THE QUILL AND THE VIAL
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Even the gloves weren’t enough to stop her ability from telling her what the plants wanted her to hear.
Jayce ground the last of the ingredients with her mortar and pestle, making a thick paste that smelled of cinnamon and a strong bitterness that seeped into her nostrils.
Wormwood never smelled nice. Didn’t taste nice, either, hence the cinnamon. She used a flat wooden stick to take the mixture from the stone bowl and scraped it into a shallow wooden container, then moved to screw a lid on top.
In her haste, she bumped the open jar and the remedy sloshed onto her gloved hand, seeping through the fabric.
Jayce jumped and yelped, stripping off the glove, but it was too late. The liquid had saturated her glove and contacted her skin, and Jayce’s head filled with words.
Wormwood. Resentment and regret poison your heart. Find solace in my leaves-
Jayce shook her head and gritted her teeth, bracing against the frigid cold that spread across her skin where the spilled remedy had soaked onto it. The herbs wouldn’t harm her topically, but her ability to hear them could drive her mad, not to mention the chill that flooded her body and had made her start to shake.
She ran to the sink, trying to ignore the clamor of the other ingredients she could distinctly hear.
She thinks she knows. She doesn’t know. She knows nothing, the rosehips chanted like a group of gossipy ladies.
Jayce grabbed the pump handle and gave it a few vigorous thrusts, plunging her hand beneath the too-strong stream and spraying water down her front. She slowed her pumping, then reached for the strongest soap she owned. Lye burned her skin with a painful tingle, but it cleaned away the tiny bits of plant matter and the final traces of infused oil.
The clamor in her mind quieted to whispers, and on the third washing, they finally fell silent.
Still trembling, Jayce wiped her hands on a thin linen towel, then removed her wet apron, examining her blouse. It hadn’t gotten too wet, and it would eventually dry as she made her rounds in the city.
The dawn chant had long been sung when Jayce finally finished re-preparing the tonic that had spilled. She would be late on her rounds, but she wasn’t able to make them without the tonic that relieved the symptoms of the suffering clients she visited.
She took one last look around the apothecary. All of her remedies for the clients she would visit that cycle sat lined up on the counter in glossy wooden containers or shiny brown bottles.
Jayce donned a clean pair of gloves and gathered her remedies to load into a flat-bottomed basket. Containers clinked and clacked together. She took her wrapped lunch from the counter and tucked it in a worn satchel, checking that she’d remembered extra gloves and a paper ledger, charcoal drawing stick, and two carefully wrapped glass spheres she could only pray to the Three she wouldn’t need.
Satisfied she had everything, she left the shop, turning a sign on the door.
THE APOTHECARY IS OUT.
Jayce walked down the street, grasping the edges of her shawl and pulling it tight. Chills still trembled across her skin, even though the bright sun shone down on the clean streets of the capital of Neldor, and people bustled about.
Queen Lyra had already sung the Dawn chant, but its magic lingered in the air, seeming to coat Jayce’s skin and gifting her with a surge of much-needed energy. Her blood moved with more vigor through her fast-beating heart, revitalizing her. Jayce breathed deeply and a smile worked its way onto her lips as she walked along.
People parted around her as if they were waves and Jayce the prow of a boat, some even going so far as to cross the street or move their skirts out of the way. Many eyed her with wariness, others, the ones she had treated, with gratitude.
It came with being an apothecary during plague times. Even as cases had diminished over the ages and the terrifying infestation of living dead had been managed, people still held their suspicion close and refused to be familiar with someone who maintained contact with those who fell sick.
Jayce held her head high. She could handle a few nasty stares and the gossip that floated in her wake. Her skin held no gray pallor, her lungs were healthy and strong. She had no excessive thirst or rapid pulse. She was vibrantly healthy. However the sickness passed between people, it hadn’t gotten a hold of her.
A man in a worn brown coat stumbled against the front of the bakery ahead. As Jayce passed, he grabbed her arm, whirling her around.
“Please,” he croaked. His eyes darted around at the crowd, then locked on hers, twitchy and frantic.
