So, I thought, that is what love means.  And I went back, because I got food, and a bath, and attention, and sex was the price I paid because that was the currency I had.  After a while it seemed normal to me – having absolutely no idea what normal really meant.  Brother Darwin taught me things.  We would go to the museum and he would talk to me about history.  He taught me a bit about reading and writing – more than I thought, actually – but mostly he was an oral sort of a fellow, in oh, so many ways. I cannot describe the dichotomy of emptiness, despair and hope that filled me in those years…

Brother Darwin talked to me.  I mean, really talked to me, like I was a sentient being.  Like I was a person.  I was in love.  I spent two hours with him.  He told me about Al’Shadai – the Declivian name for the Creator.  He told me that there were other boys and girls here who ate food and learned things and got to wash their hands and faces.  He told me other things, but the thing that stuck was the phrase, “Come back when you can.” He gave me a small roll, and I went home.  My mother was still asleep…

I am Gideon. Or, more properly: Ardenai Gideon Morning Star, Prince of the Great House of Equus and son of the Thirteenth Dragonhorse. 

This was not always the case.  My first sixteen years were hard.  I did not go to school.  I could not read or write, so I could not keep a journal, but I kept my memories.  They come in all shapes, sizes and colors.  Some are very dark, and some, when held up to the light, glow and become transparent.  I can walk through them.  I guess I should start at the beginning… 

A list of the characters found in Showandah Terrill’s first book of her Dragonhorse Rising series.

A list of the characters found in Showandah Terrill’s first book of her Dragonhorse Rising series.

Some wedding night this turned out to be. These are the strangest people I’ve ever met in my life. Admittedly I’m not that old and I’ve met very few people outside my father’s palace, but I stand by my statement… (MORE)

Well, here I am, back in my room. In bed. Alone. I have an Equi priestess standing guard over me, and she looks none too cordial. Anyway, this is what happened on what was supposed to be my wedding… (MORE)

There was a heated discussion between Naram and Samarra this morning…or evening, or whenever it actually is here, and in the ensuing distraction I managed to get outside into the hallway and up a flight of stairs into a huge garden of some kind. It was cold out there, and I was glad for such cloak as I’d brought, though it wasn’t enough, I can tell you. They didn’t bring nearly enough clothing for me, for any of us for that matter, and as far as I can tell no one here has offered us any. They seem to be pretty much… (MORE)