Stephanie

Yet More Background

2007-06-03T19:43:11Z

Yet more background for those who may be interested.

This is an excerpt from Part II, Chapter Eight of the original Seraphim Applorant, not Declan’s retelling. Part II is told from Sylvie’s perspective, and this bit is the scene where Etienne explains Xavier’s feelings for her. Sylvie is eighteen at the time, nearly nineteen, and Kincaid Blair has just come to her family home for the first time. So, I suppose it goes right along with the last stagesoflove drabble. In fact, what occurs in the drabble happens immediately after this scene.

Papa shut the door behind us for privacy, and I found myself facing The Healer again when he turned around. Oh, this really wasn’t going to be pleasant.

“Would you like a drink, Papa?” I’d been fixing his scotches since I was eight years old, and I knew that my offer now would recall him, if anything could, from the brink on which he stood. He smiled at me, again with that taste of sadness around the edges, and nodded.

“Sure, love.”

I was encouraged by his tone and went immediately to the sideboard. I poured the amber liquid into a glass first and then added a couple cubes of ice from the bucket my mum kept perpetually stocked in here. Finally, just a dash of soda water and I was ready to hand him the glass. He took it from me, sipped, and then sat in his favourite chair with a sigh. As he relaxed against the well-worn leather, I remembered other occasions when he’d sat there, times when I was a small child and I would sit with him for a story or just the closeness. He had always seemed to need that, the closeness. I didn’t know it then but had come to suspect as I grew up that the reason was the night-time healing. I lived with the threat of war, but The Healer lived with raw human need. For how long had my mum and I been his source of renewal? It didn’t matter really; what did matter was we performed that minor miracle for him whenever he needed it. He looked like he needed it now.

“What is it, Papa?” I repeated my earlier question, and he seemed to bring himself back to the present from whatever abyss he’d been staring into.

“What did you notice when you were embracing Xavier a few minutes ago?” he asked me quietly.

The gentle collision of spirit and power, that’s what I noticed.

I didn’t voice this thought, but I narrowed my eyes at him and looked closely for the hidden meaning behind his words. I found nothing in his eyes to suggest he trying to hold anything back and, so, I answered with a certain measure of the truth and not a little caution.

“A bump,” I said, “nothing more.”

“A bump?” He looked confused at my choice of words, and I fumbled in my explanation, in trying to make it clearer for him.

“A bump,” I repeated. “You know what I mean, Papa. When you came that day to rescue me from Don…” Oh, how I hated to bring that up! We’d never spoken of it in the time that had passed since that awful day, but I knew this was the only way to make him understand what I meant. I tried to pick up where my words had drifted away, but it was painful. He knew that and smiled at me encouragingly.

“Go on, sweetheart. It’s all right to talk about it, you know.”

“I know. It’s just its hard… well, no matter. When you came to the warehouse that day, could you feel me before you entered the building?”

His eyes had taken on a different look, remembrance and recognition, and he said, “Yes! I remember feeling your power as you blew the windows out of the place. It was like wave after wave of it, never stopping, and it hit me with force each time. Physically, I mean.”

“Exactly. Have you felt it before?”

“With you, certainly, although to a lesser degree than that day. Occasionally, there have been others I’ve felt similarly. Never anything to compare with you, but then there wouldn’t be. What does any of this have to do with Xavier though?”

“Well, I feel what you feel but from the other side. When you feel me, it’s like…” I struggled again and then thought of a useful example, “…like when you knock on a door. What you feel is your hand touching the door, but I am the door. Your hand feels the door, but the door feels your hand. Are you following me?”

He nodded again. “I think so. Clever analogy. Please continue.”

If I had a pound for every time he’d said please continue to me over the years…

“What I felt when I hugged Xavier was similar to that but not quite the same. It was more like someone resting against the door rather than knocking. Does that make sense?”

“I think so…” He was still for a moment, looking into his glass and thinking of my explanation. I could almost see him weighing information against some knowledge of his own. After a lengthy pause, he looked at me again.

“Papa, do you distrust Xavier for some reason? The joke I made about his having a certain witchiness was just that, a joke. I didn’t mean it, of course.” I sat down in Uncle Gavin’s chair, conscious suddenly of my fatigue and the growing idea this might turn out to be a long conference with my father.

“No, Sylvie, I don’t distrust Xavier. If for no other reason than his unfailing professionalism and willingness to be forthcoming over the years, I trust him.”

“Then what is it?” I asked for the third time.

My dad set his glass down on the little round table between us and sighed. When he looked at me, there was again that same sadness in his eyes and around his mouth. “Sylvie, I’d like you to be cautious of Xavier in the future.”

Cautious?

“Cautious, Papa? I don’t understand. You just said you trusted him.”

“I do, darling, but I’m speaking of a different sort of caution.”

“I’m confused. Please just speak plainly. Let me hear what you really mean to say so we can move forward… and possibly get to sleep at some decent hour tonight.”

“Damn it, Sylvie, this is a serious matter, and I’ll thank you to treat it as such!”

In his frustration with me, he stood and began pacing, and I watched his movements with concern. My father never discussed The Healer’s business with me beyond the simple fact of it being his destiny. He didn’t want me to share in that burden, the same as he didn’t want my mum to. Now he was bringing it into the conversation as the focus, and he’d already indicated that the discussion had something to do with Xavier. I knew with absolute certainty I didn’t want to hear any more, but I was trapped within the confines of The Healer’s world now. There was no escape.

“I am responsible for people who are in pain of any kind… love gone poorly, self-hatred, devastation, whatever. This isn’t new knowledge. You’ve known about all of this for the whole of your life. On very rare occasions, I sense the pain in people who are physically present.”

“Like the day in the warehouse… Don’s other witches,” I offered, and he nodded.

“Just so, Sylvie. Just as with those witches. Every now and again, I get just a… vibration, I guess, from someone near to me. I’ll know, for instance, if your mum is especially worried about you or if Gavin has had a particularly disturbing vision. Almost never do I get more than that. For a long time, I’ve had a sense about Xavier.”

“A sense he was unhappy?”

“No, not precisely. In fact, it hasn’t been precise at all. Just a feeling that there was something troubling him somehow.”

“And now?” I felt the dark tunnel of his words looming, but I had no idea what would be on the other side once he’d spoken them.

“Tonight at dinner, there was something very powerful at the table. My supposition is it only became clear to me because all three of them were physically present.” He looked at me and knew my question before I asked it. Such is the way with parents, or at least with very good ones. He smiled a little. “Uncle Gavin, Xavier, and your Kincaid Blair. The three of them form some sort of triad of which I believe they are each unaware.”

“And? What is the nature of the thing, Papa?”

“Love. They each love you but in very different ways.”

His words did not surprise me. I felt very deeply about each of them as well. So, I couldn’t understand my father’s concern. “So?” I asked, and he shook his head at me in frustration.

“Sylvie, please at least attempt to intuit some of what I’m saying to you. It’s not that complicated.”

“Intuit? Papa, you’re not making any sense. So all three of them love me in different ways…” Suddenly, I thought I understood his meaning. “Are you saying that, because of whatever you felt at dinner, you are willing to trust Kincaid? You said he loved me…”

“No, Sylvie, this doesn’t have to do with Kincaid which, if you will recall, I told him in the kitchen. To answer your question, no, I do not yet trust that young man. I sense he loves you, but even love can be denied for duty.”

I threw up my hands and stared at him, now standing in front of my chair. “Then what, Papa? Truly, I have no idea what you have to say and wish you’d just be out with it rather than playing twenty questions with me.”

“Do you? Are you so adult then you can simply bear the truth without any candy coating?” My father was angry, and I finally understood one thing: he wanted this conversation no more than I. He was driven to have it because he sensed some terrible pain with one of our own. Somehow, I knew I was the source of that pain, and… I’d like you to be cautious of Xavier in the future.

“Xavier?” I asked him, and he nodded. “You said Xavier loved me, and I thought nothing of it because you included him with Uncle Gavin. But that isn’t what you meant, is it, Papa?” He shook his head. “Are you saying Xavier…” I couldn’t say the words. For a million different reasons, it was impossible, and yet not.

“What I’m trying to say and making such a muck up about is Xavier is in love with you. I believe your Uncle Gavin knows, and he, too, is pained over the fact.”

“And what has Kincaid to do with it?”

