Avalyne Series 01: The Queen of Carleon Read online

  THE QUEEN OF CARLEON

  BOOK ONE:

  LEGENDS OF AVALYNE

  by

  Linda Thackeray

  Contents

  PROLOGUE

  CHAPTER ONE: UNEXPECTED EXPECTATION

  CHAPTER TWO: INVITATION

  CHAPTER THREE: CELEBRATION

  CHAPTER FOUR: QUIET PARTINGS

  CHAPTER FIVE: DISCOVERY

  CHAPTER SIX: THE CHILDREN OF SYPHI

  CHAPTER SEVEN: THE CARACAL

  CHAPTER EIGHT: EDEN HALAS

  CHAPTER NINE THE BLIZZARD

  CHAPTER TEN MELIA'S STORY

  PART ELEVEN THE SPLINTER

  CHAPTER TWELVE: ANGARAD

  CHAPTER THIRTEEN: SHIFTERS

  CHAPTER FOURTEEN: THE EDGE OF THE WORLD

  PART FIFTEEN THE LEGACY OF ANTION

  PART SIXTEEN THE MISTRESS OF FURNSBY FARM

  PART SEVENTEEN ESCAPE

  PART EIGHTEEN SANHAEL

  EPILOGUE THE LITTLE PRINCE

  Prologue

  The war had raged for ten years.

  Balfure had fallen, but not easily. They had fought him for half that time, and spent the rest of it learning that as long as the free races of Avalyne stood apart, they would never defeat him. No race was safe in their kingdom, not the men in their grand cities, not the elves in their enchanted forests and not even the dwarves in their vast catacombs beneath the earth.

  Balfure, a seraf who was a vassal of the Celestial Gods, had come to Avalyne with all the power and dark sorcery that could be drawn from the Shadow Realm. Establishing his own kingdom in the harsh, rocky wastelands of Abraxes, he had sent forth his Berserker warriors from his Iron Citadel and began the conquest of the known world.

  It was the dwarves who suffered first when the Shadow Lord moved quickly to secure the realms belonging to the dwarven warlords of Iridia. Requiring the expertise of Avalyne’s greatest weapons smiths to arm his forces, he attacked their strongholds beneath the earth. Sending in his servants, the goblin armies of the Cinder Mountains, who were more than accustomed to moving through underground cities with speed, Iridia was taken in a matter of days. Much of the dwarf population succeeded in fleeing, avoiding the enslavement that befell those who had not, seeking refuge in other kingdoms.

  The elves who normally had little to do with men had watched the carnage indifferently. That is until Balfure was able to use his dark power to penetrate the enchanted veil that protected their forest kingdoms from invaders. Until the green of Eden Ardhen—the home of the Elf High Queen Lylea—was breached and despoiled, the elves had believed themselves to be safe from Balfure. However, when Lylea was forced to flee after her son’s murder by Balfure’s Berserkers, the elves were awakened to the reality of how vulnerable they truly were.

  While the immortal elves were still reeling from their losses, Balfure made his final push to dominate the free lands of Avalyne. For ten years, the kingdom of Carleon held fast against the relentless attacks upon their borders until exhaustion and overwhelming grief had driven them into defeat. As the first city Sandrine burned, only the quick thinking of a royal nurse had saved the House of Icara from complete ruin.

  For twenty five years, war had raged in one corner of Avalyne to another. While Carleon was occupied by Balfure, neighbouring Angarad was fighting against invasion as the elves reinforced the enchantment that kept their realm safe, sometimes with success and sometimes with tragic consequences. Meanwhile the dwarves had become refugees, driven to exile because of the loss of Iridia.

  On the thirty-fifth anniversary of Balfure’s first attack, a young man of Carleon was admitted to an audience in Eden Taryn—the new home of High Queen Lylea—by an elf of neighbouring Eden Halas. The young man, calling himself Dare, had come to make a proposal to the elf queen, and he offered a suggestion that none of them had considered before.

  Alliance.

