BLURB
Sometimes love is a curse, a twisted, unnatural obsession.
Such is the dark magic of a siren’s song, the power of which half-siren Lirien witnesses for himself as he watches his mother sing his father, the King of Ardeth, into the sea. In a fruitless attempt to reverse his father’s fate, Lirien sings the siren song himself, not knowing its true power is seduction. Instead, he ensnares his stepmother, the Queen, with its hypnotic melody.
When Lirien refuses her desperate advances, she turns to forbidden magic to force her love on him. But wishing upon a havoc stone is an invitation to chaos. The queen’s own son and daughters, Lirien’s beloved siblings, are whisked away and transformed into animals. They flee the kingdom, and Lirien chases after them, his beautiful voice also gone.
Through elven mountains, fae forests, and siren waters, Lirien will stop at nothing to find and save his family. Threats come at him from all sides, but there are allies, too—Kitra, a shapeshifting fae fox who vows vengeance on the Queen for killing her brother, and Brandegil, an elf who can awaken the sacred sword Alibrandr to help break the spell on the children.
Together, they’ll bring the stars raining down from the heavens if that’s what it takes to save Lirien’s family, but there’s still the matter of breaking the spell on the Queen. And Lirien’s own deadly curse haunts him should he stray too long from the sea.
EXCERPT:
On the night of his twentieth birthday, Lirien was dreaming he was a golden bird with long, lustrous plumage, when a wordless song invaded his sleep. A woman’s voice, rich and beautiful, floated upon the warm summer breeze through the open balconette window, but it wasn’t until he felt the gentle brush of her breath against his ear that Lirien opened his eyes.
He was alone in the darkness of his room, but the song caressed him with silky fingers. A tingling warmth traveled his skin before it settled down as a hot knot in his stomach. He felt something like a tug at his waist, pulling him forward.
He didn’t remember standing or walking. He was in his bed, and then he was on the beach with the hulking silhouette of the castle and cliffs rising behind him. He thought he was dreaming again, until the cold water washed over his bare feet and, at last, the dreamlike haze within him dissolved.
The singing continued.
The light from the large, snow-white moon cast a strong glow upon the sand, which sparkled as though the stars had fallen and taken root there. Beside him, a mound of red velvet bedclothing had been tossed carelessly aside at the water’s edge. Lirien recognized the clothes and the figure in the sea before him, a man slowly stumbling forward against the crashing waves.
The knot in his stomach tightened. “Father! What are you doing?”
The man was already waist deep and Lirien ran in after him, sloshing through with difficulty as his father journeyed farther and farther out.
“Stop! Come back!”
Somehow, over the waves and the breeze, his words reached his father. Now treading water, he turned to Lirien, but too late.
The singing stopped. Long, lithe arms, silvery blue and covered in a smattering of scales, shot up from the water and encircled his father, dragging him below.
In desperation, Lirien dove under, blindly swimming ahead as frantic thoughts pummeled him and the sea floor disappeared underneath him. You knew someday she would come; you’ve known all along. It’s her, and she’s here for you both. Without ever seeing her before in his entire twenty years, he knew instinctively who she was.
A woman’s voice echoing inside his head brought a flash of pain. Get away!
Her eyes, two luminous orbs— large, bright, and orange like sunset, orange like Lirien’s own —flooded his vision. She was less than an inch from his face. He was so startled he opened his mouth and took in water, and choking, he rose to the surface. And then she was on him, seizing him tightly underneath his shoulders and staring at him intently.
Her hair, of darkest sapphire, another trait Lirien had inherited, was matted against her gleaming skin. Everything about her was longer, larger. She towered over him easily, and her fiery gaze was so intense he could hardly return it. And her face… he would never be able to describe how lovely and terrible it was, or the feeling that came over him when he saw the parts of her that were also his own.
“Let me go.” His voice, a gentle baritone, came out flimsy and trembling.
Do not follow. She turned to swim away from him. You will not see me again.
Lirien didn’t know what else to do. He called her by the only name he knew.
“Mother.”
She stopped.
“Don’t take him. Please.”
A wistful look spread across her face as she gazed into the water. I loved him. I did. But I cannot help what I am. She met his eyes. And because I love you, you cannot follow.
She dove, a flash of her leg skimming the surface of the water, only to change to feathery finned, kaleidoscopic tail as she disappeared below.
Unable to make sense of his mother’s words or what he was seeing, Lirien ignored her command and dove deep. The water was too dark for him to see, but he imagined the hulking form of his father sinking into the bitter abyss. He pushed on despite the pain in his lungs and the pressure of the cold, dark ocean.
He wasn’t sure what happened or when he lost consciousness, but when he opened his eyes, it was daylight on the beach. He was sprawled out on his back, his wet nightshirt offering no protection from the sand that scratched his skin.
He struggled upright as his stepmother rushed to his side, clutching his father’s abandoned robe to her chest. Several of her guardsmen were scattered along the shoreline, searching the water.
“Lirien!”
He flinched. Queen Aurinda rarely said his name, and the sharpness of it startled him. She sounded all at once livid and frightened. “What did you see? What happened?”
He couldn’t answer her without his own angry tears falling. “King Neven is gone.”
Author Info
Kristina Elyse Butke writes fantasy filled with magic, dark curses, and true love. Her time living abroad in Wales and Japan inspires her writing through the fantastical settings and creatures she creates. She has an MFA in Writing Popular Fiction from Seton Hill University and when she isn't writing, she indulges herself with reading manga and webtoons, watching anime, and cosplaying. She also enjoys spending time in forests, the more whimsical, the better.
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