AUTHOR'S NOTE: This is a first draft. As a result, this will not be as edited as my previous novel, The Advocate Prince, but I thought some of you might be interested in reading it and seeing my writing process. I'm actually a very linear writer, so I probably won't make too many changes as I write, only once I've finished. I may stop if I realize this is a bad idea for some reason I'm not yet anticipating. But for now, I hope some of you enjoy and let me know if you want me to keep posting.

Chapter 1

"Their necks are broken."

Gloria stood up from the nearest man's corpse. Balin scrambled over the rocks with his bow, ready and alert to shoot at any oncoming enemies. Kayley walked at a more sedate pace behind Balin. "I told you there's no one here. The animals would know."

Balin squinted into the trees, "What about rogue sorcerers? Couldn't they use magic to hide themselves?"

Kayley sighed inwardly. "Animals sense magic. Besides, I've yet to meet a rogue sorcerer who has the wits to hide himself."

The stench of rotting flesh mixed with the leaf mold. Gloria and Balin drew back to get fresh air, but Kayley stepped closer and bent to examine the corpses. She was not technically the doctor anymore, but her skills as a surgeon were often needed on her campaigns with Gloria against the rogue sorcerers. Of course, these days she tended to the dead more than the living. Her days of examining cadavers were now extremely useful. "They're recently dead. I'd say a day at most."

There were four bodies, all men, none of them dressed for the outdoors and likely noblemen by the look of their finery. Gloria and Balin had found horse and carriage tracks on one of the back roads, so that could have been how these men had gotten this far without wearing down their fine shoes. Unfortunately, they lost the carriage tracks on the main road when they had combined with those of all the other carriages traveling to Whitestone.

The dead man closest to Gloria wore a bright yellow vest with the crest of a sun emblazoned on it. "They're from Chesterton," Balin said.

Kayley nodded. She had recognized it as well. Lord Chesterton's son, Chester, currently resided at Whitestone, and he was often interested in Kayley's models and projects.

A faint hum filled the air around Kayley, and her heart began to beat faster, like a hunted deer. She started to head into the woods that surrounded the meadow with the corpses.

"Where are you going?" Balin started after her.

"The animals want me to see something."

Balin started to follow her, but Kayley raised her hand, "No, you'll scare them away."

He lowered his nocked bow but looked annoyed, "Who was it who caught our dinner? I can go unnoticed!"

Actually, Balin had caught his and Gloria's dinner. Kayley did not eat meat. However, she didn't mention this when she answered, "By deer, maybe. But when I'm linked to the animals, they all communicate. The animals who do notice you will warn the others."

"Can't you tell them to trust me?"

Kayley sighed. "It doesn't work that way. Look, they wouldn't lead me to danger. Gloria could go with me if that would make you feel better. The animals are not afraid of her because of her link to me."

Balin cast a look at Gloria that clearly said it would not make him feel better. Kayley had known he would not like that suggestion either. No matter how many battles they fought together, Balin could never completely shake his belief that he needed to protect the queen.

Gloria waved a hand. "Go ahead, Kayley. Call if you need us."

Kayley allowed herself to be guided by the animal's whispers. At least, that was the best way to describe it. She knew what they wanted, and their thoughts altogether were a susurrus very like whispers.

They drew her to a pond that she noticed mostly by smell and the slosh of fish. The thick, leafy canopy overhead obscured the ground. Kayley dug in her bag for some dragon fire in a jar that Prince Cinos had given each of them. For anyone trained in Fire magic, it was useful as a power source. For Kayley, it was a handy torch.

She held it over the water as the whispers of the birds perched in the trees grew more insistent. The light drew a cluster of moths, but Kayley didn't see anything of interest. She put the jar down by a spray of white pixie's bane flowers so that she could get a drink of water from the pond.

As she drew her cupped hands out of the water the slimy fingers of a hand brushed her own and a tar-like, blue-veined face bobbed to the surface.

Kayley screamed and fell back as as the entire body floated into view. Gasping for breath and shaking, she scrambled to her feet just as she heard Balin and Gloria breaking through the undergrowth and calling her name. The whispering birds in the trees scattered into the air.

Thanks a lot, Kayley thought grumpily at their retreating wings as she tried to will her racing heart to slow.

"Are you okay?" Gloria asked. Kayley had to force herself to answer rather than apologize for being the cause of ruining Gloria's queenly, velvet traveling clothes. They were made for hiking but had not stood up as well to being splattered with mud and torn by brambles as her friend—the Queen of Orillia—had run willy-nilly through the undergrowth.

"I'm fine." Kayley said and pointed at the water. "But I can't say the same for the body in the water."

Gloria and Balin took out their own jars of fire and walked over to the edge of the water. They were very quiet, and as Kayley approached again, she saw why.

The body was a dead skin-stealer. But, instead of simply being dead, its form was badly mangled. None of the wounds were large enough to have killed the creature by itself. It looked like a torture victim.

They were all silent as the terrible question sunk in. Who—or what—was powerful enough to torture a skin-stealer?

It was such a sobering mystery that it overshadowed the other pertinent question. Why?

"Should we bring the body back to Whitestone?" Balin asked in a dubious tone that suggested he hoped the answer was no.

"Yes," Kayley sighed, and before anyone else could move, she pulled a travel blanket from her bag, threw it over the body, and used it as a net to pull the slain monster to the shore.

FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS

QUESTION:

Why are you not published? I would like to buy your book!

ANSWER:

I am published and you can buy my book. :)

If you like my novel, The Advocate Prince, you can buy it on Amazon and Barnes and Noble. You can find it on either site by searching The Advocate Prince by C. M. Lee or by copy and pasting the urls below *AND* adding the normal web address of the sites listed at the front because FictionPress is stone aged about links. :P

AMAZON's WEB ADDRESS + /The-Advocate-Prince-ebook/dp/B009PU7T3M/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1376443329&sr=8-1&keywords=theadvocateprince

BARNES AND NOBLE WEB ADDRESS + /w/the-advocate-prince-c-m-lee/1113470601?ean=2940015587104

Amazon e-books can be read on Kindle, KindleFire, any tablet, smartphone, PC or Mac, and Barnes and Noble e-books can be read on the Nook. For every book you buy, a baby dragon gets its wings.

The reason I provide my novel for you to read free on FictionPress is because I'm a librarian, so I believe in free books. Unfortunately, I also have this annoying need to eat. So, if you would like to support my writing (which will mean I'll be able to write more) you can buy the my novel.

QUESTION:

What if I have no money? :(

ANSWER

If you like my story and would like to help me, but you don't want to or can't afford to buy it, I'd really appreciate you telling your friends about this book. An easy way to do this is by liking The Advocate Prince page on Facebook. Telling your friends about cool fantasy novels is how baby dragons are conceived.

If you'd like to see drawings of my characters or just hear other news from me, you can read my Tumblr - cmleebooks

If you're interested in learning about my somewhat limited experiences with traditional and self-publishing, you can read my other Tumblr - writersguidetorejection

QUESTION:

I WANT MORE!

ANSWER:

Um...that's not a question. But thank you! I'm flattered you like my writing. I am currently writing the sequel to The Advocate Prince, Phoenix of the Isle, and I will be posting one chapter of the first draft each week on FictionPress until it's either finished or I realize I've made a mistake with this whole writing nonsense and should seek a career on the open sea.

Thanks for your interest! :)