The Rabbit And The Raven
Page 29
Through a blinding haze of anger, David listened as the mermaid recounted her story. “I witnessed Lucia being tossed from the Eastern Oracle’s balcony like so much rubbish, falling like a meteor to the surf below,” Nerine explained. “I quickly dove down and retrieved her from Eastern Sea’s rocky bottom. Lucia was bleeding internally and barely alive, but I kept her from drowning. My guards and I then carried her west to Caislucis through the undersea caverns that span Cai Terenmare. Now, we give her over to your custody, to do with her as you will.” At this, Nerine gestured for her guards to step forward. The mermen gently laid an unconscious Lucia at David’s feet to await his judgment.
In a former life, before he knew better, David would have fought off the hulking monster Calder to save his prodigal aunt, but now he hesitated. She was the source of all this heartache, after all. Perhaps it was best to kill her now before she could wreak further havoc on his miserable life. Or perhaps he should just let Lucia continue on the path she had chosen, let nature take its course, let her die.
Heal her.
The voice was in his head, the part of him that held onto memories of Abby and imagined conversations they would never have. He knew that. But it was her voice just the same. And if this was the only way he could ever be close to her again, he couldn’t silence that voice by denying her request.
Kneeling, he placed his hands over Lucia’s bruised, broken body. He let the power flow through him once more, taking her injuries for his own. In the terrible pain, he could hear Abby. He could hear her clearly.
He’s coming, Abby said. The Sower is coming.
CHARACTERS
(in alphabetical order)
Abigail “Abby” Brown: a girl with the ability to see the future and communicate with others through dreams. The daughter of Frank and Bethany Brown and sister of Matthew Brown, she was born and raised in the human world.
Ardal of Caislucis (AR-dahl of KASS-loo-sis): the father of David Corbin and the previous Solas Beir, also called the Great Bear King. Ardal was assassinated shortly after David’s birth and before his kidnapping. (In general, people in Cai Terenmare use their city or region of origin as a surname.)
Brarn (rhymes with barn): the raven who guides Abby and is a friend to Queen Eulalia.
Cael (kayl): Queen Eulalia’s champion and first knight of the castle, Caislucis, he is charged with ensuring the safety of the Solas Beir and the royal family.
Cai Aislingstraid (KIGH AY-sling-stride): a soul who sees, a person with the ability to see the future and communicate with others through dreams.
C’aislingaer (KIGH-sling-ahr): the slang term for Cai Aislingstraid.
Cassandra Buchan (BYOO-can): Professor of Psychology and Statistics at the University of Santa Linda, she’s married to Riordan Buchan and is the mother of their children, Ciaran (KEER-ahn), Siobhan (sh’-VAWN), and Rowan (ROH-un).
David Corbin: the new Solas Beir (king) of Cai Terenmare, he grew up in the human world, and prefers his human name over his birth name, Artan. His adoptive parents, the Corbins, were murdered by Calder and Malden, Kruorumbrae.
Eastern Oracle: one of the four Oracles ruling the outer realms of Cai Terenmare, who work in concert with the Solas Beir to keep the balance between the Light and the Darkness. He governs the City of the Eastern Oracle, perched on the cliffs above the east coast of Cai Terenmare. The other Oracles are the Northern Oracle, the Southern Oracle, and the Western Oracle.
Erela (eh-REL-lah): a winged woman who serves on the Solas Beir’s court council.
Eulalia (YOO-lahl-ee-ah): dowager queen of Cai Terenmare, widow of the last Solas Beir, Ardal, and birth mother of Artan (David Corbin), heir to the throne, and the new Solas Beir.
Fergal (FER-gahl) the Valorous: a shape-shifting faery, loyal to the queen. His spirit animal is a frog.
Gorman: a small indigo man who serves on the Solas Beir’s court council and is the historian and librarian for Caislucis.
Hedeon (heh-DAY-on): head knight charged with the security of the City of the Eastern Oracle.
Jonathon “Jon” Reyes: Abby’s best friend, neighbor, and the son of Blanca Reyes.
Kruor um Beir (KROO-or um BAIR): the King of Blood and Shadows, and the one who rules those who serve the Darkness.
Kruorumbrae (KROO-or-um-bray): evil shape-shifting creatures who feed on others, often referred to as Blood Shadows or simply Shadows.
Lucia (loo-SEE-ah): Queen Eulalia’s sister, she assassinated Ardal and kidnapped Artan (David Corbin), betraying her family for Tynan Tierney, the Kruor um Beir. While living in the human world, she disguised herself as an old woman named Moira Buchan.
Malden (MAHL-den): a sadistic shape-shifter loyal to Tynan Tierney, who has historic ties to Newcastle Beach.
Marisol (mah-REE-sol) Cassidy: daughter of Marcus Cassidy, a wealthy businessman, and Esperanza Garcia, a former supermodel, she is friends with David Corbin, Michal Sloane, and Monroe Banagher.
Meridoris (MEER-ee-dor-ess): a sea hag and vile sorceress from the depths of the ocean.
Michal (MEYE-kahl) Sloane: a wealthy girl who is best known for being a bully. She and her friends, Marisol Cassidy and Monroe Banagher are referred to as “M Cubed” or M³. Michal and her parents were close friends with the Corbin family.
Monroe Banagher: a wealthy girl who is friends with Marisol Cassidy, Michal Sloane, and David Corbin.
Nysa (NEE-sah): a water sprite called a nixie, loyal to the queen. Her spirit animal is the golden koi.
Nerine (NEER-ih-nee): a mermaid and daughter of the Sea King.
Northern Oracle: one of the four Oracles, she governs the Gauntlet and the Ice Mountain Territories.
