Full Synopsis:
Ashley, once the crown princess, runs away from Clonmel to become a Wolf-Speaker, an ancient clan which ruled over all of the other tribes. It was because they had magic. They had all different kinds of magic, invisibility, shape-shifting, flight and many more. Ashley is trained by the local wolf-pack, then Malcolm, a talented healer. Ending her apprenticeship with Malcolm, she finds a young woman, burning to death in a house. Rescuing her and dragging the woman into a forest to be healed sets off a chain reaction which Ashley cannot ignore.
First a princess, then a Wolf-Speaker, then a healer and finally a Ranger. How will Ashley cope when romance and an enemy older than time get thrown into the mix.
Prologue Ashley's POV ~ The Queen's Bedroom, Clonmel, Hibernia ~ Time – Moon's Day, January 6th, 671 G.A.
I watched my mother's bed. She was sleeping peacefully, her chest rising and falling as she breathed. There was no sign at all that she was grievously ill.
As an eight-year-old I was expected not to understand anything, nor spy on my father while he was talking to his advisors. I was certainly not expected to spend the time that I'm meant to spend on studying to become the Queen outside in the forest, practising my weapons, the long bow, a throwing knife and a saxe knife. All of which were a secret birthday present from my great-uncle, Halt, on my fourth birthday.
My father's name was Sean, King Sean, the ruler of Clonmel, one of the six kingdoms of Hibernia. My mother, Queen Lucy, ruled beside him, helping him make fair and just decisions, even if he didn't need the help.
I was their only child and the heir to the throne, which was why I was ordered to spend all of my time studying to become just like my Father and Mother.
I was currently sitting on an uncomfortable chair beside my sleeping father who was sitting on another straight-backed, although cushioned, chair as well. On my other side was my mother who now started in her sleep, her eyes opening. I rushed over to her quickly, making no sound, another skill practised in my spare time.
Her eyes were a leafy green with many layers, exactly the same as mine. We also shared long coal-black hair which tumbled down our backs in soft curls. I only shared my skin colour with my father although it looked more like my mother's skin now. Tanned from long, wonderful days in the sun.
My mother's thin, chapped lips were once full and red like mine and she moved them now to speak to me. "Ashley," she rasped, her voice so quiet I could barely hear it, "I will state the facts and you must face the truth. I am dying."
I shook my head, tears blurring my eyes. I opened my mouth to heatedly dispute the fact but she started speaking again. "You have my blood in you," I nodded in conformation, "And my blood is the blood of the Wolf-Speakers."
I nearly gasped in surprise but I held it in, knowing that I had to understand what she was telling me. I knew from reading about the history of Clonmel that the Wolf-Speakers were an ancient clan that had roamed the land where Dun Kilty now resides.
There were very powerful and wielded a lot of influence in the land because they had an advantage over everybody in the world, they had magic. Outsiders were never welcomed into the clan except if they where a loved one of someone in the clan.
The full extent of their powers was never known but they were believed to have died out a long time ago. I trusted my mother and had never known her to lie but this was impossible.
"Can you show me?" I asked timidly, not wanting to offend her. She nodded, a half-smile on her face. Then she disappeared. I nearly screamed out loud but clapping my hands over my mouth prevented that.
I felt where her hand used to be but it was not there. I withdrew my hand and she appeared again.
I implored her to tell me how but all she told me was that the The Wise One would teach me what I could do when the time was right. Before she told me that I had forgotten that I could work magic too.
My face fell as she closed her eyes and fell asleep, whispering, "I love you." Her breathing slowed and finally stopped. Tears rolled down my face in the galleons as I crawled back onto the chair beside my Father.
My mother's death decided it, I had never loved this life. I would run away, being a princess held no pleasures for me, I didn't like it at all. So yes, I would run away at first light tomorrow morning.
My plans were to go to The Wise One, learn all I needed to know about magic, then go to Araluen and become a proper Ranger. It had been my dream since Halt had given me the weapons, skills and garb of a Ranger.
I fell asleep, my head resting on my father's shoulder for the last time.
