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    Where Magic Rules
    Where Magic Rules
    Where Magic Rules
    Ebook107 pages1 hour

    Where Magic Rules

    By Carmen Webster Buxton

    5/5

    ()

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    About this ebook

    A fantasy novella: Joseph Andrews wandered away from an Army Reserve training exercise and into an alternate world where magic rules science and mages rule the land. He has learned the language and taken service with the kindest mage he can find, but he still dreams of the real world.

    When Joe rescues a wounded soldier in service to a dark lord, he finds he has saved not a young boy but a woman who calls herself Phillip and insists she's really a man. Joe is shocked when the Great Mage orders him to go on a quest with Phillip but his surprise is mild compared to Phillip's outrage.

    Part road movie, part romantic comedy, this novella follows Joe and Phillip as they try to fulfill the Great Mage's demand without killing each other along the way.

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherCarmen Webster Buxton
    Release dateJul 17, 2012
    ISBN9780983187165
    Where Magic Rules
    Author

    Carmen Webster Buxton

    I'm a pretty balanced person. I like both cats and dogs. I like a firm mattress but with lots of pillows. And I write science fiction and fantasy.I have several several novels and one novella as ebooks; check my website for more information on me and my work.

    Read more from Carmen Webster Buxton

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    • 5/5
      This fantasy is a change for Carmen, whose previous two novels were science fiction. An Army Reserve soldier, Joseph Andrews, has mysteriously been whisked into another universe where magic works, but they still can't conjure up a cup of coffee. It seems that coffee is the item most missed in works featuring travelers in time and other world. (Running water and flush toilets would be my most wanted feature.) Obviously, the reason that fantasy worlds are medieval is that their creators make them so, but perhaps that makes sense. The people with the power, wizards and so forth, have no need of technology, and the ordinary people, who could use it, don't have the support to develop it. There is an argument that the reason for the development in technology in Europe is that in monasteries, the people who did the work also made the decisions, and so they had an interest in technology that slave-owners or people with lots of servants didn't. I can see a couple of potential holes in that hypothesis, but it's an interesting thought.The story is sword-and-sorcery; the society is broken up into fiefdoms run by wizards and Joe ends up working for an embattled wizard on the sword side of operations where his military training in unarmed combat is invaluable. Touched by the youth of an opposing soldier, he disobeys orders and goes out into the battle field and rescues him only to find he/she appears to be a woman who insists that she is a man named Phillip. It is at this point that the Wizard reminds him that the difference between himself and the Dark Lords is that he is a benevolent despot, but he's still a despot.He orders Joe and Phillip out on a quest to find dragon scales for a potion, and perhaps for other purposes. Whatever you have been expecting of a dragon, except for being large, winged, and reptilian, it probably isn't like this dragon. He's one of the most charming characters in the story. I won't reveal any more of the plot, except to say that I enjoyed the book and its twists. While its not a humorous tale, there is quite a bit of humor in it, which was one of the main charms of the story.
    • 5/5
      This fantasy is a change for Carmen, whose previous two novels were science fiction. An Army Reserve soldier, Joseph Andrews, has mysteriously been whisked into another universe where magic works, but they still can't conjure up a cup of coffee. It seems that coffee is the item most missed in works featuring travelers in time and other world. (Running water and flush toilets would be my most wanted feature.) Obviously, the reason that fantasy worlds are medieval is that their creators make them so, but perhaps that makes sense. The people with the power, wizards and so forth, have no need of technology, and the ordinary people, who could use it, don't have the support to develop it. There is an argument that the reason for the development in technology in Europe is that in monasteries, the people who did the work also made the decisions, and so they had an interest in technology that slave-owners or people with lots of servants didn't. I can see a couple of potential holes in that hypothesis, but it's an interesting thought.The story is sword-and-sorcery; the society is broken up into fiefdoms run by wizards and Joe ends up working for an embattled wizard on the sword side of operations where his military training in unarmed combat is invaluable. Touched by the youth of an opposing soldier, he disobeys orders and goes out into the battle field and rescues him only to find he/she appears to be a woman who insists that she is a man named Phillip. It is at this point that the Wizard reminds him that the difference between himself and the Dark Lords is that he is a benevolent despot, but he's still a despot.He orders Joe and Phillip out on a quest to find dragon scales for a potion, and perhaps for other purposes. Whatever you have been expecting of a dragon, except for being large, winged, and reptilian, it probably isn't like this dragon. He's one of the most charming characters in the story. I won't reveal any more of the plot, except to say that I enjoyed the book and its twists. While its not a humorous tale, there is quite a bit of humor in it, which was one of the main charms of the story.

    Book preview

    Where Magic Rules - Carmen Webster Buxton

    Where Magic Rules

    by Carmen Webster Buxton

    Cracked Mirror Press

    Rockville, MD

    WHERE MAGIC RULES

    A Cracked Mirror Press novella

    ISBN: 978-0-9831871-6-5 (EPUB)

    ISBN:  978-0-9831871-6-5 (Kindle)

    © 2012

    Karen Wester Newton

    All rights reserved

    Smashwords Edition

    Smashwords License Statement

    This ebook is licensed for your personal enjoyment only. This ebook may not be re-sold or given away to other people. If you would like to share this book with another person, please purchase an additional copy for each reader. If you’re reading this book and did not purchase it, or it was not purchased for your use only, then please return to Smashwords.com and purchase your own copy. Thank you for respecting the hard work of this author.

