Fallowblade Read online

  Also by Cecilia Dart-Thornton

  THE BITTERBYNDE TRILOGY

  Book 1: The Ill-Made Mute

  Book 2: The Lady of the Sorrows

  Book 3: The Battle of Evernight

  THE CROWTHISTLE CHRONICLES

  Book 1: The Iron Tree

  Book 2: The Well of Tears

  Book 3: Weatherwitch

  Dedicated to Geoff

  Author’s Note

  To the innumerable readers of the Bitterbynde Trilogy who wrote, asking for another character like Morragan:

  You might find him within these pages.

  Contents

  Glossary

  Some Significant Characters

  The Story So Far

  Map: The Four Kingdoms of Tir

  1 War

  2 A Wickedness

  3 Ironstone Keep

  4 Fallowblade

  5 Covenant

  6 Mountain Halls

  7 Strange Love

  8 Waterglass Tarn

  9 Crowthistle

  10 Banquet

  11 Gold

  12 Tears and Flames

  13 Reprise

  14 When the North Wind Blows

  Afterword

  Acknowledgements

  References

  Goblin Language

  Inspirations and Resources

  Glossary

  Ádh: luck, fortune (AWE); one of the four Fates of the Sanctorum

  Álainna Machnamh (AWE-lanna Mac-NAV)

  Aonarán: loner, recluse (AY-an-ar-AWN)

  a mhuirnín: darling (a wirr-NEEN)

  a stór: darling (a STOR)

  athair: father (AH-hir)

  brí: the power possessed by weathermasters, enabling them to predict and control the dynamics of pressure systems and temperature, winds and other meteorological phenomena

  Cailleach Bheur: The Winter Hag (cal-yach vare or cail-yach vyure)

  carlin: wise woman

  Cinniúint: destiny, fate, chance (kin-YOO-int); one of the four Fates of the Sanctorum

  Cuiva (KWEE-va) In the Irish language this name is spelled ‘Caoimhe’

  Earnán (AIR-nawn)

  eldritch: supernatural

  Eoin (OWE-in)

  Fedlamid macDall (FEH-limy mac-dawl)

  Fionnbar (FIN-bar or FYUN-bar)

  Fionnuala (Fin-NOO-la)

  gariníon: grand-daughter (gar-in-EE-an)

  garmhac: grandson (gar-VOC)

  Gearóid (gar-ODE)

  Genan of Áth Midbine (AWE mid-BINNA)

  gramarye: magic

  gramercie: expression of thanks

  Lannóir: Goldenblade or Fallowblade, the golden sword, the only one of its kind, slayer of goblins and heirloom of the House of Stormbringer (lann-OR)

  Liadán (LEE-dawn)

  Luchóg (la-HOGE)

  Maolmórdha (mwale-MORGA)

  máthair: mother (MAW-hir)

  Mí-ádh: bad luck, misfortune (mee-AWE); one of the four Fates of the Sanctorum

  Míchinniúint: doom, ill-fate (mee-kin-YOO-int); one of the four Fates of the Sanctorum

  Ó Maoldúin (oh mwale-DOON)

  Páid (PAWD)

  Risteárd Mac Brádaigh (reesh-TARD Mac BRAW-dig)

  Saibh (SAY-EVE)

  To sain is to bless, or call for protection from unseelie forces

  seanathair: grandfather (shan-AH-hir)

  seanmháthair: grandmother (shan-WAW-hir. ‘Waw’ rhymes with ‘au’ in ‘Maud’)

  seelie: benevolent to humankind

  Uabhar (OO-a-var)

  Uile: the All, or universe (ILLE, ‘e’ as in ‘best’)

  unseelie: malevolent to humankind

  Some Significant Characters

  The Kingdom of Ashqalêth (Capital city: Jhallavad)

  Chohrab Shechem II: King of Ashqalêth.

  Duke Rahim: King Chohrab’s brother-in-law, brother of Parvaneh.

  Parvaneh Shechem: Queen of Ashqalêth.

  Shahzadeh: King Chohrab’s eldest daughter, the Princes Royal of Ashqalêth.

  The Kingdom of Grïmnørsland (Capital city: Trøndelheim)

  Gunnlaug Torkilsalven: youngest son of Thorgild.