“The feelings you so obviously have for that boy are… difficult for Xavier to witness. Thus, his pain tonight. Gavin’s knowledge only underscored the situation for me. I believe, if Kincaid had not been there, it wouldn’t have been nearly so apparent.”

My father was more than my father, a fact I often forgot when it was convenient for me. He was also The Healer. It was as The Healer he’d sensed Xavier’s pain, and because of it I felt a little more hopeful than I might have otherwise. “Papa, can you help him?” I ventured.

“As The Healer, no, I cannot.”

“But why? Isn’t that what you do?”

“I relieve people of their misery in order to mend their souls. You know this, Sylvie. Xavier may, in fact, be quite miserable right now, but his soul is very much intact. He has no need of me, but he does need your kindness. I want you to remain aware of Xavier and his feelings for you so you don’t unwittingly cause him greater pain than he already bears willingly. In many ways, I consider him to be a friend of ours, of mine, and I shouldn’t like to see him hurt further.”

“What should I do?” I really was out of my depth here. It seemed ludicrous Xavier should feel for me as I felt for Kincaid. The thought was nearly indecent. He was my father’s age or thereabouts. Never had I considered, even in moments of girlhood crushes, Xavier to be an object of romantic desire. Yet, here stood my father saying I was that very thing to Xavier. The knowledge was overwhelming, too much to think about coherently with The Healer staring at me with those expectant eyes.

“I don’t know,” he said, shrugging and attempting to smile. “Just be aware. I don’t believe there’s more you can do.”

“And when you asked what I’d sensed when I embraced him, you were really talking about his feelings for me, weren’t you?”

“Yes.” He stood beside me then and placed his hand on my head. It was a gesture he’d used often when I was a little girl. When he spoke again, his tone was softer, more like that of the father and less of The Healer. “So, you see, darling, the man is quite truly defenseless. It would take very little to hurt him very deeply.”

I didn’t want to bring pain to Xavier. He was a part of my life, a part I had grown to appreciate and somehow cherish over the years. If it were within my power… but perhaps it was within my power to help him. I would think about that later. Just then, I looked at my father and saw how tired he was. I reached up and took his hand in mine and then kissed it. Another childhood gesture, but he didn’t seem to mind.

“Okay, Papa, I understand. I’ll be gentle and kind, and Xavier need never know you and I have discussed this.”

fin

Some Notes on The Healer

2007-06-03T14:08:42Z

Some notes on The Healer

For those who may be following Invocatus Rex on tamingthemuse or here, I've put together some information from Triplex Coniunctio help explain The Healer... what it is he does, how, and how it all fits in the larger picture.

On the Healer

At the beginning of Triplex Coniunctio, Thalia tells Ambrus she's leaving him, moving to France because she's had a prophetic dream. What the reader doesn't learn until a few days later is that she's pregnant and is intentionally hiding this fact from Ambrus, because the dream has given her cause to believe he is somehow a danger to her child. Part I of the book is from Thalia's POV, and it covers the time between her telling Ambrus she's leaving up to about halfway through her pregnancy. Ambrus guesses she's pregnant at one point, and after that, he is involved in trying to ferret out the answers to why their child might be in danger... and find resolution. They know nothing yet except that he has some destiny. Part II is from Ambrus' POV and covers the second half of the pregnancy through Etienne's birth (which is actually told in surprising detail). By this point, they know, of course, that Ambrus should have been leading the Dark Coven, and he has assumed that role there over the objections of their real enemy in this book, Bertrand. He's done so in order to protect the child from the Coven... because that's where they believe the danger lies, and indeed most members are clear that they'd prefer the child not be born. No one (on their side) can figure out why.

It's worth nothing, since both Covens are mentioned repeatedly, that the Coven of Light was actually defunct at this time and had been for a really long time. Thalia should have been its leader, but there was no Coven. Once she moved to France and Etienne's birth grew imminent, those witches who would have likely been its members began to flock to her, re-establishing the Coven. Among these were a pair of young people she'd met early in the book, Jack and Angel, who later fell in love, married, and had the twins Lucie and Gavin. They remain in France as long as she does, and the children grow up together.

Etienne tells Part III of the book, and this begins when he's sixteen. All awkward adolescence and a preoccupation with sex. *g* He has no hint yet what his destiny is to be and is impatient about this. He knows only he is to be called The Healer, and that he's supposed to be able to do whatever it is he will do “without depletion.” Part III opens on the day he has his first experience healing. After a trip to the beach with the twins, he comes home to bathe and discuss a few important things Thalia believes it's time for him to know. Jack had arrived earlier, and Etienne eavesdropped and heard him tell Thalia that the Dark Coven were prepared to move against him... that Ambrus could no longer hold them in check. After Etienne bathes, he sits to meditate as his granny taught him to do, and during this time, well... I'll just let him tell it:

“Dinner in fifteen minutes, Etienne!”

I opened the door and waved down to her. She smiled at me and then turned back to the kitchen, and I shut the door again. Focus. I needed to focus. I sat down on the floor by my bed and closed my eyes. Granny Aria had taught me how to meditate when I was just a kid, and I used the technique pretty often when I had too many things flying around my brain. This was certainly one of those times. I relaxed my shoulders and let thoughts of my dad coming, the prophecy, my mother’s worry, everything, just fall away from me. I pictured the meadow outside the house in Devon. I’d only seen it in photographs, but my Granny said it was a wonderful place to meditate. As I sat there, I began to hear a voice, and I wondered briefly if this was going to be a vision like the ones Sebastien sometimes got. I’d never had one of those. Forgetting Sebastien, I focused on the voice. It was a man’s voice. He sounded kind of like Papa, but different, too. Older maybe.

“It’s useless. Everything is shit, and there’s no where to go. I can’t believe she did it after all of these years. God, the bitch. I hate her! I hate myself. Maybe if we’d talked more before things got so out of control. I don’t know if it would have helped. Mary, please. Don’t leave me. I can be a better husband. You don’t love him, Mary. Please don’t leave and take my kids.”

Mary didn’t answer, and I could suddenly see why. A great black wall dropped away, and I could see the man. He sat on a bed in a hotel room. How did I know that? He sat with his elbows on his knees and his face in his hands. His shoulders shook. He was crying. I never saw Papa cry, but this man was. He was so sad. I could feel his sadness inside of me, like it was my sadness but his at the same time. It seemed I might have been dreaming, but I didn’t think I was. I stood in front of the man, but he didn’t look up at me. He started talking again.

“God, if you would only listen to me. Tell her to take me back, please, tell her. I swear I’ll be a better husband. I’ll listen to her and try to take care of her needs better. I can forgive her, God, just let her take me back, please. Christ, it’s useless. She’s never going to take me back. My wife is gone and my kids. There’s nothing left. Everything I worked for. Everything. Just gone.”

The man got up from the bed and walked into the bathroom without looking in my direction. I heard something rattling and thought to myself that it was a bottle of pills. I didn’t know how I knew all of this, but I knew. The man was going to commit suicide. John. His name was John, and John was going to kill himself, because his wife Mary left him for another man and took the kids with her. John had nothing to live for. He did, but he couldn’t see it! I ran toward the bathroom as fast as I could, and when I got to the doorway, John was standing there holding a handful of pills in one hand and a cup of water from the tap in the other.

“John, don’t. Sir, don’t swallow those pills.”

I startled him, and he dropped the pills. He looked confused for a minute and then angry. “Who the hell are you? How did you get in here? The door was locked… oh, never mind, just leave and let me be. “He got down on his hands and knees and started picking up the pills.

“John, put the pills back in the bottle please. Let me talk to you. If you still want to kill yourself when I’m through, then I’ll leave. You can do whatever you want to do after I leave. Is that fair?”

He seemed suddenly defeated, as if I’d taken away from him the last action he could carry out himself with dignity. But he put the pills away and followed me into the bedroom. We sat on his bed, and I made him look at me when I asked my first question.

“Tell me about your kids, John. What are their names?”

We talked for a long time, hours probably. I didn’t think about my mum or the macaroni, but I thought an awful lot about Mary and Thomas and Kent. John’s wife and kids. He loved them a lot, but Mary was in love with someone else. John got tired after a while, and I helped him lie down and get comfortable on the bed. I told him I would stay until he fell asleep, and I did. His last words that night were not anguished pleas to Mary and to God; they were words of gratitude.