    Other Cracked Mirror books by Carmen Webster Buxton:

    The Sixth Discipline

    No Safe Haven

    Tribes

    Shades of Empire

    For Risa, who proved

    that a writer can be friends

    with her copyeditor

    Table of Contents

    One: A Mystery

    Two: A Mage

    Three: A Quest

    Four: A Dragon

    Five: A Lesson

    Six: A Conundrum

    Seven: Pain

    Eight: The Price

    Nine: The Return

    Ten: The Decision

    Epilogue: The Truth

    Attention, Readers!

    One: A Mystery

    Good morning, sir.

    Joe came awake with a jerk. He had been dreaming he was getting coffee at Starbucks, but the stone walls of his room told him he wasn’t in Glencoe, Illinois. In this world there was no Starbucks, no Illinois—and no coffee.

    The boy who waited by his bed looked about ten—skinny, with brown hair and gray eyes and that solemn air so many children had here.

    Good morning, Joe said, in passable Katoah. Not knowing the language when he first arrived had been frustrating—and dangerous. Do I know you?

    No, sir. The boy ducked his head. My name is Mirek. Mother Wilhelmina would like to see you as soon as it’s convenient.

    Joe swung his feet to the floor and rubbed the stubble on his jaw. Has there been another assault?

    No, sir. The boy backed up and nodded at a tray on the dresser. I brought you something to break your fast.

    Joe saw a bowl of porridge, a slice of bread, and a cup of steaming brown liquid. Herb tea, one step up from dishwater. Joe recalled his dream. If only he had managed to drink the coffee before he woke! Thanks, he said, getting to his feet. Please tell Mother Wilhelmina I’ll be there soon.

    The boy bowed and left.

    Joe washed quickly. Even with steaming hot water from the copper ewer on the pot-bellied stove, a sponge bath in a chilly room was no fun. The early morning sun that streamed over the shutters provided light but no heat. The shutters gave Joe some privacy, as his rooms looked out on the central courtyard, a mark of his favor with the Great Mage. He checked himself in the mirror and decided he couldn’t put off shaving another day. He used a steel straight razor to scrape the whiskers from his face and remembered shaving in his apartment in Glencoe, in the bright luminescence of electric lights, with hot water gushing from a tap, shaving cream foaming from a can, and a safety razor with disposable blades sliding painlessly across his face. He gave a mental sigh for what was lost to him.

    Joe pulled on his clothes and wolfed down his breakfast, then cut through the central courtyard to reach the infirmary. The chill air still held vestiges of winter’s icy grip. It had been a hard winter, but at least the cold had kept the dark lords at bay.

    Joe’s boots crunched on the gravel as he crossed the courtyard. Mother Wilhelmina wasn’t in the tiny room that served as her office. Joe hesitated, then stepped back into the corridor. At the other end, a figure in a long gray robe and veil appeared.

    Joe started toward her. Mother Wilhelmina!

    She nodded but didn’t increase her speed. She was far from elderly, but she was old enough for Joe to feel that the obligation to hurry was his.

    He walked briskly until he was close enough to converse. Good morning, Mother. You wanted to see me?

    Under her veil her plump face looked as serene as it always did. Good morning, Joseph. Thank you for coming.

    She had a faint accent; her Katoah sounded softer, less Germanic. And every time she said his name, Joe missed his home. He had been Joey when he was little, then Joe in school, but his mother had always called him Joseph. From the day he met her, Mother Wilhelmina had done the same. Is anything wrong? Joe asked.

    She smiled reassurance, her brown eyes warming. Not precisely. I wanted to ask you something.

    What is it?

    Come this way. Mother Wilhelmina took his arm and led him down the corridor, pulling him into the ward for women patients. She walked to the end of the room where wicker screens enclosed a bed. Joe was surprised to see that the figure lying on the bed was a man, a boy actually. He had very short brown hair—Joe would have described him as having a crew-cut—and no sign of a beard. He lay on his back, his eyes closed, and didn’t stir. His finely sculpted features gave his young face a great deal of resolution.

    Joe recognized him at once. So he made it?

    This is the boy you rescued? Mother Wilhelmina said.

    Joe was surprised into staring at her. Yes, of course. When I saw him fall, he looked so young, I hated to think he might die, even though I knew he was on the other side. Will he live?

    Oh, yes.

    Joe took a moment to glance over the screens at the rest of the ward. What’s he doing here? Is the men’s ward full? I thought there weren’t many casualties.

    There weren’t. He’s here because he’s a she.

    Joe gawked at her. A she? You mean he’s a girl?

    A woman, actually, Mother Wilhelmina said. Sister Gertruda estimates her age at about twenty-one or twenty-two.

    Joe turned back to the figure on the bed, still incredulous.

    Is it so difficult to believe? Mother Wilhelmina asked.

    Yes, Joe said. I mean, he—she looks like a boy.

    But then, young boys are often difficult to distinguish from young girls.

    I suppose so. Joe stepped closer to the bed.

    What’s wrong? Mother Wilhelmina said. You still look shocked.

    Joe shrugged to convey his uncertainty. I don’t know. His—her hair is very short, but back home plenty of girls wore their hair short—although not usually this short. She could be a rock star—or a soldier in the army.

    She was a soldier in a dark lord’s army, Mother Wilhelmina said, her tone dry. I presume you mean the army in your homeland, the one that you were in when you came to us?

    I wasn’t a full-time soldier, Joe said. I was in the Reserves—like an emergency army. He glanced down at the wounded woman again. Why would she pretend to be a man?

    I’m about to ask her. But first, I wanted to know if she was truly fighting in the battle.

    Joe could recall the scene easily enough. "Yeah, she was really fighting. She took at least one of our men out. I don’t think she killed him, but it wasn’t from lack of trying. She had a sword, and she knew how

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