Heirs of Legacy, Book 2:
The Keeper
Paul Lauritsen
Heirs of Legacy, Book 2: The Keeper
Copyright © 2020 Paul Lauritsen
All rights reserved
Cover art by Jacquelyn Novelli
Maps by Glen Lauritsen
Other Books by Paul Lauritsen
The Heirs of Legacy Series:
Book 1: The Prince
Book 2: The Keeper
Book 3: The Ramshuk
Book 4: The Captive
For my grandparents, Robert and Judy Miller:
Thank you for your never-ending love, support, and encouragement
Acknowledgements
I’ve mentioned previously that the process of writing a book is long, complicated, and full of minor and major details that each require careful consideration to make the story a success. What I failed to mention previously, is the process of writing a book can also be extraordinarily fun.
Some of this fun comes from the freedom of building a world, constructing characters, and weaving a story that is entirely your own. Some of it comes from sharing that story with your friends, family, and devoted readers. And some of the fun comes in the form of the people you work with to create a finished product – and I was very fortunate to work with some truly amazing individuals on this second book of the Heirs of Legacy series, The Keeper.
The first readers of The Keeper were, of course, my family. My parents and my brother have read this book cover to cover multiple times over. My father once again acted as my editor, for which I am very thankful. He is one of the most detail-oriented people I know, and I sometimes wonder if he knows this book even better than I do. My mother provided support and encouragement throughout the process as well, and my brother provided high-level critique on the story and characters, reading every draft I sent him and listening to every idea I bounced off of him.
I had other helpers along the way as well. I wrote The Keeper while I was a member of the Creative Writers of Aggieland at Texas A&M. Naturally I recruited a couple of my friends from the organization to help with preliminary editing and the overall flow and mechanics of the story. Jeremiah and Kevin both provided enormous amounts of feedback, which helped transform the original rough manuscript into the story it is today.
In addition to Jeremiah and Kevin, I had a third friend that helped me with this book in college, though his role was a little different. Alex, one of my friends from my chemical engineering classes, was the first to read this book in its entirety purely for fun. He wasn’t an editor or a fellow writer, just someone who was willing to give it a read. The fact that Alex read this book all the way through – and enjoyed it thoroughly – was an enormous confidence boost and another step towards making the dream of publishing a reality.
When the time came to publish The Keeper, there were two more people that contributed enormously. Jackie Novelli once again did outstanding work on the cover art, and my brother Glen Lauritsen did an excellent job on the maps that accompany this book. Thank you both for using your amazing talents to give life to this world and this story!
Last but certainly not least, I want to thank my grandparents, whom The Keeper is dedicated to. They have been an extraordinary source of support, patience, encouragement, and wisdom throughout my life. I could never thank them enough for everything they have taught me and everything they have done for me.
To those of you who were early readers of The Prince, thank you. To those of you who are new to the series, welcome! I hope you all enjoy this second book of the Heirs of Legacy series, The Keeper.
The Keeper
Prologue:
Ten Years Prior
Janis Kurkan watched the people passing through the once bountiful market of Ardia with narrowed eyes. Hardly a one took their gaze off the ground in front of them, and fewer stopped to examine the merchants’ meager wares. The only thing people in this war-torn region would spend money on now was food, and there was precious little of that. As a result, what had been a crossroads of the kingdom, colorful and boisterous, with delicious smells hanging on the air, was now a dirty, gray shell where scavenging rodents and birds outnumbered human patrons.
The warrior sipped slowly at his watered-down beer. Janis knew the tavern keeper had diluted it. He could always tell. This kind of knowledge only came to those who drank heavily. Janis justified the habit by reasoning that he had more grief to drown than anyone else. He had long since given up demanding a proper beer from the suffering tavern keepers. Times were hard on all, and Janis really did have much to be thankful for. He was alive, which was more than many a man could say after the war in the South.
Janis scowled. The war. It had claimed so many. And yet, they had not won. Merely made it too costly for the enemy to continue. They’d fought to a draw, but it would not have been so if not for Janis. If not for Lord Kurkan, hero of the realm, the war would have been very short.
A squad of armed and armored men marched past, a hooded and cloaked figure in their midst. Janis snorted. Probably some fool noble trying to avoid being robbed by disguising himself. If he wanted to go unrecognized, he should have left his guards behind.
Janis shifted in his seat and leaned forward, nursing his drink. A squabble amongst three street urchins, no more than six or seven years old, broke