“Thank you, Etienne. I don’t know how you came here, but thank you. I can live without Mary, and I can live without seeing my children everyday. But I don’t think I want to leave them without a father just yet.”

“They need you.”

“Yes, they need me.”

John slept, and I sat in a chair close by to watch him. I didn’t want him to wake up alone in the darkness and become so sad again. As he slept, I could feel his tension leaving, and I thought he would be all right in the morning. A new day and all that.

As soon as the sun started slicing through the sky, I got up from the chair. I looked at John again, and then I closed my eyes, wondering how to get back home. When I opened them, I was lying in my bed, and my mother was watching me intently from the rocking chair in the corner.

“Mum?”

She got up quickly and came to sit on the edge of my bed. There was no one else in the room with us, and I was glad.

“Etienne, son, I was worried.”

“I think I’ve discovered why they call me The Healer.”

The experiences begin coming regularly then. Not yet nightly, but often enough that by the time he'd reached adulthood, it was nightly. So, travel by astral projection but only when he's sleeping (now), and then he serves as a sort of therapist... only he takes on their pain as his own (that's the empath, remember early Aisling?) and he exudes a sort of mystical peace at the same time, willing them to calm and serenity. At the beginning of Seraphim Applorant, a 15-year-old Sylvie gets herself into a bit of a jam, as well as all the other witches currently residing or visiting close by. All over a boy, of course, a rather nasty young witch himself by the name of Donohue Blakely. When her rescue is affected (marking the first occasion she'd ever revoked a witch's power through a kiss), the witches who were entrapped with her are in need of serious healing. Etienne does the work in their presence over a period of days. Kincaid is the only other person he has ever healed in the flesh, and my guess is there'll be no others.

I've toyed with the idea of a collection of healing stories, short stories just about The Healer. It would be simple to integrate within the overall body of work, because it's already canon that he records each event and gives these to Gavin for compilation. We'll see. Writing them is more difficult for me now than the early ones, likely because I'm a better writer. *g*

Oh, and here's the original prophecy regarding The Healer:

...and so it will come to pass that a child will be born in the twentieth century whose early life will be plagued by danger from the Dark Coven. The child’s destiny has angered those black wizards with whom we still deal in matters of trade and governance. The balance between good and ill will be jeopardized, according to the High Magus of their order. The child’s destiny cannot be allowed fulfillment, and only through intervention of the Dark Coven will it be stopped.

Who among us has the temerity to seek personal destruction in efforts to avoid their wrath? We deal with them in this age only through fear of the extreme consequences we would face if we did not. I, Marcus Antonius, apprentice to the priestess of all that is good and light in our world, will defy the black menace and record here the little that is known of the child, his enemies, and the coming war between the houses of good and evil.

Much is written in the early pages of this book and in many others of the sacrifices made by our order to maintain the balance between the houses of light and darkness. The priestess herself, whom I love and cherish as a mother, often speaks of the dangers inherent in too much power if it be wielded by one coven or the other. We are forced to accept their black hearts as part of the natural order of the world. It does your faithful scribe no good service to know that they, too, fear and hate the light as we do the dark. The sacrifices of which I write are known to all who enter either order.

As is kingship but in a very different manner, the governance of Light and Dark is passed down through the ages by matter of birth. In every generation, there is born a child to each Coven who is orphaned by violence. The child who bears this mark of betrayal by humankind will be schooled in the arts of magic and imbued with the necessary traits for leadership. In all of living memory, there has never been a generation that did not have exactly one of these children so born. Never is there none, and never are there two. Always one child is born to the Coven of Light, and one child is born to the Dark Coven. From infancy, this child is loved and protected by its elders and servants to fill the void left by orphanage. It should be noted here that Selmati, the ancient seer of the Dark Coven, has predicted a generation of its order will see no such child born, but it is unknown when this might occur.

Recorded in the General Book of Prophecy, it is told that an age will come to pass in the sixteenth century when the Coven of Light will cease to exist in its current form. Our homeland for more than a thousand years will experience a rebirth of religion and artifice that will force the covenant to disband. The Dark Coven will continue to exist as it always has by virtue of the human mistrust on which it feeds. The craft, its initiates generally mistrusted and abused, will survive this coming age of change and emerge quietly to resume the old ways but not before the war between good and evil of which I have already written. Because the men of the Dark Coven act as humans expect them to act, with treachery and malice in their souls, the existence of their order will not be subject to disintegration, and this bodes greater ill for the child than all the troubles of the world combined. The Dark Coven will continue to exist and will grow in power while the Coven of Light will become a memory, its witches practicing alone the arts which require many hands to combat our foes.

The child will not be born for the governance of either house, although the birthright of his mother would have been governance of the Coven of Light if such an order were still in existence at the time of her birth. A man that our seer Coretta refers to only as “The Unknowing” will sire the child. He will enter the world in an age when human advances will have surpassed even our ability to imagine. Humankind is destined to use these advances to serve personal neutrality and the whispers of evil that the Dark Coven are so skilled at insinuating into an unsuspecting populace. It has also been recorded in the General Book of Prophecy that the twentieth century will witness the greatest deprivation of the human soul since the fifth and sixth centuries. This wasteland is the child’s inheritance.

The High Magus of the Dark Coven expresses his anger over the prophecy of the child because he believes the child will bring greater weight to the house of good and upset the delicate balance both orders fight to maintain. It is the belief of this initiate that the human waste to which I have referred will, by its very nature, place the house of evil in a superior position and, further, that the child will be born to restore the balance rather than upset it.

He will be known as The Healer. He will absorb the scars of humankind without corruption, and goodness will flow out of him without depletion. He will be skilled in the craft and full of knowledge of the human heart. The precise destiny to which he will be born is not clear, and the dangers that will follow his early days are yet but whispers among our enemies. The Healer’s fate may lie within the power of his mother to protect, but Coretta has foretold that his safety will only be assured when “The Unknowing knows and The Healer sows.”

This concludes what has been foretold of the child’s coming. Mother Priestess and the High Magus have each sent emissaries abroad to learn more… if there is more to be known. As her faithful apprentice, I will continue to record this information as it may prove beneficial to The Healer’s protectors in the coming age of need.

Marcus Antonius
23 August in the year 643

See this post on The Uninitiated for reminders about how The Healer's destiny & The Uninitiated's are intertwined.

Some Notes on The Uninitiated

2007-05-22T02:59:36Z

Some notes on The Uninitiated

For those who may be following Invocatus Rex on tamingthemuse or here, I've put together some information from Triplex Coniunctio that will hopefully flesh out the prophecy oriented portions of Lucie's character. Much of this is lifted directly from the first book with some ancillary explanation. Having put this together, I can see that it's probably pretty necessary information.

On the Uninitiated

1st Mention: From the writings of the renegade witch (whose identity is still unknown at present in IR.
The renegade witch is speaking directly to The Unknowing, who it was learnt in Triplex Coniunctio was Ambrus Peyton, Sylvie's grandfather. At the time he and Thalia discovered her writings (the renegade witch's), Thalia was pregnant with Etienne and already living in St. Malo. She'd come home for some sleuthing, which among other things led to the discovery of this collection of writings. The renegade witch is speaking specifically about the Triplex Coniunctio, the Triple Bond, which is the primary mystery of the first book, and here she says:

The first requirement is a blood oath to be undertaken by The Unknowing and the leader of their enemies. This oath, foretold to occur in childhood, seals the union of our two orders irrevocably. The second requirement is that The Healer be born from these same two. Only The Healer can carry the blood of both darkness and light; only he can see through the veil of darkness and sow light into tortured souls. The third requirement is that The Healer sire a child upon The Uninitiated. She is predicted to be the child that goodness spawns and purity bears forth. No more is known at this time of The Uninitiated. The Healer will know her, and together they will bring a child into the world who is to be the fulfillment of the Triplex Coniunctio. What this child’s destiny is none of us knows.

The renegade witch is called such because she broke from the Dark Coven in the 1800s, at a time when it was really dangerous for her to do so. When she speaks of “them,” she's speaking of the Dark Coven. Thus, the “leader of their enemies” would be Thalia, as she is the rightful leader of the Coven of Light. Ambrus, it is determined through the renegade's writings is the rightful leader of the Dark Coven. The blood oath of which she speaks is actually Thalia's first spell, cast in childhood one day when Ambrus is teasing her about not really being a witch. The Healer you know about. The child to be born of The Healer and The Uninitiated is, of course, Sylvie.

