“Welcome
to Viros! My name is Jarlath Leandros—“
“Why
don’t you tell them the truth,” Ellard Tetsu breaks in with clear disapproval.
“You’re Prince Jarlath, heir to the House of the Cat.”
Jarlath
jerks his thumb at Ellard. “He is my bodyguard, and is always trying to tell me
what to do.”
“But
it’s not safe—”
“Rubbish.
As I was saying before I was so rudely interrupted. Welcome to the city of
Viros, the main trade center on the planet of Viros. I’m your tour guide for
the day.”
A
snort burst from Ellard, and Jarlath raised his hand in a stop motion.
He
continues. “Viros has a monarchy. My father is the current king. As you can
see, the city sits on a hill. The castle at the top dominates the skyline, huge
and imposing. Outside the castle is a large square, then the city falls away in
terraced streets, the levels winding down the hill until they reach the wall
that surrounds the city for security purposes.
We’ll
start with the castle, since I have an “in” with the King and Queen.
This
is a rear door. Don’t worry about the guards. As long as you don’t have any
concealed weapons, we’ll be fine if we take a quick peek from the foyer. The
security guards might ask to see your identification. Get it ready please.”
Jarlath
ushers everyone inside and waits for the security process to end.
“The
queen—my mother—is a big collector, so the castle is full of weird things from
all over the universe. Ellard and I weren’t allowed to play inside the castle
when we were kittens in case we broke something valuable.”
“We’re
still not allowed to play in the castle,” Ellard says dryly.
Jarlath
chuckles. “True! Come this way… this is the ballroom where the dances take
place. My parents want me to marry and are arranging a ball where they intend
to invite the most eligible women in the kingdom.” He pulls a face. “Let’s go
outside.” He gestures through another door and they all amble outside. “This is
the market square. The evening markets are a lot of fun with the tiny pop-up
restaurants and stalls selling all sorts of things. I’ve been trying out the
different foods from neighboring planets, even the hangover cure—a malpack
head. It looks pretty gross but once it’s sliced and seasoned it’s not so bad.”
One
of the young ladies in the tour party lets out a squeak of horror on sighting a
food stall selling nothing but heads.
Jarlath
hides his amusement and steers clear in case she faints. “Ellard, you deal with
her,” he whispers and grins at his bodyguard’s grumpy face. “The feline statue
over there is in honor of a past king – the current King’s grandfather. Oops!
Mind the kids playing. You stand on one of their tails and there will be tears
and snarling. Come this way and we’ll wander down to the street on the next
level. This part of the city is rundown and needs restoring and rebuilding. We’ll
continue to the next level. This used to be the magic quarter, but most of the
practitioners fled the city when a prior king placed a restriction on the use
of magic. If you’re interested, I suggest you come back at the end of the tour.
You’ll
notice as we move toward the city walls that the buildings are becoming
increasingly derelict. The poor live in this area. These squalid conditions
need fixing. The king…when I take over as king I’d like to make improvements
and bring the city into the future. A new space port for a start to bring in more tourists. I hope
you’ll help us spread the word.”
Jarlath
flashes a smile “That concludes our tour for today. Do you have any questions?”
Photos:
Top, from left - 1.
The House of the Cat castle interior, 2.
Claimed & Seduced, my sexy body *wink*, 3.
The soldiers patrolling the castle
Bottom,
from left - 1.
Malpack heads – the best hangover cure ever, 2.
A local stallholder posing for tourists, 3.
Me, Prince Jarlath, in my feline form. *sexy beast*
Jarlath, our tour guide today,
appears in Claimed & Seduced and Ellard, his bodyguard appears in Hunted
& Seduced, both books in the House of the Cat series.
Jarlath’s story (Claimed &
Seduced) also appears in the Dark Legends box set, which is due out on 17
January 2017.
Grab the box set now since
it is 99c for a limited time.
Purchase your copy of DARK
LEGENDS here:
Thanks so much for having me to visit, Louise.
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