Was it just her, or did his eyes seem a tad bloodshot? Most likely he’d spent the night drinking at a tavern.
“Excuse me,” Jayce said, shaking off his hold, anxious to be delayed in such a manner.
“They say you can help,” the man said.
Jayce paused and faced him again, curiosity getting the better of her. “Do you need help?” She was inviting trouble, but she never could resist a problem that needed solving.
The man pulled up his coat and shirt sleeve with several shaky jerks of his hand, revealing an uneven patch of skin, a pale gray compared to the healthy tan on the rest of his arm.
Jayce’s darted around the sidewalk. “Put that away,” she hissed. She didn’t want to start a riot on the streets. She moved a little closer to the man. “You know what that is?”
The man’s eyes welled up and he nodded. “I’m going to die, ain’t I?”
She wouldn’t give him false hope, but she could make him comfortable.
“What’s your name?” she said instead of answering.
“Jones. Raegar Jones.” The man wiped his hand across his nose sniffing.
“Tell me where you live, Raegar,” Jayce said, taking out her charcoal and parchment.
“You ain’t going to see me right away?” the man asked, pulling his brown linen cap off his head.
“I can’t. The Uppertown gets seen to first, then I can work my way down to you.” Jayce put a careful hand on his arm and softened her voice. “This is only the first symptom, you have time.”
The man choked on his emotion, but managed to get out where he lived, wringing his cap until it had become completely misshapen.
Jayce reassured him he would visit later that day, then bid him farewell and headed up the steep cobblestone street towards Uppertown, where nobles waited for their remedies. She passed several clients’ houses in town, but hurried on.
The nobles were always served first. The royal family had their own apothecary, but Jayce had a few clients among the noble houses, and then she had to attend their soldiers and servants before she could aid those upon whose backs the upper classes thrived. An unfair system, as Jayce would prefer to visit those with the most extreme issues first, but she also needed her noble clients and the marks they paid her to make up for those that couldn’t pay anything at all.
Jayce slowed as she walked through the market. Awnings unfurled before her eyes, the colorful cloth catching the first rays of sunlight as they peeked around the top of the Hobhorn. She tried to resist, feeling the tug of urgency to get to her appointments, but one particularly pretty turquoise rock caught her eye and she gave in and stepped towards the stall.
She took off one glove and picked up one of the pieces. The coldness of the stones was far preferable to the coldness of her plants. The rocks and gems said nothing to her, and Jayce reveled in their stoic silence and beauty.
“I have a special discount for beautiful women,” a voice said from under the awning. A man stepped out, sweeping his straight brown hair from his eyes and polishing a large purple gem brooch with a cloth.
Jayce dropped the bracelet. “And what makes you think I need something like that to be beautiful?” She said with false sternness, holding her basket in her elbow and sliding her glove on with a practiced motion.
Nels laughed and tossed his hair again, looking down at the jewel he held. “Oh, you certainly don’t,” he said. And then he stepped closer, putting the brooch down and leaning across his table of wares.
“You heard about the latest cure?” He said in a loud whisper, glancing around as if he held some great secret.
Jayce rolled her eyes. “Who hasn’t by now?”
Nels licked his lips. “Do you - do you think it works?”
Jayce glanced away, playing with a loose thread on the leather that covered the basket’s handle so she could touch it without hearing the words of the reeds that had died to make it.
“You know it’s bosh, Nels. Like every remedy that they’ve touted before.”
“But have you known anyone who has taken it? Seen its effects?” he pressed.
“I’m sure I will soon. People are fools, lined up to be experimented on by people they hardly know,” Jayce said.
Nels straightened and picked up the brooch, placing it on a velvet pillow at the center of his display.
“It’s gotta be better than the last one at least, you think?”
Jayce adjusted her grip on her basket. “I’ll let you know what I find out.”
“I’m just waiting for the day when you tell me you’ve found it. The cure, I mean.”
Jayce’s mouth dried up. She didn’t want to think about her failure or the alchemistry set tucked away on a high shelf in her apothecary. She hadn’t touched it in nearly a year, burned out by failure after failure, all of her expensive training and resources gone to waste, leaving her with nothing but a heap of debt.
