Merritt's Story - Excerpt + Author Reading (audio)

[5/13/2017 UPDATE: If you're reading Merritt's story, I recommend not reading this excerpt until after you've read at least through chapter 9, in order to avoid spoilers.  Also, this excerpt has since gone through edits, so it doesn't perfectly match the final version.  I've also changed access to this post to be for $10.01+ patrons only, but I'll revert it to $2+ patrons after chapter 9 is posted.]

Here's a little something different for the $2+ patrons.  I'd been meaning to do an author reading for either Merritt's story or the undead series for a few months now, and I finally got around to it.  I know I said I was going to share an excerpt of when Merritt and Samsid first met, and I still will in the near future.  This scene I chose isn't the most action-packed, but I chose it for the author reading because I suck at doing scenes with lots of male characters because the only male voices I can do are Alvin, Simon, and Theodore.  -_-  Also, being a sort of "mentoring" conversation between Archer and Merritt, this scene relates nicely to the scene we just wrapped up in the comic.  (Not to mention if I did a reading of the scene with Samsid, I'd have to drop way too many f-bombs for my comfort. ^_^)

This scene takes place about 5 years before DOTU, and before Belmont is named the North Sphere right hand.  Merritt has just been promoted to captain of the North Sphere military.  (This scene takes place well before the scene I shared awhile back for the $10.01 patrons too.)

You can listen to the author reading by clicking "play" up above.  I recommend keeping the volume as low as possible because ack, my voice...

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Here's the excerpt as text:

Merritt was still in bed at nine on Saturday morning when the ringing of his cell phone brought him out of sleep. He hadn’t gotten home until nearly four in the morning, and he was still exhausted from a busy work week without enough rest. Knowing that he’d be working harder than ever when his first day as captain came on Monday, he’d hoped to be able to sleep in as late as possible on Saturday, but he couldn’t bring himself to ignore the ringing phone and his friend’s name flashing on the screen. Rolling over, he groggily raised the phone to his ear and croaked, “Hey, Archer.”

“You sound like a zombie,” Archer said. “Did I wake you?”

“Yeah. Had a late night. I’m surprised I didn’t sleep through the phone ringing.” He looked around at the empty room. “Everyone else in the barracks is already out the door, it seems.” He sat up in bed, leaning back against the headboard and smoothing out the blanket across his legs. “What’s going on? Why did you call?”

“I heard a troubling rumor. And I need you to tell me that it’s not true.”

Merritt frowned, apprehensive. “What’s the rumor?”

“I heard that you broke Belmont’s arm at the party last night. It’s not true, is it?”

“No. It’s not true.”

Archer breathed a sigh of relief. “Oh, thank God.”

“It was only dislocated.”

“What? Merritt!”

“Sorry. Who told you about it?”

“Everyone. Literally everyone. Right now, Belmont is the North Sphere’s favorite punch line, and you have to know that this is going to piss him off beyond belief.”

“I know, Archer. It’s not like I went to the party with the intention of dislocating Belmont’s arm. But he….” Merritt hesitated. He wasn’t sure how detailed the rumors were about what had happened between him and Belmont the night before, but he was too embarrassed to tell Archer more than she already knew. Instead, he let out a sigh and said, “I wish I could have figured out a way to avoid physical violence. But in that moment, it felt like the only option.”

“To be fair, any bruise to Belmont’s ego would have earned you his wrath, no matter how peacefully you behaved. But even so, I don’t think you could have possibly done more to publicly humiliate him.”

“It wasn’t my intention.”

“I don’t think Belmont is going to care about your intention.”

“I know, Archer. I know I made a mistake. Damen says I should give him awhile to cool off and then try to make nice somehow.”

Archer paused. “‘Damen’?”

Merritt felt his cheeks flush. “He told me to call him that. Last night.”

“Huh. Interesting.”

“I slipped up. I only intend to call him Damen when I’m speaking to him directly. I don’t want people getting the wrong idea. But Archer, some good did come of this whole thing. No one at that party wanted anything to do with me at first. But after the thing with Belmont, Mercury introduced me to a bunch of his advisors, and we had a really good conversation. Or at least, as good as a conversation can be when half the people there are wasted. But Higgins even said that I could come to him at any time if I wanted advice. Higgins, the second in command! And that’s not even mentioning the way Mercury talks to me now. I can’t even describe how different everything was by the end of the party.”

“Having no friends is safer than having ten friends and an enemy.”

Merritt frowned. “I didn’t want Belmont as an enemy, but he disliked me from the moment we met. We were never going to be friends. At least now there are other people who think I’m worth something.”

Archer sighed. “I know, Merritt. I’m not trying to give you grief. I just want to make sure you realize that you have to be on your guard around Belmont—more than you ever were before. Belmont doesn’t ever let anyone win against him. He always has to have the last word. Whatever you did to him, he’ll want to do ten times worse to you.”

“I understand. And I appreciate the warning. I’ll be careful.”

“Good. That’s all I wanted.”