Hello, I am Lauren O'Neill, and my favorite thing to write is books and short stories. So far, I have written 8 books, and am working on more. I occasionally share excerpts from my books in lit club. I also share short stories I have created.
A note...
Description: Book 1 in the Family of Blood series. Prequel to The Assassin and the King series.
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Chapter 1
Erilan was a large country that expanded over a vast amount of land. The castle that the royal family, the Bardolphus', lived in was in the more southern part of Erilan, yet it was still pretty far north compared to other countries.
Lord Edmund Castel and his family lived in the northmost section of Erilan. Far from royalty, and far from civilization. This meant that Edmund and his wife, Ellyn, were able to raise their seven children in their own ways without judgement or anyone telling them what to do. In Edmund's case, it was to train them all as assassins, raising them all to be strong, independent adults.
His eldest was Kamari, already seventeen years old. She was tall and beautiful, with her father's blonde hair and her mother's brown eyes. Each of Edmund's children had a spirit animal, determined at birth, and at the age of ten they were required to raise and domesticate the animal from infancy to adulthood. Kamari's animal was the dragon, and it fit her perfectly. Kamari was a firestorm. She was a natural born fighter, and she never backed down. Yet, she had the gentle touch of a mother that made the dragons trust her, despite their hostility to anyone else.
The second born was Robert. He was sixteen, with curly dark hair and brown eyes. His animal was the tiger, and he owned only two. Both were white males, Kamir and Kalpony. He cared about his duties as an assassin, but knowing he would inherit the estate, he had no problem with slacking off.
Hadrian was the third. He was fifteen, taller than his older brother, and had blond hair and blue eyes. He spent his time in the aviary with his owls, mentoring his younger siblings and reading books.
Thirteen year old Safiya was her mother's daughter in every way. She fought, but hated it. She preferred to sew, and cook, and dreamed of life as a proper lady. As the daughter of a Lord, she felt that she should have been able to live much differently than she had to, and always scorned her father for it. She was gentle and kind, and it showed when she cared for her reindeer. She was dark haired with ice blue eyes.
Ayla was eleven years old, with brown hair and eyes, and was crazily energetic. She spent most of her time running around chasing cats, getting dirty, fighting her brothers and playing with her direwolves.
At ten years old, Michael had just received his animal, the peregrine falcon. For days, he wouldn't take his eyes off the brown speckled egg, waiting for it to hatch. Kamari and Hadrian had been the same way. While the others had mammals, and didn't have to wait, those three did. Michael was brown haired and blue eyed.
The youngest was Padrick. He was six years old, and didn't have a pet yet. He was quiet, and still clung to his mother's side. He had wispy blond hair and blue eyes.
The Castels were a good family. They were hardworking and brave, and they were close to one another. But that didn't mean they didn't have their problems.