Obelia (oh-BEEL-ya): head of the Solas Beir’s court council. The other members of the council are Gorman, Erela, Eoin of the North Forest, Fedor of the Great Plains, Navit of the South, and Rodas of the East.
Phelan (FAY-lan): a knight, and Cael’s second in command, charged with the security of Caislucis.
Riordan Buchan (REER-den BYOO-can): a writer, mythology enthusiast, and admirer of all things Gaelic. Married to Cassandra Buchan, he’s the father of Ciaran, Siobhan, and Rowan, and the nephew of the real Moira Buchan, who was murdered by Lucia.
Solas Beir (SO-lass BAIR): ruler of Cai Terenmare. In representing the Light, the Solas Beir is endowed with great power and is meant to be a servant to the people. Solas Beir can be translated literally as Lightbearer, but this less formal term is used to refer to a future ruler who has not yet ascended to the throne. The term Lightbearer can also be used as an insult, referring to a ruler who is weak.
Southern Oracle: one of the four Oracles, he governs the Rainforest.
Tynan Tierney (TIGH-nan TEER-nee): the leader of the Kruorumbrae, creatures of the Darkness. He calls himself Kruor um Beir and seeks the throne of the Solas Beir. He is often referred to simply as Tierney.
Western Oracle: one of the four Oracles, she governed the seas and was mother to the murderous sirens. She, her daughters, and her island temple were destroyed by Cael.
Yola (YOH-lah): a woman from the village of Nuren, whose brother, Daudi (dah-OO-dee), was abducted along with five other villagers, including a young girl named Aziza (ah-ZEE-zah).
PLACES AND TERMS
(in alphabetical order)
The Barren: the vast desert in the center of Cai Terenmare, spanning from the Great Plains to the Eye of the Needle.
Blood Altar: a ruin with a macabre history located in the middle of the rainforest.
Cai Terenmare (KIGH TAIR-en-mahr): a parallel world to Earth filled with magic, shape-shifters, mythical creatures, and blood-thirsty monsters.
Caislucis (KASS-loo-sis): castle and city of the Solas Beir, perched on the cliffs above the Western Sea.
City of the Eastern Oracle: a large, bustling, walled city governed by the Eastern Oracle.
Emerald Guardian: a magical tree stump located near the northern boundary of the rainforest.
Eye of the Needle: a rock spir
e near the City of the Eastern Oracle.
Newcastle Beach Inn: a mansion built by Thaddeus Buchan as his home, and later deeded to the Newcastle Beach community. It sits across the street from his brother Samuel’s mansion, which was damaged in an earthquake and is in ruin.
Nuren: a small village on the Great Plains.
Pool of Healing: a sacred pool within Caislucis that can heal almost any wound.
Sigil: a seal, signet, sign, symbol, or image with magical power.
Sign of the Throne: the sigil of the Solas Beir and an object of great power belonging to the Light. It is used to open and close portals from Cai Terenmare to other worlds.
Silver Hand Mirror: an object of power also used to open and close portals, but created and corrupted by Darkness.
Southport: a coastal town notorious as a haven for pirates and slave traders.
Village of the Southern Oracle: governed by the Southern Oracle, this tiny village stands in the center of a dangerous rainforest.
The Wasteland: a parallel world to Cai Terenmare that serves as a prison. In this endless desert where time is frozen, prisoners are compelled to count scarlet grains of sand for all eternity.
THE SOWER COMES
Book Three in
the Solas Beir Trilogy
Melissa Eskue Ousley
THE WASTELAND
The girl sat beneath the cobalt sky, cupping the scarlet sand in her hands. She mumbled the numbers to herself, counting, counting, counting. She remembered nothing but her name. Sometimes she was called Abigail, and sometimes she was called Abby.
David Corbin was trapped. Lost in a place where he wasn’t awake, and he wasn’t asleep. He remembered everything, especially the last thing, the part where he had heard her voice telling him to heal Lucia—even though that was the last thing he had wanted to do. After all the lies, all the betrayals, he had wanted to see Lucia die.
But the healing wasn’t for Lucia. It was for her, the one he had lost. Now Lucia had no more pain. He had taken it all. A part of him savored the agony that twisted his broken body—he was drowning in pain, but it helped him forget Abby’s eyes. The problem was, he would heal eventually, as he always did. Before long, the pain would fade. Then he wouldn’t be able to forget. Then, he would have to face Lucia. Already she had been calling for him.
Lucia had been staring at the floor of her cell for hours, waiting. The other cells in the dungeon were empty. She had woken up alone, in the dark silence of the underground.
She suspected the other prisoners had been removed from the dungeon out of fear that she would bend their will to serve her own. Even the guards had kept their distance, afraid she might somehow infect their minds, reducing them to serve as her minions. The thought that she was so feared was amusing, considering her mind was still clouded from a death-like sleep. But there were benefits to having a bad reputation, and she didn’t mind the solitude. There was only one person she wanted to speak to. He was too broken to come to her just yet, but he would come, and soon. She reached out to David again with her mind.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Melissa Eskue Ousley lives in the Pacific Northwest with her family and their Kelpie, Gryphon. When she’s not writing, Melissa can be found hiking, swimming, scuba diving, kayaking, or walking along the beach, poking dead things with a stick.
Before she became a writer, she had a number of educational jobs, ranging from a summer spent scraping road kill off a molten desert highway, to years spent conducting research with an amazing team of educators at the University of Arizona. Her interests in psychology, culture, and mythology have influenced her writing of The Solas Beir Trilogy.
www.MelissaEskueOusley.com
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Twitter: @MEskueOusley