2nd Mention: Trivial. As Ambrus is ingratiating his way into the leadership role within the Dark Coven in an effort to stop their plans to kill his son, Bertrand (who is actually a cardinal within Magi Sancti's order but not entirely within their thrall and is posturing as the rightful leader of the Dark Coven) mentions something about The Healer's destiny to father a child with an even greater destiny. Ambrus mentally thinks about The Uninitiated, but it's an unimportant moment in the book.

3rd Mention: Not really a mention at all. It's the point where Etienne realizes he's in love with Lucie, and the prophecies be damned.

“Lucie, how is it you’ve walked your whole life under the shadow of the prophecy and whispers of danger from the Dark Coven without becoming tainted? Yours is the quietest soul I’ve ever encountered, and that seems amazing to me somehow. Gavin is different. He seethes at all times with every emotion, both positive and negative, and he’s rarely calm. But you, you’re just so quiet.” I kept saying that word, quiet, as if it were the only one to adequately describe my observation, but even that wasn’t quite right. I looked down into Lucie’s blue eyes while she thought of her response, and I realized I’d never seen her before. Not in any way that approximated seeing her now.

4th Mention: At a dinner to celebrate the 93rd birthday of Sebastien, Thalia's seer, the old man has a vision. As Etienne realizes that's what's happening, he wonders if it has to do with Lucie and with The Uninitiated, and he thinks to himself:

This was the moment I had dreaded for three years. Lucie and I had talked about the prophecy, the final prophecy regarding my supposed relationship with The Uninitiated. We both knew it was possible I’d fallen in love with the wrong girl. Because no one knew who The Uninitiated was, no one knew how to feel about me and Lucie being together. My parents adored her as a daughter, and I knew that, under different circumstances, they would welcome the idea of us being together. As things were, they were guardedly optimistic, hoping against hope Lucie was actually The Uninitiated. For myself, I had spent three years patently ignoring any part of my destiny that wasn’t related to the healing. Prophecy or no prophecy, I wasn’t willing to lose her. So, when Sebastien looked at Lucie and then seemed to lose focus, we all waited without breathing to hear what he would say.

The following is the conversation that took place between Sebastien and Lucie after the vision passed. About halfway through is an odd little phrase about good and evil and the colour grey, and this harkens back to something that occurs earlier in the book.

“My dear, forgive an old man for being out of touch, but why did you refuse to join the Coven of Light?”

What was the man talking about? Did his vision have nothing to do with my love? I realized then that I did want to know the truth about Lucie and me. I needed to know, and I wouldn’t. Sebastien’s vision was obviously unrelated. Beside me, Lucie stirred and leant toward the table so she could see Sebastien better.

“I didn’t really refuse, Sebastien. I just chose to go my own way. There is a larger path out there, and I didn’t want to be confined just yet. I may one day join the Coven, but that day won’t come until I know I can truly serve as the Coven would have me do.”

“Do you not then believe there exists magic for good and magic for ill?”

It seemed the rest of us had fallen away, vanished behind the import of their conversation, and the two of them spoke only to one another.

“No, Sebastien. I can’t say I believe that. It seems to me magic is just magic. Or at least it should be. What one does with it is a choice.”

“Evil implodes; good explodes. There is only grey.”

“Exactly.”

“Then you believe that neither Coven holds a true place for you?”

“At this time, that is what I believe, yes. Do you have more questions now, or can you tell me what you saw in your vision?”

“Only you, my dear, shining with a brighter light than I have ever seen. You were dressed in the robes we used to wear, but these were neither black nor white. They were…”

“Grey.”

“Yes.” The seer straightened in his chair and cleared his throat. “Lucie, do you understand now the title Selmati bestowed upon you more than eleven hundred years ago?”

“The Uninitiated. Yes, I understand. I am not destined to belong to either order.”

“Almost, my dear. You are destined to belong to neither order.”

Sebastien turned to our parents then and nodded sagely. “They didn’t need a prophecy to find one another. We should all be so blessed.”

5th Mention: Upon finally catching the scheming would-be-murderer Bertrand and his accomplice Delia (witch of the Dark Coven, who you may also know as Darwin Welles' wife and Hadrian Welles' mother from Coadeyder), Delia finally lets the cat out of the bag about what the child of The Healer and the Uninitiated will be.

"When The Healer and The Uninitiated produce a child, that child will carry within it a long history of magic. The heritage of its father will meld with the choice of its mother, and pure magic will be the result."

There's more, but you get the general idea...

On Controlling Magic

2007-05-03T12:47:19Z

One really only need read down to the line dividing the sections, but the next part is nifty, too. *g*

The three of us walked into the library, and our silence was apparently appropriate. No one smiled. No one spoke. No one did much of anything until I was seated beside my mum on the couch and Kincaid leaned against the doorway. Only then did my father stand and motion to Kincaid.

“Here, Kincaid, take my chair,” he said.

My father sat on the couch so I was between him and my mother, and Kincaid looked at him with no small measure of suspicion. Eventually, he walked to my father’s chair and sat. Still none of us spoke. I looked to see where Xavier was and found him standing by the window with his back to the rest of us. The silence was nearly unbearable. Everyone glanced at everyone else but only briefly. No one maintained eye contact for more than a few seconds. The only ones who didn’t look nervously about the room were Kincaid and Xavier. Xavier because he had his back turned, and Kincaid because he was staring patiently in my father’s direction waiting.

After two or three minutes of this, I started to fidget. I knew I was losing my focus and I should try harder to keep it, but the enormity of the situation was too much. The games were over. The idle talk, too. Thanks to Xavier, we knew more about my enemy than at any time in the past. My family now had the measure of the enemy’s strength from having watched me spar with Kincaid. They were ready for business it seemed, but they were certainly taking their time in getting down to it.

“Calm down, darling,” my mum said as she touched my knee. I looked at her, and it seemed as if her face were both very close to mine and very far away at the same time. She shook my knee just a bit and repeated herself. “Calm down, Sylvie. No one’s going to be able to concentrate with you doing that.”

What was I doing?

“With me doing what, Mum?” I was genuinely perplexed, and I frowned at her to let her know I had no idea what she meant. We were both whispering, but I wasn’t sure why. Or rather, I didn’t know why she was whispering, and I was simply following her lead. I glanced furtively around the room, but nobody was looking in our direction. Well, thank the Goddess for that at least.

“The magic, Sylvie. You’re humming,” she said. “Pull it back, darling, so we can talk.” I truly didn’t understand her. Her words made sense, but I wasn’t able to fit them into any context I knew. She continued to look at me strangely when I didn’t respond, and eventually she tried again. “Sylvie, we used to practice this when you were little. You know what I’m talking about. Pull it back, darling.” She had her arm about my shoulder now, drawing me close to her, and I leaned my head against her neck. Across the span of a few feet, a movement caught my attention, and I raised my eyes to Kincaid’s.

Kincaid.

He was looking at me with… fear almost and a sort of fascination. Yet he didn’t look away. In his gaze was sheer will and a compulsion I was able to heed. Kincaid. I couldn’t do this to him. The others would understand, but how could he? While my mum rocked me slowly, I reached out with one hand and beckoned the power back to me. It came as a whisper through my skin, and I noticed Kincaid begin to relax in my father’s chair and Xavier’s shoulders release some unknown tension across the room. I turned my face to my mother’s.

“What did I do?” I asked her.

“Nothing, love, you haven’t already corrected. I think you’re just tired and overwhelmed by the events of the past few days.”

“I didn’t mean to, Mum, I swear. I was just sitting here waiting, and the silence was so terrible, and…”

“Shhh, Sylvie. It’s all right. No one’s harmed. It’s all right,” she repeated.

I held out my hand to my father, and he took it gently. “Papa?” I whispered.

He leaned across the couch and stroked my head for a moment. Finally, he echoed my mum’s words, “It’s all right, Sylvie.”

I was crying then and shaking my head. “No, it’s not all right! I haven’t allowed that to happen in years.” I pulled away from my mum and wiped my eyes with a handkerchief my father conveniently produced. I looked at both of them, first my mother and then my father. “It is not all right at all. This is what Magi Sancti are preparing for? A little girl who can control neither her emotions nor her magic? Well, if this is what they’re up against, it won’t be a long fight. Might as well send them the Devon faction now.”

