Release date: June 12, 2017
Sub-genre: Fantasy, Historical; Sword and Sorcery
About Foreshadow:
In a time when dragons and gods seduced mortals, greedy kings plot to
overthrow the tiny, impoverished kingdom of Allsongs, tempted by the
promise of its future. It is said the hope and best defense of Allsongs
lies in the person of a small child, Tristabé-airta, the Princess Royal,
whose magic always works. Yet, it is the king and sword souled dragon born
children whom the enemy kings fear will usurp their kingdoms. An assassin
is sent to kill them. One of these children is surely a threat, Princess
Burta who trains in arms for the day she can snatch the Allsongs kingdom
from Tristabé-airta. While Tristabé-airta knows Burta hates her,
Tristabe-airta must do what she can to save her or Allsongs will fall when
they come of age.
“Foreshadow is a beautifully written fantasy tale that wraps readers in
poetry, new mythology and magic. ...If this is the precursor for things to
come in the series, we are in for quite an adventure.” –Compulsion Reads
overthrow the tiny, impoverished kingdom of Allsongs, tempted by the
promise of its future. It is said the hope and best defense of Allsongs
lies in the person of a small child, Tristabé-airta, the Princess Royal,
whose magic always works. Yet, it is the king and sword souled dragon born
children whom the enemy kings fear will usurp their kingdoms. An assassin
is sent to kill them. One of these children is surely a threat, Princess
Burta who trains in arms for the day she can snatch the Allsongs kingdom
from Tristabé-airta. While Tristabé-airta knows Burta hates her,
Tristabe-airta must do what she can to save her or Allsongs will fall when
they come of age.
“Foreshadow is a beautifully written fantasy tale that wraps readers in
poetry, new mythology and magic. ...If this is the precursor for things to
come in the series, we are in for quite an adventure.” –Compulsion Reads
Excerpt:
Come one and come all, and hear Ye! Hear Ye!
Freyzon, Prince Royal of Allsongs he,
By right of his might in the fight of his life,
Has won the Heirship and a priceless bride!
The bells sing out in sweet ringing pride!
For Future King Freyzun weds a poetess wife!
—from The Almanac of Proclamations
The queen bled to death upon the delivery of the princess, her only child,
only child to the king. The infant princess was therefore named
Tristabé-airta (Bright Sorrow) with the pretty diphthong of the end of the
name carefully, royally pronounced. The death of her mother was the first
sorrow set upon the royal baby. The second was the red flaw, the
strawberry mark, upon her cheek. The red flaw meant she could never rule
Allsongs, never contend for the crown, because the monarch must be
flawless. Tristabé-airta was whisked promptly into the arms and bosom of a
lady of country nobility, newly delivered she of an infant girl. Lady
Tendrea of Stonyhills, royally appointed Lady Milk Mother, wept in joy at
the wee, helpless lass given into her care.
“I am going to kill a dragon,” announced the distraught king, interrupting
the council of poets studying the new princess’s astrological natal chart.
At his words one poet tapped a certain configuration in the royal infant’s
chart. Maybe the horoscope was off a bit. What with the Two Sorrows, who
at the time would not have made some error (please, please all the
Goddesses let there be an error!) in the marking of the natal time.
“Do you have a particular dragon in mind?” asked the Lord High Poet.
“That dragon… that dragon with the quills.”
A high poet spoke up at this alarming news: “We need to recheck some
positions of the stars. We beg your indulgence, Your Grace, as we go to
our tower.”
The high poets jumped out of their seats as though they had been tricked
into sitting on farting-funny cushions. They ran out of the room, their
usual dignified poet procession turned chaotic rush. The Lord High Poet,
though, did not leave his king.
“My belovéd is dead,” said Freyzun, King of Allsongs brokenly. “I must do
something.”
“My sister is dead,” wept Woadwyn, the Lord High Poet. “I will come with
you.”
