Read Online Avalyne Series 01: The Queen of Carleon by Linda Thackeray - Free Book Online

not been enough brave men dying to prevent such a thing? How many more needed die? How much more was needed before they could be truly free? ‘What is this new evil?’
    ‘ It is not new,’ Lylea continued and turned her attention back to Arianne. ‘My sweet Arianne, trust me when I say to you that all is not lost. What you have seen is indeed your son in the flesh, but his soul was vanquished before he was born and replaced by another.’
    ‘ Replaced?’ Keira exclaimed in shock.
    Arianne was growing confused and stared at her mother. ‘Who then has possession of his life?’
    ‘ Mael.’ Lylea’s voice was barely a whisper.
    Neither Celene or Keira recognised the name immediately but Arianne certainly did.
    ‘ That’s impossible!’ she declared. ‘He was destroyed! The Gods threw him into the Aether! He was vanquished!’
    ‘ Mael is one of the Celestial Gods,’ Lylea replied. ‘He was made by the Supreme and is equal to any one of them. He may have been bound to Avalyne when he chose to come here, but like the Gods, he does not die. He is disembodied but his spirit lives. The Enemy has decided that now that Balfure is gone, it is time for the return of his former master, Mael. However, Mael cannot be resurrected without a vessel and so the Enemy has chosen your child for that purpose.’
    ‘ No!’ Arianne's cry was almost on the verge of hysteria. ‘I will not allow this! There must be a way to stop this abomination!’
    ‘ There is,’ Lylea nodded. ‘The Enemy cannot perform the ritual to resurrect Mael until your babe is strong enough to accept such a spirit. It is too young and too fragile inside you to make such an attempt now. You must stop it before two full moons have passed. Arianne, only you can do this because as much as the Enemy hates us all, it cannot allow any harm to come to you. You are the mother of its future master, and while it may kill all others around you, you are beyond it's reach.’
    ‘ Dare cannot know then,’ Arianne declared meeting the eyes of the other women in the garden. ‘If he learns of this danger he will insist on fighting it, and the Enemy will destroy him.’
    ‘ Yes,’ her mother nodded gravely. ‘This is your quest, Arianne. The fate of your child lies is in your hands alone.’
    ‘ No,’ Celene stated, not understanding all of it, but enough to know that her friend was not going  on a terrible quest alone. ‘I will go with you Arianne. I will pledge my sword—as the Lady of Gislaine and as a Princess of Angarad—to the service of my friend and my Queen.’
    ‘ And I’ll come too,’ Keira started to say when Arianne cut her off.
    ‘ I cannot ask you both to do that,’ Arianne spoke, her voice very small in her ears. ‘This is my doom.’
    ‘ All the more reason for you to have help,’ Celene retorted, her tone indicating that she would tolerate no argument on the matter.
    Arianne closed her eyes, feeling tears of anguish rising up within her. She wanted to scream and shout at the unfairness of this, but she could not waste time with such displays. Inside her body her son needed her to be strong for him, stronger than she had ever been in her whole life. She could not falter now not when his soul was at stake. She would accept their help because she was not foolish enough to think that she could do this without her friends at her side.
    ‘ Tell me then mother,’ Arianne said finally. ‘What must I do?’
     
     

Chapter Four:
QUIET PARTINGS
    Upon returning to the Great Hall where her friends and invited guests were presently continuing their revelry into the night, Arianne realised that it was no easy thing for a Queen to preside over celebration that gave her no joy. How could she, after having glimpsed the terrible future that awaited their son?
    Even as she took her place next to her king, her heart was pounding so hard beneath her breast that she feared he might hear it through the din of chattering voices around them. Try as she