Authors: Roberta Trahan
The Well of Tears
The characters and events portrayed in
this book are fictitious. Any similarity to real persons, living or dead, is coincidental
and not intended by the author.
Text copyright © 2012 by Roberta Trahan
All
rights reserved.
No part of this book may be reproduced,
or stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic,
mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without express written permission
of the publisher.
Published
by 47North
P.O.
Box 400818
Las Vegas, NV 89140
ISBN-13:
9781612183725
ISBN-10:
1612183727
D
e
di
c
a
t
ion
For
my husband — the hero of my story and champion of my heart
The Prophecy
E
ven before the seeds
of the first civilizations were scattered, sorcerers walked this world. For a time,
they trod in the formidable footfall of the gods, serving mortals as the arbiters
of faith and fate. And, with their guidance, the societies of humankind flourished.
But with prosperity came avarice, and with avarice came ambition. Before long, the
world knew tyranny.
Dark and terrible times followed. Chaos descended upon the land,
and for a thousand years, her peoples suffered at the hands of tyrants. And yet,
somehow, the seeds of salvation survived.
In the province Ystrad Tywi of the Kingdom of Seisyllwg, a handful
of those devoted to the old ways found refuge in the abandoned sanctuaries of their
ancestors. Hidden deep within the mystical woods of Coedwig Gwyn, nestled at the
headlands near the tiny village Pwll, stood one such ancient and sacred place —
the all but forgotten temple called Fane Gramarye.
Cloistered within an enchantment that hid the temple from the eyes
of mortals, the mages who served the order of the Stewardry at Fane Gramarye endured
to fulfill a single sacred vow — to protect the king who would one day unite the
peoples of Cymru in a long and lasting peace. An ages-old prophecy foretold that
a son descended from a line of noble rulers would rise to rule a new era
and that by his hand the ancient beliefs would be resurrected and the sorcerers
returned to reverence. And so it was that, for nine generations, the Stewards served
in silence, awaiting an omen in the birth of a boy.
In the year 880 AD, it came to pass that a son begotten of Cadell,
King of Seisyllwg, was delivered unto the world and anointed by the gods. Upon reaching
his manhood, the boy called Hywel would seize his destiny and the ancient prophecy
would finally be fulfilled. The Stewards of Fane Gramarye would be called to raise
the first sorcerer’s council to serve a high king in more than a millennium.
But it was also foreseen that there were those among men of power
who would stop at nothing to prevent such an alliance. As the age of peace approached,
the grand wizard of the Ninth Order moved to protect the prophecy, secretly naming
four sorceresses of uncommon character and ability to the sacred council. The sorceresses
were then sent into hiding, scattered to the four corners of the earth so that if
one were discovered, the others might survive. For more than twenty years, they
lived in exile, until the summons to return arrived.
One
Summertide in the White
Woods, 905 AD
“I
t is time.â€