{"id":5500,"date":"2011-06-16T14:16:32","date_gmt":"2011-06-16T18:16:32","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.thegreathorse.com\/?p=5500"},"modified":"2017-06-01T12:57:01","modified_gmt":"2017-06-01T16:57:01","slug":"eclipsed-by-shadow-damsel-excerpt","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/thegreathorse.com\/book-blog\/2011\/06\/eclipsed-by-shadow-damsel-excerpt\/","title":{"rendered":"#71- Ingratitude"},"content":{"rendered":"

The following is an excerpt from \u201cEclipsed by Shadow\u201d<\/a>, an award-winning adventure through history — on horseback. \"\"
\nMeagan has escaped the Mongol hordes of Genghis Khan to save a city in the path of destruction … only to be captured:<\/p>\n

THE STENCH WAS worse than the nomad camps, worse even than the squalid valleys of Rome. Meagan was pushed along a rutted, muddy street through man- and animal-made puddles, and into a courtyard surrounded by buildings of oversized hewn beams. She was dragged to a set of stocks mounted along one end of the courtyard. Heavy iron clasped over her head.<\/p>\n

\u201cI am trying to save you!\u201d she protested, her face mashed into the beam. Metal burrs sliced small wounds into her neck. \u201cPlease<\/em> listen or we are all going to die! Listen to me!<\/em>\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cOh ho, \u2018tis ferly! Have someone say die?\u201d<\/p>\n

Meagan stopped pleading. She was almost sure she had heard English.<\/p>\n

A man stepped up and squatted, peering into her face. A blast of noxious breath billowed over her. \u201cSo said verily, this Tatar be a she.\u201d The words were thick, beyond the thickest brogue or British cockney she had ever heard. O\u2019s were ah\u2019s and ah\u2019s were o\u2019s\u2014but it was English.<\/em> \u201cYou be of England?\u201d the man exhaled. \u201cAnswer.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cYes, sir, I\u2014\u201d Meagan\u2019s feet were abruptly swept out from under her. The iron dug into her neck as she scrambled to stand. Shouts and arguing boiled around her.<\/p>\n

\u201cBelay!\u201d<\/em> bellowed the English-speaking man. He crouched near Meagan. \u201cUnwittily said.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThis is very<\/em> ungrateful,\u201d she mumbled to the beam. The metal felt imbedded in the back of her skull.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey not like aliens, these.\u201d The man leaned his breath closer. \u201cIt be not them what decides.\u201d He smiled, showing colors of yellow, black and brown. \u201cI was alien beforetimes, and English as you be. Now I be they<\/em> maister. I be Marshal.\u201d The man nodded to the others. \u201cThe Tatar wench be mine. We gluppen and speak.\u201d<\/p>\n

Men came forward and released the iron clasps. For the first time Meagan was able to face her captors. Like the nomads they were unwashed, but where the skin of a nomad was clear and smooth, the faces of these men were bearded and blemished. Their clothing was varied and colorful, but it fit less well than the nomads\u2019 clothing and was less well kept. Like their city, these men looked better from a distance.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Excerpted from Eclipsed by Shadow<\/strong><\/em><\/a>, the award-winning first volume of “The Legend of the Great Horse<\/strong>” trilogy. <\/a> (Hrdbk pg. 199)<\/p>\n

Book II: The Golden Spark<\/strong><\/em> is available! Book III announcements coming soon…<\/p>\n

Read the 1st Chapter<\/a> online!<\/h4>\n

Copyright \u00a9 2008 John Royce<\/small><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

THE STENCH WAS worse than the nomad camps, worse even than the squalid valleys of Rome. Meagan was pushed along a rutted, muddy street through man- and animal-made puddles, and into a courtyard surrounded by buildings of oversized hewn beams.” – 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":[1],"tags":[118,242,70,165,229,227,243,244],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/thegreathorse.com\/book-blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5500"}],"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=5500"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/thegreathorse.com\/book-blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5500\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":15107,"href":"https:\/\/thegreathorse.com\/book-blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5500\/revisions\/15107"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/thegreathorse.com\/book-blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=5500"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thegreathorse.com\/book-blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=5500"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thegreathorse.com\/book-blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=5500"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}