Title: In the Name of Magic
Series: In the Name of Magic, Book One
Author: Chris Bedell
Publisher: NineStar Press
Release Date: October 22, 2018
Heat Level: 2 - Fade to Black Sex
Pairing: Male/Male
Length: 69200
Genre: Fantasy, new adult, Fantasy, Dystopian
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Synopsis
Nonmagical people are being demonized
and falsely blamed for Magnifico’s economic problems after Queen Vivian’s
bloody rise to power. But politics very quickly becomes more than abstract
views to argue when secret police wolves are deployed throughout the country to
kill those born without magical abilities.
Seventeen-year-old Maximillian’s best
friend Katherine is one such nonmagical person. In a bid to keep her safe,
Maximillian turns to the queen’s estranged younger brother, a man thought to be
dead until recently.
Prince Stefan is nineteen years old and
has been in hiding from his family for years. He has no desire to resurface in
the political world, but Maximillian must convince him that the country needs
him before it is too late.
Excerpt
In the Name of Magic
Chris Bedell © 2018
All Rights Reserved
Chapter One
Magnifico was 100 percent black and
white. Most people would think it an odd comment to make, but life hadn’t
always been dreary.
Fourteen years ago, when I was three,
color vanished from my country. No one knew what happened to make it that way,
but it wasn’t for a lack of trying to find an answer. I even asked Mom numerous
times over the years why Magnifico switched from color to black and white. She
shrugged and said my time would be better spent doing other things.
However, I still couldn’t help but wonder
because anyone with a brain should’ve been curious about what had happened in
Magnifico. At least that was how I felt.
I couldn’t get distracted, though. The
execution of King Dorian and Queen Penny at the Lax Stadium in the capital city
of Conforia was happening today. And that was where I was with my friends,
Katherine, Taylor, and Raquel. The stadium was steadily filling with others who
had come to see the executions.
Katherine grimaced. “I can’t believe
they gave us the day off from school to witness this.”
Taylor bumped Katherine’s shoulder. “I
hate to break it to you, but there are more important things in life than
school.”
Life’s unfairness made me snarl
sometimes. Kissing a guy twice was the only romance I’d ever experienced
because I never had a boyfriend, let alone a first date. So, yeah. I had no
qualms about being jealous of Taylor and Katherine’s relationship.
“I know,” Katherine said, sighing. “But
I can’t help that I enjoy school.”
Raquel rolled her eyes. “You don’t have
to hide behind school because you’re embarrassed you were born without magic.”
“How many times have I told you not to
bring that up?” Katherine asked.
Yeah. I noticed all of the snide
comments, glares, and obscenities people uttered when finding out Katherine had
no magical abilities. But being different wasn’t a reason for cruelty.
Katherine wasn’t a bad person.
“I’m sorry. I wasn’t trying to be
insensitive. I meant you shouldn’t feel ashamed for being born without magic,”
Raquel said.
“I don’t,” Katherine grunted.
Raquel twirled a strand of hair around
her finger. “If you say so.”
Sure. Raquel meant well, but she needed
to drop the subject. She’d been there when people acted as if Katherine had ten
eyes because she couldn’t practice magic.
Taylor shifted his gaze. “You’re so
quiet, Max.”
“Don’t you mean Maximillian?” I asked.
Taylor sighed. “Sorry. I forgot for a
moment. Maximillian is such a mouthful.”
“Anyway.” I gave Taylor a hard stare. “I
don’t feel the need to talk all the time.”
Katherine chuckled. “That’s a shocker.
Have you met yourself?”
At least Taylor was successful in
lightening the mood because there wasn’t a hint of harshness in Katherine’s
voice when she laughed. And if I took one for the group so things wouldn’t
escalate, then so be it.
A gust of wind whistled through the air,
making Raquel’s curly hair ripple. “I can’t believe Vivian is having her own
parents executed…”
“She’ll be a better ruler,” Taylor said.
Katherine huffed. “Appointing herself
queen makes her seem self-serving.”
Taylor shook his head. “Give her a
chance, and don’t believe all the negativity.”
Katherine furrowed her eyebrows. “Excuse
me? Her boyfriend, Sirch Manges, thinks people born without magic are scum. In
fact, he wrote a book on the subject.”
Good for Katherine. She needed to stand
up for herself. Dating Taylor wasn’t mutually exclusive with thinking
everything he said was perfect. Any anger Katherine might’ve had was justified.
There was a difference between saying hateful things and getting a book about
it published. Yet most people hadn’t been fazed by Vivian and Sirch’s
relationship even though his book was published before he met Vivian. Perhaps
people thought Sirch was only a provocateur. A difference existed between
spouting ideas and dying because of them. Not that I wanted to make excuses for
him; I didn’t.
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Meet the Author
My previous publishing credits include Thought Catalog, Crab Fat Literary Magazine, Quail Bell Magazine, Pidgeonholes Magazine, Abbreviate Journal, Short-Story.me, Foliate Oak Literary Magazine, Chicago Literati, The Vignette Review, Teleport Magazine, Entropy Magazine, Inklette Magazine, Sprout Magazine, and The Drunken Odyssey. I’m also a contributing blog writer to Moledro Magazine and YAtopia. I graduated with a BA in Creative Writing from Fairleigh Dickinson University in May of 2016.Facebook | Twitter | Instagram
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