“Don’t you say that!”

The voice from Kincaid’s right startled me. Uncle Gavin had never raised his voice to me in the past, and just then he sounded quite angry with me. I couldn’t remember the last time he had been truly angry at something I’d done or said. I shrank away from that ferocity, withdrawing into my mother’s embrace, but I didn’t avert my eyes. He knew he had my attention, and everyone else’s as well, and so dropped his voice a few decibels.

“I don’t want to ever hear you say that again. Look around this room, Sylvie.” I kept my eyes on his, and he raised his voice again. “Look around the room!”

He waited until my eyes had travelled over everyone present. I didn’t stop long at any face and sped most quickly over Xavier and Kincaid’s. At last, I looked at Uncle Gavin again and waited.

“Well?” he asked not unkindly.

“Well what?” I replied. My answer did not please him, but I was too tired and too worried to care.

“Well what? What do you think, Sylvie? If not for you, why do you think this particular group of people would be sitting here today? Why has Xavier resigned a long-term and likely quite lucrative position? Why has Tris left Fleet Street behind and given up all hope of becoming partner in his accounting firm? Why did I wait a more than a dozen years to marry the woman I love? And why has Kincaid risked more than any of the rest of us just to be here?”

A lot of questions. My guess was they all had the same answer, but it wasn’t one I wanted to examine too closely just then. I shrugged, and Uncle Gavin looked at my mother helplessly.

“Lucie, a bit of help here?”

“Gavin, she’s been through a lot… for as long as she’s been alive. I think this,” and she gestured with her free arm about the room, “may be just a bit too much after the past few days.”

He threw his arms out to the side as if to say he didn’t know where to turn for support. “Am I the only one in this room who has any idea what the girl’s capable of?” He turned to me once again, and I managed to sit up straight and face him without my mother’s arm about me. “You are not a child any longer, Sylvie, regardless of what most of us here might like to believe. Don’t you think it’s time to take your place at the grown ups’ table?”

I narrowed my eyes at him just a little. “What do you mean exactly, Uncle Gavin?”

He and I stood at the same moment, and the distance between us was enough I needn’t crane my neck to look him in the eye. A smile I’d often seen curve the corners of my mum’s mouth came now to her twin’s.

“Show them,” he whispered.

“Uncle Gavin, no…”

“Show them, Sylvie. They can handle it.”

“And if they can’t?”

“I’ll stand responsible.”

“All of them?”

I couldn’t believe he’d want me to use… really use my magic on Tris, Xavier, and Kincaid, but he stood there nodding that he did indeed want just that.

“I don’t know how,” I said after a healthy pause.

“Yes, you do.” He took a step closer to me, and I sensed the rebuke before he spoke it. “Sylvie, you’ve always been intent on comparing your magic to those of others around you. You’ve never seen your father’s power except in relation to your own… or your mother’s. I’ve never seen anyone to match Etienne, not anyone until you. Trust me, love… they can handle it.”

I looked at my father. For how long had I thought of him as either my dad or The Healer? For how long had I neglected to acknowledge his abilities as a witch? There was a story my Granny Thalia was found of telling. It was about the day they first realized how powerful my father would one day be. He was four years old, and a fierce storm had come to rock their little house in France. Already abed, he tried to shut the frightening sound of thunder out of his head by covering his ears as small children will. In the end, he started yelling at the storm to stop, and at that single command, the rains ceased. The skies were calm, and my Granny was scared out of her wits. How had I forgotten that?

I looked next at the window by which Xavier still stood, although he faced us now. Winter’s clear sun streamed through the opening in the drapes and filtered through the fabric.

“It’s too bright,” I whispered to myself.

“Obscūrā.” My father’s voice sounded clear and commanding behind me, and the room was suddenly bathed in a deep, false dusk I knew would last until he decided otherwise. I may have been the only living source of magic’s essence, but I could still be impressed. Glancing at him over my shoulder, I smiled my thanks. A moment later, a softer command, “Inlūstrā,” and the candelabra on the mantelpiece came to life.

Uncle Gavin had reclaimed his seat next to Kincaid by this point. I studiously avoided any of their gazes. Never before had I attempted anything even remotely approximating what I was about to do, and the looks of apprehension or expectation with which I might be met would do my focus no good. I only knew Uncle Gavin was sitting again, because I could see the toes of his wingtips from the corner of my eye.

I glanced down at my tunic and leggings. Not an impressive getup and certainly not one that befitted the occasion. With barely a moment’s hesitation, I closed my eyes and envisioned the white, merino wool cloak hanging upstairs in my closet. It was the only garment I owned for conducting magic that was entirely unadorned. I felt the weight of the thing settle about me, and when I opened my eyes, I stood before them all in the cloak with my hair unbound and pooling in the hood.

It was time.

I looked again at my father, the man who was an eternal wellspring of safety for me, but he was turning toward Xavier. As the two made eye contact, I focused on my father. In a moment, I felt the swell of his power as it merged with my own, and then it receded as I sent it into Xavier. A millisecond, no more, although it felt like an age, and The Healer stood bereft of his magic. I knew the instant that both of them turned to me, for I could feel my father’s confusion and Xavier’s wonder.

I didn’t ponder my actions or their reactions, turning immediately to my mum. Her eyes did meet mine, and I’m sure she must have known what I would do. Yet she didn’t turn from me, and I marvelled at her trust. As easily as kissing me goodnight, she released her power, and I held it a moment with my own. It was rich and sweet, unlike the scorching heat that was my father, and I knew on whom I would bestow this gift. My mum’s magic lay cradled in mine while I turned to Kincaid. His eyes were enormous, but neither did he look away from me, trusting as did my mother and, I think, a bit eager to taste what I could offer. Slowly, I let spill the magic into him, and his eyes grew ever wider as it flooded his veins. A part of me wanted to pause then, to take care of this recipient, but I moved on.

Uncle Gavin awaited me with that same smile upon his face, and he gave up his power jubilantly. It crashed into me with all the ferocity of a hungry wolf and tumbled noisily against my own. Already a little drunk from the first two exchanges, I turned quickly to Tris and all but dumped my uncle’s magic into him. Of the three, I assumed he was most capable of handling this new-found energy, and I didn’t worry about him as I might have otherwise. As Kincaid’s had, Tris’ eyes widened, and I finally allowed myself to smile.

For a span of moments, I watched the three faces of my family members. With speed even I found difficult to credit, years of heavy care washed away from them. The lines around eyes and mouths grew fainter, and there was a sense of innocence about the three I’d never witnessed before. The transformation was nothing short of miraculous, but I had to turn away from them and their awful happiness.

I looked quickly at the others and saw an altogether different change. For one, they each reeled under the heady force of nearly a half a century of magic… well-honed intuition and highly developed skills. I could not give them the essence that lived within me, but I could let them taste that which lived within my family. Beyond the magic-drunk though, lay something else. The taste was bitter-sweet, not unlike the trusting arms of a frightened child or the ache of unrequited love. Xavier’s eyes filled with tears, and I knew it was time to reverse the spell.

As if I were an ordinary teenager turning down the volume on her stereo, I slowly began to pull the magics back into me. I brought all three of them at the same time but not the fullness of their power at once. Thus, for longer moments than it had taken to remove my parents’ and my uncle’s powers, I felt the three of them wash through me and back into their given homes. The tapestry they made was a beautiful and awesome thing to hold within myself, no matter how briefly, and I felt them swell and break against my own power with astonishing force. Soon, however, it was completed. The Healer, his wife, and their brother were again full of that which made them those things, and the mediator, the trainer, and the lover were left with only the memory of what had teasingly kissed the blood in their veins.

It seemed I should have been tired, but I wasn’t. There was a knowledge more painful than exhaustion that settled heavily inside my breast. I turned in a slow half-circle to face my uncle, and I looked at him, waiting for an explanation I wasn’t certain he could give. At the moment, no one else mattered.

“Did you know, Uncle Gavin? Did you know this would happen?”

He shrugged his shoulders and smiled in answer. “How could I know the effects, Sylvie, when I didn’t even know what you would do?” A reasonable question, but as an answer to my own, it was unsatisfying. He either sensed this or read it in my face, because he tried again. “No, love, I didn’t know, but even knowing now, I think it was worth it. Don’t you?”

