“I only wondered why you prayed to Dinistrith. It always confused me, why decent folk did that, until I heard you doing it. Sometimes it pays to have a Hellknight looking out for you, aye?”
Rhian had been stretching while he spoke; she stopped and twisted around to look at him now, an unwelcome disgust on her face. “Are you calling yourself a Hellknight?” she asked.
“I reckon that’s what I am to you,” Riderch nodded. “Are you going to tell me I’m wrong?”
“Yes!” Rhian barked. “Vehemently. Just because you cutthroats want to see a cutthroat in Dinistrith doesn’t make him one. Do you believe that having a monster in heaven will excuse your own monstrous deeds?”
“You said yourself that he likes me,” said Riderch. “You want to take that back?” The high, reedy laughter, so rare since he had left the Ceinych, circled his head again.
“No,” said Rhian, standing to pace before the fire. “He does favor you, clearly, in a way I can scarcely believe – but not because you’re a Hellknight, and not because he is. Dinistrith doesn’t resemble you at all, Riderch. You only think he does, because you think everyone resembles you.”
“Then what’s he like?” asked Riderch.
Rhian stood between him and the fire, gazing up into the sky. Lit so starkly, she resembled her father to a startling degree: tall and fierce, every thought adding to the cutting edge of her expression, her paw never more comfortable than when it rested upon her sword. Her shadow, splashing against the high stone steps, was thrice her size. “Dinistrith is the roaming knight, fearless in the face of any battle into which the Stars send him, even when he’s all alone – especially when he’s all alone.”
Riderch the Red is a book about a thief who steals the ear of a living halser – a wandering holy folk – and begins to hear voices from heaven. One of the Stars has taken a keen interest in Riderch, and will not let him be until he has done him a favor only he is equipped to do.
Riderch the Red is currently in 2nd draft, and in need of pre-readers. If you decide to undertake the task, please send feedback to zachary@knottyingrabbit.com. (Note: there is a glossary of characters at the end of the document)