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BOOK BLURB:
"We came to
stop a war before it came to Cercia. And
it seems the war has come to us."
Responsibility
and patriotism spur Cercia's new leader, Quentin, to protect his beloved
country at all costs and he assigns Asahel and Felix to serve as ambassadors
and secret agents to Anjdur. Their journey quickly turns awry and Asahel and
Felix barely escape a devastating shipwreck, walk a tightrope of political tension,
and rescue an empress before they learn they must face an enemy closer to them
than they thought.
Will
they be able to uncover an assassin's plot before it's too late? Will Asahel be
able to unearth a secret that is vital to their mission? Will Cercia survive
its own revolution? In The Jealousy Glass,
Perkins boldly continues a series of unforgettable characters and events that
will leave you begging for more.
EXCERPT I
From
Chapter 1
The white monster swooped down.
All that Asahel could see was a
cloud of pale feathers as the Rukh lashed out at the cannon that had
fired. Screams throbbed around him as
the Rukh lifted, golden talons now rusted with blood. Broken bodies lay on the wood, ribs smashed
by the weight of unearthly claws. The
men were too distant for Asahel to put faces to as he fell to the deck, heart
pounding at the sound of the wings beating once more.
The Rukh dove again, its beak
rending the ship's prow. The heavy
timbers cracked like bones against the pressure. A slow tearing sound cut through the haze of
chaos settling over the ship as panic took hold. Spice spilled out of the hold the beast had
torn open. Pungent scents of oil and
cedar clouded the air as chests smashed against the bow, breaking apart into
the water below.
Asahel crawled on his knees
toward the heart of the battle, his eyes stinging red from the spices in the
air. The Rukh thrashed as another cannon
fired its shot, black powder belching into the fading light. Angry cries from the monster above filled his
ears as it lurched down, plucking a sailor off the deck and squeezing its
talons tightly around the man's midsection.
Another series of screams began as the ship's port side blazed into
flames, but he kept moving toward starboard, trying to reach the first cannon
that had been fired.
"Zuane!" He called, hoping that the captain was
near. When that failed, Asahel shouted
out for others. "Felix! Nicolas!" His knee edged forward as he crawled, the
coarse wool of his trousers suddenly damp.
He looked down to see the blood of the fallen pooling in the cracks of
the boards.
He was near the side of the Serenissma. Asahel stood, crouching each time the Rukh
let out another shriek. Black smoke
surrounded him, choking his lungs as he turned.
The white beast had grown dim as the wall of fire leapt up, flames
feeding on the ship's planking.
"Soames—"
Asahel turned but did not see who
could have called him.
"Where are you?" He whispered, afraid to raise his voice. He saw a pair of hands gripping the
railing. He reached out, his own strong
fingers clutching them and pulling the man toward the deck. He could feel Felix shudder as he came up
over the rail, his thin body battered.
The older man began to cough almost immediately as Asahel helped him
back to the deck. They stared through
the flames at the carnage.
The Serenissma wrenched
sharply to the right. The Rukh cawed as
it rose, white wings blotting out what was left of the sun. Water splashed across the wood, shooting up
from the hold as the lower decks flooded.
"We've got to get out of
here," Asahel said.
"There's no rafts."
Felix coughed and leaned back against the rail.
His eyes were bright with a fear the other man had never seen.
"Aye." The fire was close enough to warm them
both. Which will it be? Asahel thought. Burning or drowning?
"I can't swim."
"Sure, and now you tell
me." Asahel steadied his expression
for Felix's sake, more nervous than he let on.
The Soames family had been merchants and traders for generations. Unlike Felix, Asahel had been raised at
water's edge.
"I never expected it to come
up." Felix grimaced. "I know.
We're on a boat. Clearly, I was
being an optimist."
"Ship," Asahel
corrected gently, looking over his shoulder at the waves.
"Grave—if we don't do
something shortly." Felix inhaled,
his body clenched as he turned his back on the flames. The Serenissma was moving downwards
rapidly. The remaining sailors leapt
from the deck, disappearing into the churning tides as they plummeted through
the darkness. He looked at Asahel, his
mouth twisting into a crooked grin.
"No time like the present."
Felix climbed back up on the
railing, sweat trickling down his forehead, his skin mottled with bruise and
shadow. Asahel followed, his own
ungainly body slower to take action. The
two men looked at one another a last time, then back at the burning ship.
With one breath, they jumped.
* * *
AMAZON PURCHASE
LINKS:
The Jealousy
Glass:
GIVEAWAY:
In
conjunction with the release of The
Jealousy Glass, Gwen is running a giveaway for an autographed, first
edition paperback of The Universal Mirror
through Goodreads at: http://www.goodreads.com/giveaway/show/37726-the-universal-mirror
ABOUT THE
AUTHOR:
Gwen
Perkins is a museum curator with a MA in Military History from Norwich
University. She has written for a number of magazines, exhibitions and
nonfiction publications. Her interest in history fueled the creation of the
world of The Universal Mirror, inspired
in part by people and events of the medieval and Renaissance periods.
Twitter:
@helleder
Thank you for having me, Andre! The post looks wonderful. :)
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