  Although Dare presented himself to her as just an ordinary man, Lylea’s second sight knew that he was in fact the exiled king of Carleon, Alasdare of House Icara.

  During their flight from Sandrine, Dare’s nurse Rachel had stumbled into Eden Halas, mortally wounded and carrying the babe she had saved at the cost of her own life. Fatefully, they were happened upon by Queen Syanne, wife of Halion, the ruler of that land. Already on her last breath, Rachel begged the queen to take the child, revealing his parentage and beseeching her to keep him safe. A mother herself, Syanne could not bring herself to refuse the woman’s final plea.

  Returning the babe to her husband’s court after poor Rachel had been welcomed by Father Death, she demanded he be given sanctuary. Halion had no interest in a human child but could not refuse his wife. Acquiescing to her request, he allowed the infant to stay, content to let his wife do as she would as long as he was not inconvenienced. Her children already grown, Syanne was more than happy to care for a babe, even one was from the race of men.

  As a result, Dare grew up with an elvish education and the benefits of learning from an immortal people. Syanne gave him all the love that Halion would not while Aeron, their youngest son grew to be best friends with the young boy. By the time, Dare was eighteen years old, he had come to understand who he was and how he had come to be exiled in Eden Halas. As Syanne explained his heritage, the boy accepted his fate and knew that he would fight Balfure to free Carleon and avenge his family.

  With a friends at his side that would come to be known as the Circle, he travelled across the realms, forging friendships as well as learning all he could about the different races of Avalyne. He journeyed to the mountains of the Jagged Teeth where he had heard of an ancient wizard, the last of his order had recently awakened from his sleep of thousands of years. Tamsyn, a seraf mage from the Order of Enphilim, was the last of his kind, the rest vanished during the Primordial Wars of millennia past. Enlisting Tamsyn’s aid, for magic was something he could not fight without a wizard, Dare had reached his twenty fourth year by the time he faced the High Queen.

  Lylea had looked into his heart and saw that Dare could bring about a golden age of peace and prosperity, not just to Carleon but to all the races of Avalyne. After gaining her support, Dare spent the next five years building an army equal to any that Balfure could envision. He convinced the dwarves to join him. While revealing nothing of his heritage, he travelled through occupied Carleon and rallied his people to fight, inspiring within them the dream of freedom.

  After five years of preparation and evading Balfure’s attempts to kill him, Dare was finally able to face the enemy on the battlefield.

  United by their belief in him, Dare earned the title of War Dragon and led the campaign against Balfure, driving the dark sorcerer back to his lands in Abraxes and then laying siege to his Iron Citadel. When that too was overcome, it was Dare with the help of Aeron, the dwarf Kyou, the warrior maid Celene and Tamsyn who ended Balfure once and for all.

  Or so they thought.

  For evil was never just confined to one dark lord.

  Chapter One:

  Unexpected Expectation

  When Calfax confirmed the news, Arianne could scarcely believe it.

  She had worked herself into a state of vexation as she fought the desire to place more importance on the symptoms she felt. Then she began to accept without question, that all were signs of some impending joy. She had moved through her daily life, feeling as if she were in a state of limbo, driving her poor husband to distraction because he could not fathom what was at the heart of her temperamental state. She longed to tell him all that was in her mind but was held back by the thought of disappointing him.

  That and the possibility that he might become so terrified by the i
dea that he could take the first horse out of the kingdom and hide in Tamsyn’s remote tower in the forgotten corners of the Jagged Teeth.

  What was it with men of courage and strength, who could ride forth and slay a thousand Berserker warriors without a flinch but went into complete and utter ruin when confronted with the possibility of becoming a father? Arianne suspected that not even the Gods could answer that question and as a result chose not to torment her king with the possibility that he might have an heir before she herself knew for certain.

  Besides, Dare had many other matters to occupy his mind.

  As the High King of the newly unified Carleon, the former War Dragon was working hard to rebuild the kingdom in the wake of the destruction wrought by Balfure’s war. Any who thought that being king was about power and glory would be shocked to learn how arduous it was to be architect of a country’s restoration. Too many times Arianne had stepped into the Great Hall to see him working tirelessly in consultation with his ministers.