She jumped when Nels spoke again. “Take care of yourself. I don’t want to hear that the plague’s finally caught up with you.” His voice choked a little at the end, and then he leaned in and his lips brushed her cheek.
Jayce stood there in shock, her hand halfway to her face. Nels busied himself on the other side of his stall, rearranging the already neat rows of rings.
“Sell lots,” Jayce said, the words from her own lips sounding far away in her daze. She walked away as fast as she could, nearly running into the first few people she crossed paths with.
Why was it so difficult to discern how she felt about Nels? Sure, they flirted in the market and danced at the Midtown celebrations, but she’d never considered him as anything more than a friend.
And why not? He had a ready smile and a kind heart, and made a decent living. Many of the town girls considered him one of the more handsome eligible bachelors of Midtown.
But Jayce wasn’t interested in marriage at the moment. She also wasn’t nearly so desirable, with the risks of her job and the debts she owed. No man would take those things on lightly.
Nels was better off pursuing someone else, and she’d have to make sure he realized that.
Thoughts of what she’d say to avoid breaking the man’s heart kept her occupied until she reached the first of the noble houses in Uppertown. She didn’t have any business at the palace, so any order she attended the nobles would be acceptable. Her legs already ached from the climb up the hill.
She knocked on the door to the house of Lady Tanulia, a middle-aged woman with dark hair and a biting sense of humor who, fortunately, only needed a salve for a condition that caused patches of itchy, dry skin all over her body.
Jayce handed the pot of salve to the maidservant who answered the door and waited until the maid returned with payment, which Jayce tucked into a leather pouch specifically for collecting her dues.
Eighty-percent of it would go to the debt collector, on account of the life-debt Jayce owed to the queen.
Jayce’s belly pinched at the thought. According to her ledgers, at the rate she made money, she’d pay off the life-debt when she was a hundred and three, and not an age sooner, unless she came into a sudden fortune. Inherited a realm, more like.
She didn’t like to think about why she was in debt, and she cleared the thoughts away as she approached the next house a few doors from Lady’s Tanulia’s place.
Lord Syfas had summoned her last week to inquire about a worrisome gray patch of skin behind his left ear. As expected, the patch had indicated the first sign of the plague.
He’d been immediately quarantined, and the staff in his home reduced to the bare minimum. Luckily, he was without family, and there were no children or wife to send away. Unluckily, as soon as word had got out that he’d contracted the plague, his shipyard had been given to a fortunate, though inexperienced, cousin. Lord Syfas, far too young for such a fate, was left to waste away from a plague that had no cure, and watch as his legacy was squandered.
“I’m here to see Lord Syfas,” Jayce said to the man who opened the door.
The manservant hesitated. “Lord Syfas has no further need for your services. He has been cured.”
Jayce startled, grabbing her basket to keep it from sliding off her arm. “That’s impossible,” she said. She pushed past the manservant to enter the manor.
“He has no need for an apothecary, miss. He’s in perfect condition,” the manservant said, sounding apologetic.
“I’ll examine him for myself, thank you,” Jayce snapped. She rushed down the hall to the first drawing room, but the furnishings had been rearranged. No bed.
She stumbled away from the room, looking to the manservant, who gave her a look of politeness that barely contained the exasperation he must feel at her barging into his employer’s home.
“He takes his morning tea in the dining hall,” the manservant supplied.
Jayce walked, her steps less harried and more measured this time. A cure. Nels, as well as most of the Lower and Midtown, had been overrun with rumors about a cure. One that finally seemed to work, one that took the frightening gray pallor from the skin of the plague victims.
But no one knew anyone personally who had taken it. It was lord this, lady that, such-and-such soldier. They were all second-hand stories that no one could confirm, and Jayce wondered if things really had gotten so desperate that people were making up stories now just to give them all hope to cling to.
“I can feel your thoughts from here. They’re like a violent storm. Come, see for yourself,” Lord Syfas called.