  Halfrida Torkilsalven: Queen of Grïmnørsland.

  Halvdan Torkilsalven: second son of Thorgild.

  Hrosskel Torkilsalven: eldest son of Thorgild, and Crown Prince of Grïmnørsland.

  Solveig Torkilsalven: third child and only daughter of Thorgild.

  Thorgild Torkilsalven: King of Grïmnørsland.

  The District of High Darioneth (Principal seat: Rowan Green)

  Aglaval Maelstronnar (Stormbringer): Storm Lord in days of yore.

  Albiona: Dristan Maelstronnar’s wife.

  Alfardēne Maelstronnar (Stormbringer): the swordsmith who fashioned Fallowblade.

  Arran Maelstronnar (Stormbringer): eldest son of Avalloc.

  Asrăthiel Heronswood Maelstronnar: only daughter of Jewel and Arran.

  Avalloc Maelstronnar (Stormbringer): the current Storm Lord and member of the Council of Ellenhall.

  Avolundar Maelstronnar (Stormbringer): the warrior mage who wielded Fallowblade during the Goblin Wars.

  Cavalon: son of Dristan and Albiona Maelstronnar.

  Corisande: daughter of Dristan and Albiona Maelstronnar.

  Desmond Brooks: swordmaster at High Darioneth.

  Dristan Maelstronnar (Stormbringer): youngest son of Avalloc.

  Jewel Heronswood Jaravhor: wife of Arran and mother of Asrăthiel.

  Lidoine Galenrithar (Gale Rider): carlin at Rowan Green.

  The Kingdom of Narngalis (Capital city: King’s Winterbourne)

  Giles: Asrăthiel’s butler at The Laurels in Lime Grove.

  Lecelina: eldest daughter of King Warwick, the Princess Royal of Narngalis.

  Linnet: Asrăthiel’s maid at The Laurels.

  Lord Hallingbury: the Lord Chamberlain.

  Mistress Draycott Parslow: Asrăthiel’s landlady, the owner of The Laurels in Lime Grove.

  Saranna: youngest daughter of King Warwick.

  Sir Gilead Torrington: King Warwick’s lieutenant-general.

  Sir Huelin Lathallan: Knight-Commander of the Companions of the Cup.

  Sir Torold Tetbury: the Lord Privy Seal.

  Walter Wyverstone: second son of King Warwick.

  Warwick Wyverstone: King of Narngalis.

  William Wyverstone: eldest son of King Warwick, and Crown Prince of Narngalis.

  Winona: second daughter of King Warwick.

  The Kingdom of Slievmordhu (Capital city: Cathair Rua)

  Adiuvo Constanto Clementer: a druid who renounced the Sanctorum.

  Almus Agnellus, ‘Declan of the Wildwoods’: a druid who renounced the Sanctorum.

  Conall ‘Two-Swords’ Gearnach: Commander-in-Chief of the Knights of the Brand.

  Cormac Ó Maoldúin: third son of Uabhar.

  Fedlamid macDall: Queen Saibh’s most trusted servant.

  Fergus Ó Maoldúin: fourth son of Uabhar.

  Fionnbar Aonarán: an enemy of Arran Maelstronnar.

  Fionnuala Aonarán: Fionnbar’s sister.

  Grak: a Marauder.

  Kieran Ó Maoldúin: eldest son of Uabhar, and Crown Prince of Slievmordhu.

  Krorb: a Marauder captain.

  Lord Genan of Áth Midbine: a courtier.

  Luchóg: a minstrel at Uabhar’s court.

  Primoris Asper Virosus: the Druid Imperius.

  Risteárd Mac Brádaigh: High Commander of the Slievmordhuan armed forces.

  Ronin Ó Maoldúin: second son of Uabhar.

  Ruurt: a Marauder captain.

  Saibh: Queen of Slievmordhu, wife to Uabhar.

  Scroop: a Marauder.

  The Spawn Mother: a progenitrix
of the Marauders.

  Uabhar Ó Maoldúin: King of Slievmordhu.

  The Story So Far

  Fallowblade is the fourth book in the Crowthistle Chronicles.

