Title: Dawn’s Light
Series: Duskblade, Book One
Author: Shannon Blair
Publisher: NineStar Press
Release Date: 02/22/2021
Length: 86300
Genre: Fantasy, LGBTQIA+, Royalty, first time, sexual discovery, elves, goblins, duplicity, mercenaries, kidnapping, revenge, action/adventure, coming out, enemies to lovers, in the closet, slow burn, road trip
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Description
Moranthus is an elf who has lost everything. With his lover dead and his career stagnating, he jumps at a chance to redeem himself by rescuing a human prince from the goblins hunting him—even if failure means death or eternal exile from his homeland.
Gerrick, a human soldier who bears an uncanny resemblance to his prince, has always chosen duty over desire. As the sole parent of his young daughter, he needs the extra coin that working as the prince’s body double provides—even if it may one day cost him his life.
When a case of mistaken identity puts the prince in the hands of a goblin raiding party, Moranthus’s and Gerrick’s paths collide. With winter closing in and miles of hostile goblin lands ahead, they must set aside their differences and work together to bring the prince home safely.
Their deepening connection comes with a growing certainty that rescuing the prince may be fatal. Moranthus and Gerrick must each find a way to reconcile his heart’s desires with his homeland’s needs—or die trying.
Dawn’s Light
Shannon Blair © 2021
All Rights Reserved
Nights on the road were hard on Gerrick. Having a six-year-old daughter back home made them harder. He didn’t understand why his brothers-in-arms expected him to forget his home life while he was on duty. For the five years he’d spent under Orthenn’s command, he’d never taken much interest in campfire talk. They shouldn’t have thought tonight would be any different. But they’d still started poking fun at him when he kept silent as their conversation shifted from the bear they’d killed that afternoon to the girls a few of them had left back home and the brothel most of the others had visited in the last town they’d passed through.
The bear, Gerrick had taken an interest in. They were eating it for dinner that night, and he’d landed the killing blow on it. It would’ve been unmanly of him not to do a bit of bragging about that. He couldn’t pretend he didn’t like the sound of them calling him “bear blood,” either, even though he knew they wouldn’t keep at it long enough for the name to stick. The bragging must’ve gotten their hopes up though. Then he’d disappointed them by going back to his old, quiet self when their talk turned to women.
It wasn’t that Gerrick wasn’t interested in women. He just didn’t have any women in his life to talk about. Gerrick had broken things off with his daughter’s mother months before his daughter was born. His daughter’s mother had died and left their daughter in Gerrick’s care less than a year later. Gerrick hadn’t found another girl before then, and he hadn’t had the time to find one since; raising his daughter on his own kept him too busy for that.
He didn’t see the appeal of brothels, either. Not when he still felt too guilty about fathering one child out of wedlock to risk it happening again with another girl. His brothers-in-arms never tired of teasing him about that. Tonight was no exception. And worse than usual.
Before their teasing turned to accusing him of wanting a man in his bed in place of a woman, like it always did, Gerrick left his seat by Orthenn’s campfire and walked into the dense forest surrounding the camp. He explained himself by telling the others he wanted to scout the perimeter of their camp as he lit himself a torch. They didn’t believe a word of it. He didn’t have the energy or patience to care. A man could only sit through so much mockery before it broke him. Gerrick couldn’t let himself break where anyone could see him. Leaving the camp was his only choice, whether his brothers-in-arms liked his excuse for it or not.
A hand grabbed his shoulder after the trees closed in around him. He put his free hand on the hilt of his sword as he shrugged the hand off and turned around, but he didn’t expect he’d need it. If it was a goblin, he would’ve already killed Gerrick.
He let go of his sword when he recognized Aldous, the closest thing he had to a real friend in Orthenn’s company. Even in his torch’s dim light, he couldn’t miss the bushy, graying mustache that covered most of Aldous’s face.
“You need to stop taking this so hard, lad,” Aldous said, lifting the corners of his mustache with a sympathetic smile. No one else could’ve called Gerrick “lad” and walked away from it without a bloody nose or blackened eye. But Aldous had ten years on him and let Gerrick’s daughter stay with his wife and five children when their duty to Orthenn took them away from home. Aldous had earned that right. “It’s just a bit of fun. You know that.”
Gerrick scowled. “It’s gone on too long. Find some new fun.”
“Maybe it has gone on a bit long. But it’s also been a bit long since you’ve had a woman, and it’s taking a toll on you.”
“I’m fine.”
Aldous snorted. “And I’m the Matriarch of Moonridge. I swear, lad, you’re wound so tight that if someone shoved a lump of coal up your backside, it’d come out a diamond. Buying yourself a woman for a night or two might do you some good.”
