Queen of the Pyre (Silver Crown Chronicles #3)

Prologue (teaser)

The Blind Seer was leaving Umfeld for her home in the mountains in Umfang.  They trekked across the moors of Kanetalm on horseback, her servants guiding her steed along as she was, in fact, blind, despite her prophetic abilities.

    As they kept a slow pace toward the desert, there was no new information granted to her, no vision presented itself.  It was a calm journey, and a blessing at that.

But the peace was short-lived.  Before they even crossed the border into Umfang, a small pain persisted at her temple, and she knew to stop their caravan immediately before it grew worse.  She had not yet dismounted when the image presented itself in her mind’s eye with exploding pain, the first indication that this was a serious matter.

She felt nothing of her horse or the ground, nor did she hear her servants stopping to assist her.  The scene that played out before her became the only thing in her awareness.

She saw a large, white gem sitting on a pedestal and knew it was an Eye of Ewyn, one of two relics in the Honey Water Empire that, according to legend, gave the elves their magical abilities.  The Blind Seer saw it glistening serenely on top its platform before it burst into a thousand sparkling shards, accompanied by the sound of glass shattering.  As the pieces littered the floor of the College of Sal’Sumarathar, the Blind Seer watched just as every light was extinguished from the world of Ariang’ron.

She was not enlightened of the culprit behind these atrocities, the sign of End Times.  But a new prophecy resounded in her head.

A new era begins when a queen ascends to a throne built of treachery and deceit.  When she casts the god off his mountain, her reign will be of fire, the Queen of the Pyre.

The vision vanished, and the Blind Seer was left shivering on the ground.  Her servants had swarmed around her, tugging at her arms to pick her up.  Her jaw felt like steel fastened shut.  Her head still pulsed with pain left from the vision’s wake.

When she was finally pulled to her feet, she worked her jaw loose and began speaking with wild fervor.  “They didn’t listen to me.  No one ever listens to me.”

“Do you wish to change course, my lady?” one of her servants asked in the Voice of the Unknown, a voice generated by magic that all her servants possessed.

With the help of another servant, she had mounted her steed.  “I don’t see why we should even bother.  We can’t change anything.  No one even listens to me.”

She heaved a sigh, readjusting the tendrils of her hair over her shoulders.  Her servants patiently waited for her command.

“Find the Wandering Elf.  He’s the one responsible for this,” she decided.  “How many warnings must I provide?” she wondered aloud in a hiss.

And though they were within sight of the Umfang border, the servant in charge of navigation promptly turned them east.