by Candy Rae
But, all untouched; and no-one there,
As though, when they sat down to eat,
Ere they could even taste,
Alarm had come, and they in haste
Had risen and left the bread and meat,
For at the table head a chair
Lay tumbled on the floor.
Wilfred Wilson Gibson (1878-1962)
Quote (XVII)
(XVII) Come not between the dragon and his wrath
William Shakespeare (1564-1616), King Lear
Quote (II)(repeated)
(II)** The king sits in Dumferling toune, Drinking the blude-reid wine: ‘O whar will I get guid sailor, To sail this schip of mine?’
‘The Ballad of Sir Patrick Spens’
Quote (XII)
(XII)** Ego sum non bellator pro meus regnum vel opulentia.
I am not fighting for my kingdom and wealth.
Tacitus (56-117), The Annals of Imperial Rome
Quote (XX)
(XX) But at the western side Of Arunatha's tide,
Near the city's northern wall, our Pharaoh had his place.
And they came unto the king, And they told him our disgrace;
Then Rameses uprose, like his father.
By order of Rameses II (BC 1279-1213). The words were inscribed on the walls of five Egyptian temples.
Quote (XVIII)
(XVIII) The Emperor Caesar Nerva Trajan Augustus, son of the deified Nerva, Conqueror of Germany, Conqueror of Dacia, pontifex maximus, in his twelfth year of tribunician power, six times acclaimed emperor, five times consul, father of his country, built this gate by the agency of the 9th Legion Hispana.
These words come from a stone that sat on one of the gates of the Roman fort at York. It records the building of the gate in around 107 AD.
Quote (XIX)
(XIX) Banquo; I dreamt last night of the three weird sisters: To you they have show’d some truth. Macbeth; I think not of them.
William Shakespeare (1564-1616), Macbeth (The Scottish Play)
(XIX) The common opinion was that these women were either the Weird Sisters, that is … the goddesses of destiny, or else some nymphs or fairies endued with knowledge of prophecy by their necromantical science.
Holinshed’s Chronicles (1587), a history of England, Scotland and Ireland.
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Bibliography
A History of Loch Rannoch – A.D. Cunningham (A.D. Cunningham, Dalbruach, Rannoch, 2009)
Battles of the Dark Ages – Peter Marren (Pen & Sword Military, Kindle Edition, 2009)
Ecclesiastical History of the English Church and People – Bede, L Sherley-Price (Penguin Classics, Revised Edition, 1990)
Hereward, the Last Englishman – Peter Rex (The History Press, 2005)
King Arthur, The Man and the Legend Revealed – Mike Ashley (Constable and Robinson Ltd, 2010)
Merlin: The Prophet and his History – Geoffrey Ashe (The History Press, 2008)
The Age of Bede – Bede, D. H. Farmer, J.F. Webb (Penguin Classics, Revised Edition, Kindle Edition, 2004)
The Death of King Arthur – Simon Armitage (Faber and Faber, 2012)
The King Arthur Conspiracy (How a Scottish Prince became a Mythical Hero – Simon Andrew Stirling (The History Press, Kindle Edition, 2012)
Wikipedia
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About the Author
Ephemeral Boundary was written by Scottish author Candy Rae, a lifelong fan of fantasy fiction.
On Christmas Day 2003, Candy wrote the first words of her first adventure into fantasy fiction. The first words were about, if she remembers correctly, a girl called Tana who was struggling with a lesson in swordsmanship. She has now written a series of novels and short stories set within the world of ‘Planet Wolf’.
Once she has finished ‘The T’Quel Magic – A Trilogy’ (Ephemeral Boundary, Enduring Barrier and Eternal Bulwark) she will write a short series about what happened to some of the characters after the final Planet Wolf book, Ambition and Alavidha. She intends also to write a historical fiction novel set in Scotland and England during the late eleventh and early twelfth centuries about a little-known sister of a queen.
Special thanks to Jennifer for helping to link Ayrshire, Scotland with California, U.S.A. when she supplied Candy with some outstanding artwork. Thanks too to Irene who is the best proofreader and editor Candy has ever come across.
Candy lives with her family, two seven-year-old cats (who believe the house belongs to them), and an eight-year-old rescue Labrador/Daschund dog (who, although he chases the cats at every available opportunity, is secretly absolutely terrified of them).
August 2013