Jayce froze in the doorway of the dining hall, staring at the man who only the cycle prior had been bed-ridden, wheezing. The man she had been able to provide with only small comforts and empty reassurances.
Now he sat hale and hearty as she’d ever seen him, eating a full meal with gusto. He grinned when he saw her, patting his mouth with a napkin and swinging his arms wide as he stood from the table.
“Apothecary Jayce, good news! I am healed!”
Lord Syfas clapped his hands and rubbed them together. “Gremin, fetch the bottle, would you? It’s a miracle, Miss Jayce. An absolute miracle. Before I tell you, I need you to prepare yourself, lest I am forced to use my calming ability on you.” His bushy eyebrows rose, and after a moment’s hesitation, Jayce took an obligatory calming breath and smiled at the much-revived lord.
“Excellent. Good work, miss. You’ll be pleased to hear that the rumors are true. I’ve had only two doses of this miracle cure. After the first, my breathing eased. After the second, well, you see the results!” He spread his arms, pulling up the sleeves on his rich blue coat, turning his head so she could see the patches of gray skin had, indeed, receded.
Gremlin returned and handed Jayce a blue glass bottle with a bow. No labels or etchings indicated what might be inside.
Jayce shook and uncorked the bottle, startling Lord Syfas who flinched, but said nothing. She sniffed. Sweet, floral notes wafted into her nostrils. Along with something…metallic? She closed her eyes, parsing through the unintelligible whispers that floated into her senses with the scent of the mixture.
“Hold this,” she said to the manservant, handing him the open bottle and cork.
She put her basket down, the contents disheveled from her run through the manor. She pinched the finger of her glove and pulled it off.
Fully aware that Lord Syfas and his manservant both tensed as she lowered her pinky, Jayce closed her eyes and touched the brown liquid that had glistened on the surface of the solution.
The coldness arrived first. A stinging, frigid sensation like touching a metal pole in the middle of winter, the kind of cold that made her skin stick to the metal and for a moment, made her fear it might tear the first delicate layer off. Unforgiving cold, spreading from her finger, up her arm, to her heart and stomach, making her nauseated.
Somehow, the cold allowed the plant words to unravel from nonsense to words.
Jayce smelled copper, and tasted it on her tongue as she touched the drop on her pinky finger to the tip. Bitterness flooded her mouth, drying it as she ran her tongue around her cheeks to get the fullness of the taste.
Wormwood wept. Toad’s foot chattered. A dozen other plants she herself had tried in remedies for the plague called out to her, clamoring for attention.
Whoever made this remedy had used a rose extract to cover up the smell - it wasn’t good for much else beyond beauty products. What was that lingering, cloying sweetness? She tried to pick out the words, willing the plant to surface, to tell her its secrets.
She ran her finger around the rim, gritting her teeth against waves of chill that washed through her as she searched for any other elements that might clue her in as to what was in the bottle.
The plant that had eluded her hissed its name, a crackling, quiet sound like a dying fire.
Noxbrosia.
Jayce froze. No apothecary in their right mind would put that in medicine. Not if they wanted to keep their head. Not unless they wanted to poison everyone who took it.
“What is wrong? Something is wrong. Tell me,” Lord Syfas said, and his magic pried at Jayce with a tug that tried to make her reveal what she was thinking.
“Hush!” Jayce snapped, touching the mixture to her tongue again, fighting back a shiver.
I cling to the mind and muddle the senses. I disturb the nerves and lock the bones. I clear the skin and drain the blood. I free the body from sickness.
The plant hissed its truths to Jayce, and she sifted through them, looking for the lie. There was always a lie.
I free the body from sickness.
One form of freedom from sickness could be death. Only the most warped would consider it such, so she supposed the plant had managed a half-truth. A twisted truth. But she knew better. No one who took this remedy would survive more than a few doses, especially at the concentration she had sensed when she’d come in contact with the solution.
She stepped away from the manservant and the bottle he held, clasping her hands in front of herself.
