Human Choices

Khy is a prisoner and a slave. His life consists of days of drudgery and nights of agony. He has no memory of anything else, yet he knows there must be more beyond the fog that shrouds his mind. When his Master is called away on urgent business and Khy is left alone, a moment of unexpected clarity has him running for freedom.

Jaedin is done running, both from war in the north and from his lover’s tragic death. He’s settled in the tiny village of Rosefire, and has finally achieved an uneasy truce with his grief.

Jaedin’s hard-won peace is shattered when he places himself between Khy and the band of brigands hunting him. During the scuffle, Khy panics and works the leythe to set loose a spell. When the dust settles, Khy has fled and Jaedin finds himself haunted by something far darker than his own past.
In order to regain his peace — and his sanity — Jaedin sets off in search of the young man who has cursed him. What he finds threatens not only his own personal equilibrium, but the balance of the leythe itself.

To protect the leythe, Khy must face his tormentor and fight to free himself from the man who considers him both pawn and prize. To protect the man he loves, he must do it alone…

Author's Note: This story is a stand-alone novel (~50,000 words) that takes place in the same world as Human Frailties, Human Strengths.