  When he paused to catch his breath, Arianne could see the glimmer in his eyes that longed for simpler days, when he was simply Dare; the exiled prince of Carleon.

  Yet he was a good man, this one she loved beyond reason or thought. He would carry the burden because his people needed him and because he was the last of his house, at least until now. He alone had left Eden Halas and stepped out into the world, with the courage and the will to see Balfure driven from Avalyne for all time. And Arianne would be at his side forever, carrying that burden with him, to fill his life with the simple pleasures such as the news she was now about to impart.

  Today, there was no longer any doubt in her mind after Calfax, the royal physician had confirmed that had suspicions had been true—she was with child. She drifted, if it was possible for a flesh and blood being to drift, through the halls of the palace with her hands on her belly in secret delight. What a sight she must have been to the palace staff—the Queen of Carleon sweeping about the place wearing the smile of a happy fool.

  She knew they were probably grateful for her good mood since she had been difficult of late. Arianne resolved to make it up to those who had borne the brunt of her mood, especially Dare who was a devoted and attentive husband. After all, being queen did not excuse bad behaviour in any shape or form.

  Her mother had taught her that.

  Thinking of Queen Lylea made Arianne's smile widen knowing how thrilled she would be at the news. Despite her sometimes aloof manner and her adherence to ensuring all forms were observed, Arianne knew her mother would like nothing better than to be a grandmother allowed to spoil her grandchildren shameless.

  It was a grandmother’s right after all.

  *******

  As always, when he was with taking counsel with his counsellors and advisors, Dare was in the Great Hall when Arianne found him a short time after she had received her news. He spent a great deal of time in this room of late, attempting to portion out men and resources to the lands that were still being plagued by scattered remains of Balfure’s army. The Berserkers, without their master, were even more dangerous than before as their rampage was now without purpose or direction. They were mindless beast, driven by instinct and need which made their behaviour difficult to predict and even harder to defend.

  She watched him a moment, circling the large wooden table covered with maps, engaged in serious discussion with Aeron and Ronen, (his most trusted advisers) while she stood there being so very proud of him.

  ********

  Arianne remembered the day Dare first arrived at her mother’s court in Eden Taryn.

  He was but twenty-five, having spent much of his life in the court of Eden Halas. Arianne had heard the gossip of a human child being adopted by Queen Syanne and how this action had caused much disquiet between her and her king. Naturally, she was curious as to what reason this human could have to seek an audience with her mother—the elven High Queen in all of Avalyne. He had been taken through the Veil protecting their city by Syanne’s youngest child, Prince Aeron. Even so, Arianne was astonished that her mother had allowed the incursion by a human into their lands, even if he was accompanied by an elf.

  However, Lylea, who possessed the gift of the Sight, had claimed this audience was one of importance. It could change everything.

  Arianne could not imagine how so when she first saw him.

  He looked like a ruffian with threadbare clothes that were dusty from too much travel and the leather of his boots were scuffed and worn. Sporting a day’s growth on his face, his dark brown hair was unruly and hung about his shoulders like it had never seen a brush. However she noticed, even as she sat at her mother’s right hand to receive him, that he was beautiful despite the pains he took to conceal it. She wondered if he simply did not care enough to exploit it or was this was a guise he wore to disarm people into believing he was nothing more than a vagabond.

  Over all, it was not a good first impression.

  That was until he spoke in that soft spoken voice of his and revealed words of remarkable eloquence, possessing a tone of humility and awe at being in their presence. Even without the gift of her mother’s Sight, Arianne was capable of recognising liars and she knew that every word he uttered was issued with sincerity and reverence. When he addressed them, he did not bandy about words of flattery and posture, he spoke from the heart and told them what he dreamed.

  He dreamed to unite Carleon and drive Balfure from Avalyne forever.