“I apologize for my abrupt behavior, my lord,” Jayce said, rubbing at the slightly bald spot on her right eyebrow. She had a bad habit of rubbing it when she felt stressed or anxious, and the fine hairs had never grown back.
Lord Syfas breathed deep. “I do, as well. It was uncouth of me to attempt to extract information from you in such a manner. You have always been forthcoming.”
“To put it delicately, Lord Syfas, do you know anyone who might want you dead? Because this remedy is poison.”
“Poison? How am I not dead already, then? I’ve had two doses,” Lord Syfas said, doubt clear in his voice.
“It seems to be a low dose, meant to lead to a sort of gradual demise. May I examine you, my lord? I will be brief,” Jayce said.
Lord Syfas’s brows furrowed together, but he nodded, sitting down.
Jayce crossed the room and looked into his eyes. Bloodshot. Did he realize what he’d taken? She measured his pulse and his breath, noting that both were elevated. His skin was clear, that much was true. The tell-tale gray color that was the first symptom of the plague had gone completely, and there was a healthy ruddiness to his cheeks.
Although the ruddiness seemed more like a fever flush, and the rest of his skin appeared pale, though not gray.
“How do you feel, generally?” Jayce said, taking out her notebook and writing down her observations.
Lord Syfas shrugged. “Better. Isn’t that enough?”
“Are you experiencing any headaches? Racing heart? Shortness of breath?”
Lord Syfas frowned. “A bit. Worse after taking my dose, but I assumed that just meant it was working to drive the plague from my blood.”
Jayce looked hard at her paper, forcing her eyes to keep from rolling. Medicine didn’t chase away illness like a dog herding sheep. The best kinds supported the body’s own healing mechanisms, and anyone claiming their remedies cured all ailments, or very powerful ones, by purging it from the system, well, they were after money, plain and simple.
“The last thing I need from you is this: who gave you this remedy?”
Lord Syfas glanced at Gremin, as if to confirm before replying. “A messenger arrived late last cycle. No one I knew, but they said the remedy came post-haste from the palace, and that I’d been chosen to be part of the trial. I asked if it was the same as the one we’d been hearing about in the rumors, and the messenger smiled and told me yes, it was.”
Jayce put her quill down and raised her eyebrows. “So I’m to believe that you allowed a stranger to enter your home after dark, believed his claim that he was sent by the queen herself, and knowingly drank this mystery liquid without consulting either physician or apothecary?”
“To be fair, I sensed no guile. My ability would have detected subterfuge. It often has in the past, and only a very skilled liar can thwart me,” Lord Syfas insisted.
“Then perhaps the messenger believed what they’d been told. It’s a simple workaround,” Jayce said, more to herself than to the nobleman sitting in front of her.
Lord Syfas sputtered with indignance, rubbing a hand across the salt-and-pepper stubble on his face, then drooped.
“Yes. That is what happened.” He looked shame-faced. “But you would have done the same in my place. You’ve taken great care to reduce my symptoms, apothecary Jayce. But even you do not have a cure. So you must understand my desperation to avoid dying, or worse, becoming one of the moribund. You must understand how my hope kindled when I was offered another chance.”
Jayce could understand - because Lord Syfas was using his ability to project the exact emotion he felt in her direction. It made Jayce queasy, and she shook out her skirts as if to distract herself from the uncomfortable sensation of feeling another’s emotions.
“I do I understand,” Jayce said, though in her head she cursed hope and the ignorant and desperate things it made people do. She’d learned her lesson five ages ago, and would no longer give hope permission to overpower her common sense.
Jayce took a deep breath in before continuing. She hated this part of her job. She hated giving anyone bad news, and hated even more the feeling of inadequacy that came when she had to tell someone there was nothing more she could do.
“Lord Syfas, you must understand that I want you well. I wish to see you well more than anything. The plant used to make this remedy will kill you. Not tonight, not tomorrow, but slowly and painfully. Your joints will stop moving, your mind will stop reasoning, and after that, the only place you will find your cure is in death.”
She watched his face carefully. His eyes had widened, still bloodshot. Was it possible for them to be more so? And the color had drained from his face, accentuating the fever flush even more. She would need to check on him later that night. Did she have anything that would help flush his blood?
