Title: THE SKY THRONE
Author: Chris Ledbetter
Pub. Date: April 18, 2017
Publisher: Month9Books
Format: Paperback, eBook
Pages: 292
Today Chris Ledbetter and Month9Books
are revealing the cover and first chapter for THE SKY THRONE which releases April
18, 2017! Check out the gorgeous cover and enter to be one of the first readers
to receive a eGalley!!
A quick note from the author:
Since my father put the
first book of mythology in my hand, I've loved myths and legends. I always
favored Greek mythology. I actually think I was Greek in a past life. Beginning
in 2011, I conceived a story to sit down and have Zeus tell me what his childhood
was like, especially his teenage years. All I did was listen to what he told me
and put it down on paper.
Duality dwells at every turn, and an adolescent Zeus will learn that all too well when Hyperion attacks his family on Crete.
When the dust settles, his mother is unconscious and his best friend left for dead.
Stacking epic insult upon fatal injury, Zeus discovers the woman who raised him is not his biological mother. But to ensure her safety while she recovers, a heavy-hearted Zeus leaves her behind to seek answers at Mount Olympus Preparatory Academia.
Zeus embarks on a quest to discover who ordered the attack on his home, avenge the death of his friend, and find his birth mother. When some of his new schoolmates vanish, Zeus's quest is turned upside down, and the only way to make things right is to access the power of The Sky Throne, confront a most dangerous enemy, and take his life back.
On his way to becoming king of the Greek gods, Zeus will learn to seize power, neutralize his enemies, and fall in love.
Excerpt
CHAPTER ONE
Since the moment I started at Eastern Crete Lower Academy two years ago, I’d felt like such an outcast. The guys, mostly Potamoi and sons of Headmasters Okeanos and Tethys, never regarded me as an equal. I didn’t even warrant bullying. It’s like I never even existed. If only I’d known how visible I’d become in the coming days. I always got picked last for swim team and crew in physical fitness class. I actually was the third best wrestler overall in school and peerless in javelin throwing due to superior training from my guardians, the Kouretes. When Eastern Crete competed in the Mediterranean Invitational Games against academies from Phoenicia, Egypt, and Libya, I placed first in the javelin event, beating Gurzil from Libya who was the reigning champion from years past. I even won my weight class, the lightest class there was, in wrestling by beating Melqart from Phoenicia. But none of that mattered.
I was still invisible.
I loved science class. The lessons where we studied energy and matter were like fresh spring water to a parched throat. But the rest of my classes bored me to tears. We had language arts, music, and math in the mornings. Physical fitness, agriculture, and science took up our afternoons. I wouldn’t say I was intellectually ahead of them, because, hey, that’d be conceited. But my mother prepared me well, with all the goat tending and such. And she always said when I came home from classes each night that they just didn’t know how to teach me on my level.
So, I was forced to make my own fun. No one would probably notice anyway.
After the big Invitational Games win, I was posted up at the school’s entry columns with my best friend, Anytos, watching the Oceanids as they arrived for classes one morning. Sisters to the Potamoi, the Oceanids were the sea nymph daughters of our headmasters. Okeanos and Tethys, aside from being our school administrators, were also Elder Deities of the vast ocean, which is why we at Eastern Crete dominated all water sports. Swimming. Cliff diving. Crew. We bested all comers. But not me. I dove and swam exactly the same … like an anvil.
The Oceanids descended upon the campus from their barracks like a wave crashing against the shore. Telesto, the most beautiful sea nymph by several stadia, smiled at me for the first time since I’d been going to the school. Okay, it wasn’t a full smile. The corner of her lip twitched upward as she flipped her wavy, aquamarine hair over her shoulder and glanced past me. But that counts, right?
I backhanded Anytos in the chest. “You saw that. That’s my opening. If I don’t make my move, she’ll be gone to the upper school next year.”
“Pssht, she is beyond the Mediterranean beautiful. Completely unattainable.”
