Tag: Irish

**~KINDLE RELEASE: THE SONS OF THESTIAN! ~**

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Front Cover, High Res

The Prince Jionathan is plagued by visions of death. With the King on his death-bed, and the tyrannical Queen in power, the Kingdom of Harmatia lies in peril. Fleeing the city in fear of his life, Jionathan is shadowed by Rufus Merle, a young, secretive magi tasked with bringing him home. Now, with the help of a fearsome sidhe warrior named Fae, they must traverse a dangerous faerie-wood together. Against bandits, faeries and cursed priestesses, these unlikely friends travel a path fraught with danger, not least from the blood-thirsty Night Patrol and the dark conspiracy that shrouds them.

***WORLD PREMIERE*** Sons of Thestian by M.E. Vaughan – BOOK COVER

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Art by the amazing Peter Brockhammer.

BACK COPY – Prince Jionathan is plagued by visions of death. With the king on his deathbed, and the tyrannical queen in power, the Kingdom of Harmatia lies in peril. Fleeing the city in fear of his life, Jionathan is shadowed by Rufus Merle, a young, secretive magi tasked with bringing him home.

Now, with the help of a fearsome sidhe warrior named Fae, they traverse a dangerous faerie-wood together. Against bandits, faeries and cursed priestesses, these unlikely friends travel a path fraught with danger and a dark conspiracy that shrouds them.

For more on The Harmatia Cycle Books, check out the website at: www.harmatiacycle.com
Like the facebook page at – https://www.facebook.com/Madeleine.E.Vaughan 

Character Introduction – The Night Patrol

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The Mighty Night Patrol - Marcel, Zachary and Emeric

In my upcoming book ‘The Sons of Thestian’  the Night Patrol present as one of three offensive enemies the main characters must face. The Night Patrol is a sector of the Magi with the unique ability to transform into creatures of nightmare, and is lead by Arlen Zachary, Rufus’ brothering apprentice.

At Zachary’s side, his closest friend Marcel Hathely, acts as his second in command. Marcel brings with him too an apprentice, Emeric Fold. Together, these three are the most skilled and ferocious in the Night Patrol. Despite this reputation however, they do not always present as the powerful warriors they are. Emeric and Marcel tend to shadow Zachary in his day-to-day business.

Above: (Left) Marcel Hathely, (Bottom, lounged) Arlen Zachary, (Back, Right) Emeric Fold.

To find out more about the world at its characters, check out my book website at www.harmatiacycle.com

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Rufus Merle

 

The Sons of Thestian, book one of The Harmatia Cycle is being released in the US and on Kindle world-wide this November. Having just seen the final front-cover design I am very excited to be moving into the last stage of the publishing process. By next month the front cover will be revealed, and I will be publishing (on here) a series of short-stories set in the Harmatia Cycle universe, in order to give readers a taste of the characters and a small slice of the world they live in. These will be filed under the tag #HarmatiaShorts.

I will also soon be releasing a book trailer, which will be available here, on tumblr, twitter, facebook and youtube.

To find out more about The Harmatia Cycle and The Sons of Thestian, check out my website at www.harmatiacycle.com

 

 

 

 

Elder, Oak, Ash, Apple and Thorn

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A reinterpretation of ‘Scarborough Fair’, recounting the story of Fionn Mac Cumhail and his battle with the Norseman. Whilst the origin of this particular legend is initially attributed to Scotland, I decided to set it in Ireland where most of the stories of Fionn are based.
To reinforce the setting I used the term ‘Lochlannach’ (Loch-lan-ack) which is the old Irish word for Norsemen and Viking. In accord with the legends, I refer to Fionn as a ‘giant’ and reinforce the myth that his ‘dun’ (a dark age fortress) is in Kildare, on the hill of Allen.
Based on their meaning according to the Ogham symbols, the trees in the song each represent the moralistic element of the story –
Elder – Transition
Oak – Strength
Ash – Wisdom
Apple – Love
Thorn – Consequence & Perspective
The moral of the tale is that arrogance and anger can cause lack of judgement and lead to great loss. In the penultimate and last verse, following the horror of battle, Fionn chooses to learn from his mistake and be wiser in the future.

Updates on ‘The Harmatia Cycle’

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Updates on ‘The Harmatia Cycle’

Black Dragon Knot 2

Find out more about Bethean, a country in The Harmatia Cycle. Updates include information about the Kingdom, the Religion, Customs and Laws, and even a Dictionary of slang! (Viewer discretion advised)

Soon to come – Information on other countries including Kathra, Avalon and Réne, a quiz, and several more illustrations!

Enjoy!

Dragon Knot

Faerie Thorn

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FAERIE THORN

There is a thorn tree

That we do not touch.

We farm about it,

Tip-toe the machinery

 In awkward circles

Around its territory.

                                                               It is an invader 

In our field, but

It has far out-lived

Each one of us.

It stated its claim

                                                            On the fertile land

                                                         Long before Grandpa

Was even born.

And so we leave it,

Just in case,

Its death-curse is true.

                                                        At night, figures dance             

Around it, in my dreams.