Guest Post: The First Binding Extract

 

Good afternoon! I hope everyone is doing well (that sounds very formal, but I'm in full work mode) I'm very happy to be sharing an extract of one of the most exciting  fantasy novels that I haven't stopped hearing about online...The First Binding by R.R Virdi which is out August 18th from Gollancz. Th First Binding tells the tale of a storyteller and a singer on the run and hoping to find obscurity in a tavern bar. But the sins of their past aren't forgotten, and neither are their enemies. Their old lives are catching up swiftly and it could cost them the entire world. No one can escape their pasts and all stories must have an ending. All legends are born of truths. And just as much lies. These are mine. Judge me for what you will. But you will hear my story first.

And yes, yes you will as I have a lovely extract to share with you all, and don't forget to check out the rest of the stops on the Blog Tour for more exciting content annnnnnd I've got a giveaway over on my Instagram!

I walked into the tavern in search of the most important thing in the world.

A story.

And I ended up swept into the most dangerous one of all.

*

The worst sort of prison held the Three Tales Tavern.

An emptiness.

A stillness.

And that is always meant to be broken.

It hung like a cord gone taut, quivering and waiting to snap. It was the quiet of held breaths, wanting for a voice, but ready to bite at any that dare make noise. It was the soundlessness of men too tired to speak and with an ear to hear even less. And all the stillness of an audience waiting for the play to begin.

The perfect stage for me. And I had just the thing to rouse them— ensnare them. But all good performances need one thing, and mine required a drink.

The tavern’s lone mirror glinted from behind the counter with the hazy light I’d seen accompany mirages. It pulled my attention past the oiled and polished floors, away from the pitted, but solid wooden beams holding the place up, and to the counter.

I made my way over to it and sat down— alone.

The barkeeper took note of that, staring at me over the rim of a glass he polished with mechanical coldness. He looked to be in his middle years. His hair carried more streaks of chalk and iron than it should have at his age, thinning along the top. He had a soft , slightly protruding belly, not aided in appearance by a brown shirt gone tight around his waist nor his barrel of a chest. His eyes were lined with creases that could have come from both too much time in the sun and frequent smiling.

Though, he wasn’t smiling now.

I eyed the barkeeper, adding another layer of stillness to the place. The air thickened into something chewable as I let curiosity flood the elderly men sitting in the far corner. They watched me with the interest only those with too much time on their hands could muster, which is what I wanted.

I know how to work my audience— build anticipation like feeding wood to a fire.

Layers.

I added another film of intrigue when I reached over my shoulder to grab one of the journals bound to my back. I tugged it free, thumbing it open to pull free a sheet of paper. Producing the pen was a simple thing, but I added a flare by rolling my wrist as I retrieved it from the folds of my robes. To those unskilled in sleight of hand, it looked as if the pen had sprung from my palm.

Theatricality and showmanship go a long way in making an impression. And the long case I’d set down to one side would do just the same.

Curiosity. It filled them now.

The slender piece of horn and silver inlay sat as an old comfort in my hand. A hollow thing with a narrow reservoir to hold just enough ink for my needs. I scrawled slowly, smoothly, across the sheet.

The barkeep watched with feigned disinterest, blanketing the place with another form of stillness. He shuffled over a few steps until he stood before me. The man passed off the action as if he needed to place the glass he’d finished cleaning somewhere nearby.

I knew better and made use of his act, pushing the sheet of paper in his direction. I looked up and smiled— waiting.

Extract continues later in the blog tour with Civilian Reader | @civilianreader on 22nd August and check out all the other stops on the blog tour!