Master of Restless Shadows, Book One by Ginn Hale
Series: The Cadeleonian Series, Volume 5
Publisher: Blind Eye Books
Release Date (Print & Ebook): October 8, 2019
Length (Print & Ebook): 401 pp
Cover artist: Zaya Feli
Subgenre: epic fantasy, romantic fantasy, LGBTQ fantasy, queer fantasy, high fantasy
Book synopsis:
Freshly graduated Master Physician Narsi Lif-Tahm has left his home in Anacleto and journeyed to the imposing royal capitol of Cieloalta intent upon keeping the youthful oath he made to a troubled writer. But in the decade since Narsi gave his pledge, Atreau Vediya, has grown from an anonymous delinquent to a man renowned for penning bawdy operas and engaging in scandalous affairs.
What Narsi―and most of the larger world―cannot know is the secret role Atreau plays as spymaster for the Duke of Rauma.
After the Cadeleonian royal bishop launches an unprovoked attack against the witches in neighboring Labara, Atreau will require every resource he can lay his hands upon to avert a war. A physician is exactly what he needs. But with a relentless assassin hunting the city and ancient magic waking, Atreau fears that his actions could cost more than his own honor. The price of peace could be his friends’ lives.
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The flickering light of the lamps hanging high above threw jittery shadows across the stone giants, making them seem almost to breathe. But the light also illuminated a particularly horrific detail. The head of every single statue—human and monster—had been chiseled off and stacked on the shining blue floor to form a magnificently grotesque altar.
On that stood a huge, gilded pulpit, which supported three towering crystal tanks filled with a murky green liquid. Something in one of the tanks moved. Ariz frowned and wondered why anyone would keep fish on a holy pulpit. Then he saw a pink tongue writhe out from the murk to lap against the tank’s glassy surface. Human teeth jutting from bare jawbones closed around the tongue and then sank back into the green murk and out of sight.
Ariz stared in horror.
Hierro glanced over his shoulder at Ariz and laughed.
“How like you not to recognize the highest and most holy when you see them,” Hierro chided him. “You should feel honored. Few men outside the attendant priests and the children of royal bloodlines are ever allowed into the presence of the Hallowed Kings.”
“Those are the kings . . .” Ariz hadn’t felt this sickened by a mere sight since the first time he’d butchered a girl on Hierro’s command. The few times that he had thought of the Hallowed Kings, he’d imagined the sorts of relics that so many chapels housed. Dead, dry bones or teeth, laid out on satin and enclosed by golden casks. Even Bishop Seferino’s sainted heart was just a dry husk housed in an ornate red and gold vase. He knew that the Three Hallowed Kings chose not to ascend into heaven immediately for the sake of the kingdom and the benefit of their heirs, but he’d somehow thought that their souls simply lingered, benign and invisible until the next king was allowed to pass and the eldest of his Hallowed ancestors was released to paradise.
This struck Ariz as more of a torture than an honored rest.
“Do they suffer?” Ariz asked.
“Of course not.” Hierro smiled and then struck Ariz’s cheek. “You need flesh to suffer.”
About Ginn Hale:
Ginn Hale lives with her lovely wife in the Pacific Northwest. She spends the many cloudy days observing plants and fungi. She whiles away the rainy evenings writing fantasy and science-fiction featuring LGBTQ protagonists. Her first novel, Wicked Gentlemen, won the Spectrum Award for best novel. She is also a Lambda Literary Award finalist and Rainbow Award winner.
Her most recent publications include the Lord of the White Hell, Champion of the Scarlet Wolf and The Rifter Trilogy: The Shattered Gates, The Holy Road, His Sacred Bones.
She can be reached through her website: www.ginnhale.com as well as on Facebook and Twitter. Her Instagram account, however, is largely a collection of botanical photos…so, be warned.
Readers, enter to win 1 of 3 complete e-book sets of The Cadeleonian Series, Volumes 1 – 4 (Lord of the White Hell 1 & 2, Champion of the Scarlet Wolf 1 & 2)
