Avalyne Series 01: The Queen of Carleon by Linda Thackeray

Keira laughed and then added, ‘Alright then, teach me how to use this but I don’t think I’ll be any good at it.’
    ‘Don’t you worry,’ Celene said confidently, happier that Keira had agreed to take some instruction. She refused to believe that any woman was incapable of wielding a sword, even if the rest of the world beyond Angarad had a rather narrow view of what one could do. ‘I’ll teach you as I was taught by my father with a houseful of brothers.’
    Keira gave Celene a look of scepticism but as she held up the sword she admired its craftsmanship and the idea of being able  to fight  back was reassuring. It was time to show them her worth. Starting with this.
    Arianne who had experience with an older brother and sparring did not know if that would be of any comfort to Keira but said nothing. The woman of the Green was driven by more than just the need to help her and the Queen did not fault her for that. They all had their reasons for joining this quest. Hers were to protect her son while Celene’s was to defend her queen. Who was to say that Keira’s reasons were any less important?
    Amidst the rolling hills of pastoral land, they could see the fork in the mighty Yantra River that ran throughout the length of Carleon. It began its life in highest peak of the Jagged Teeth and was the main waterway for the northern and central provinces of the kingdom including Aeron’s home of Eden Halas and of course Angarad. At the fork, the great river split into two smaller tributaries of the Orean that drained into the Lenkworth Sea and the Riselle that emptied into the Starfall Bay.
    ‘ So where are we going?’ Keira asked as they travelled northwards along the river.
    Arianne had hoped not answer this question too so soon but she could not avoid Keira’s direct question. During the previous evening, Lylea had told her many things, of where they had to go, what they would encounter and what she needed to find before she arrived there. The elven queen's prescience determined from where  the danger would come and while Arianne did not posses her mother’s talents, she had a Celestial’s blood in her lineage and that power could be drawn upon if she believe in it.
    Arianne had never found the courage to try.
    Lylea did reveal for the sake of her companions, details of the quest should be meted out sparingly. The Enemy would not hesitate to torture them for information if he required it and after what had happened to Keira at the hands of the Disciples, Arianne was risking none of her friends to that kind of danger again. However the notoriety of where they had to go would not be lost on Celene even if Keira did not recognise it. 
    ‘ Sanhael.’
    ‘ Sanhael?’ Celene twisted sharply in her saddle to stare at Arianne in astonishment. ‘ That is where we must go?’
    ‘ What’s wrong with that?’ Keira’s gaze shifted between the two women as she saw Celene’s shock and Arianne’s reluctance. She had no idea what the place was but judging  from the worried expression on the faces of her friends, she guessed it was not a good place to be. ‘What is Sanhael?’
    ‘ Sanhael is the ancient stronghold of Mael,’ Arianne explained, feeling a chill run through just describing the place. ‘It was thought to have been destroyed when the Gods finally banished him into the Aether. ‘
    ‘ Except they destroyed it by driving it into the earth,’ Celene pointed out. ‘The Gods wanted it wiped off the face of the world, to be removed from Avalyne for all time.’
    ‘ Then how…?’ Keira started to ask.
    ‘ My mother told me that is where the Enemy now resides. We must cross the Frozen Mountains and descend into Mael’s Pit. The way into Sanhael lies through the foot of Mael’s Pit.’
    ‘ The Frozen Mountains,’ Keira’s mused, taking in their destination. She knew of the mountains of ice that sat on the edge of the known world, facing the Brittle Sea. ‘The Enemy is there?’
    ‘ It is as a good