“Then gather your poets, Poet. I’m to my horse. You can catch up with me.”
“This is an undertaking in which I can not order any poet to take part.
The quill dragon is so deadly they would have to fight it, and they are
only allowed to defend against it. Brother-by-my-sister’s love, only the
power of our grief can save us if we can be saved.”
The king rubbed his eyes. “You are too valuable to the realm, Poet. I will
go alone.”
The Lord High Poet, his voice full of tears said, “It is the law, Your
Grace. No royal may face a dragon without a poet to defend him and to
compose the history.”
Freyzon, Prince Royal of Allsongs he,
By right of his might in the fight of his life,
Has won the Heirship and a priceless bride!
The bells sing out in sweet ringing pride!
For Future King Freyzun weds a poetess wife!
—from The Almanac of Proclamations
The queen bled to death upon the delivery of the princess, her only child,
only child to the king. The infant princess was therefore named
Tristabé-airta (Bright Sorrow) with the pretty diphthong of the end of the
name carefully, royally pronounced. The death of her mother was the first
sorrow set upon the royal baby. The second was the red flaw, the
strawberry mark, upon her cheek. The red flaw meant she could never rule
Allsongs, never contend for the crown, because the monarch must be
flawless. Tristabé-airta was whisked promptly into the arms and bosom of a
lady of country nobility, newly delivered she of an infant girl. Lady
Tendrea of Stonyhills, royally appointed Lady Milk Mother, wept in joy at
the wee, helpless lass given into her care.
“I am going to kill a dragon,” announced the distraught king, interrupting
the council of poets studying the new princess’s astrological natal chart.
At his words one poet tapped a certain configuration in the royal infant’s
chart. Maybe the horoscope was off a bit. What with the Two Sorrows, who
at the time would not have made some error (please, please all the
Goddesses let there be an error!) in the marking of the natal time.
“Do you have a particular dragon in mind?” asked the Lord High Poet.
“That dragon… that dragon with the quills.”
A high poet spoke up at this alarming news: “We need to recheck some
positions of the stars. We beg your indulgence, Your Grace, as we go to
our tower.”
The high poets jumped out of their seats as though they had been tricked
into sitting on farting-funny cushions. They ran out of the room, their
usual dignified poet procession turned chaotic rush. The Lord High Poet,
though, did not leave his king.
“My belovéd is dead,” said Freyzun, King of Allsongs brokenly. “I must do
something.”
“My sister is dead,” wept Woadwyn, the Lord High Poet. “I will come with
you.”
“Then gather your poets, Poet. I’m to my horse. You can catch up with me.”
“This is an undertaking in which I can not order any poet to take part.
The quill dragon is so deadly they would have to fight it, and they are
only allowed to defend against it. Brother-by-my-sister’s love, only the
power of our grief can save us if we can be saved.”
The king rubbed his eyes. “You are too valuable to the realm, Poet. I will
go alone.”
The Lord High Poet, his voice full of tears said, “It is the law, Your
Grace. No royal may face a dragon without a poet to defend him and to
compose the history.”
About Cynthia Clay:
Cynthia
Joyce Clay is an award winning author and a member of the Dramatists'
Guild. Cynthia was judged to be a computer program on Shakespeare at the
First Loebner Prize Competition of The Turing Test - a truly science
fictional experience. The Competition was filmed as part of a PBS
Scientific Frontiers episode and aired internationally. In addition to
living sf, Clay has experience with the thriller genre: she was invited
to Russia to deliver her paper, The Application of Vector Theory to Literature and Drama
at the international conference "Languages of Science, Languages of
Art" and was chased by the KGB. For reasons she refuses to face, she
obviously prefers to write fantasy. She is working on The Saga of the Dragon Born; books one (Foreshadow) and two (The Contending) only need to cover art and blurbs to launch!
Facebook page is under Cynthia ClayTwitter is under cynthia@storycrafterstudio.com
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