(Book 1 in the Jahaerys series)
The land of Lysandre is at war with their former colonies in the islands of Demetria. A widowed father, a childless mother, a cursed prisoner, and a kingdom concubine must band together from the cells of Nophis prison...
The grass was damp with dew, it was to be expected with the past week being inconvenienced with a mild storm. It made the mud sticky, Reyla had to lift the tresses of her dress up as her ankles squelched into the thick ground. Her mother's grave was marked by a single rolled over stone, wedged between the overgrown roots of a pine tree at the border of forest. It had been hastily scratched into by the blacksmith 'Here lays Daleira, Mother, Wife, Teacher', the white-water lilies were laid there the previous noon were now drowned and drooping in a nearby puddle. The rain hadn't been merciful to her mother's resting place. The river to the left of the grave ran deep into the forest, it had clearly risen overnight, now overspilling into the grass birthing clumps of vicious mud and wilted grass.
It had been eight sennights since her mother had passed, denial had already visited her weary bedside now it was the stage of pure unadulterated anger that chipped away at her. It seemed the final stage of grief, acceptance, would never come. This wasn't something her father could heal with one of his medicinal recipes, in her eyes he had failed as both a father and a husband. Her mother was sick, and he couldn't fix it, now she lays in the earth wrapped in worms and maggots. Reyla could picture her, sleeping in the dirt on the outskirts of the forest, peaceful if not for the burrowing larvae tearing away her mothers' flesh, shitting out the parts of her mother that aren't even good enough for a mere fly.
It was this image that slightly convinced her maybe her father was right, maybe they should have burned her and sent her down the river like a true warrior, despite her never having fought a day in her life. However, that was forbidden now, all ancient practices of the Elven religion were long forbidden, war crimes in some districts, merely distasteful in others. The dark war had been the cause for that back in the bronze era, Reyla only new parts of it from her Lysandre history lessons. However, most lessons focused on more recent history of the long war so cleverly named due to it being ongoing since before the birth of her father.
It often appeared that most non-human races were nearing extinction now, any living citizens of non-human descent moved out of large cities in favour of the segregation. It was scarce to see an orc or an elf living in more urban settings unless they were part of the king's guard. Fear drove people to do cowardly things, but it was anger that led to war. Reyla understood the rage of the Blood king now, she too felt able to wage war against anybody to avenge her mother. However, it's rather difficult to wage war on sickness.