  Book 1: The Iron Tree told of Jarred, a young man who lived in a village in the desert kingdom of Ashqalêth, and possessed an amulet that apparently made him invulnerable. He and his comrades decided to travel to seek their fortunes in distant realms. On the way, they visited a town built amongst the intricate waterways of the Great Marsh of Slievmordhu, where Jarred fell in love with a Marsh daughter named Lilith.

  Slievmordhu is a kingdom situated in the south-west of Tir, a continent throughout which grows a disliked but beautiful common weed called ‘crowthistle’. Eldritch wights dwell in the Marsh but seldom harm the Marsh folk, who understand them and their ways. An urisk, a seelie wight like a dwarfish man with the legs of a goat, often loitered near Lilith’s cottage, where she lived with her mother Liadán, her stepfather Earnán, Earnán’s son Eoin and Earnán’s mother Eolacha, who was a wise carlin. Nearby lived Old Man Connick, a demented and elderly man who was the father of Liadán. Lilith’s mother Liadán kept thinking she could hear footsteps invisibly following her, and privately sensed that she was falling prey to a mysterious madness.

  When Jarred and Lilith fell in love, Lilith’s stepbrother, Eoin, became jealous. Jarred and his comrades departed from the Marsh and continued on their travels, but Jarred could not stop thinking about Lilith. Back at the Marsh, Lilith’s mother tried to flee from her growing madness, but instead was accidentally drowned. Jarred made excuses to his friends and returned to the Marsh to settle. His arrival helped Lilith endure her grief over the inexplicable death of her mother.

  Jarred learned the ways of the Marsh dwellers and began to court Lilith. Around his neck he still wore the protective amulet. Rivalry grew between him and Eoin, who was resentful of Lilith’s affection for Jarred, and guessed the power of the amulet.

  During celebrations of the traditional Festival of Rushbearing, Lilith became lost and injured. The urisk, usually surly but in this case benevolent, helped Jarred find her. Upon her rescue the two young people plighted their troth. Jarred gave his bride-to-be a ring, and his amulet.

  Their happiness, however, was short-lived. After Old Man Connick died, completely insane, the carlin Eolacha and young Lilith realised that there was some kind of curse on Lilith’s bloodline. Lilith declared she must never marry and beget another doomed generation. Jarred swore he would find the cause of the curse, and break it.

  Lilith and other members of her household travelled to the Autumn Fair at the capital city of Slievmordhu, Cathair Rua. There they saw druids of the Sanctorum, the official ‘intermediaries’ between the people of Tir and the Four Fates. In the city, Jarred sought to learn the history of Old Man Connick. He visited apothecaries and made inquiries, but to no avail. Eventually a dirty street urchin called Fionnbar Aonarán led Jarred to the hovel of half-senile Ruairc MacGabhann. The old man told the decades-old story of the brave man Tierney A’Connacht, who rescued beautiful Álainna Machnamh from Janus Jaravhor, the long-dead sorcerer of the sealed and abandoned Dome of Strang.

  Jaravhor, powerful and malign, cursed the heirs of Tierney A’Connacht and Álainna Machnamh with madness and death. Old Man Connick, his daughter Liadán and her daughter Lilith were all descended from the cursed couple. This tale of the past explained the nature of the malediction, but not how to break it. Jarred returned to his friends and sweetheart and told them what he had learned. The news cast a pall of gloom upon them all.

  On a subsequent visit to the city, Fionnbar appeared for a second time and guided Jarred back to Ruairc’s hovel. On the way he led Jarred near a strange tree that grew in the city. Enclosed inaccessibly within the Iron Thorn’s fretwork of cruel boughs was an extraordinary, sparkling jewel. Jarred was tricked into retrieving the jewel, a feat no man had been able to achieve before, thus inadvertently proving he was the grandson of the sorcerer. It was further revealed that Jarred’s amulet had no power, but Jarred himself was immune to harm because the sorcerer had left an enchantment of invulnerability on all those of his own bloodline. Despising his malicious forefather, Jarred flung the jewel back into the tree and vowed to have nothing more to do with the Sorcerer of Strang.

