Some very exciting news for this week – I now have a complete end to end draft of The Flame Before Us and am now heading into a full proofreading cycle, together with adding in things like Author’s Notes at the end. All being well I am on track for a release around Easter as planned.
To celebrate this event, here are two things – firstly one element in the cover design, which as usual has had creative and technical input from Ian Grainger (www.iangrainger.co.uk). Other cover elements will be shown in due course leading up – eventually – to the full reveal…
The Ugaritic cuneiform text reads as follows:
If the strong attack your strongholds –
warriors your walls –
The text is adapted from part of an Ugaritic ritual, complete with ceremonies and prayers for protection over the city and its gates. Sadly, one day around 1180BC, the ritual proved ineffective as invading soldiers stormed the walls and overpowered the defenders.
So to go with this, the second item is a short extract seeing this moment through the eyes of Anilat, a woman of the city, together with Damatiria, the wet-nurse to her children, known to the family as “Auntie”.
Damatiria stiffened suddenly, and her fingers seized hold of Anilat’s shoulder. A sudden flame had come up from the docks. As Anilat watched, a second building caught light as the flames leapt from one roof to the next. Auntie was already moving across the room, pulling at a pile of clothes.
“You must dress yourself, lady. And not in fine stuff. In something more common, like we talked about in the evening.”
Anilat stayed at the window, not understanding what was happening. The flames at the harbour were still spreading. Off to one side, in the direction of the lesser gate, another fire appeared. In the distance she started to hear noise from the fires. She shrank back a little as running footsteps sounded at the end of the alleyway. Auntie was pulling her away into the room.
“Put these clothes on, mistress, put them on now, there’s no time to lose just standing looking at all this.”
Anilat looked blankly at her.
“It’s just a fire down at the docks, Auntie. Why do you want us to get dressed?”
Auntie handed her the bundle of her clothes and she started dressing without thinking. Then she stopped again, her outer smock loose in her hand. Auntie was shaking the children awake.
“Don’t wake them, they’ve only just gone off properly.” She stopped as Auntie turned on her, an unexpectedly fierce look on her features. There was more noise from outside, distant shouting. She went suddenly cold.
“It is just a fire, surely?”
Her daughter was already awake, and the twins were stirring, grumpy and uncomprehending. Auntie was rapidly, efficiently pulling clothes onto them.
“They’re in the city, mistress, that’s what it is.”
She saw the question starting to form on Anilat’s face. “It doesn’t matter how they did it, lady. We need to get ourselves along out of here. Mistress, please help me get the children ready now. You must think of the little ones here.”
Finally stirred into action, Anilat pulled the smock over her head and began to help.