In
the Company of the Dead
by
Ciara Ballintyne
~~~~~~~~~~~~~
GENRE: Epic Fantasy Romance
~~~~~~~~~~~~~
BLURB:
Ellaeva’s obligations to the death goddess leave her no time to hunt down her parents’ murderer—until both duty and revenge lead her to the lonely castle where Lyram Aharris has been exiled for striking his prince. As the castle falls under siege, Ellaeva and Lyram must fight to save themselves from political machinations and clashing gods—but the greatest threat comes from an unexpected quarter.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Excerpt:
Dust
rose into the sky, painting the sunrise red with a shepherd’s
warning.
On the
castle parapet, Lyram lowered the eyeglass and frowned. Beyond the
ruined, outer wall of the keep, the terrain turned to densely wooded
hills and then into mountains, but that much dust meant men and
horses, and lots of them. No merchant caravans came past the remote
Caisteal Aingeal, and he expected no supply train until the spring
thaw reached the mountain passes, which would be two weeks or more.
He turned to his aide-de-camp.
“Have
any of the scouts returned yet?” The stiff wind whipped the words
from his mouth and his auburn hair into his eyes.
Everard
stood straight and stiff alongside him, impeccable in formal court
jacket and kilt marked with the insignia of his rank. Before he could
answer, a shout rose from further down the castle wall. A soldier
pointed at the old gate.
Lyram
pressed the glass back to his eye and swung to look, his
basket-hilted broadsword banging against his leg at the sudden
motion. With no trouble over the winter, and no reason to expect any,
he wore only his gambeson and a leather tabard. The rest of his
armour remained in his room—a lack that left him distinctly uneasy
now.
A horse
raced through the crumbling gate in the old vine- and grass-covered
outer wall, the rider clinging to its neck. It galloped up the narrow
dirt path that cut straight from outer gate to moat. This close to
the tail end of winter, no cattle grazed in the waist-high grass
between the two walls.
A hushed
stillness spread along the soldiers lining the battlements. Tension
squeezed a tight knot into Lyram’s gut. Nearly twelve months he’d
waited here in exile, twelve months wondering if Drault would be true
to his word—if he dared.
Now it
began.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~
AUTHOR
Bio and Links:
Ciara
Ballintyne grew up on a steady diet of adult epic fantasy from the
age of nine, leaving her with a rather confused outlook on life –
she believes the good guys should always win, but knows they often
don’t. She is an oxymoron; an idealistic cynic.
She
began her first attempts at the craft of writing in 1992, culminating
in the publication of her debut work, Confronting the Demon, in 2013.
Her first book to be published with Evolved Publishing is In the
Company of the Dead.
She
holds degrees in law and accounting, and is a practising financial
services lawyer. In her spare time, she speculates about taking over
the world – how hard can it really be? If she could be anything,
she’d choose a dragon, but if she is honest she shares more in
common with Dr. Gregory House of House M.D. – both the good and the
bad. She is a browncoat, a saltgunner, a Whedonite, a Sherlockian, a
Ringer and a Whovian… OK, most major geek fandoms. Her alignment is
chaotic good. She is an INTJ.
Ciara
lives in Sydney, Australia, with her husband, her two daughters, and
a growing menagerie of animals that unfortunately includes no
dragons.
Twitter:
@CiaraBallintyne
Facebook:
http://facebook.com/CiaraBallintyne
Website:
http://ciaraballintyne.com
Buy
Links:
iBooks -
https://itunes.apple.com/us/book/in-the-company-of-the-dead/id1082936294?mt=11&ign-mpt=uo%3D10%26amp%3Buo%3D4
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