by Adam Corby
‘I am Ennius Kandi, Charan of Elsvar in Gerso and of Danel in Ul Raambar.’
So it was that Ara-Karn returned to the Citadel of Elna, as he had promised his mistress that he would.
Ara-Karn
stands alone
between his own army
and the woman he loves in
Canto Three:
The IRON GATE
The Tale Behind the Tale
The Doom-Quest of Ara-Karn I composed when quite young, and sold to the TimeScape imprint of Pocket Books. But since it was a long book, my editor, David Hartwell, asked that it be divided into three volumes. At the time I considered this to be a mistake: personally I love and prefer long tales, if they be good ones, and enjoy the prospect of a good long read when I heft a thick tome in my hand. But I agreed to David’s condition of publication because he knew his business, and I also saw opportunities for improving the tale by restructuring some chapters in the course of helping each volume to stand better on its own.
It took me a long time to recast the second volume, and years to rework the third. The book was long overdue; what’s more, the first two volumes had not sold well, and David Hartwell had left Pocket Books. The new editorial staff looked over my reworked third volume (now almost as long as the entire tale had been when it was deemed too long to publish in one volume), and declared it was unpublishable. They were right: the thing had run away from me.
And so no one but my friends has ever read the full story, or learned the final fate of Ara-Karn.
Now some thirty years after the book was first accepted for publication (and with asotir’s assistance), I can offer a revised and expanded 30th anniversary edition.
The first two volumes – The Former King and The Divine Queen – I reproduce much as they were first published, correcting only some typos and grammatical errors that slipped past me. The unhappy third volume I have shortened somewhat, and reworked it into two parts, now titled The Iron Gate and Darkbridge.
To those who read the first volumes long ago, and have wondered in the years since, ‘What happened, and how did it all end up?’ I offer my apologies. Now at last, if you have found this, you can find out.
— Adam Corby
Spring 2009
Also Available
The barbarian charge faltered.
One old chieftain pointed.
‘The Hooded Man!’
At that shout others raised their heads. The Gerso stood dark against the sky.
He pulled back smoothly, and the death-bird’s iron beak tore through the old man’s tongue and broke his jaw; his teeth spewed upon the ground. The chieftain staggered into the arms of his tribesmen, groaning; he would never speak again.
‘God, curse the hooded man atop the gate,’ said the barbarians. The Iron Gate had withstood their hammers and rams for another pass.
— from Canto Three:
The Iron Gate
The Naked Damsel
The armored men parted and the damsel stepped forth.
‘Now,’ said King Arthur, ‘what has brought you here?’
‘This,’ she answered, and let fall the mantle to the floor. Beneath the furs the damsel stood naked, and wore nothing beside the black veil and a heavy sword belted over her slim waist.
‘What is this sword you wear?’ asked the King. ‘Maiden, to stand so naked with a sword ill beseems you.’
‘The Lady Lille of Avalon,’ she answered, ‘has made me this scabbard and Belt of the Strange Clasp, so that the sword may not be drawn but by the best knight in the world, of the greatest heart and strength of arms, untouched by treachery, tricks or villainy. And I have come to your court, O King, to see if I may find that knight here among you…’
— from The Killing Sword
Lady Agatha was alone
Her lord had gone to take the measure of his lands, and his voice calling to his hounds came from far-off through her window, till it was hidden in the wind.
And she heard a great wave breaking on the stones of the Irish land, washing to the Western Sea; and a cry went with it, from a stricken old woman in a hut beyond the hill.
And Lady Agatha heard a third voice calling; and that was Aengus’ voice.
She shut the window to stop the voice, but the room waxed so warm she had to open up again. His song went on and on. And the beat of the riders was everywhere; and Lady Agatha fell asleep at last.
And Master Aengus’ song went right into her sleep.
She knew now why the riders came. They came for her.
— from Blood by Moonlight
Table of Contents
I. The City Over the World
II. The Court of the Divine Queen
III. Under the King’s Light
IV. Trembling Heralds of the Wars
V. The Prophecy of Jade and Iron
VI. The Spoil of the Barbarian King
VII. A Far-Off Note of Anvils
VIII. The Prisoner of Ara-Karn
IX. ‘The Thunder-Clouds Close O’er’
X. ‘Throned Eternity in Icy Halls’
XI. Of Comedy and Kings
XII. Gen-Karn, Mighty King
XIII. A Draught More Dangerous than She Knew
XIV. ‘The Wandering Outlaw of His Own Dark Mind’
XV. The Tent of Ara-Karn
XVI. The Hall of Justice Again
XVII. ‘The Lone Chieftain, Who Majestic Stalks’
XVIII. ‘Death Hath But Left Him Little to Destroy’
XIX. The Woman in the Wood
XX. The League of Elna
XXI. The Voyaged One
XXII. The Battle of the Lower Quarters
XXIII. ‘War, Even to the Knife!’
XXIV. Ara-Karn, at Last