Merritt Story Excerpt + Upcoming Stuff! (Patreon)

Hey all!  This is an off week for DOTU pages, but I expect to start Chapter 4, Part 2 next week!

In the meantime, I've tidied up the next three chapters of Merritt's Story and shipped them off into the capable hands of my awesome beta readers.  My goal is to have these 3 chapters go out roughly every other week starting with 1/17.

Also, belated thank you for the new year's wishes to anyone I missed replying to before!  I hope everyone's first week of 2019 was as good as possible!

While I'm here and it's an off week, I thought I'd share an excerpt from Merritt's Story book 2, chapter 12 (the chapter after next).  It is a tad spoilery, so read at your discretion.  But we get to see a certain someone who hasn't made an appearance in Merritt's Story in quite a while, so... :D

Disclaimer: This excerpt hasn't been through final edits, so there may be minor changes to the official release.

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[MILD SPOILER WARNING - MERRITT'S STORY]  

The first time Merritt had met Samsid, he’d been humiliated in front of his longtime idol. He’d taken a beating from Belmont in the Yackley’s stairwell, and Samsid had scorned him for being a soldier who couldn’t defend himself. Now, he finally had a chance at redemption.

He’d spent the previous night reviewing military briefs about East Sphere culture and etiquette. As Troy had said during their mission in the waterways, armbands didn’t shake hands—at least not in greeting or goodbye. They only shook hands to seal a deal. Sappy, heartfelt compliments were frowned upon, while pejoratives were often used as genuine compliments. In the East, “gentleman” was an insult and “motherfucker” was high praise.

Merritt wouldn’t make any silly mistakes. He’d meet Samsid face to face, as a respectful and respectable rival. He was General of the North Sphere Army. Even if blue-ties looked down on soldiers, his title meant something to the East, whose military was the pride of its sphere.

As blue-tie and armband, scholar and soldier, Mercury and Samsid were diametrically opposed. But Merritt would find a way to satisfy them both. If Samsid could please an entire sphere from ace to jack, then anything was possible. Merritt would facilitate both Mercury’s and Samsid’s diplomatic efforts.

It was nice to see diplomacy in the underground for a change, instead of the usual mindless rush to war.

Following Mercury’s texted request to let himself in, Merritt entered the suite at two minutes to seven, where an unfamiliar butler led him down a winding hall toward a pair of gleaming onyx double doors. The butler stood waiting for him to enter, but he hesitated. From within the adjacent room drifted the sound of discussion.

“How are your eyes, though?” Mercury asked. “Any pain or headaches?” Getting no reply, he continued, “I’ve done miraculous things for you once already, Jasper. You should have faith that I can do it again. You came to me for help, didn’t you?”

Merritt’s brows furrowed. Jasper. That must have been Samsid’s given name, but it was strange that Mercury would call him that. Only people intimately acquainted with each other would address the other by their unused given name or surname.

“You think I don’t know what you’re doin’?” came Samsid’s sharp reply. “Just casually bringin’ up my eyes, tryin’ to remind me of every favor I owe you? I didn’t ask for these. I didn’t want ‘em. They’re hell, and I don’t owe you shit for ‘em.”

“Would you be Cannon’s right hand without them?”

“Don’t talk down to me. I could just as easily go to Freya, ya know.”

“Is your cause really dire enough to get a South Sphere Queen involved? The South only takes charity cases. I hadn’t realized you were one.”

Merritt winced at the slight.  He could almost hear Samsid’s anger in the silence that followed.

This was hardly what he’d expected of a diplomatic meeting. He didn’t want to enter at such an awkward moment, but he feared that if he waited longer, it would only get worse. He gave a soft knock before letting himself in.