by Justine Alley Dowsett
Release Date: April 17, 2023
#YA #SciFi #Fantasy #Adventure
#CrimsonWinter #CityofRuby #MirrorWorldPub
About Crimson Winter: City of Ruby:
Reeling after the fall of the Kingdom of Taiyou, Yukari Namikoya and her remaining allies find themselves reduced to scared refugees hidden far below the earth in the Temple of Machalite. The dreaded Lady Lilyth rules in Taiyou now and threatens to bring the whole world under her dominion one piece at a time.
And what the Lady Lilyth can't control, she plans to destroy.
In a desperate bid for the survival and freedom of the various races of Crimson Winter, Yukari must seek to uncover secrets the Vile Emperor has kept hidden for a millenia and in order to do this, she has to journey to the last place she'd ever thought she'd go - the Ruby City.
The afternoon sun was high in the sky as I exited through the main doors of Shinjuku High. Though it was well into fall now, the sun beamed down with a determined intensity, baking my skin with its dry heat. There was not a cloud anywhere to be found across the pale blue expanse and the harsh light gave no indication of dimming any time soon. I closed my eyes against the glare, but that only served to fill my vision with the red of light through my eyelids and I’d had enough of that colour for one day.
Shaking my head, I shrugged my way out of my unnecessary jacket and quickened my pace toward my mother’s silver Toyota. Up ahead, I caught sight of my friend Yue boarding her father’s bus after greeting him with an exuberant hug.
I smiled slightly, watching them. I would never admit it aloud, but I had always felt a little envious of the easy relationship Yue had with her parents. My family life had never been so simple, my father being a busy military lawyer and my mother made bitter by the fact that Father never seemed to have any time to spend with her. Unfortunately, that bitterness often spilled over onto me.
Mother smiled and waved as she caught sight of me. I froze, shocked – what could have made her so happy? Not wanting to ruin it for her, I quickened my pace further and practically darted to the rear passenger door of the little car, letting myself in and wondering what I could expect.
“Are you in a hurry, dear?” she asked with a bemused expression.
“No, Mother.”
“Are you comfortable back there, Yukari, or did you want to move up here and sit with me?”
This was…different.
“I know you usually sit back there,” she admitted, “but I realized we hardly ever talk, you and I, and I thought it might be good if we got to know each other a little better.”
“All right, Mother,” I answered tentatively and joined her in the front, leaving my school things behind.
“That’s better, isn’t it?”
I nodded but said nothing, worried my voice might betray how awkward I felt. It wasn’t usual for my mother to treat me like an equal and I wondered what this could possibly be about. As she started up the car and pulled out onto the street I found myself studying her out of the corner of my eye.
“So,” she said as she met my gaze with a sidelong one of her own, “any cute boys I should know about?”
“Mother!”
“What?” She grinned impishly. “It’s just your father and I always sort of hoped that you would bring someone home to meet us, but you never did…not even any friends, except occasionally Hotaru.”
“I don’t like any boys, Mother,” I answered, but as I spoke the words I knew in my heart they weren’t true – there was someone…
“What about that boy…what was his name?” Mother continued, incorrigibly. “He was kind of cute. A little rougher around the edges than I would have expected…oh, what am I saying? I’m sure whomever you choose will be perfect.”
My mind whirled, trying to understand what could have caused this change in my mother and what could have gotten her on the current subject, but along with my swirling thoughts came the red haze, blurring everything until I had no hope of unraveling it.
Justine Alley Dowsett is the author of over ten novels, and one of the founders of Mirror World Publishing. Her books, which she often co-writes with her sister, Murandy Damodred, range from young adult science fiction to dark fantasy/romance. She earned a BA in Drama from the University of Windsor, honed her skills as an entrepreneur by tackling video game production, and now she dedicates her time to writing, publishing, and role-playing with her friends.
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