I turned to my father, as he was the one most affected by my demonstration. His arms hung open at his sides, and I moved toward him a step before stopping in fear. What if he rejected me now? I saw him raise his hands just a little, and it seemed he was calling me to him. Not one for denying so precious a gift, I flew across the small space separating us and threw my arms around him.

“Papa, I’m so sorry!”

My father kissed the top of my head, and for that moment, he was simply a father. “For what are you sorry, Sylvie? There is nothing you should repent.”

“Doesn’t it hurt?”

I didn’t understand. For the time Xavier had held my father’s power, The Healer ceased to be the boy born to prophecy. All of the angst and misery had left with the magic, leaving only Etienne Solon, forty-six year old father and husband. For those moments, he knew what his life would have been without magic. He knew the simple and honest pleasures of being an ordinary mortal. And he had liked the image.

“Pain is relative, love. You know this already. What I feel is no more than a prick at the selfishness contained within us all.”

“But I sensed it, Papa. I know what you felt. It was as if I’d never been born…”

“No. Stop and think, Sylvie. Not as if you’d not been born. Rather as if we had all been born to different lives… normal lives. But look more deeply. What other knowledge do you now have you didn’t before?”

I knew what he meant, but I couldn’t face it just yet. My father released me, and I found I couldn’t look at my mum. Born and raised under shadow of The Healer’s prophecy, she’d never known anything other than difficult choices. The decision to love Etienne, my father, the decision to accept the role of The Uninitiated, the decision to have me as her child. All “choices” foretold centuries before by a man whose own pain ended when he took his life. I couldn’t face her, my mother, with the knowledge of how simple her life would have been without the magic. Uncle Gavin remained silent behind me, and it was, after all, my mum who made the decision for me. She reached out and took my hand in hers, and I found the courage to look at her finally.

“Sylvie, I can read you like a book. You mustn’t think what you’re thinking. You have to accept the greater truth Papa alluded to… the knowledge that, even having tasted for a moment the sweetness of a normal life, we’d do nothing differently. How precious could it have been in the end without you, sweetheart?” I cried then from the sheer devotion in her voice, but she continued talking. “Really, child, you must know, even without what just happened, we wouldn’t have made the easier choices.”

I didn’t know about that, but one thing was very clear to me. There was a war to wage and win, and it must be done if for no other reason than to justify the lives my family had lived. For centuries, the world had awaited my birth, the one who would reshape magic into an indivisible, living entity not to be torn asunder by petty jealousies and unreasoning hatred. I cared very little for the greater population of the world, but at that moment, I refused to allow my family’s lives to have been lived in vain. Something in my posture must have changed noticeably, for Uncle Gavin came up behind me then and put his arm about my shoulders. Here, too, I felt a well of guilt. He could have lived a life free of the visions, a life where he’d have felt free to marry Cassandra years ago, to father a dozen children, but he wouldn’t choose it even if it were available.

“Do you see now?” he asked gently.

“Oh, I see, Uncle Gavin, but was the knowledge worth the price?”

He shrugged at me as I had at him earlier. “I believe so,” he said at last, “but shouldn’t you ask them as well?” The inclination of his head indicated those in the room who were not witches.

All three of them stared at me as if I were an apparition. How badly had I frightened them? I took the measure of Tris first, because I knew he was the most capable of withstanding the magic and because he had seen my Uncle’s life as it had been since the day I was born. Tris seemed physically stable. His color was a little high, but other than that, he was just the trainer I’d known for three years. “Tris? Are you all right?”

“Yes,” he said and nodded, “I’m physically fine, but the rest…” He turned to my uncle. “Christ, Gavin, what have you dealt with for the past nineteen years?”

“Only what you have for the past three. It’s not a mystery. Here is Sylvie,” he said and squeezed my shoulder lightly, “and regardless of the prophecies, she didn’t come into the world ready to share magic and face the endless threat of war. For whatever reason, I was the one chosen to prepare her… much as I chose you. We are, in fact, quite kindred you and I. Perhaps that’s why we get on so well.”

Although I didn’t look at his face, I could feel the smile behind Uncle Gavin’s words. It hadn’t occurred to me before, the similarity in their roles, but it did then. The difference was Tris now had an unobstructed view of my uncle’s life with the visions. This life had been Tris’ to hold for the briefest of moments, and he understood better why my uncle was so intent on my preparation.

Tris looked at me again. “I can’t explain the rest of the experience, the feeling of that much power… no one human should wield that, and yet, yours, Sylvie, is…”

“Eclipsing,” my uncle finished, and Tris nodded enthusiastically.

“Yes, just so.” Now Tris indicated Xavier and Kincaid. “I’m not so certain they’ve fared quite as well, Sylvie.”

Who to look to first? Kincaid. He’d never been exposed to anything even remotely resembling the magic in which he’d just been bathed. Xavier had been around us longer… and he had felt me last night. He could wait a moment more. I moved out of Uncle Gavin’s half embrace and went to kneel before Kincaid. From this position, I looked up into his face. He was pale, but his breathing was normal. Healthy constitution that, I thought. His eyes met mine, and it was as a key coming home in a lock.

“Kincaid,” I whispered, “talk to me, darling.” I kept my voice low not because I cared that there were others to overhear but because I didn’t wish to startle him. He looked at me without answering for several moments before smiling sadly.

“I love you,” he answered.

He didn’t give me a chance to respond, turning swiftly to my mother and rising. His movements caught me off guard and dislodged my hands which had been lying in his lap. “Lucie, I should go,” he said clearly. His voice was strong, and it was apparent he’d not suffered physically from his brush with power. I turned to look at my parents’ faces then. His words had astonished me, but I knew what my father’s reaction would be.

Of course, there’s more… half a book more after this point.

Yet More Canon - A Minor Courtesy for Declan O'Leary

2006-08-08T20:35:05Z

Developing Canon from Coadeyder, Ancillary Novel to The Witch War Histories

General Storyline

After the conclusion of Invocatus Rex, Declan O'Leary leaves England and those he loves behind in search of a new beginning. At twenty-eight, Declan is university educated, but he's never settled down to earn a quiet living and see what a normal life might bring his way. Having devoted the short years of his adulthood to Kincaid Blair and having lost nearly everything of value to himself with one bitter betrayal, he needs time alone to heal.

Scotland seems just the place. During a brief span of time when he lived in London alone, he met Aleck Lindsay of Inverness, and the two had struck an immediate friendship. Declan decides to renew the acquaintance now and make his home in the distant hills of Alba rather than remaining close to the painful memories of all that's so recently taken place.

A quiet life. An honest occupation. Perhaps a nice lass - eventually - to round it all out. Declan wants nothing more than to live the life of an ordinary man. But Aleck harbors secrets of his own, clandestine activities that may be related to what Declan is so committed to leaving in the past, and Aleck's sister, the lovely Lady Colina Lindsay, well, she has ideas of her own about how Declan should be living his life... and with whom.

Suddenly, Declan finds himself fighting in yet another war, with yet another enemy intent on harming all he holds dear. Only this time, orders come from a different leader. This time, he fights back-to-back with a new friend. This time, a new woman stands at his side. This time, they just might have more at stake... all of them.

Are all of Declan's careful plans for naught?

Dramatis Personae

Declan O'Leary: Irish-born and orphaned as a toddler, Declan spent his childhood as a ward in a Dublin orphanage run by the Catholic Church. Drafted as a teenager into service to defeat Sylvie Peyton Solon (see prior post on The Witch War Histories, Declan has served his leader and friend Kincaid Blair well and has earned his much needed departure from England. Damaged by love's betrayal, Declan is wary of new entanglements but unable to entirely resist the charms of Colina Lindsay.

Aleck Linsday: Lord Aleck Lindsay is Declan's single friend when Declan arrives in Inverness to take up his new life. Handsome and charismatic, Aleck seems unaware of his effect on others around him, particularly young women. This amuses and, occasionally, confounds the more tentative Declan. As the man of the family since the accidental death of their parents four years ago, Aleck is fiercely protective of his younger sister Colina.

Colina Lindsay: Lady Colina Lindsay is Aleck's younger sister. Currently pursuing her second in archeology, she is a quiet, brilliant girl who seems completely unaware of her effect on Declan O'Leary, although she is well aware of his effect on her. Besotted and miserable with it, she has recently confessed her feelings during a night of reckless inebriation, much to her later mortification.

