The Knight and Queen

Sean Kovic is very, very old. At least he's aged well. Some decades ago, he heard a joke about grumpy old men and was immediately jealous. Imagine it. Comfortably sequestered into your own home, free of the noisy people, free to rant whenever someone forced their way into your world... the life.

Unfortunately, his life does not allow such cantankerous serenity. His world does not. If something goes awry in his town, he has to deal with the repercussions. So, much to his chagrin, he is proactive in maintaining peace. And on this night? It has come to Sean Kovic's attention that a local crimelord is doing what they do best: causing problems.

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The very first story I wrote in college! At least, the first one I liked. At the time, I was working on an urban fantasy novel and co-opted my Art and Craft of Writing class's final assignment to see if I could figure out a tone for the story. As it turns out, a prologue featuring the sort-of-mentor character was exactly what I needed! (For the sake of posterity, I'm not letting myself edit anything.)