“Did you see that come hither stare she flashed me?”
“Looked more like indigestion.”
“You are as wrong as you are false. Cover my back. I’m moving in.”
I crossed the courtyard in a flash and caught Telesto’s arm as she reached the weather-beaten front door to the main school hall.
“Telesto, you look as if the sun radiates from you.”
She paused and leaned back against the doorframe. “You’re just saying that because I wore my yellow tunic today.”
“You shine with such brilliance; you should wear yellow every day.”
She folded a strand or two of stunning teal hair behind her ear and twirled the ends. “But what happens when I wear my purple tunic?”
“A tunic hasn’t been invented that could dampen your beauty.”
She giggled and turned away from me for a moment. “Zeus, is it?”
I nodded, surprised she even knew my name.
“You’re the one who pulled that massive prank on my mother, Headmaster Tethys, aren’t you?”
Oh, that’s how she knew me. Not invisible after all. I bowed. “I am him. He is me. One and the same.”
“Crazy. She was so mad.” She shook her head, stifling a smile.
“As far as I can tell, language arts must be your favorite subject. Your tongue is spectacularly sharp-witted.”
“Not really. But I am feeling a little inspired right now.”
Several strands of her hair fell to cover half her face. “Are you going to the bonfire at the beach tomorrow night?”
“I wasn’t invite—”
Several of Telesto’s broad-shouldered, dark-haired brothers bumped into me from behind. “Those are uncharted waters, boy. Careful now,” One of them called over his shoulder. Those were the first words they’d ever spoken to me. Telesto rolled her eyes. “Pay them no mind. They’re harmless. You were saying?”
“Those bonfires are an Oceanids and Potamoi thing? It’s kind of a secret club that you have to be born into, right? Being brothers and sisters, children of Headmasters Okeanos and Tethys… young water deities in training… masters of rivers and streams…”
“I guess. But you should come out any way. It’s all night, under the stars. Eating, drinking, stargazing… What’s better than that?”
Gazing into her mesmerizing, iridescent eyes, my mouth fired before I could stop it. “Kissing you under the stars. That’s better.”
“Sprint much? You’re a fast mover.”
“I just go after what I want.”
“Well … ” A pink tint rose on her high cheek bones. “We shall see. But first you have to show up.” Her lips twitched gain. “I have to go to class. See you tomorrow?” She disappeared inside the school hall.
I turned to Tos with a pterodactyl-eating grin on my face. He shook his head and smiled.
The boring part of my daily routine was set to commence. School. Classes. Ugh. I wished the school day was already over so I could just go to games practice. As Tos and I walked to first period, I was struck by the overwhelming urge to liven my day up just a bit.
“Tos, I have a good one. You with me?”
“Oh heavens. Is it what I think it is?”
“I feel the need … the need to prank!”
Tos shook his head. “My pranking days are over.”
“Come on. Just one more. Promise it’s the last one.”
He glared at me.
I explained the entire idea to him. “It’ll be after language arts, all right? It’s going to be good.”
After class, Tos and I waited until all other students had left. He took his position at the door to make sure no one came in. I approached Professor Ceto at the front of the room. Tablets and scrolls decorated the top of her desk.
“Professor, do you have strong hands?”
Her intelligent eyes narrowed. “Sure, I do. Why?”
“I bet you a homework pass that you can’t balance a goblet on the back of your hand.”
Her forehead wrinkled.
“Place your hand on the desk, palm down,” I said.
She complied.
I filled her water goblet and placed it on the back of her hand.
She smiled. “See. No problem at all.”
I picked up the goblet. “Now place your other hand on top of this one.”
She sighed. “Why? Is that supposed to be harder? So, if I fail, you get a homework pass, yes? If I complete the task, what do I get?”
“It’s a surprise.”
“Go ahead, then,” she said, placing her left hand atop her right.
“Get on with it.”
Barely able to contain my giddiness, I balanced the full water goblet on the top of her two hands.