Darwin Welles: Resurrected from Triplex Coniunctio, Darwin Welles has returned to mysteriously entwine his life with Declan's. As the leader of a group of nighttime warriors dubbed Coadeyder, Welles spends his waning years twarting the efforts of his wife Delia, who seeks access to the greater magics available through Sylvie Peyton Solon.

Delia Welles: Wife of Darwin Welles, former member of the Dark Coven, Delia has lived in America for decades, having perfected a turning spell to suck the lifeforce out of the very wounded souls The Healer seeks to mend.

Hadrian Welles: Darwin and Delia Welles' son.

Coadeyder: Welles' group of warriors trained to hunt and kill those demi-demons turned by Delia's spell.

Cian: The demi-demons turned by Delia Welles' spell, those fought by the Coadeyder.

Mairi Munro: Lady Mairi Munro, daughter of Robert Munro. Aleck is in love with Mairi.

Robert Munro: The Duke of Rothes. Mairi's father.

Brian: Previously of Devonshire (and associated with a very young Sylvie), Brian is currently living in Inverness. Supplier of magical weapons to Welles and the Coadeyder.

More (bits of) Canon from The Witch War Histories

2006-08-08T14:33:12Z

More (bits of) Canon from The Witch War Histories

Okay, Part Two. After the cut is (mostly) a series of brief character sketches illustrating who people are (as they keep popping up in my TTM posts, and I seem intent on confusing folks over there). I promise that's not my intent. {g} I have attempted to cover all three novels in this post, primary and rather-frequently-mentioned secondary characters. I may amend this list, but it won't be anytime soon.

Also, I will most likely add a post eventually to cover the fourth book, an ancillary novel featuring Declan O'Leary. While not specifically a sequel to the first three, it does have some overlap, but it is also developing its own canon as well and deserves a separate post. Again, not anytime soon, but it will have to happen as I suspect Declan to rear his gorgeous head this week.

If I have grossly under- or overstated things in these two posts, please feel free to let me know. My hope was to give just enough background to stem most of the confusion while not spoiling absolutely the entire three story arcs.

Stephanie

Dramatis Personae

Following is a list of primary and (rather important) secondary characters appearing in The Histories. This list is by no means exhaustive, and the information provided for each person is not meant to convey every fact of importance related to that person (i.e., I've tried to keep spoiler material to a minimum and have left out characters and groups entirely if necessary for that end). At the end of each character's entry is a parenthetical notation indicating in which book(s) the character appears (TC=Triplex Coniunctio, SA=Seraphim Applorant, IR=Invocatus Rex).

Before getting to the characters themselves, let me take a moment to fully define how magic is handled within The Histories:

The Nature of Magic

Magic, as presented in The Witch War Histories, is a part of nature. It exists without the volition of those who are born to it but also makes room for the new age concept of the Wiccan lifestyle. Therefore, although the primary characters are all witches with hereditary magic, there are also examples of the craft being practiced by persons not born into magic.

In terms of the primary magic in the story, the hereditary magic, people are born into magic. It simply is a part of them, but it is not a part of everyone. For the purposes of the story, "born into magic" means one is a descendant of one of the original members of the Coven of Light or the Dark Coven. Following that logic, all hereditary witches in The Witch War Histories are descended from either Tarran or Dryw, from the 6th century AD. This is not to imply there were no hereditary witches before those two, for certainly theirs must have come from somewhere (their mother Aisling most likely), but for the story, those earlier ancestors are not terribly relevant.

The practice of magic for these hereditary witches likely looks very modern. That is because the principles remain the same. The use of herbs, candles, etc. is evident in the characters' attempts to augment their spellwork and please their deities, but those are hardly required. By the time young Sylvie comes along, indeed, magic looks quite different.

Aisling (the First): Caedmon's wife and mother to Sylvie (the First) and twins Tarran and Dryw. Gifted with a slight version of 'the sight,' Aisling's confusing visions often leave her with vague and uneasy premonitions but no real insight as to what may or may not happen in the future. She is both awed by and fearful of her daughter's strange powers. (IR)

Aisling (the Second): A young Irish woman who wanders incoherent into Riamon's yard during Sylvie Peyton Solon's explorations. A woman gifted with the powers of an empath but without knowledge of her power or how to control its effects, Aisling is suffering from bearing the pain of Sylvie's ancestors. Thus born accidentally into the lives of the Peyton-Solons, Aisling becomes integral to the shaping of their plans and the leading of their lives… especially the life of Declan O'Leary who takes one look at the lovely lass and falls hard. But is Aisling all she appears to be? Thalia doesn't think so. (IR)

Ambrus Peyton: Thalia's lover and Etienne's father, Ambrus is not a witch. What he happens to be is Thalia's mainstay. Best friends from the cradle, they discover a deep and unabating passion in early adulthood that doesn't let up… not when Ambrus leaves England for America and university (prompting Thalia to follow him), not when Thalia leaves England for France and the hope of safety for their unborn son (prompting extreme action from Ambrus). If Thalia is the family's glue, Ambrus is rack and pinion. (TC, SA, IR)

Ariadne Solon: Thalia's mother, a powerful witch and well-respected wise woman in their small community in the southeastern region of Devon, England. Widowed during her pregnancy with Thalia, it is Ariadne who helps guide both Thalia and Ambrus as they set about solving the mystery of the Triple Bond. (TC)

Bertrand: Triplex Coniunctio's Big Bad. Leader of the Dark Coven, Bertrand is a witch determined The Healer will not be born, and he is prepared to stop at nothing to see his desires fulfilled. Cagey about his motives, his aim is nonetheless perfectly clear. If The Healer is born, magic will change forever, and that is unacceptable. From France to Britain to the very birthchamber of Sylvie herself, Bertrand's presence is a black cloud surrounding the Peyton-Solons, but can his petty malice stop destiny? (TC)

Caedmon: Sixth-century druid and close advisor to a former prince in Britain. Caedmon is, among many other things, the keeper of a very special item of that prince's: his final battle sword. There is something magical, mystical about that sword, and he places it in keeping with others of his kind for safekeeping after the prince is killed in a terrible battle at the start of the darkest days of Britain. Upon returning to his own home in Wales, where he buries the prince quietly and keeps his effects, Caedmon marries Aisling, a new immigrant to his hometown, and settles into whatever passes for a 'normal' life. They have three children together, Sylvie (the First) and twins Tarran and Dryw. (IR)

Cassandra Stone: American born witch who moves to Britain permanently in Sylvie's early childhood. After a dozen years or so of dating, she and Gavin marry. Several years later, they have a son Lucien. A minor character. (SA, IR)

Darwin: Ostensibly Ambrus' secretary at the Policy Center where Ambrus works as an analyst, Darwin is there to support Ambrus in his daily occupation. However, there just might be more to Darwin than meets the eye. A minor character who propels the plot and provides occasional comic relief. (TC)

Declan O'Leary: Member of the Church's army built to stand against Sylvie Peyton Solon and her witches in the war to end all magic. Chosen by Kincaid Blair as his right-hand man, Declan is loyal and uncompromising in that loyalty. As a young man with no allegiances save his loyalty to Kincaid, he couldn't have foreseen what his fidelity would cost him when he first offered it in trust. (SA, IR)

Delia: Bertrand's sidekick, Delia is more devious and more ruthless than her leader, but as a witch, she lacks his broader vision. A thorn in Ambrus' side for years, Delia undermines his attempts to bring relative safety to his son's childhood and adolescence. Mocking Ambrus and Thalia in their efforts, it is Delia, rather than Bertrand, who ultimately brings the truth to light and offers true relief at last. (TC)

Epidipnus: Member of the Dark Coven and lover of Marcus Antonius. Bore Marcus Antonius one daughter. Would her child be the line from which The Healer would be born? (TC)

Etienne Solon: The Healer. Son of Thalia and Ambrus and father of Sylvie Peyton Solon, it is Etienne's birth that was foretold in the writings of Marcus Antonius centuries before. Through mystical means, Etienne travels far and wide, healing the souls of humanity's wounded each night while the rest of England sleeps. Despite this heavy burden, there are whispers of an even greater destiny in store for The Healer. (TC, SA, IR)

Father Jonah: Seraphim Applorant and Invocatus Rex's Big Bad (although with different motivations in each). In Seraphim Applorant, it is Father Jonah's vision that moves a body of orphaned and Church-raised young men into a position to start a war against Sylvie Peyton Solon and her witches, a war the young men are led to believe will end Sylvie's magic on Earth forever. But will it? (SA, IR)

