded. \u201cI understand that. I really do.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThat quote was the real Horace,\u201d he said softly. \u201cQuintus Horatius Flaccus, the favorite poet of Emperor Augustus. I was named after him. Rome wants another Horace, my mother used to say.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cYour mother sounds very sweet. I think it\u2019s nice to be named after a poet.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThank you. I didn\u2019t used to be so courteous about it. \u2018Adversity draws out talent,\u2019<\/em> my mother said to me, over and over. I found my own favorite lines. \u2018Seize the day!\u2019<\/em> I told her when I left for the legions. Wasn\u2019t I a bright boy?\u201d He gave a dry laugh. \u201cFather approved of the legions. Men of honor find their reward, father said. Homer was his man.\u201d He lifted his face again to the sky. \u201c\u2018A vase is begun\u2014why, as the wheel goes round, does it turn out a pitcher?\u2019<\/em>\u201d\n<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Eclipsed by Shadow<\/strong><\/em> (Book #1 of the trilogy) won national awards<\/a> including the Eric Hoffer Award<\/em> for best Young Adult Fiction, and the Mom’s Choice Award<\/em> for best family-friendly Young Adult Fantasy.<\/p>\n

« \u201cThe Arena<\/a>\u201d || \u201cWar Horses<\/a>\u201d »<\/div>\n
The Legend of the Great Horse<\/strong> trilogy is an adventure through history … each section is about a different time period. The above excerpt is from \u201cHome<\/strong><\/a>,\u201d the 1st section of Eclipsed by Shadow<\/em><\/strong>, set in modern-day California.\n<\/div>\n

Eclipsed by Shadow<\/strong><\/em> (Book #1 of the trilogy) won national awards<\/a> including the Eric Hoffer Award<\/em> for best Young Adult Fiction, and the Mom’s Choice Award<\/em> for best family-friendly Young Adult Fantasy.<\/p>\n

\n

__________<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\u00bb See All Excerpts<\/strong><\/a> from The Legend of the Great Horse<\/strong> trilogy.<\/p>\n

\u00bb Read the 1st Chapter online<\/strong><\/a>.<\/p>\n

\u00bb See the Media Kit<\/strong><\/a> for more information about the trilogy.<\/p>\n

\"\" Check out the trilogy’s page on Facebook!<\/strong><\/a>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Horace rubbed his face and looked at the morning sky. His profile was clean and unblemished. With quiet conviction he recited, \u201cAnd yet more bright shines out the Julian star, as moon outglows each lesser light…\u201d – Eclipsed by Shadow<\/em> (excerpt)<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":51,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[161],"tags":[118,219,70,165,222,223,208,396],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/thegreathorse.com\/book-blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3764"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/thegreathorse.com\/book-blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/thegreathorse.com\/book-blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thegreathorse.com\/book-blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/51"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thegreathorse.com\/book-blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3764"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/thegreathorse.com\/book-blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3764\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":15149,"href":"https:\/\/thegreathorse.com\/book-blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3764\/revisions\/15149"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/thegreathorse.com\/book-blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3764"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thegreathorse.com\/book-blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3764"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thegreathorse.com\/book-blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3764"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}