  Joyfully, Jarred and Lilith returned to the Marsh. They believed that they could now safely marry: the benison on Jarred’s blood would surely cancel the curse on Lilith’s. Eoin was not so happy, despite the fact that recently he had happened to do a good turn for some eldritch wights, who granted him good fortune. His jealousy festered. He became prosperous, and built himself a floating house, while Jarred remained in poverty.

  A year after her marriage to Jarred, Lilith gave birth to a daughter. They named her ‘Jewel’. Despite his earlier misgivings, Eoin discovered he adored the child.

  Lilith and Jarred enjoyed twelve years of happiness together. They were convinced the curse had been broken. However, Eolacha the old carlin eventually died and, as if her grief were a trigger, Lilith began to fall prey to the ancestral madness. She heard the first, distant footsteps of paranoia.

  Desperate to save his wife, Jarred travelled to Cathair Rua in search of a druid called Adiuvo Constanto Clementer, who was reputed to be a healer of madness. In order to pay the healer, Jarred once again retrieved the jewel from the Iron Tree, but a passer-by spied the deed. Soon, word of this stranger came to the ears of King Maolmórdha and his dysfunctional family, including the conniving eldest son, Crown Prince Uabhar. They suspected Jarred was of the sorcerer’s blood. Only a descendant of the sorcerer had the power to open the sealed Dome and reveal the reputed treasures hidden within. Uabhar convinced his weak father that it was in the Crown’s interests to capture this ‘jewel thief’ and make him unlock the Dome of Strang.

  Ruairc MacGabhann’s niece, the drudge Fionnuala Aonarán (half-sister to Fionnbar), came in haste to Jarred, whom she loved. She informed him that the king’s men were hunting him, and any offspring he may have. Jarred wished to have nothing to do with the mysterious Dome. Besides, he knew the king was untrustworthy and would probably harm him. Fervently he hoped Uabhar was not aware he had a daughter. Fionnuala and Fionnbar helped Jarred to escape, on the proviso that Jarred would later leave his family and go with them to unlock the secrets of the Dome.

  Eoin, also in the city, witnessed a strange funeral, conducted by eldritch wights. When he looked into the coffin he saw his own face and understood, to his horror, that he had witnessed an omen of his own death.

  With the king’s men hot on his heels, Jarred hurried back to the Marsh. On the road he met Eoin, who eventually admitted that his jealousy had led him to betray Jarred to the king, not realising that in betraying his rival he would also be bringing danger to Lilith’s daughter Jewel.

  At the Marsh Jarred angrily bade Eoin help him, and told Lilith and eleven-year-old Jewel to make ready to set out in secret for the safe haven of Narngalis. But before they had a chance to leave the Marsh the madness came upon Lilith again, triggered by the fear of pursuit. Running in terror, Lilith fell over a cliff and was mortally injured. Jarred, trying to retrieve her broken body, slipped and fell a short distance. His heart was pierced by a branch of mistletoe sprouting from a tree leaning out from the cliff part-way down. Mistletoe was the only thing in the world (besides old age) from which the sorcerer’s enchantment could not protect him.

  Jarred and Lilith had perished, but their child lived on. In later days it was said that the wraiths of the doomed lovers could be seen walking happily, hand in hand, through the Marsh twilight.

  Jewel’s parents were now both dead, and Eoin, racked by the agony of remorse, was determined to save the child on his own. They set out together in their boat—just in time; the king’s cavalry arrived at the Marsh soon after they had left.

  Book 2: The Well of Tears told how Jewel and Eoin fled across the countryside from their native Slievmordhu into the northern kingdom of Narngalis. Alo
ng the way they experienced many bizarre adventures. Ultimately, Eoin was slain by unseelie wights and Jewel was left alone in the wilderness. She discovered that her father’s legacy—the sorcerer Jaravhor’s enchanted blood—protected her from harm, including starvation.

  Lost in a mountainous region, Jewel chanced upon a party of people who dwelled at High Darioneth, the home of the Weathermasters of Rowan Green and the plateau dwellers. These kindly folk took pity on the homeless waif, brought her with them, and gave her shelter. With nowhere else to go, and no one else to aid her, she went to live with a family called the Millers, at the nut mill on the plateau. There the orphan grew up.