Harmonic Resonance release complete; Feathered Hearts Chapter 16 teaser · 7:06pm Dec 9th, 2021
Well, I admit I’m feeling better about Harmonic Resonance now, as the downvote brigades appear to have dried up and it’s been getting a steady trickle of new likes and tracks since. It should easily top 40 likes and 100 tracks before the year’s end, which gives it a decent but not spectacular start. I suspect at this point the main issue in the initial launch was twofold: clop readers want instant gratification, so as an earlier commenter suggested, they tend to be a bit turned off by preludes or larger opening chapters.
So be it. I’m never going to change my writing style—it’s pretty much impossible for me not to have plot. And having that extended opening gives me the chance to set up something fun at the end. Anyway, I’ll return to this HR before the end of the year, but for now, back to Feathered Hearts.
Work on chapter 16—the second unpublished chapter of Feathered Hearts on the final buildup to the Cloven attack—is 90% complete and probably going to end up at well over 10k words. Several longstanding issues and plot threads come to a head here, and it’s finally time for the long promised cultural training seminar for the Marines. But that’s less important than Gilda reaching an important epiphany regarding the nature of the human weapons. Not so much that they’re ranged weapons as she’s increasingly suspected, but their nature.
If the original story had a weakness regarding guns, I think it was not giving the griffies enough credit for being able to figure things out over time. So I believe readers will be especially pleased by both how she reaches her conclusion, and the analogies she draws to make it.
At this point, it will take three chapters to complete the transition arc and reach the Cloven War, with two of three chapters now almost fully written. The route they take getting there will also be a little different, as let’s just say that Marco’s luck with Goldberg is finally about to run out. So they’ll be heading out with a squad of Marines for an entirely different reason as in the original, but the end result will be the same.
Oh, you want a teaser? Well, why not...
“Welcome back, Ambassador Strenus.” Tribune Narada smiled in obvious relief, baring her throat at him in lieu of a salute. “As the Ibexians have backed down, I congratulate you on a successful mission and being able to resolve this crisis without bloodshed. Was your stay in Saddle Arabia enjoyed?”
“Not especially,” he said with a thin smile. “The Ibex are never easy to deal with, couching everything in terms of doublespeak and turning even the simplest of negotiating points into a contest of wits and wills. And not helping matters was that the Saddle Arabians were far too placating to them, in my view, after the Ibexian intelligence agents—or excuse me, their honored diplomats—threatened to enact harsh trade tariffs if they sided with us.”
“Charming,” was all Gilda could say as her feathers stilled, very glad to see him along with Narada and Fortrakt, her mood instantly brightening. “It’s good to see you again, Ambassador.” She offered him a bared throat and forearm clasp.
“Likewise,” he agreed with a warm smile. “Be assured I have kept up on your daily reports as forwarded to me by the Tribune, and I find them as informative as they are intriguing. I am also quite pleased you have overcome your initial poor beginnings with Marco Lakan to have bonded with him, though I admit I am rather surprised by the circumstances.” He raised an eyeridge at her.
“As am I, sir,” she granted with a slight blush. “It wasn’t exactly planned. It just… happened.” She squirmed a bit.
Despite her discomfort, he smiled more broadly. “Planned or not, it bodes well for our respective races to learn that we are both socially and sexually compatible. And I am impressed by Marco Lakan’s instinctive understanding of griffon honor, even if he knew not what he was doing by arming himself against you simply wishing to win you on your terms,” he noted, nodding towards her report.
“Though the Senior Sparrow here may see this in terms of gathering intelligence, I see it far more in terms of establishing good relations between our races. I suspect you will be but the first of many such pairings. Or do we already have another one? Have you taken a human lover among your civilian charges as well, Second Spear?” He gave Fortrakt an askance but wry look.
“No, sir, I have not,” Fortrakt answered somewhat stiffly despite the teasing tone. “And though I wish the Decurion and Marco—I-I mean, Mister Lakan well, nor do I plan to, given the… difficulties involved.” He offered no further comment than that, leaving Gilda wondering just how badly things had gone when he spoke to Chris and Tara. He’d at least seemed okay to be in their presence while sparring with Marco, though then again, she’d never seen him look at or even speak to them.
Better ask Tara about what happened later, Gilda decided. If, that was, she was allowed to by Captain Moran, who had barred her from seeing not just Marco but all three civilians. She knew he had no authority over Tara since she’d been granted asylum, but Gilda also didn’t trust him to respect that.
“I thank you for your kind words and understanding, sir,” she bowed her head towards him, “though I fear it will all be for naught if Ambassador Goldberg uses this as the excuse he needs to finally expel Marco.”
Strenus turned solemn and nodded gravely. “Be assured, I will be discussing the matter with him this afternoon. I will do what I can, but ultimately, I cannot intervene in human affairs, except insofar as they affect griffon ones. His fate will be decided by their Ambassador.”
“They do affect griffon matters, Ambassador,” the Senior Sparrow spoke again, her mere presence causing Gilda’s ire to rise anew. “He almost certainly has information on their strange weapons, and perhaps he might share them in exchange for an offer of asylum as well.”
“So, you want him to act dishonorably?” Narada spoke up before Gilda could, giving her a warning look.
But Tarseus was unperturbed. “Call it what you wish. But the Council of Crows is not picky about where our intelligence comes from.”
“I can promise you, Talia Tarseus, that the Queen would not exchange asylum for information,” Strenus said mildly, though the warning tone that underlay his words was heard loud and clear by Gilda. “For she knows well that anycreature that does such a dishonorable thing once is very liable to do it again against our honor and interests later.”
“My thoughts exactly,” the Tribune concurred. “But that said, she might approve of asylum to allow Mister Lakan to remain with Behertz.”
Gilda’s heart leapt, only to sink as Ambassador Strenus thought about that, only to shake his head. “Unfortunately, I think not. I am certain that such an arrangement would negatively impact the negotiations, and we desperately want this new alliance and trade agreement. We indulged their Ambassador once, giving him political cover at home for expelling Dana Callaway. We would have a far more difficult time providing such cover here, especially when they believe Marco Lakan would be likely to spill their secrets.”
Gilda closed her eyes, reflecting that everything that seemed so perfect the previous night had in fact complicated things far more than she ever thought possible, and worse, it might have been the final feather in the wing that got Marco expelled. The Ambassador was right; she didn’t see any way around the simple fact that Marco’s defection to the Kingdom—well, what else could she call it?—would be seen as a gross betrayal by both him and very possibly the Marines themselves. Unless…
She blinked at the sudden idea that had occurred to her. Unless I take away his ability to divulge those secrets? I’m still not completely certain, but…
“With respect, Ambassador and Tribune, I think I may be able to relieve Marco of that burden,” she said, closing her eyes again to steel herself. If I’m wrong… she didn’t want to think. “It’s not in my report, because I only made the connection this morning. But I believe I now know what secrets they’re hiding, and what those strange metal weapons of theirs actually are...”
To recap, this is the second of three chapters that will take us to the start of the war, and my intention is to have all three out by Xmas as a gift to readers, releasing them one by one in rapid-fire with each coming two or three days apart. So Merry Christmas, folks. I promise to bring you the gift of the Cloven. 
The classic problem with mercenaries.
And Gilda performs espionage in the name of love. It's bizarrely but undeniably romantic.
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Exactly. If you buy someone’s loyalty, others can too.
That’s one word for it!
The things our favorite griffie girl does for love...