Song of Blood and Reign

Chapter 1

***Hello and welcome to Song of Blood and Reign, the fourth book in my fantasy series, The Crowns.

The first three books - Map of Ember and Moonlight, Crown of Beauty and Vengeance, and Daughter of Tide and Illusion - are all completed and you can find on my profile. 

YES, YOU DO NEED TO READ THEM BEFORE THIS ONE! 

It's NOT a series you can read out of order.

Get ready for a new adventure!***

Chapter 1

It never snowed in Ethran.

However, that day it was. Gray clouds rolled overhead as thick, white flakes fell from the sky, creating a layer against the sand and the stone-paved road.

What happened the day it snowed in Ethran...well, everyone knew. When a storm was reported rolling in from anywhere close to a village or city in the eastern land, they knew they had to evacuate immediately.

The first village didn't have that warning, though.

Her bare feet pressed into the snow, sand, stone, and blood as she walked down the main road of the small village just south of Filwey. Burgundy hair and silver streak glowing, she hummed a song she'd heard only once before in a life she'd once had, stepping over the bodies of those she'd slain.

Everyone.

Including the village leader and his mate.

Their names...she'd known them before.

Maybe that was the reason they ran to greet her when they saw her enter the village where the sand turned to stone. They knew her from before, had let her stay in their home, spend time with their families, heal those who had been hurting.

They thought she had come back to visit.

Until they saw her eyes.

She continued her song as her mistress appeared from the shadows, the conduit and the human female right behind her. The conduit was silent, just like he always was, and the human...her hands shook slightly as she slowly surveyed the street in front of them. There was a time when she hadn't feared her magic, even though she knew she could kill her in an instant. But now, one look and she could stop her heart and slit her throat. One look and she could turn her to ash. The realization that flashed through her at just how powerful she was...now, she was happy she hadn't killed her before.

The horror she tried to mask with indifference was well worth it.

Her mistress was smiling widely, looking at the bodies of the males, females, and children lying motionless in rivers of blood. "Have you brought me a present, my love?"

She nodded with a smile of her own. "I have...but I am not yet finished."

The next moment, she raised both hands, palms skyward as they began to glow. Not with light as they once had, but with shadows and dark magic that washed over the snow and blood and the dead.

And the bodies began to twitch. Hundreds of them. Their sun-darkened skin turned black, stretching over bone and muscle, limbs lengthened and sharpened, talons grew and flashed in the light. They moved once more, waking from the death that had brought them into the land of light and shadows, only to be ripped from that peace.

Opening their blood red eyes, they were no longer as they once were.

Hundreds of them stood in unison, waiting for her command.

Her mistress began to clap and laugh. "Well done, my love."

She bowed her head and curtsied, smiling brightly.

They didn't have a title for her yet. Not like the Dark Mage or the conduit...

They just called her Lyv. 

***How's that for a long wait, huh?  *looks around sheepishly*  Ha!  I knew I wasn't going to be able to go very long before beginning this freakin' book, not after the cliffhanger ending in DOTAI.

So now...welcome to Song of Blood and Reign!

And welcome to the first of one of the 'Dark Lyv' chapters, as I've been calling her.  Ugh, the mood for this one has already changed so drastically...and I love it!  

I've decided that, while I'm still going to start polishing up MOEAM, I'm going to make this book my Camp NaNoWriMo book for the month of April.  50,000 word goal?  I think I can do it!

What did you think of my short first teaser chapter, huh?  Comment and vote!

Happy reading!

- Ansley***