The term the veiled oracle used next made Inwar force himself not to flinch. “The new Queen,” the seeress said, “moves from realm to realm, and the Sword of Light is often near her.”
As the oracle spoke, the images in the Fomoire witch's ice continued to blur. Cethlenn gestured, and the chained slaves on the wall writhed in pain, as she drew upon their life-forces for more power.
Inwar had seen it before. Divine forces could be empowered by many things, and the Fomoire were a people of water, iron, and blood. Cethlenn's magics had often drawn on the lives of others, when they last walked the worlds above. And she'd be seeking more such vessels soon. The pool shifted away from trying to focus on Megan and instead settled on an image of Inwar's war room. This brought on a few startled movements, but the General remained just as he was.
“The witch is not as neglected as she was before Mag Tuired,” Inwar said calmly. “But the Fomoire the Gods drove under the ice were not the force they had then.”
Again Cethlenn gestured. Again the chained figures writhed. Inwar almost thought, under the black lines, he recognized a face.
“She speaks of her souvenirs,” the veiled oracle said, her voice strained.
There was a sudden quiet sound from the lavender-haired troll as her scrying water twisted itself, no longer showing a full view of the room.
Instead, she and Inwar looked into the water and up into one crooked face, one sculpted one, and one like a shark's. Indech's flat, lifeless eyes were not the only ones staring blankly. Inwar stared right back.
“...And they speak of rats in the larder,” the veiled oracle said.
The troll's bowl of water suddenly froze, then cracked from side to side.
The sidhe seeress's breath hitched as her crystal viewing the firewall crumbled into ash in her hands.
“When the flames die,” she said. “They will come here in force." The other women nodded.
Inwar smiled. "They will. And they will try to destroy the Ballroom, to stop the turn of seasons while winter is still in power.”
Acknowledgements
As the series has progressed, so many people have had a hand in both supporting us, and helping the world of the Fair Folk Chronicles grow and come to life.
We'd like to extend our thanks to our families, with particular thanks given to Benjamin Perkins and Matthew Lewis for the feedback and assistance.
Thank you, in fact, to all of the beta readers, and the people who've given us feedback on the characters and story so far. Thank you to the host of friends who provided background information here and there.
In a story where art and music are so important to the story and the world, I want to extend especial thanks to the artists and musicians who have helped contribute to the books or our research. Thank you to Clarissa Yeo for the covers. Huge thanks to Christopher Kovacs for the title page icons. Thank you to Shayna Walsh, Kaylin Anderson, David Burke, Matthew Rose, and Danielle Harada for providing the inspiration of some of our first fan art.
Thank you to the ladies and gentlemen involved in starting to bring Megan and co. to life on film. Jackie Faye, Tai Sager, Sierra Till, Nora Paxton Timmerman, Sheri Budrow, and James Lozlink Garrett, to start with.
Thank you to Jessica de Leon (aka Vicious Poppet) and Kenneth Petrie for bringing the music to life
To Lee French, Sechin Tower, all of the Writerpunk community, the online and Seattle Nanowrimo communities, and all of the other authors, aspiring authors, and others—thank you for the help and inspiration.
And an especial thank you to our readers and fans. You make it all worthwhile.
www.clockworkdragon.com
www.authorjeffreycook.com
www.punkwriters.com
About the Authors
Jeffrey Cook lives in Maple Valley, Washington, with his wife and three large dogs. He was born in Boulder, Colorado, but has lived all over the United States. He's the author of the Dawn of Steam trilogy of alternate-history/emergent Steampunk epistolary novels and of the YA Sci-fi thriller Mina Cortez: From Bouquets to Bullets. He’s a founding contributing author of Writerpunk Press and has also contributed to a number of role-playing game books for Deep7 Press out of Seattle. When not reading, researching, or writing, Jeffrey enjoys role-playing games and watching football.
Katherine Perkins lives in Mobile, Alabama, with her husband and one extremely skittish cat. She was born in Lafayette, Louisiana, and will defend its cuisine on any field of honor. She is the editor of the Dawn of Steam series and serves as Jeff’s co-author of various short stories, including those for the charity anthologies of Writerpunk Press. When not reading, researching, writing, or editing, she tries to remember what she was supposed to be doing.
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