The Agben School
Author: Jo Sparkes
Publisher: Oscar Press
Pages: 384
Genre: Fantasy
Format: Paperback
Book Summary:
Agben had stood for a thousand years. A mysterious school housing more than
students, it was the seat of the powerful Women of Agben, and the center for
harnessing the potency of herbs. Few knew all that transpired within the walls.
And now Marra stood at its gate.
Friends and support stripped
from her, the fragile life she’d built for herself now lay in tatters. And the
source of this evil hunted her like a deer culled from the herd.
The gateway before her was her only hope.
For as the city itself crumbled, all depended not on a prince trying to
save his people, nor the valiant men who’d brought them this far.
Everything depended on finding a magic powder in the vaults of Agben
itself.
Everything depended on her.
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Excerpt from The Agben School
– PROLOGUE –
Mik was
all of ten years old, and had responsibility.
That’s
what his mother had told him this morning, when it was time to open the shop.
His grandfather was ill, and needed care from time to time.
“Just keep
it closed for the morning,” Father had suggested.
“Not with
four ships in port,” Mother had snapped back.
So it was his
job to mind the shop.
He’d done
everything before, of course. Poured out the herbs, wrapped them in paper. Kept
them close to himself until the customer paid in coin. “A poor little Mid Isle
shop taking credit would go broke in a month,” his mother smilingly explained
to any who asked.
Yes, he’d
seen it all and he knew what to do.
Until the
pretty girl walked in. Maybe 16 years old, he guessed. Maybe more. Her clothes
weren’t as nice as many before her, but nicer than some. She had that desert
air about her, down to the sandal shoes, but her hair was long in the Missean
fashion, not the short cut of the Flats.
She didn’t
seem Agben. But she didn’t seem not Agben, either.
It was a
dark red hair, braided down her back. When she turned in the sunlight from the
door the red flashed at him. Little wisps escaped and curled around her face,
making her seem too soft.
Women of
Agben were never soft.
Mik
realized that responsibility did indeed have weight, just as his father said.
He was feeling that weight on his shoulders this very second.
The girl
looked over the shelves carefully, and he didn’t interrupt her.
And then
she turned to him, and smiled. The smile alone was almost enough to prove she
wasn’t Agben. Almost.
“Illsmith,”
she said. “Do you have any?”
Mik
nodded. “In the back, Miss. How much do you want?”
“Just a
handful, please.” Her eyes were blue, he saw, but not the faded blue of his
mother and baby sister. Hers were a deep blue, like the sea’s depths as evening
fell.
He hurried
to fetch her Illsmith.
“And Musk
Oil?” she called after him.
Ahh hah!
The pretty girl must be of Agben, Mik realized. Illsmith was a desert plant,
and Musk Oil from the Great Continent. Those two went together, he knew, to rub
on sore muscles and strained shoulders. He knew because one of the Agben women
had told his mother so when his father had hurt himself pulling in the big
swoopfish.
Mik
grabbed a tiny glass bottle of oil – all of ten copper, he told himself – and
then the crock of Illsmith. Returning to the girl, he set both on the counter,
and produced a paper for the Illsmith. “Twelve copper,” he told her as plucked
out a good handful of the herb and wrapped it proper.
Some
people frowned when the price was mentioned, but this girl merely pulled coins
from a pocket and counted it out.
Mik
stooped low, to open the box his mother had told him he shouldn’t know about,
and snatch the pretty bauble inside.
He
carefully wrapped it in a soft cloth, the kind used for fragile glass on long
trips. And then presented it to the girl.
“What is this?” she asked, starting to lift a
wrapped corner.
Mik
stopped her as old man Tanner strode into the shop. “Take it,” the boy
whispered.
“Mik, my
boy,” Tanner grinned, looking around for his mother. The old man always wanted
advice on a new ache. “Your mother not here this morning?”
The girl
hesitated, still staring at him. He snatched up the coin she’d placed on the
counter, and tugged the step ladder over to just beneath the Stomach Cure jar.
“That’s
right,” Tanner told him. “Just a swig, my boy. Just a swig.”
Mik felt
the pretty girl’s eyes on him. Surely she knew no one else was supposed to see
that thing. Surely she knew to stick it in her pocket and pretend it didn’t
exist.
The girl
gave him a last frown, but said no more. By the time he’d wrangled the tonic
down from the shelf, she’d gone.
About the Author
A
well-known Century City Producer once said that Jo Sparkes “…writes some of
the best dialogue I’ve read.”
Her body of work includes scripts
for Children’s live-action and animated television programs, a direct to video
Children’s DVD, commercial work for corporate clients. She won the 2012 Kay
Snow award for her screenplay, Frank Retrieval.
She’s
written numerous articles for internet sites. As a member of the Pro Football
Writer’s Association, she was a contributing writer for the Arizona Sports Fans
Network, where she was known for her humorous articles, player interviews and
game coverage. Jo was unofficially the first to interview Emmitt Smith when he
arrived in Arizona to play for the Cardinals.
She
served as an adjunct teacher at the Film School at Scottsdale Community
College, and wrote “Feedback How to Give
It How to Get It” for writers, actors,
and other artists.
Her
latest book is the fantasy, The
Agben School.
For More Information
- Visit Jo Sparkes’ website.
- Connect with Jo on Twitter and Facebook.
- Become Jo’s friend at Goodreads.
- Visit Jo’s blog.
- More books
by Jo Sparkes.
- Contact Jo Sparkes.
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