Father Michael: Kincaid's mentor and trainer in England. Although not a substitute for Father Thomas, Father Michael assumes the roles held by Father Thomas in America when Kincaid moves abroad for the second stage in his life. Father Michael is vigilant and ruthless, utterly dedicated to the vision of Father Jonah. (SA, IR)

Father Thomas: Kincaid's mentor and trainer in America. It is Father Thomas who first prepares Kincaid for his battle with evil in the form of Sylvie Peyton Solon, who first convinces Kincaid of the very rightness of the Church's position. Father Thomas has been for Kincaid the only true substitute for Kincaid's own dead father since the boy was five years old. How hard will it be for Kincaid to break those bonds? (SA, IR)

Gavin Stone: British by birth although raised until mid-teens in France, Gavin is one-half of the witch twin set born to Jack and Angel Stone. He, his sister, and Etienne are best friends from earliest childhood, exiled in France from their rightful home and living always under the shadow of The Healer's prophecy. On the day Etienne's daughter is born, Gavin reveals the rather startling news that he is a seer. He then assumes this role for the Peyton-Solons. (TC, SA, IR)

Ilona: Ambrus' mother. Widowed on the day of Ambrus' birth, Ilona lived and raised her son with Ariadne and Thalia until she remarried in Ambrus' early adulthood. A minor character. (TC)

Jack Stone: An American witch who lived temporarily in France and assisted Thalia during her pregnancy with Etienne. He later married a young British girl Angel (who is also a witch) and fathered the twins Gavin and Lucie. Although a minor character, Jack's actions propel several key events. (TC)

Kincaid Blair: American warrior for those who would defeat Sylvie Peyton Solon and bring an end to her magic on this world. Orphaned at the age of five and handpicked by the Church, Kincaid has been trained tirelessly for years and sent to England for the single purpose to rally a group of men to his back and face a legion of witches in battle… to bring their leader to death and bring his Lord purity and holiness such as He deserves. Or so Kincaid was led to believe. But they forgot to tell him she was lovely… and sweet… and wholesome… and well, now, things are just an unholy mess. (SA, IR)

Lucie Stone: Gavin's twin sister. Also British by birth and raised in France until her mid-teens, she completes the trio comprised of Gavin, The Healer, and this rather ambiguous young girl. It isn't until Lucie reaches adulthood that the truth of her own destiny is revealed and we learn she is something quite beyond plain old Lucie, Etienne's best friend. (TC, SA, IR)

Lucien Stone: Gavin and Cassandra Stone's son. A minor character. (SA, IR)

Marcus Antonius: Post-Romano British member of the Coven of Light. A minor member of the Coven who held the post of scribe during his life. His powers were ordinary as a witch, but he was generally regarded as competent and valued and of high moral character. During his life, he recorded, among other Coven business, the visions of the seer, and these included the coming of The Healer and his full destiny. Marcus Antonius took it upon himself to try and safeguard The Healer's destiny. Marriage during his life to Marie of the Coven of Light and a subsequent betrayal proved nearly disastrous. (TC)

Marie: Member of the Coven of Light and married to Marcus Antonius. Bore Marcus Antonius one daughter. It was rumored that The Healer would be born of the line of Marcus Antonius. Would her child be the beginning of that line? (TC)

Medraut: Husband of Sylvie (the First), son of British prince who was Caedmon's dear friend (and wielder of the mysterious sword). (IR)

Riamon: Wise woman in contemporary Wales with a touch of 'the sight.' Her late father was gifted with 'the sight' and knew much of the mysterious sword Caedmon took such pains to keep secret. Riamon is Sylvie Peyton Solon's first stop as Invocatus Rex gets underway and Sylvie is attempting to solve the mystery of her sword. (IR)

Roger the Druid: The last of a dead line, Roger is dying himself and calls The Healer to him in his final hours. With no one else to whom he can pass his oral histories, he calls the one for whom those histories will have the most meaning. For Roger is the last of the druids who were meant to protect the sword Caedmon sent into hiding fifteen hundred years before. Sylvie's yearning for her history is about to be fulfilled, and the Peyton-Solons can go home at last. (IR)

Sebastien: A acquaintance of Thalia's in France, Sebastien is the holder of much of Marcus Antonius' original writings. Through Sebastien, Thalia learns much of her unborn son's destiny, and the old sage becomes for a time the family seer. (TC)

Sylvie Peyton Solon: Daughter of The Healer and The Unitiated, is the embodiment of pure magic. From Delia's words near the conclusion of Triplex Coniunctio through Invocatus Rex, we hear this phrase. But what is the embodiment of pure magic? Simply put... Sylvie is magic. It is she, and she is it. Never the two shall part. In some respects, Sylvie can be considered a vessel for magic and the hereditary witches who would use it. Through the centuries, the raw power evidenced by the Covens' original founders has become diluted. The witches who are drawn to Sylvie come to increase their natural powers through close proximity with the source of those powers. It is, ultimately, Sylvie's destiny to renew the diluted powers so that future generations of hereditary witches will enjoy the same level of power as Tarran and Dryw (and their sister Sylvie, the First) did. Side Note: Sylvie also bears a strange, ancient sword she calls Borre. (TC, SA, IR)

Sylvie (the First): Daughter of Caedmon and Aisling, sister of twins Tarran and Dryw, wife of Medraut. Sylvie is endowed with very powerful, very raw magical abilities in a time when little is known of such abilities and what is known is generally feared. Sylvie eventually becomes the keeper of the mysterious sword that makes it way against all odds to Sylvie Peyton Solon. (IR)

Tarran & Dryw: Twin sons of Caedmon and Aisling, brothers of Sylvie (the First). Endowed with a strange brand of magical powers. Eventually broke to lead the original Covens. Tarran was the great grandfather of Marcus Antonius (IR)

Thalia Solon: Ariadne's daughter, Ambrus' lover, Etienne's mother, and Harvard graduate, Thalia is no slouch. A witch of surpassing power, Thalia generally considers herself no better than the average person, but she is ultimately the glue that binds an extraordinary family, the matriarch of the Peyton-Solons. (TC, SA, IR)

The Covens: Ancient and venerable, the Coven of Light and the Dark Coven represent the oldest order of hereditary magic in the world. Established circa AD 550, these warring factions no longer exist in their original form. As Thalia sleuths for information on her unborn son, she uncovers clues to the continues functioning of the Dark Coven and suggestions that the Coven of Light is now defunct. Further information suggests she herself would have been the current leader of the Coven of Light had it still existed. Will it resurrect now that The Healer is due to be born? And what will that mean for the Dark Coven? (TC, SA)

The Uninitiated: An unnamed witch from the writings of Marcus Antonius who would bear the child of The Healer and produce for the world of witchcraft a child to renew to waning powers of the world's witches. This child would, ultimately, fuse together two ancient and bitterly divided factions, bringing to an end a centuries' old way of life for many who practice the craft. She would also bring light and hope to thousands. Without The Uninitiated, she would not be born. (TC, SA, IR)

Timothy Rogers: Member of the Church's army. Loyal only to the original vision of Father Jonah, a vision late in being shared with those who followed him. Lacking in scruples when it comes to furthering his and Jonah's ambitions, it will be Timothy who brings them all to their collective knees, but how will they stand again when he's finished? (SA, IR)

Tris: An unassuming accountant from Fleet Street in London, Tris has an affection for Old World weaponry. Ferreted out by Gavin and Etienne, he is hired away from his firm and brought to Devon where he is set to the task of training a fifteen-year-old Sylvie Peyton Solon in the use of these weapons, presumably for sport. Later, he is told the true reason: she is being trained for war. Accepting and guileless, Tris assumes these duties with relish, folding himself into the lives of the Peyton-Solons and becoming an indispensable member of the team. (SA, IR)

Xavier Male: A professional mediator, Xavier is hired by the Church to mediate a relationship between the Church and Sylvie Peyton Solon when Sylvie is three-years-old. The purpose of the contract is to prevent an all-out war, or so all parties are led to believe, including Xavier himself. Through this professional relationship, Xavier comes to know the Peyton-Solons very well, and he is not unsympathetic with their position, although he is not a witch himself. (TC, SA, IR)