The Wildkin’s Curse

 

 

Kate Forsyth is the internationally bestselling author of more than twenty books for children and adults, including
The Puzzle Ring
,
The Gypsy Crown
, 
The Starthorn Tree
and
Dragon Gold.

Since her first published book was named a Best First Novel of 1998 by
Locus
magazine, Kate has been shortlisted for numerous awards, including a Cybil Award in the US. In 2007, Kate became the first author to win five Aurealis awards in a single year when Books 2–6 in the Chain of Charms series were jointly awarded the 2007 Aurealis Award for Children's Fiction. Book 5,
The Lightning Bolt
, was also named a Notable Book for 2007 by the Children's Book Council of Australia.

Kate lives by the sea in Sydney, Australia, with her husband and three children, and many thousands of books.

ALSO BY KATE FORSYTH

 

The Starthorn Tree
The Puzzle Ring

 

The Chain of Charms series:

The Gypsy Crown
The Silver Horse
The Herb of Grace
The Cat's Eye Shell
The Lightning Bolt
The Butterfly in Amber

 

ALSO BY KATE FORSYTH
AND ILLUSTRATED BY MITCH VANE

 

Ben and Tim's Magical Misadventures:

Dragon Gold
Wishing for Trouble
Sea Magic

 

ALSO BY KATE FORSYTH
AND ILLUSTRATED BY ROSALIE STREET

 

I Am

KATE FORSYTH

 

 

 

First published 2010 in Pan by Pan Macmillan Australia Pty Limited

1 Market Street, Sydney

 

Copyright © Kate Forsyth 2010

 

The moral right of the author has been asserted.

 

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted by any person or entity (including Google, Amazon or similar organisations), in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, scanning or by any information storage and retrieval system, without prior permission in writing from the publisher.

 

National Library of Australia

Cataloguing-in-Publication data:

 

Forsyth, Kate, 1966–

 

The wildkin's curse / Kate Forsyth.

 

978 0 330 42605 3 (pbk.)

 

For children.

 

A823.3

 

Map by Jeremy Reston

Typeset in 11.5/15pt Minion by Midland Typesetters, Australia

Printed in Australia by McPherson's Printing Group

 

Papers used by Pan Macmillan Australia Pty Ltd are natural, recyclable products made from wood grown in sustainable forests. The manufacturing processes conform to the environmental regulations of the country of origin.

 

 

These electronic editions published in 2010 by Pan Macmillan Australia Pty Ltd
1 Market Street, Sydney 2000

The moral right of the author has been asserted.

All rights reserved. This publication (or any part of it) may not be reproduced or transmitted, copied, stored, distributed or otherwise made available by any person or entity (including Google, Amazon or similar organisations), in any form (electronic, digital, optical, mechanical) or by any means (photocopying, recording, scanning or otherwise) without prior written permission from the publisher.

The Wildkin's Curse

Kate Forsyth

 

Adobe eReader format: 978-1-74262-112-8
Online format: 978-1-74262-115-9
EPUB format: 978-1-74262-113-5

 

Macmillan Digital Australia
www.macmillandigital.com.au

Visit
www.panmacmillan.com.au
to read more about all our books and to buy both print and ebooks online. You will also find features, author interviews and news of any author events.

Contents

Cover

About Kate Forsyth

Also by Kate Forsyth

Title page

Copyright

Dedication

The Prophecy

Family Tree of the Royal Family of Ziva

Characters

PART ONE: THE ERLRUNE'S HOUSE

Chapter 1: The Trap

Chapter 2: The Erlrune

Chapter 3: A Very Sad Story

Chapter 4: Cloak of Feathers

PART TWO: THE JOURNEY

Chapter 5: Stormlinn Castle

Chapter 6: Climbing Stormfell

Chapter 7: Rattle Those Bones

Chapter 8: A Terrible Dream

Chapter 9: The Perilous Forest

Chapter 10: Estelliana Castle

Chapter 11: Lord Zakary

Chapter 12: Swan Feathers

Chapter 13: The Star and Crown Inn

Chapter 14: Lilies in the Field

Chapter 15: The Wanderer

Chapter 16: Shooting the Albatross

PART THREE: THE ROYAL PALACE

Chapter 17: Death Bells

Chapter 18: Twiddling Their Thumbs

Chapter 19: Midnight at the Gate

Chapter 20: The King of Ziva

Chapter 21: The Tower of Stars

Chapter 22: The Swan Wife

Chapter 23: Nightingale Song

Chapter 24: Pelican Lady

Chapter 25: Morning of the Spring Equinox

Chapter 26: Traitors

Chapter 27: The Feast

Chapter 28: The Pit

Chapter 29: The Boar's Head

PART FOUR: FROST IN SPRING

Chapter 30: The Wildkin's Curse

Chapter 31: Playing Dice With Death

Chapter 32: True Love Falls Awry

Chapter 33: Words Have Weight

 

 

For my sister

Belinda Murrell

For listening when I need to talk

For talking when I need to listen

And for travelling the writer's road hand in hand with me

The Prophecy

Three times a babe shall be born,
between star-crowned and iron-bound.
First, the sower of seeds, the soothsayer,
though lame, he must travel far.

Next shall be the king-breaker, the king-maker,
though broken himself he shall be.

Last, the smallest and the greatest—
in him, the blood of wise and wild,
farseeing ones and starseeing ones.
Though he must be lost before he can find,
though, before he sees, he must be blind,
if he can find and if he can see,
the true king of all he shall be.

Family Tree of the Royal Family of Ziva

Characters

The ziv Estaria family, rulers of the County of Estelliana

L
ORD
Z
EDRIN
(called Zed)
—aged 16

P
EDRIN
, his father

L
ADY
L
ISANDRE
, his mother

P
RISCILLA
, his sister—aged 15

C
OUNT
Z
YGMUNT
, his uncle and Count of Estelliana

 

The Bellringer family, residents of Estelliana

M
ERRIK
(called Merry)
—aged 16

D
URRIK THE
S
OOTHSAYER
, his father (now dead)

M
AGLEN
, his mother (called Mags or the Hag)

 

The Vendavala family, rulers of Stormlinn Castle and the Perilous Forest

L
ILIANA
(called Lili)
—aged 16

L
ADONNA
, her mother (now dead)

B
RIONY
, her aunt, Erlrune of the Evenlinn

S
HOSHANNA
, her aunt (now dead)

A
VANNIA
, her grandmother (once Erlqueen of the Stormlinn, now dead)

 

The ziv Zitaraz family, rulers of the County of Zitara and the land of Ziva

K
ING
Z
ABRAK

P
RINCE
Z
ANDER
, his son and heir

P
RINCESS
A
DORA
, Prince Zander's wife

P
RINCESS
R
OZALINA
(Prince Zander's daughter with Shoshanna Vendavala)—aged 16

Lady Vernisha, Princess Adora's mother

 

The ziv Valletta family

C
OUNT
Z
AVION

L
ORD
Z
AKARY
, his son—aged 17

 

S
TIGA
, an old servant at Stormlinn Castle

A
UBIN THE
F
AIR
, the constable at Estelliana Castle

W
ILHELM
, a soldier

A
NNIE
, a lady-in-waiting