QSFer AJ White has a new queer YA fantasy book out (intersex, trans, pan), Tome of Báirseach Book 3: Shard de Voor.
Their queen missing, the allied kingdoms of Sanquous have forged an uneasy alliance with the Ilfannde as war rages across the land. Far away, in another realm, a young woman awakens to find her memory gone, along with her freedom. Who is her mysterious saviour, why is he helping her and what will he want in return?
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Excerpt
Trapped.
Drowning.
Black waters turn to choking fumes as I stretch, desperately kicking and straining for a surface just out of reach. A sound breaks through my panicked struggles and I fight harder as unseen hands push down on my shoulders.
Then I hear it again: a woman’s voice.
‘It’s alright, you’re safe. Lie still. Lie still.’
The dream gives way to darkness but I can’t tell if I’m awake. Pinned, I can’t move. On instinct I shift attention to my breath and wait until it settles to a fast, even pant. At last, with a deep lungful, I release some tension but can’t unhook the fear.
My swollen throat burns as I try in vain to swallow the foul taste, croaking out a few hoarse words,
‘Why can’t I see?’
When she answers, her accented voice has a professional tone.
‘Your eyes have dressings on them.’
I try to reach up but find my wrists tied, a flare of panic gripping me again. Releasing my shoulders, the hands cover mine, holding them gently but firmly.
‘Do not try to move, we had to restrain you.’
‘Why? Wh… Where am I?’
The stinging pain as tears burn the tender skin under my dressings only makes me sob harder. In response she gives my fingers a comforting squeeze.
‘What do you remember?’
I start to reply but it freezes on my lips, attention desperately scouring the darkened warehouse of my mind and finding it empty. Pain or not, she’ll have to wait until I’ve cried this out. Eventually, through ragged breaths, I answer.
‘Nothing.’
A fit of coughing brings more tears. The hands release me to tease back the bindings from my lips. Cradling my head, she pours in a sip of water before laying me back down to catch my breath.
I’m searching for any last thing I can remember but it’s as though I’ve been erased from a world I can still picture: a school, hospital, a farm, houses, streets and shops. And there are other images: a fantasy world of some sort. Whether I’m an artist or gamer, I must be really into it, the details are so vivid. Got to be the second one, I can picture a throne, like I’m royalty. Maybe that’s a character I play.
But who saw these things? Where has she gone. Or is it he? God, I don’t even know my own sex or what I look like. My voice is croaky but it’s female. Why does that feel weird? If I had a single memory of my life… but they’re all lost, or stolen.
Unless you’re completely crazy and those aren’t memories. Is that it? Have I got a mental disorder? Did I do something awful because of it? Is that why they have me restrained?
Waves of pain sweep my theories away, leaving the panic. A sob makes me choke and she slips a hand behind my back to help me breathe.
‘Do you know how you got here?’ she asks gently.
‘I… no. Where am I?’
‘You’re in a facility. We’re looking after you.’
‘What’s wrong with me, why don’t I know anything?’
The moments stretch, my fear notching up.
‘You’re lucky to be alive. When they brought you in, you had chemical burns over ninety percent of your body.’
‘What happened?’
‘We’ll figure that out later. For now, you need to rest, you’re still very weak. Do you understand?’
I manage a slight nod but it takes all my effort. She’s moving about, rattling something. A moment later a scratchy, gassy feeling starts at the back of my throat, quickly followed by a sensation of falling.
Dragged awake by the pain; everything hurts. My joints aching, throat seared and raw but it’s the burning everywhere that holds me fast, a groan rising as I struggle helplessly against the restraints, crying into the dark. Am I blind? Anguish has stripped me bare as I weep into wet padding, barely noticing the sound of a door opening. The woman’s voice slips through the fog of pain.
‘This will help.’
It takes a moment to process her words. French. Her accent is French or something close. I wish she would say more but my plea comes out as a moan, then a sigh as the chemical taste in my throat starts again. Counting the moments, the burning is the last to fade to the slow rhythm of a heartbeat.
A point of light in a sea of black pulls me closer. Two figures, a man and a woman, support each other as they limp along a rough stone tunnel, their path lit by a small lamp he holds in his free hand. Dreamlike, I bob along after these strangers, noting their torn clothes and injuries. She seems the worse off of the two, her red robes hanging in tatters but both look as though they’ve been in an accident or fight. His long black coat is pecking at the edge of a memory when she mumbles something I don’t catch. Inclining his head to her matted hair, his voice is etched with sadness.
‘We lost Cal.’
Eyes on the ground, she whispers, ‘Are you sure?’
‘There can be no way back from Karzuul without the key. No way for us to get to her without falling into that pit, even if we could get back to the portal.’
Unseen, I’m listening closely for some clue as to what they’re talking about, a name I recognise, anything that makes sense of this.
Her voice finds an edge of resolve and she replies, ‘Cal’s a survivor. You told me…’
A deep throated growl from the darkness ahead cuts her off. Guiding her to the wall, he sets the lamp at her feet before reaching for his belt to free a black, silver-topped cane. Stepping clear, he draws from it a slim blade.
The creature that steps into the lamplight looks like the monster offspring of a wolf and a lizard. Deep set eyes focus on the man in its path as he steadily meets its gaze. Shoulders hunched, it lowers its head, a thick blob of saliva dripping onto the floor from between finger-length fangs. Then it springs.
Author Bio
I’ve done a range of different things over the years, from teaching to charity work to Buddhist Chaplaincy. One day, having just finished reading a book and unable to find another that I fancied, I took up a notepad and pen and the strangest thing happened – a story poured out. Where it came from, who knows, but it was the start of the long and very enjoyable process of writing The Key of Ornoss, the first part of the Tome of Báirseach trilogy. The second and third parts followed in successive years and I’ve been thrilled by the positive feedback they’ve received. So what’s next? Well, a writer’s work is never done, so of course, other stories are already under development along with new and exciting projects. To keep up to date, follow the blog on my website. Take care, AJx
| Author Website | www.ajwhitewrites.com |