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A Song of Wind and Water

Prologue: Another Storm

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It was raining in the forest, a cold autumn rain, and the king of Ayuthay was caught out in the storm. As the wind picked up, he knew he was in for a rough night if he didn't find shelter soon. The white horse he was riding whined and stamped, and he did his best to console it.

"We'll be home soon, don't you worry," Amiti whispered, his breath a white cloud in the cold air. "You'll be nice and warm in the palace stables, and I'll be nice and warm in the palace bedroom. Don't give up just yet."

The horse snorted, but went on as Amiti told it to.

The thought of home was a good one, and Amiti kept replaying it in his mind to ward off the chill of the wind and rain. He'd been gone for five months, in council with Sveta in Belinsk. There were many troubles up north and to the east—skirmishes, border conflicts... all sorts of awful things. King Wo was especially vocal against the other countries. Ayuthay and Kaocho were still not on friendly terms. In fact, since Amiti and his friends had come home from their adventures at last the conflict with Kaocho had only gotten worse. Wo was not happy about Ayuthay's prosperity in the wake of the Grave Eclipse—and Amiti had to admit, his pains were justified. Kaocho lost many men in the Eclipse, while Ayuthay was relatively unscathed.

What made Amiti angry was how Wo was speaking against him. It was one thing to complain about their losses—it was something else entirely to blame it on Amiti and his friends. If blame fell on anyone, it was the Tuaparang at fault. They were the ones who had spurred Matthew's party onward, forced them to do things they had not intended to do.

Amiti gripped the reigns tightly in his icy fist, breathing on his fingers to try to keep them warm. It didn't help much, though. He was still shaking, both from cold and from nerves.

Time to think of other things, Amiti told himself.

He closed his eyes for a moment, smiling to himself as he thought of home once again. A warm fire in the hearth, a warm cup of tea in his hands, and a warm bed waiting for him. He had spent five long months in the north, five months arguing and yelling at other monarchs, five months away from his beloved wife, Karis.

Ordinarily, of course, she would have been right there beside him and Sveta in the council, but when Sveta had sent the summons to them Karis had been three months pregnant—and Amiti had insisted she stay in Ayuthay. He did not want her to hurt herself whilst traveling. Karis hadn't been too thrilled with the idea, but Amiti convinced her that he needed someone on the home front to keep Ayuthay secure in case Wo decided to attack.

Karis had reluctantly agreed at last.

"Just be home before the baby's born, Amiti. Promise me that, okay?"

"Okay," Amiti had said, smiling as he swept her up in his arms to kiss her. Afterwards, he'd looked deep into her violet eyes and held her hand tightly in his own. "Do you really think I'd miss the birth of my own child?"

Karis had only smiled, shaking her head.

Amiti intended to keep that promise, which was why Sveta had let him take his leave early from their council to head back to Ayuthay. It was a long journey, and he was desperate to make it home in time.

The horse suddenly stopped and stood dead still, and Amiti was wrenched back to the present in a heartbeat. It was quiet all of a sudden, deathly quiet. Unnaturally so. Amiti turned and looked around, trying to figure out what was going on. It was still raining, still freezing cold, but the wind had died down.

It picked up again, suddenly, in a wrenching gust that tore Amiti right off the back of the horse. He landed hard on his back, and had the wind knocked clear out of his lungs. He turned sideways, facing a pool of water glistening in the rain.

The last thing he saw before losing consciousness was the horse running off into the forest, stars swimming in the darkness between the trees and the drops of rain.

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Author: Hello, everyone. The title of this piece is kind of inspired by A Song of Ice and Fire, but hopefully this story won't be so depressing as that one. I can't promise it won't get dark at points, but I am a sucker for happy endings at least. (Which is not in and of itself a spoiler for anything.)

This is technically a sequel of sorts to "The Mourning Moon," but since I haven't completed that yet I'm not going to stress that it has to be one. If you have been following that one, then rest assured that the next chapters are being written. I just haven't gotten them all down yet. Writing fights is hard. Especially when you've got fifteen plus heroes to control (seriously, nineteen if you count everyone) along with three villians... and Alex. In short, it's coming along, but it's got a ways to go yet.

All that aside, I haven't made an outline of this one yet per se, but I know what I want to have happen in it.

Reviews are always appreciated.

See you next chapter!