“Drink lots of water,” Jayce added as an afterthought. “Avoid alcohol, that will only make it harder for your body to rid itself of this poison.”
“But what about my skin?” Lord Syfas turned his hands over, showing her where the gray patches had once been, and were now a healthy pinkish color.
“Would you rather have clear skin and certainly die? Or gray skin and have a chance to defeat the plague? A true cure might yet be found, and until then you aren’t to do anything irrational,” Jayce said firmly.
“As you say,” Lord Syfas stammered, inclining his head to her. “Thank you for the reminder, apothecary Jayce. And for taking the time to correct my foolishness. I’m indebted to you.”
“Nonsense. I haven’t saved your life yet. Only prolonged it,” Jayce replied shortly.
She turned to the manservant. “Gremin, please send word to me if his condition changes in any way. Otherwise, allow him to go about his duties as he feels fit. I wouldn’t tell anyone about this supposed cure, and if that messenger returns, tell him that I am quite interested in discussing the natures of this remedy with whomever concocted it.”
Gremin nodded.
Jayce placed her notebook and quill back in her satchel, and returned to where her basket lay on the floor. She eyed the blue bottle in Gremin’s hand.
“May I take a sample of your remedy with me? I wish to study it. You’re very lucky that you’re not dead, my lord, and if the creator of this remedy continues to hand it out, I fear we may see some deaths, and not a few.”
Lord Syfas pressed his hand into his eyes, leaning his elbow on the surface of the long table. He waved his free hand carelessly in her direction.
“Take it all. I have no death wish.”
Tension whooshed out with Jayce’s next breath, and her shoulders dropped.
She inclined her head. “Very wise, my lord. Now, if you’ll excuse me, I have other clients to see.”
Gremin escorted her to the doors, handing her the blue bottle just before she left.
As she placed in it’s own area in her basket, her mind wandered ahead to the other customers she had to see that cycle, wondering how many of the ones sick with the plague had also taken the mysterious, poison-based remedy.
She waved farewell to Gremin and set out up the street towards another noblewoman’s house, concocting potential remedies in her head to counteract the poison.
Everything went just as planned for the rest of the cycle. No strange remedies, no mysterious messengers, no surprises, and Jayce walked through the dusk-darkened streets with the final notes of the Evening song hanging in the air.
No sooner had she entered the apothecary, removed her boots and stockings, and sat down to rub her feet, a knock came at the door. She opened on a messenger with a somber face bringing news of the untimely and shocking demise of Lord Syfas.
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Quill and the Vial SIGNED Special Edition Paperback
Order yours before they're all claimed!
Plants lie, and Jayce can hear them.
For seven years, a deadly plague has threatened the realm. Jayce has survived by using her plant magic to make and sell remedies, but most of her funds have been sucked dry by a corrupt debt collector and the impossible debt she owes the realm.
When a so-called “miracle cure” poisons Jayce’s clients, she seeks evidence to convict its creator of murder. Digging too deep exposes enemies that stalk and threaten her as she flees the capital, heading for the realm’s largest library.
On the way, she’ll face warrior monks, carnivorous reindeer, and her own dark past as she journeys to find a cure before the Plague King rises to wipe out the realm.
Jayce failed the world once. Can she prevent it from happening again?
THE QUILL AND THE VIAL is the first book in the Plague King Chronicles, a magical epic fantasy trilogy that is both cozy and dark. If you like warm drinks by the fire, vast lands, and fantastic adventures, you’ll love the Plague King Chronicles.
Travel the realm of Neldor with Jayce and Sav and buy this book today!
This SIGNED special edition paperback book comes with:
Painted edges
Colored Illustrations
Foiled and raised cover title font
Bonus apothecary journal pages
Adorable chapter headings
Fantasy map
Foil bookmark
Stickers
Author signature and personalization
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Quill and the Vial SIGNED Special Edition Hardcover
This is the second print run, now with NEW under the cover art. Order yours before they're all claimed!