“It wouldn’t. I’m not spending good coin to pretend I don’t know some poor girl is only pretending to like me. I have a daughter to provide for.”
“I have five sons, and I’m getting by on the same pay as you. You could afford to spend a little on yourself if you wanted to.”
“I don’t want to.” Gerrick turned on his heel and started walking again. “If you like brothels so much, why don’t you visit them?”
“Because my wife’s been trying to get a daughter out of me since I married her, and if I go and father one on some other girl, she’ll never forgive me.” Aldous laughed as he followed after Gerrick. “You’re sure you won’t let us keep yours? I promise we’ll take good care of her.”
“I’m sure.” Gerrick shook his head, but couldn’t keep from smiling. The offer was a joke between them now, but Gerrick had almost taken Aldous up on it when he’d first joined Orthenn’s company. It was hard work, raising a child on his own. But after five years of watching his daughter grow, knowing he’d made her into everything she was, he wouldn’t give her up for anything in the world.
Aldous shrugged. “Can’t blame a man for trying. You’re going to want to find a mother for that girl eventually, though, aren’t you? That’s not going to happen if you never go out looking for a woman who likes you enough to put up with that stony face of yours without you paying her for it.”
“You think I haven’t already tried that?”
“If you have, you haven’t tried very hard, lad. You wouldn’t look half bad if you cleaned yourself up right, and there’s plenty of women out there who wouldn’t mind getting a daughter along with a husband.” Aldous thumped Gerrick on the back. “Take my wife’s sister, for instance. Still never been married, and she’s wonderful with the children. You should meet her sometime.”
Gerrick covered his face with his free hand and let out a frustrated groan. He should’ve known Aldous would bring that up again. It happened with everyone who’d known him long enough to get past poking fun at him for taking on a woman’s job by raising his daughter on his own. They always had a sister, or a cousin, or a maiden aunt who could give his daughter the motherly affection she needed. As though Gerrick didn’t love her enough for two parents. As though him being a man meant that a woman could take one look at his daughter and understand her better than he did after knowing her all her life. And as though Gerrick should be grateful for a woman to marry him as a last resort and barely tolerate him for the rest of both their lives.
If that was the best he could hope for in a wife, Gerrick was better off alone. His daughter had gotten to six years old just fine without a mother; if it came to that, she could get by without one for the rest of her life too.
“How many times do I need to tell you no, Aldous?” Gerrick asked.
“I’m not saying you need to marry her straight off.” Aldous held his hands up in a defensive gesture. “It’d just be nice if you’d let me introduce the two of you before you decide you’re not interested. I wouldn’t ask if I didn’t think the two of you would get along.”
“I’m still not interested. Stop bringing it up.”
“I’ll stop if you’ll give her a chance. Is that so much to ask, after I’ve helped you with your daughter all these years?” Aldous had Gerrick there. They both knew it. Aldous bringing the favor into things was a low thing to do though.
“I’ll think about it,” Gerrick replied. “After this scouting mission’s over. Bring it up again before then, though, and it’s not happening.”
Aldous clapped him on the shoulder. “Thank you, lad. This’ll be a good thing for you; just you wait and see. Now let’s get back to camp while there’s still some dinner left.”
As Gerrick grunted his agreement, a strange shadow in a nearby tree caught his attention. He took a step toward the tree, bringing it within the hazy, yellow circle of light his torch gave off. A freshly killed rabbit was draped over a fork in one of its branches. Something, or someone, had gone hunting near Orthenn’s camp.
“What do you make of this?” Gerrick asked.
Aldous squinted at the rabbit for a moment, then shrugged. “An owl could’ve dropped it, or a lynx might’ve stashed it there.” He cast an uneasy glance at the forest around them and lowered his voice as he added, “Or we’ve just missed crossing paths with a goblin.”
“Do you think he’s still nearby?”
“I couldn’t say. But if he is, that’s all the more reason to get back to camp. Orthenn needs to know about this; he’ll decide what needs to be done about it.” Aldous started walking in the direction of Orthenn’s camp.
Gerrick took one long, last look into the shadows between the trees, then followed after him.
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Shannon Blair is a fantasy author with a fondness for elves, goblins, and general otherworldly goodness. Their love of fiction and storytelling drove them to pursue an MFA in Creative Writing from Regis University, where a short writing exercise spiraled out of control and eventually became their first novel. When they aren’t on a quest to make the fantasy genre a more LGBTQA-friendly place, Shannon can be found inventing whimsical backstories for the colorful crafts and vendors at the craft market where they work. They live on the outskirts of the Denver metroplex with their partner and two spoiled rotten cats.
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