Excerpt: Corey’s Circle
Renate
made Eolyn suffer more than the others, with constant rebukes and scoldings.
This was the way of things for any new member of the Circle, but in Eolyn’s
case the challenge was multiplied by the girl’s utter lack of experience. Corey
would no doubt get an earful about it this evening, but Renate had no grounds
for complaint. She had brought this upon herself.
“Have
you gone completely mad?” Renate had cried, bursting into Corey’s tent the day
after he hired Eolyn. “Putting that girl in your magic show?”
“I’ve
been seeking an assistant for some time,” Corey had replied evenly.
“She’ll
be on the pyre within a week, and the rest of us may very well burn with her.”
“She
will not do any magic.”
“Even
the illusion of magic could—”
“She
will not perform any illusions.”
“Curse
you, Corey! I am so weary of the risks you take.”
“You
are free to withdraw from the Circle any time you please, Renate.”
Renate
had set her lips in a thin line. Corey knew well the terror he invoked whenever
he suggested she leave. Nothing waited for Renate outside of the Circle, save
solitude and fear, the unending torment of all her ghosts from the past.
Renate’s
tone softened. “Corey, please. She’s just a child. Don’t make her your toy in
this.”
Toy?
Was that what Renate thought?
“I
can’t imagine what you expect to gain from this folly,” Renate insisted, “but
that girl, that beautiful, innocent girl, could lose her life. Is that a fair
price for your amusement?”
Corey
could not very well argue with that.
Well,
he could, but why upset Renate more than necessary?
BLURB:
In
a land ravaged by civil war, the Mage King Kedehen initiates a ruthless purge
of the magas. Eolyn, last daughter of the magas and sole heiress to their
forbidden craft, seeks refuge in the South Woods.
When
she meets the mysterious Akmael, heir to the throne of this violent realm, she
embarks on a path of hope, seduction, betrayal, and war. Desire draws Eolyn
toward Akmael’s dark embrace, but fate binds her to Corey of East Selen, a
cunning mage whose ambition challenges the limits of love and loyalty.
Can
she trust either man?
Hunted
in a realm of powerful wizards and brutal deceptions, Eolyn must find her own
path to freedom or she will burn on the pyre.
"Vigorously
told deceptions and battle scenes, with a romantic thread." -Publishers
Weekly
Amazon:
AUTHOR Bio and Links:
Karin
Rita Gastreich writes stories of ordinary women and the extraordinary paths
they choose. She lives in Kansas City, Missouri, where she is part of the
biology faculty at Avila University. An ecologist by vocation, Karin has
wandered forests and wildlands for over twenty years. Her past times include
camping, hiking, music, and flamenco dance. In addition to The Silver Web
trilogy, Karin has published short stories in World Jumping, Zahir, Adventures
for the Average Woman, and 69 Flavors of Paranoia. She is a recipient of the
Spring 2011 Andrews Forest Writer’s Residency.
Website:
http://krgastreich.com
Twitter:
@EolynChronicles
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