“See,” she said with triumph in her voice. “I did it. Where’s my surprise?”
“All right then, I’ll see you next week. Have a good weekend.” I walked quickly to the door.
“What? Wait, I can’t move my hands without spilling water all over my scrolls.”
Tos opened the door and we both rounded the corner in a flash. We were halfway to period two music when I heard an unholy roar across campus.
“ZEUS!”
Tos and I laughed our behinds off and slapped hands as we passed a solitary blueish post in the center of the courtyard. No one knew much about it or who designed it. But its presence was striking.
Upon reaching music class, Tos and I took our positions near the kithara and lyre. Our teacher, Professor Leucosia and several more students entered and we prepared for instruction. Leucosia had the most beautiful singing voice. Simply spellbinding. Sometimes, I felt light-headed when she’d sing along with our accompaniment. Shortly after arriving in class, Headmasters Okeanos and Tethys shadowed the doorway to our room. The expression on Tethys’ face could have killed a wild boar at forty paces.
“Zeus, Anytos, we need you to step outside right now.” Tethys said. Her eyes mirrored the Aegean during a storm.
I looked at Tos. My heart rate quickened to a pace I’d only felt after running sprints. Slowly, I rose to my feet. This couldn’t have been good.
We walked over to Okeanos. I had to crane my neck just to see the Headmaster’s eyes. His biceps were bigger than my head, despite silvery blue hair atop his head and an aged, wrinkly face.
His somber and deliberate voice rumbled. “You are hereby expelled from Eastern Crete Lower Academy. This infraction and expulsion will go on your master record. You may apply again next term.”
“Why? What did I do to deserve this?”
Professor Tethys stepped forward to grab my arm. “Your little pranks have gotten you in deeper water than you can swim in, young man. You obviously need some time to think about how you can be a better contributor to the educational system.”
“No. You can’t expel me. Please!” I clasped my hands in front of my face. “My mother will kill me!”
“Not our concern.” Okeanos folded his gigantic arms. His voice rumbled again. “You must learn to be a better student. A better citizen.”
“But they were just pranks,” I pleaded.
“Yes. And this is the seventh such prank we’ve endured at your hands. And since Anytos helped you, he shall accompany you home.”
Tethys pointed east toward Mount Ida, the highest peak on Crete.
“You have until the sun chariot reaches its zenith to leave campus.”
She gazed upward. “By the looks of things, your time’s nearly at an end.”
Since the moment I started at Eastern Crete Lower Academy two years ago, I’d felt like such an outcast. The guys, mostly Potamoi and sons of Headmasters Okeanos and Tethys, never regarded me as an equal. I didn’t even warrant bullying. It’s like I never even existed. If only I’d known how visible I’d become in the coming days. I always got picked last for swim team and crew in physical fitness class. I actually was the third best wrestler overall in school and peerless in javelin throwing due to superior training from my guardians, the Kouretes. When Eastern Crete competed in the Mediterranean Invitational Games against academies from Phoenicia, Egypt, and Libya, I placed first in the javelin event, beating Gurzil from Libya who was the reigning champion from years past. I even won my weight class, the lightest class there was, in wrestling by beating Melqart from Phoenicia. But none of that mattered.
I was still invisible.
I loved science class. The lessons where we studied energy and matter were like fresh spring water to a parched throat. But the rest of my classes bored me to tears. We had language arts, music, and math in the mornings. Physical fitness, agriculture, and science took up our afternoons. I wouldn’t say I was intellectually ahead of them, because, hey, that’d be conceited. But my mother prepared me well, with all the goat tending and such. And she always said when I came home from classes each night that they just didn’t know how to teach me on my level.
So, I was forced to make my own fun. No one would probably notice anyway.
