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Back The Silent Shield Save as PDF
Chapters (56)
  1. Title Page
  2. Copyright Page
  3. Dedication
  4. CONTENTS
  5. MAP
  6. CHARACTERS MONARCHIES
  7. I don’t know…
  8. PART I Wizr
  9. CHAPTER ONE Chandleer Oasis
  10. CHAPTER TWO Lord of the Distant Isles
  11. CHAPTER THREE Zenana
  12. CHAPTER FOUR Elwis
  13. I think the…
  14. CHAPTER FIVE Disciple
  15. CHAPTER SIX Deep Fathoms Beckons
  16. CHAPTER SEVEN Dundrennan
  17. CHAPTER EIGHT The Ring Table
  18. My mind is…
  19. CHAPTER NINE Turandokht
  20. CHAPTER TEN Upon the Feast of St. Benedick
  21. CHAPTER ELEVEN Mortain Falls
  22. PART II Knights
  23. CHAPTER TWELVE Genevar
  24. I must get…
  25. CHAPTER THIRTEEN The Breaking
  26. CHAPTER FOURTEEN Defending Ploemeur
  27. CHAPTER FIFTEEN Wreckage
  28. CHAPTER SIXTEEN Revenge
  29. CHAPTER SEVENTEEN The Fault Staff
  30. CHAPTER EIGHTEEN The Greatest Power
  31. CHAPTER NINETEEN The Forbidden Court
  32. I’ve discovered my…
  33. CHAPTER TWENTY Zenana
  34. CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE The High Tower
  35. CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO Threat and Mate
  36. CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE Midnight
  37. I made it…
  38. CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR Scattered
  39. CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE The King’s Defense
  40. CHAPTER TWENTY-SIX Trapping the Boar
  41. I joined the…
  42. CHAPTER TWENTY-SEVEN Dundrennan
  43. CHAPTER TWENTY-EIGHT Prisoner
  44. CHAPTER TWENTY-NINE Lost
  45. CHAPTER THIRTY Rage
  46. CHAPTER THIRTY-ONE Battle of the Kings
  47. CHAPTER THIRTY-TWO Vengeance
  48. CHAPTER THIRTY-THREE The King’s Champion
  49. CHAPTER THIRTY-FOUR Submission
  50. CHAPTER THIRTY-FIVE The Uncrowned King
  51. The war in…
  52. CHAPTER THIRTY-SIX Reunited
  53. EPILOGUE Into the Deep Fathoms
  54. AUTHOR’S NOTE
  55. ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
  56. ABOUT THE AUTHOR

The captain swallowed. “Aye, my lady. If you say so.”

By the time they reached the bottom of the mast pole, the rest of the crew had caught sight of the otherworldly waterfall. A hush of reverence came over the crew as each man stood watching the spectacle. Sinia stood by the captain at the helm, staring at the waters, listening to the crash and noise of the surf. The ship was bobbing in the waves, rising and falling in yawning pitches. She felt her stomach thrill with anticipation.

“Steady, Captain,” she said as he heaved his muscles against the helm to steer them. She could hear the music growing louder. The crew was silent, some biting their fists to keep from crying out in fear. She saw the looks on their faces, saw the terror mingled with hope.

Sinia gripped one of the sturdy peg spokes of the helm, squeezing it as the ship lunged down and up. The roar of the gulf was deafening, but she still heard the music of the Deep Fathoms.

A small Sinia butterfly flew before her face, catching her gaze. She smiled at it, feeling serene.

The ship dipped into the yawning gulf of water and lurched into the chasm.

AUTHOR’S NOTE

AUTHOR’S NOTE

While doing research for the Kingfountain series, I came across several ideas that helped inspire the plot. First, there was a belief in the late fifteenth century of a mythical land of Nestorian Christians ruled by an ageless king named Prester John. There are many legends and books written about this person, which I studied, tales of rivers that could flow backward and mysterious items of magic. But it was reading some of the Arthurian legends within the Merlin Vulgate texts that I became acquainted with the details of the legend of Galehaut and how he invaded Arthur’s realm and sought to make himself king. Lancelot, in disguise, had helped Arthur prevent a crushing defeat. Galehaut was so impressed by Lancelot that he willingly gave up his conquest and submitted himself to the king.

I loved this story idea and retold the legend, shaping the character of Gahalatine off this “uncrowned king.” But I also came across a wonderful book by Gavin Menzies called 1423: The Year China Discovered America. It’s an amazing history of a period of discovery that I had never known about, and it inspired the treasure ships and the armada and the construction of the Forbidden Court. I based the East Kingdoms on the emperors of China during this period of our world’s history.