Sorry folks, I pushed too hard getting Bound done and published and haven’t been able to write in a week. The next episode of The Bargain is drafted and I considered just posting as-is, but I’d rather give y’all good stuff late than sloppy stuff on time.
But I’ve been doing a bit of plotting on a spinoff of How NOT to Save the World. Y’all may remember Lerato. She got a brief mention as the newest member of the secret leadership, and the one who offered to arrange an ‘accident’ for Cheng if he couldn’t handle learning the truth.
This spin off is about how Lerato joined the rebellion and earned her spot on the council. Sort of. It’s also a story of love and magic curses and betrayal and learning to face our fears. It’s going to be a bit more serious than How NOT to Save the World, but still have some of the same troperific fun. In between angst and drama and espionage.
And here’s how it starts:
cw: violence, death
Donagh was dragged through the camp, his arms bound before him. All around lay the dead and dying. The few of his comrades still on their feet spat on his shadow as he past.
He looked everywhere for Aran. Aran had to be alive, he had survived so much, he couldn’t be dead. And Aran would listen to to him. Would believe him. Then together they would find the traitor and take revenge.
But Aran was nowhere, and he began to fear that Aran had died after all.
Before the fear could fully take hold, he was thrown to the ground. A familiar pair of leather boots appeared snd he struggled to his knees. ‘Aran! You’re alive!’
‘Yes. I’m sure that’s a disappointment to you.’
‘What? No!’
Aran drew his sword and set the point against Donagh’s throat. ‘Luckily for you we don’t have any time to waste.’
Donagh tried to speak, to say something but horror made the words stick in his throat.
“As you have betrayed, so may you be betrayed, in your next life and every life to come.”
Then there was a quick slice of pain, and the world went dark.
The beginning.
Lerato’s story will be coming sometime in 2023 or 2024. Haven’t fully worked out the schedule yet. In the meantime, you’ll probably see more of Lerato in the upcoming season of How NOT to Save the World.
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