  He was the last son of House Icara and it was his duty to honour the kings that came before him by restoring Carleon to its people once more. Such dreams were nothing new from the race of men, Arianne had thought. They were always quick to anger and easily prodded into war which was why the elves had little to do with them in the past and remained hidden behind the Veil. However what he said next made everyone in the court sit up and pay attention.

  Dare said defeating Balfure could not be done alone.

  The folly of all the races had been the attempt to defeat them alone because prejudice and tradition prevented them from considering anything else. All the people of Avalyne needed to work together, not just men and elves but the dwarves too and any race that felt their liberty threatened by Balfure’s hunger for conquest. To her mother, he had asked how much longer were they prepared to put all their faith in the Veil protecting them from Balfure. He had breached Eden Ardhen once. What was to stop him from breaching the protection of Eden Taryn if he set his mind to it? And if he chose to come, were they certain that they could stop him?

  These were disturbing question and one that Arianne knew her mother had considered in length. When Balfure swept through Eden Ardhen, he used dark magic to penetrate the Veil and destroy their home of thousands of years. Her older brother, Adric, died during that battle to defend it and both she and her mother mourned him still. Dare’s words had much effect upon Lylea’s still grieving heart and she too, saw the wisdom in his words.

  If we do not stand united, we will fall divided.

  Arianne remembered how those words had resonated with her, even after the audience was done. Lylea had dismissed him until she made her decision and Dare had respected the lady’s need for deliberation, retreating to the woods where his and his circle were camped. However as he departed Lylea’s throne room, he paused long enough to cast a shy gaze at Arianne. When their eyes touched, he pulled away embarrassed, as if he was caught spying upon something he had no business in seeing.

  Intrigued, Arianne found him at the campsite later that day and when she spoke to him, he was barely been able to meet her gaze. She found it utterly endearing that he, who had been so strong and determined before her mother, was now flustered and uncertain in her presence. However, when he did look at her, Arianne found herself staring into eyes so blue, it was like staring into a drop of sky distilled from the heavens. His gaze was penetrating, and he spoke to her with the wonder of a man who could scarcely believe that he was in the company of such as her.

  Arianne was a thousan
d years old but no elf she had ever met in all that time had ever touched her heart the way he did when she finally got him to smile.

  ********

  She hated to interrupt him when he was in counsel. He was with Ronen, the Bân of Carleon and Aeron, representing the elves because Dare wanted the relationship forged by the Alliance against Balfure endure beyond the war. Alliances had to be maintained, Dare had told her, or else each race would fall back into its old practices of isolation and they would be in the same vulnerable place that Balfure had found them.

  Arianne did not have to hear what was being discussed to know that the subject of greatest concern at this time was the rampage of the Berserkers across Northern Province. Dare had told her the night before that he would have to dispatch soldiers to clear out the infested lands so that the business of farming and industry could resume once more. They need to feed and they need to build to forge a new future and that could not be done if towns were being besieged by the remains of Balfure’s monstrous armies.

  It was Aeron with his keen elven senses that first noticed her arrival. The others followed his gaze stopped immediately what they were doing to face her. She stifled a laugh when she saw Dare’s pained expression, as he wondered what sin he had committed to warrant an unexpected visit to call him out. Poor Dare, she thought and knew that she had much amends to make to her husband, who could not conceive of her unhappiness if there was something he could do to change it.

  ‘Your highness,’ Ronen, the second highest authority in the kingdom, greeted her. She always found that he was such a contrast to Dare with his dark blond hair worn loose, as that was the fashion for men in Carleon who wished to appear well-groomed unlike Dare’s perpetually unruly locks.

  ‘Ronen,’ she answered with a slight bow of her head.

  Ronen was given the title of Bân because he was the first captain of Sandrine to follow Dare when the exiled prince returned to the city to rallying the forces needed to fight Balfure. By the time Dare had arrived, Ronen’s spirit was near exhausted from having to uphold Balfure’s occupation of his homeland. A soldier with a good heart, he was not much older than Dare and enforcing Balfure’s law was driving him to breaking point.