Well, after a lot of thinking, pondering, writing, and editing, here is the beginning of the sequel to The Bonny Ship. Hope you enjoy it as much as the first!

Prologue

Mist veiled the trees in a blue-gray shroud, hazy in the dim morning light. The sun still hovered behind the mountain peaks, as if it was too shy to emerge yet. Time itself hung, suspended like the tiny droplets of rain that clung to every surface tranquil enough to hold them.

Bodies, huddled together under thin, fraying cloaks for warmth, breathing little clouds of mist, peered anxiously at the sky with bloodshot eyes, exhausted, worn, and on edge. None had slept the previous night, and none were ready to rise. Only two men stood, their cloaks tightly wrapped around their rumpled red uniforms. They stared scrutinizingly into the trees, silent as they waited.

“Have they gone, do you think?” one man finally spoke to his companion, his gaze not leaving the edge of the forest for a moment.

“Most assuredly not, sir,” the other replied, just as fixated upon the trees. “They will attack again.”

The first man cursed. “And what are our numbers?”

“Thirty-six are dead, fifty-one wounded, sir.”

The first man huffed, his breath misting in a cloud in front of his face. “That leaves us with scarcely a hundred men.”

“Yes, sir.” The man’s voice was merely a whisper in the stillness.

“They’ve continued to whittle us down, yet the king does not send us reinforcements. Do you think he has not received our requests?”

“It would not surprise me.”

“We have been cut off perhaps.” The man frowned wearily. “We are the last hope, you know. If we fall, they take the entire Northern Coast.”

“Yes, sir.”

“Well blast it and devil take me if I let them have it without a fight.” He looked irritated, and determination showed ruggedly through his tired countenance. “Ready the men, Colonel. We will die if necessary.”

Both men stood for a few moments longer, hesitating as dawn finally broke over the camp. The sun’s red rays barely brushed the tops of the trees as the colonel sighed. He turned away and breathed his reply.

“Yes, sir.”