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http://mfrwbookhooks.blogspot.com for some great excerpts. Today I'm talking about my coming release. I don't have the cover yet. The book is scheduled to be released some time next month. This is the final story in the island of Fyre series. Cerene is the first of the four major characters.
BLURB:
In this return to the Island
of Fyre, each of the
heros and heroines of the three previous books have children. Lorton is the
youngest son of the Wizards of Fyre and he has bonded with the yellow dragon.
The dragon through the magic of the stones has been rejuvenated and is now
green. Dragon sends Lorton to travel to where the Dragons of Fyre are raised.
There he meets Arkon son of the hero and heroine of the Dragons of Fyre. There
have been four eggs laid and there must be two young men and two young women
found to bond with them. On the island where the evil wizards were exiled,
Cerene has grown up as little more than a slave. She can use all the fyrestones
unlike her father. She learns about the kidnapping of Riara, daughter of the
hero and heroine of the Temple
of Fyre and vows to save
her. The four must unite with their dragons and finally destroy the evil.
EXCERPT:
The first bell of the morning roused Cerene. She stretched
and touched her toes before sliding out of bed. A trip to her private necessary
and a quick wash sent her back to her room in the hareem of the ancient home of
the wizards. From the tales she’d heard about the one they’d been forced to
abandon, this one spoke of poverty. The one they’d left had been a massive
stone structure with high walls and iron gates. Even their numbers had dwindled
since returning to this place. This stone house with wooden fences and flimsy
gates didn’t suit her father or the other wizards. Their desire to regain the
past colored their days.
For her the fence made for an easy escape to the
waterfront, the beach and the woods. She had also discovered secret passages
within the walls and had explored. These hidden ways had allowed her to spy on
the wizards.
She pulled on wide legged trousers and sat to tuck them
into her boots. After pulling a tunic over her head, she laughed. She refused
to wear the shapeless chiton worn by the women, slaves and breeders alike. She
braided her hair and let the plait hang down her back. Though her hair was the
same icy blonde as the wizards, hers had streaks of the colors of the
fyrestones, red, orange, yellow and blue. Though she had never seen a blue
stone. Her green eyes, unlike the frosted gray of the wizards spoke of her less
than pure blood.
Cerene sat on the bed and spilled the contents of a
leather pouch on the blanket. Metal chains, metal cages either empty or holding
fyrestones and a single red stone. She lifted three chains and watched the
caged stones flare to life. The yellow shed a ray of light, the orange a tongue
of flame and the red brought her a sense of wellbeing. She hung the necklaces
around her neck and tucked them beneath her tunic. She scooped the remaining
treasures into the pouch and slid them into a small nook between the stones of
the wall.
The second bell rang. “Cerene, get out here now.” Malda,
the Hag Mother, shouted.
With brisk steps, Cerene entered the main room of the
hareem. A dozen slave women, two breeders and six girls stood in a row while
Malda inspected them.
The aged woman turned to Cerene. “Serve the porridge and
break your own fast. You will escort the women to the garden to harvest root
vegetables. Fall is upon us and the tubers must be stored for the winter. Send
the girls into the woods to gather kindling.”
“Yes, Hag Mother.” Cerene bowed her head so Malda wouldn’t
catch a hint of rebellious plans for the day.
“The wizards have a confab after breaking their fast. I
will see to them.” The old woman wheeled and at the door turned. “Make sure the
women and girls remain outside until the meeting ends.”
Cerene went to the cooking hearth and swung the huge
kettle from the flames. She ladled cooked grains into bowls. The two breeders
carried toe food to the long table. When Cerene scraped the kettle clean, she
filled the vessel with water, added grain and swung the kettle over the lowest
area of flames. Then she prepared food for Malda and herself.
Malda returned and scowled at the plates Cerene set on the
table. She filled a cup with herbal tea. “There is no sweetener but honey. No
fine ground flour for bread. We must eat this.” She grasped a piece of flatbread
made from crudely ground meal. “The fruit remaining on the vines is for the
wizards.” She scooped the eggs onto her plate leaving none for Cerene.
Cerene cut goat cheese to spread on her bread. When she
finished eating, she escorted the women to the garden and instructed them to
pull the tubers and load the wheelbarrows. Then she escorted the girls to the
woods. Once they were occupied, she scurried away.
So the wizards meet.
She would hear their plans.
With stealth she found the spot in the wooden fence where
she had loosened boards. She slid them aside and slipped into the yard. When
she reached the rear entrance, she stepped into the narrow hall. A smile curved
her mouth. Once inside the passage, ten steps would take her to the place where
she could see and hear the wizards.
Her fingers found the pattern on the stone. Silently the
wall parted revealing a wide area that became a narrow passage. She entered and
paused to allow her eyes to adjust to the dim light. Walking into the passage,
she counted her steps and took care not to raise dust to make her sneeze. Her
first visit to these passages had nearly revealed her presence. She’d removed
the cobwebs and swept most of the accumulated dust.
At the tenth step, she halted and pressed her face to the
wall where a pair of holes allowed her to view the happenings. She saw the
conference table and the eight remaining wizards. Since their exile here on the
isle where they had once lived had begun, most of the wizards from the captured
Citadel had died. Of the nine, only two were first level.
Cemon, chief wizard and her father entered the room. He
raised his ironwood tipped wand. The white stone on the tip remained unlit. He
rapped the table. “We are gathered here to find a solution to our problems. Our
supply of white fyrestones dwindles. Soon there will be none.”
Zondo, her father’s second snorted. “All such stones are
found on the Island
of Fyre. This small isle
has no more to mine. Our trader cousins have reported finding no other
sources.”
Her father nodded. “For the present we must learn ways
to keep the ones we have."
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