Plants lie, and Jayce can hear them.
For seven years, a deadly plague has threatened the realm. Jayce has survived by using her plant magic to make and sell remedies, but most of her funds have been sucked dry by a corrupt debt collector and the impossible debt she owes the realm.
When a so-called “miracle cure” poisons Jayce’s clients, she seeks evidence to convict its creator of murder. Digging too deep exposes enemies that stalk and threaten her as she flees the capital, heading for the realm’s largest library.
On the way, she’ll face warrior monks, carnivorous reindeer, and her own dark past as she journeys to find a cure before the Plague King rises to wipe out the realm.
Jayce failed the world once. Can she prevent it from happening again?
THE QUILL AND THE VIAL is the first book in the Plague King Chronicles, a magical epic fantasy trilogy that is both cozy and dark. If you like warm drinks by the fire, vast lands, and fantastic adventures, you’ll love the Plague King Chronicles.
Travel the realm of Neldor with Jayce and Sav and buy this book today!
This SIGNED hardcover book comes with:
- Painted edges
- Art UNDER the dust jacket!
- Colored Illustrations
- Foiled and raised dust jacket cover title font
- Bonus apothecary journal pages
- Adorable chapter headings
- Fantasy map
- Foiled bookmark
- Stickers
- Author signature and personalization
Shipping internationally is available and will be billed seperately once I've gotten an accurate quote. I will email you with the final total, so please watch your email!
Quill and the Vial AUDIOBOOK
“An epic fantasy adventure with a cozy, magical twist.”
Jayce has the unique ability to communicate with plants, giving her an edge as she journeys across a plague-threatened realm on a quest to find a cure.
The Quill and the Vial is an immersive, fun read for fans of epic fantasy looking for something both sweeping and heartwarming.
Get the audiobook of The Quill and the Vial for only $10! Discount only available on my bookstore.
**This is a digital download. A link to download on Bookfunnel will be provided via a PDF download after purchase.**
Quill and the Vial Ebook
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Plants lie, and Jayce can hear them.
For seven years, a deadly plague has threatened the realm. Jayce has survived by using her plant magic to make and sell remedies, but most of her funds have been sucked dry by a corrupt debt collector and the impossible debt she owes the realm.
When a so-called “miracle cure” poisons Jayce’s clients, she seeks evidence to convict its creator of murder. Digging too deep exposes enemies that stalk and threaten her as she flees the capital, heading for the realm’s largest library.
On the way, she’ll face warrior monks, carnivorous reindeer, and her own dark past as she journeys to find a cure before the Plague King rises to wipe out the realm.
Jayce failed the world once. Can she prevent it from happening again?
THE QUILL AND THE VIAL is the first book in the Plague King Chronicles, a magical epic fantasy trilogy that is both cozy and dark. If you like warm drinks by the fire, vast lands, and fantastic adventures, you’ll love the Plague King Chronicles.
Travel the realm of Neldor with Jayce and Sav and buy this book today!
**This is a digital download. A link to download on Bookfunnel will be provided via a PDF download after purchase.**
Arrow & the Ivy SIGNED Special Edition Paperback
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Trees keep secrets.
With a magical plague devastating Neldor, Jayce journeys to the prestigious Ivory Guilds to seek a translation and a cure. Yet the Guilds, with their ancient halls of knowledge, are anything but safe. Secrets grow like ivy in the shadows—tangled with ambition, betrayal, and whispers of rebellion.
The deeper Jayce dives into her quest to find a cure, the more evidence arises that her enigmatic ally, Sav, withholds information that endangers them all. To complicate matters further, a childhood friend guards his own secret—a truth she’s not ready to confront. As these secrets unravel, Jayce must decide who she can truly trust.
Can Jayce untangle the mysteries of the Guilds before the plague consumes everything? Or will the truth she uncovers unravel her world—and her heart?
The Arrow and the Ivy, the enchanting second book in the Plague King Chronicles, is a tale for readers who crave rich worlds, quiet magic, and unforgettable characters.
Curl up with a cup of tea and continue the Plague King Chronicles adventure today!
