The King's Dog Release Day!

Art used with permission
"Understanding"
by Nick R. AKA Bardoftheseas

The King's Dog hit cyber shelves today, much to my excitement. And an artist I love pulled together this commission of the tragic lover-birds!
Thanks so much, it looks great.

Blurb:
Morgan lost everything he cared about most during the war: the love of his life, his self respect, and his honor. After killing a man in a barroom brawl he resigned himself to madness and imprisonment until his execution. But it seems his god has another path in mind. War has broken out again in the kingdom, and the army needs every recruit they can get their hands on, including convicts. Morgan will have to fight hard to overcome his inner demons, end the war, and perhaps get a second chance at love.

Snippet

Mold. Musty with the tang of rust and piss. Mushrooms, fat white things like bloated corpses grew on the walls. There was no light to send them away. The spiders and glow-worms kept steady company on their mushroom balconies.

Dust rose from the old hay scattered on the floor when I shifted off my tingling thigh. The ceiling was obscured, though by standing on the plank bench chained to the far wall I could brush my fingers against it. It was stone, rough and cold.

The summer was a blessing, the stone kept the cell cool. Though the stink of the upper cell blocks still managed to carry down on the steps of the guards. The winter was worst. The stone refused heat and the extra blankets they provided were more hole than fabric. It was my second summer, and I dreaded it for the winter was closer. I fingered the leather strap around my neck and its dangling metal circle.

I should be dead already. Should be, but wasn't. I killed that man. Killed him because I was too drunk to care what my oath was. Too drunk to care about my own life. I was supposed to hang for it. Supposed to… but they never came for me. Forgot about me. Stupid bastards forgot about me.