Broken World Book Four - The Staff of Law

  Talsy clung to him as the chill wind tugged at them, and Kieran gazed at Chanter’s statue, frozen forever in his last gesture of supplication.

  Epilogue

  After two years of hopeless waiting, Talsy obeyed Chanter’s wish and married Prince Kieran. They lived in the Mujar castle beneath the winding banners of blue silk that bore the vanished emblems of Staff and Mujar. Talsy bore Kieran four sons, and visited Chanter’s statue every day with fresh flowers to place in front of him. She often spent long hours talking to him, brought her children to play beside him in the spring sunshine and brushed the snow from him in winter. Several times, Kieran or her sons had to retrieve her shivering form from the hillside in the depths of winter, when she could not leave the statue, haunted by the terrible grief that never truly died. Ordal grew into a handsome man who resembled his father closely and possessed a gentle, patient nature. Talsy loved him to distraction, but every time she looked at him it brought her sadness.

  Talsy was not the only one to pay homage to Chanter’s statue, and often his stone form was waist deep in flowers. Without Chanter, Talsy’s spirit died, and after the birth of her last son she grew frail and sickly. Drummer visited on rare occasions, basked in the little garden and brought a vestige of comfort with him. The glass vial of Chanter’s tears stayed beside Talsy’s bed, and each night she lifted it to the light and looked deep into its glowing depths.

  The people in the valley multiplied, and many left to build new cities. Danya’s daughter, Traya, married an Aggapae warrior and bore three blue-eyed daughters with raven hair. Ordal wed a pretty girl and gave her five strapping sons who were all the image of him. Talsy lived to be sixty-two, and then died quietly in her sleep. Kieran obeyed her last wish and buried her beside Chanter on the hillside. In his grief and loneliness, he took the Starsword from its place on the wall and drove it into the ground in front of the statue, leaving it standing in the earth.

  Two weeks later, he followed his beloved wife into the grave, and his sons buried him beside Chanter’s statue. Flanked by the graves of the two legendary people who had saved the world with him, the statue became a shrine for many years, until Kieran’s eldest grandson decided to quit the valley and its sorrow. He led the people from it, and, as the cavalcade passed out through the gateway in Chanter’s wall, it closed behind them, locking away the valley and all its secrets.

  They made a new home on a lush plain near a forest, and there the people thrived, obeyed the gods’ laws and living peaceful lives. The vial of Chanter’s tears was handed down from generation to generation in the Prince’s family, a cherished heirloom whose origins became legend. The prophecy of the Staff of Law haunted them, and a hundred and fifty years after Talsy’s death, a strange new star appeared in the sky, growing brighter each night...

  The tale will continue…

  ****

  About the author

  T. C. Southwell was born in Sri Lanka and moved to the Seychelles with her family when she was a baby. She spent her formative years exploring the islands – mostly alone. Naturally, her imagination flourished and she developed a keen love of other worlds. The family travelled through Europe and Africa and, after the death of her father, settled in South Africa. T. C. Southwell has written over thirty novels and five screenplays. Her hobbies include motorcycling, horse riding and art, and she earns a living in the IT industry.

  All illustrations and cover designs by the author.

  Contact the author at demonlord07@hotmail.com

  Acknowledgements

  Mike Baum and Janet Longman, former employers, for their support, encouragement, and help. My mother, without whose financial support I could not have dedicated myself to writing for ten years. Isabel Cooke, former agent, whose encouragement and enthusiasm led to many more books being written, including this one. Suzanne Stephan, former agent, who has helped me so much over the past six years, and Vanessa Finaughty, good friend and business partner, for her support, encouragement and editing skills.