This SIGNED paperback book comes with:
- Printed edges
- Foiled and raised cover title font
- Bonus journal pages
- Fancy chapter headings
- Character art
- Foiled bookmark
- Stickers
- Author signature and personalization
Shipping internationally is available and will be billed seperately once I've gotten an accurate quote. I will email you with the final total, so please watch your email!
Arrow & the Ivy SIGNED Special Edition Hardcover
Order yours before they're all claimed!
Trees keep secrets.
With a magical plague devastating Neldor, Jayce journeys to the prestigious Ivory Guilds to seek a translation and a cure. Yet the Guilds, with their ancient halls of knowledge, are anything but safe. Secrets grow like ivy in the shadows—tangled with ambition, betrayal, and whispers of rebellion.
The deeper Jayce dives into her quest to find a cure, the more evidence arises that her enigmatic ally, Sav, withholds information that endangers them all. To complicate matters further, a childhood friend guards his own secret—a truth she’s not ready to confront. As these secrets unravel, Jayce must decide who she can truly trust.
Can Jayce untangle the mysteries of the Guilds before the plague consumes everything? Or will the truth she uncovers unravel her world—and her heart?
The Arrow and the Ivy, the enchanting second book in the Plague King Chronicles, is a tale for readers who crave rich worlds, quiet magic, and unforgettable characters.
Curl up with a cup of tea and continue the Plague King Chronicles adventure today!
This SIGNED hardcover book comes with:
- Printed edges
- Foiled Art UNDER the dust jacket!
- Colored Illustrations
- Foiled and raised dust jacket cover title font
- Bonus journal pages
- Fancy chapter headings
- Character art
- Fantasy map
- Foiled bookmark
- Stickers
- Author signature and personalization
Shipping internationally is available and will be billed seperately once I've gotten an accurate quote. I will email you with the final total, so please watch your email!
Arrow & the Ivy Audiobook
The lovely Elaina Anderson has returned as narrator for book 2!
Trees keep secrets.
With a magical plague devastating Neldor, Jayce journeys to the prestigious Ivory Guilds to seek a translation and a cure. Yet the Guilds, with their ancient halls of knowledge, are anything but safe. Secrets grow like ivy in the shadows—tangled with ambition, betrayal, and whispers of rebellion.
The deeper Jayce dives into her quest to find a cure, the more evidence arises that her enigmatic ally, Sav, withholds information that endangers them all. To complicate matters further, a childhood friend guards his own secret—a truth she’s not ready to confront. As these secrets unravel, Jayce must decide who she can truly trust.
Can Jayce untangle the mysteries of the Guilds before the plague consumes everything? Or will the truth she uncovers unravel her world—and her heart?
The Arrow and the Ivy, the enchanting second book in the Plague King Chronicles, is a tale for readers who crave rich worlds, quiet magic, and unforgettable characters.
Curl up with a cup of tea and continue the Plague King Chronicles adventure today!
**Delivered via a PDF containing a Bookfunnel link**
Arrow & the Ivy Ebook
Trees keep secrets.
With a magical plague devastating Neldor, Jayce journeys to the prestigious Ivory Guilds to seek a translation and a cure. Yet the Guilds, with their ancient halls of knowledge, are anything but safe. Secrets grow like ivy in the shadows—tangled with ambition, betrayal, and whispers of rebellion.
The deeper Jayce dives into her quest to find a cure, the more evidence arises that her enigmatic ally, Sav, withholds information that endangers them all. To complicate matters further, a childhood friend guards his own secret—a truth she’s not ready to confront. As these secrets unravel, Jayce must decide who she can truly trust.
Can Jayce untangle the mysteries of the Guilds before the plague consumes everything? Or will the truth she uncovers unravel her world—and her heart?
The Arrow and the Ivy, the enchanting second book in the Plague King Chronicles, is a tale for readers who crave rich worlds, quiet magic, and unforgettable characters.
Curl up with a cup of tea and continue the Plague King Chronicles adventure today!
**Delivered via a PDF containing a Bookfunnel link**
