Publication date: November 18th, 2020
Synopsis:
The time has come for King Dorian Lockridge to find an heir for the country of Odsia; after the murder of his son, daughter-in-law and grandson fifteen years ago, he knew that sooner or later he'd need to find someone worthy to take the throne...
Spending fifteen years on the streets, doing whatever it took to make sure he and his friends survived from day to day, hasn't been easy for Tristan.
Having never found remains of his grandson, doubt of his demise lingers in Dorian's heart; until one day, he finally makes a proclamation, searching for the orphaned Prince of Odsia.
When Tristan discovers the truth about himself, his whole world changes. How will he adjust to royal living after such a difficult upbringing? And who was behind the murder of his parents so long ago?
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Excerpt
"Come on! You should be a lot faster than me, Nork!" the young man called to his Jack Russell terrier as they ran through the streets of a small inner city called Iscarius. Iscarius wasn't the kind of city you read about in fairytales. The brick roads were dirty and raised, barely ever having been cared for. The buildings and homes were falling apart, with broken windows and boarded doors. He ran as fast as he could, passing the familiar fruit, vegetable, and bread carts. Though only a handful of people were on the street at the time, the ones who shook their heads at him--they were used to him running by after stealing some food.
There was the baker, whose business was usually thriving around this time. He was a stout old man with a long handlebar mustache and white hair that only wrapped around the sides of his head but left the top of his head bare. He raised his scarf up, guarding himself from the old breeze, and then put up protective hands over his cart as the young man ran by.
There was also the fruit and vegetable carts, though unfortunately business was weak for them. During the winter when it was hard to get produce, the prices were always too high, and in Iscarius, not many could afford them. The owner of the cart just shook her head at the boy while knitting mittens that she hoped to start selling. Here he goes again, him and that little con artist of a dog.
"Come back here, you thief!" one of the king's guards exclaimed, running after the robber.
The teen's forest green eyes widened as the guards seemed to multiply against him. At seventeen, he knew he should have had better stamina, but he had never been chased like this before. From afar, he appeared fairly healthy--a tall frame, around six feet, and slender. Up close, however, it was evident that he was homeless; his fair skin dusty from a spot of dirt on his cheek and his pink lips hardened from the freezing air. His rough, messy, medium-length, chestnut brown hair, was all dried out and covered by a patched-up blue newsboy cap. The patches on his hat matched the ones on his tan shirt. There was already another hole in it after the first three had just been mended.
He picked up the pace and hid in an alleyway, then breathed a sigh of relief when the guards passed him up. "Nice," he smiled before sitting down beside his dog. "We really hit the jackpot today, huh, Nork?" he panted as he looked inside the sack of stolen food. "Meat, bread, cheese... and even crackers! Wait'll Davy and the twins see this! This'll get them to give me a little more respect around here. They ain't gonna be calling me 'bashful' no more," he said triumphantly.
Guest Post
What can we expect from you in the future?
I have another series starting in Spring/Summer of 2021 entitled: Pirates of the Withering Coast; this one is special to me, as I started it as a little girl and have been working on it for quite some time now :) It begins with "The Siren's Call." And you can learn more about it on my website www.blueginghampublishing.com! Also, The Lost Prince will be continued, as it's followed by a series of short stories "The Lost Prince Chronicles" and a sequel "The Imperiled Heir." So I hope you love the characters enough to continue their adventures! I also have a few more works in store, a superhero novel and a fairy-tale-ish, retelling-ish novel lol, sounds crazy, but it will all come together in the end... I hope!
What did you edit out of this book?
There were a few different ways in which Tristan first meets the girl who later becomes the love interest of the story, in one, he attempts to rob her; it was taken out because I wanted his personality to be a little less aggressive, where he'd only be prompted to do something like that if he had it out for the person.
Wanna read part of it?
Tristan ran into the alley and hid, smirking as the guards ran passed him. He chuckled, picking Nork up. He peeked out from the alley and watched as two girls made their way down the street; the gold band around one of her wrists caught his attention and his eyes sparkled. "Papa's eating good tonight," he snickered to Nork.
"Oh," the girl gasped, turning to her friend. "I forget the flour for my cupcakes, Minah."
"Of course, you did, Aliona," Minah laughed. "I'll go get it, don't go too far," she instructed.
"Thank you so much; I'm so sorry," she frowned. Minah walked off and the other girl started back on her way.
Nork yipped and she looked up after hearing Tristan shush him. Tristan rolled his eyes. "Thanks a lot," he grumbled before popping out in front of her.
"Ah!" she screamed, stumbling back.
Tristan snatched her by the arm before removing the band from her wrist. "Hold still," he grunted.
"Let me go please!" she begged.
"In a sec," he replied, taking the band off of her.
"Hey! That was my mother's" she screamed.
Tristan laughed as he ran off; he whistled for his dog and examined the golden jewelry in his hand with a bright smile. He looked up as Nork came trotting towards him and then looked over at the girl who was standing there crying. His face softened as he looked at her--he sighed, glancing down at Nork and then he started back towards her; she stood sniffling and Tristan extended his hand to her with the gold band in it...
Alonna Williams is a children's book author and has been writing ever since she was a little girl. It started with a short story and soon progressed to novels. Alonna has worked on, and grew up with a Pirate series entitled, Pirates of the Withering Coast, her favorite series of all, as well as a mystery series, a Sci-Fi/Superhero series and more! When she's not writing you'll most likely find her dancing whether it be, Tap, Ballet, Jazz or Lyrical, or watching a good classic movie or cozying up to a Disney film!
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