Third Person POV ~ Dun Kilty, Clonmel, Hibernia ~ Time - The Next Morning
Nearly nobody saw the girl slide silently from shadow to shadow until she was in the safety of the forest. One young girl, already awake and blinking in the early hours, the sun barely up, saw the young princess walk past her house. The heir was unrecognisable with the deep cowl of her long dappled green-grey cloak shrouding her unforgettable grass-green eyes.
The little girl wondered at the longbow and quiver with 24 grey-feathered arrows that were slung gracefully over the short, slim figure's shoulder, but concluded that the person was going hunting. The girl couldn't see the unique double knife sheath that held a throwing knife and a saxe knife which were as hard as diamonds and sharpened until they shined.
The girl shrugged it off and yawned, hoping that she could get a few hours of sleep before her real work began.
The crown princess snorted in disgust, knowing what the girl was thinking and knowing that work for her was sewing or knitting or something as equally girly, not blacksmithing or hunting like boys got to do.
The heir slid into the shadows, gaining more momentum as she silently ran faster and faster through the thick forest. The trees were alerted to her presence, they knew that the last Wolf-speaker was here, ready to reach her full potential, physically and mentally.
Ashley's POV ~ The Forest of Dun Kilty ~ Time - A few hours later
I bowed, my head touching the floor that was carpeted with pine needles and moss. I have always been taught to be polite and so when in the company of the ancient warrior I had to bow, even if it was only a tree.
Yes, it was a tree but an ancient one that understood the ways and powers of the Wolf-Speakers. It was called The Wise One by the inhabitants of the forest. By 'the inhabitants' I mean the ducks, rabbits, deer and the only wolf-pack that prowled these forests.
You must go to The Mountain where the earth touches the sky, there you will find the wolf-pack, Spiritseekers, they knew that you would come before you, yourself knew. And you will join them. The Wise One rumbled, I should have been astonished that the tree could speak but somehow I had known what would happen.
I also knew that The Wise One would teach me my powers and how to use them effectively to my advantage. I did wonder though what the tree meant when it said that the Spiritseekers knew that I was coming before I knew it myself.
It was a prophecy. The Wise One spoke again, except it wasn't really speaking, it's voice was resonating in my mind and I had a feeling that only the animals and I could hear it. But that was only an assumption.
What's the prophecy? I asked, sensing that the tree would only understand me if we spoke mind to mind. The leaves rustled in the high treetops as the pounding of horses hooves rumbled the ground.
I went pale, I knew that they were knights from my father's army, come to take me back to the castle. But I wouldn't go back I couldn't go back. I heard to learn to use the gifts that my blood brought me.
Because I was the last of the Wolf-speakers.
And, my mother's daughter.
My brain was sending panic currents to my limbs, telling them to run, hide do anything but just stand here. It wasn't working.
Instinctively I clenched my fists, took deep breaths in and out and closed my eyes tightly. I instantly became more aware of my surroundings.
A bird; a swallow, warbled gratefully to an old grapevine that had housed it for this year. The swallow flapped away with his mate to find a warmer nest for their young to mature in.
A swallow. What would it be like to soar through the air with that feeling of exhilaration and freedom? The wind ruffling your feathers and your mate flapping beside you. Seeing everything laid out before you on the ground. Darting down to catch a bug for your mate and yourself.
A tingling sensation went through my legs and arms as I opened my eyes and unclenched my hands. I felt dizzy as the world swayed up to meet me. But I wasn't falling, I was shrinking. I twisted my head to look at the feathers my body now had. A swallow, I was a swallow.
I flapped clumsily and took off into the air, quickly landing back onto a tree branch as the soldiers thundered past. Eventually there were no more and I was bone tired.
I fell out of the tree, landing on the ground as a human. The Wise One loomed above me, Now, your training must begin. Well done, you have already discovered your power. You may have two although that is rare and nobody in the history of Wolf-Speakers has ever had three or more. Go to the Spiritseekers. Go, go!
I stumbled to my feet and started walking. Where to? The mountains and my future.