After the big Invitational Games win, I was posted up at the school’s entry columns with my best friend, Anytos, watching the Oceanids as they arrived for classes one morning. Sisters to the Potamoi, the Oceanids were the sea nymph daughters of our headmasters. Okeanos and Tethys, aside from being our school administrators, were also Elder Deities of the vast ocean, which is why we at Eastern Crete dominated all water sports. Swimming. Cliff diving. Crew. We bested all comers. But not me. I dove and swam exactly the same … like an anvil.
The Oceanids descended upon the campus from their barracks like a wave crashing against the shore. Telesto, the most beautiful sea nymph by several stadia, smiled at me for the first time since I’d been going to the school. Okay, it wasn’t a full smile. The corner of her lip twitched upward as she flipped her wavy, aquamarine hair over her shoulder and glanced past me. But that counts, right?
I backhanded Anytos in the chest. “You saw that. That’s my opening. If I don’t make my move, she’ll be gone to the upper school next year.”
“Pssht, she is beyond the Mediterranean beautiful. Completely unattainable.”
“Did you see that come hither stare she flashed me?”
“Looked more like indigestion.”
“You are as wrong as you are false. Cover my back. I’m moving in.”
I crossed the courtyard in a flash and caught Telesto’s arm as she reached the weather-beaten front door to the main school hall.
“Telesto, you look as if the sun radiates from you.”
She paused and leaned back against the doorframe. “You’re just saying that because I wore my yellow tunic today.”
“You shine with such brilliance; you should wear yellow every day.”
She folded a strand or two of stunning teal hair behind her ear and twirled the ends. “But what happens when I wear my purple tunic?”
“A tunic hasn’t been invented that could dampen your beauty.”
She giggled and turned away from me for a moment. “Zeus, is it?”
I nodded, surprised she even knew my name.
“You’re the one who pulled that massive prank on my mother, Headmaster Tethys, aren’t you?”
Oh, that’s how she knew me. Not invisible after all. I bowed. “I am him. He is me. One and the same.”
“Crazy. She was so mad.” She shook her head, stifling a smile.
“As far as I can tell, language arts must be your favorite subject. Your tongue is spectacularly sharp-witted.”
“Not really. But I am feeling a little inspired right now.”
Several strands of her hair fell to cover half her face. “Are you going to the bonfire at the beach tomorrow night?”
“I wasn’t invite—”
Several of Telesto’s broad-shouldered, dark-haired brothers bumped into me from behind. “Those are uncharted waters, boy. Careful now,” One of them called over his shoulder. Those were the first words they’d ever spoken to me. Telesto rolled her eyes. “Pay them no mind. They’re harmless. You were saying?”
“Those bonfires are an Oceanids and Potamoi thing? It’s kind of a secret club that you have to be born into, right? Being brothers and sisters, children of Headmasters Okeanos and Tethys… young water deities in training… masters of rivers and streams…”
“I guess. But you should come out any way. It’s all night, under the stars. Eating, drinking, stargazing… What’s better than that?”
Gazing into her mesmerizing, iridescent eyes, my mouth fired before I could stop it. “Kissing you under the stars. That’s better.”
“Sprint much? You’re a fast mover.”
“I just go after what I want.”
“Well … ” A pink tint rose on her high cheek bones. “We shall see. But first you have to show up.” Her lips twitched gain. “I have to go to class. See you tomorrow?” She disappeared inside the school hall.
I turned to Tos with a pterodactyl-eating grin on my face. He shook his head and smiled.
The boring part of my daily routine was set to commence. School. Classes. Ugh. I wished the school day was already over so I could just go to games practice. As Tos and I walked to first period, I was struck by the overwhelming urge to liven my day up just a bit.
“Tos, I have a good one. You with me?”
“Oh heavens. Is it what I think it is?”
“I feel the need … the need to prank!”
Tos shook his head. “My pranking days are over.”
“Come on. Just one more. Promise it’s the last one.”
He glared at me.
I explained the entire idea to him. “It’ll be after language arts, all right? It’s going to be good.”
After class, Tos and I waited until all other students had left. He took his position at the door to make sure no one came in. I approached Professor Ceto at the front of the room. Tablets and scrolls decorated the top of her desk.
“Professor, do you have strong hands?”
Her intelligent eyes narrowed. “Sure, I do. Why?”
“I bet you a homework pass that you can’t balance a goblet on the back of your hand.”
Her forehead wrinkled.
“Place your hand on the desk, palm down,” I said.
She complied.
I filled her water goblet and placed it on the back of her hand.
She smiled. “See. No problem at all.”
I picked up the goblet. “Now place your other hand on top of this one.”
She sighed. “Why? Is that supposed to be harder? So, if I fail, you get a homework pass, yes? If I complete the task, what do I get?”
“It’s a surprise.”
“Go ahead, then,” she said, placing her left hand atop her right.
“Get on with it.”
Barely able to contain my giddiness, I balanced the full water goblet on the top of her two hands.
“See,” she said with triumph in her voice. “I did it. Where’s my surprise?”
“All right then, I’ll see you next week. Have a good weekend.” I walked quickly to the door.
“What? Wait, I can’t move my hands without spilling water all over my scrolls.”
Tos opened the door and we both rounded the corner in a flash. We were halfway to period two music when I heard an unholy roar across campus.
“ZEUS!”
Tos and I laughed our behinds off and slapped hands as we passed a solitary blueish post in the center of the courtyard. No one knew much about it or who designed it. But its presence was striking.
Upon reaching music class, Tos and I took our positions near the kithara and lyre. Our teacher, Professor Leucosia and several more students entered and we prepared for instruction. Leucosia had the most beautiful singing voice. Simply spellbinding. Sometimes, I felt light-headed when she’d sing along with our accompaniment. Shortly after arriving in class, Headmasters Okeanos and Tethys shadowed the doorway to our room. The expression on Tethys’ face could have killed a wild boar at forty paces.
“Zeus, Anytos, we need you to step outside right now.” Tethys said. Her eyes mirrored the Aegean during a storm.
I looked at Tos. My heart rate quickened to a pace I’d only felt after running sprints. Slowly, I rose to my feet. This couldn’t have been good.
We walked over to Okeanos. I had to crane my neck just to see the Headmaster’s eyes. His biceps were bigger than my head, despite silvery blue hair atop his head and an aged, wrinkly face.
His somber and deliberate voice rumbled. “You are hereby expelled from Eastern Crete Lower Academy. This infraction and expulsion will go on your master record. You may apply again next term.”
“Why? What did I do to deserve this?”
Professor Tethys stepped forward to grab my arm. “Your little pranks have gotten you in deeper water than you can swim in, young man. You obviously need some time to think about how you can be a better contributor to the educational system.”
“No. You can’t expel me. Please!” I clasped my hands in front of my face. “My mother will kill me!”
“Not our concern.” Okeanos folded his gigantic arms. His voice rumbled again. “You must learn to be a better student. A better citizen.”
“But they were just pranks,” I pleaded.
“Yes. And this is the seventh such prank we’ve endured at your hands. And since Anytos helped you, he shall accompany you home.”
Tethys pointed east toward Mount Ida, the highest peak on Crete.
“You have until the sun chariot reaches its zenith to leave campus.”
She gazed upward. “By the looks of things, your time’s nearly at an end.”
Chris Ledbetter grew up in Durham, NC before moving to Charlottesville, VA in 11th grade. After high school, he attended Hampton University where he promptly “walked-on” to the best drum line in the conference without any prior percussion experience. He carried the bass drum for four years, something his back is not very happy about now.
After a change of heart and major, he enrolled in Old Dominion University and earned his degree in Business Administration. He’s worked in various managerial and marketing capacities throughout his life. He taught high school for six years in Culpeper, VA, and also coached football.
He has walked the streets of Los Angeles and New York City, waded in the waters of the Atlantic and Pacific oceans, and climbed Diamond Head crater on Hawaii and rang in the New Year in Tokyo, Japan. But he dreams of one day visiting Greece and Italy.
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