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Alaia Chronicles #3.2
Sword and Lute
As music turns to magic...
When a cursed sword slashed the god Taso, he barely escaped a mortal death by transforming into stone. Centuries later, the aspiring musician Amara stumbles across the stone and inadvertently morphs Taso back into his dying body. To save him, she must sacrifice her precious lute and her life-long dream. But in return, she might find her heart's desire.
Sword and Lute is a 16,000-word novelette about the immortal twin founders of verdant Teganne and desert Kad, two rival realms divided by magic and bound by blood, mistrust, and love.
The Alaia Chronicles series begins with the historical fantasy short story SWORDS AND SCIMITARS and continues with the fantasy romance novels THE SOURCE OF MAGIC and KISMET'S KISS. Cate Rowan's stories have won more than thirty awards.
STORY
"Lie down," she said. "You lost too much blood."
He gave her a mulish look.
She hastened over, put her hand on his chest and gently pushed him down to the earth. A mistake, because once he was down, he captured her wrist in his warm palm.
"Who are you, maiden fair?"
She shrugged, striving to keep her face composed. "You first. You're the interesting one."
"I wouldn't say that." His fingers softened their grip and caressed her skin. "Not at all."
She gave a noncommittal smile, tugged her hand from his, and stepped away to tend the fire.
"My name is Taso," he said at last into the silence. "And what is yours, milady?"
Her teeth clamped over her name, and then she flushed. Why should she keep it from him? It was simply a word.
But each piece he knew of her was leading to someplace larger. Deeper. Perilous.
"I'm Amara." She sprinkled a few grains of precious salt over the meat and didn't turn around.
"Amara," he repeated, as if he liked the sound of it. Hells, she liked the sound of it when he said it in that mellow voice.
"This will need to cook a while, but I'm sure you're hungry," she said briskly, and knelt to rummage in her pack for the bread and cheese.
"Amara," he spoke again, stopping her as easily as if he'd bespelled her. "Thank you. For your help. For your kindness to a stranger."
She looked at him at last, and shivered. "Did I truly break a spell?"
"You did."
"Why? How?" She rose and took a step closer to him. "Who are you?"
"I'm Taso." He smiled, teasing her as firelight danced across his face.
She held still. "Are you a god?"
His chest rose with a long breath and he rolled his gaze up to the star-dusted sky. "I'm not sure."
More tales in the award-winning Alaia Chronicles
Swords and A Fantasy Short Story
When two women beg for aid against tyranny, a sultan must sacrifice his freedom and his long-scarred heart to help them.
The Source of A Fantasy Romance
A modern woman finds herself ensnared on a medieval world, trapped by fantasy, treachery and family secrets--and opposing a magical prince, the one man who can make everything right.
Kismet's A Fantasy Romance
When a deadly epidemic strikes a sultan's realm, only a magical healer from an enemy land has the skill to save it. The sultan never imagined the healer would be a woman..
When a cursed sword slashed the god Taso, he barely escaped a mortal death by transforming into stone. Centuries later, the aspiring musician Amara stumbles across the stone and inadvertently morphs Taso back into his dying body. To save him, she must sacrifice her precious lute and her life-long dream. But in return, she might find her heart's desire.
Sword and Lute is a 16,000-word novelette about the immortal twin founders of verdant Teganne and desert Kad, two rival realms divided by magic and bound by blood, mistrust, and love.
The Alaia Chronicles series begins with the historical fantasy short story SWORDS AND SCIMITARS and continues with the fantasy romance novels THE SOURCE OF MAGIC and KISMET'S KISS. Cate Rowan's stories have won more than thirty awards.
STORY
"Lie down," she said. "You lost too much blood."
He gave her a mulish look.
She hastened over, put her hand on his chest and gently pushed him down to the earth. A mistake, because once he was down, he captured her wrist in his warm palm.
"Who are you, maiden fair?"
She shrugged, striving to keep her face composed. "You first. You're the interesting one."
"I wouldn't say that." His fingers softened their grip and caressed her skin. "Not at all."
She gave a noncommittal smile, tugged her hand from his, and stepped away to tend the fire.
"My name is Taso," he said at last into the silence. "And what is yours, milady?"
Her teeth clamped over her name, and then she flushed. Why should she keep it from him? It was simply a word.
But each piece he knew of her was leading to someplace larger. Deeper. Perilous.
"I'm Amara." She sprinkled a few grains of precious salt over the meat and didn't turn around.
"Amara," he repeated, as if he liked the sound of it. Hells, she liked the sound of it when he said it in that mellow voice.
"This will need to cook a while, but I'm sure you're hungry," she said briskly, and knelt to rummage in her pack for the bread and cheese.
"Amara," he spoke again, stopping her as easily as if he'd bespelled her. "Thank you. For your help. For your kindness to a stranger."
She looked at him at last, and shivered. "Did I truly break a spell?"
"You did."
"Why? How?" She rose and took a step closer to him. "Who are you?"
"I'm Taso." He smiled, teasing her as firelight danced across his face.
She held still. "Are you a god?"
His chest rose with a long breath and he rolled his gaze up to the star-dusted sky. "I'm not sure."
More tales in the award-winning Alaia Chronicles
Swords and A Fantasy Short Story
When two women beg for aid against tyranny, a sultan must sacrifice his freedom and his long-scarred heart to help them.
The Source of A Fantasy Romance
A modern woman finds herself ensnared on a medieval world, trapped by fantasy, treachery and family secrets--and opposing a magical prince, the one man who can make everything right.
Kismet's A Fantasy Romance
When a deadly epidemic strikes a sultan's realm, only a magical healer from an enemy land has the skill to save it. The sultan never imagined the healer would be a woman..
67 pages, Kindle Edition
First published November 1, 2012
2 people are currently reading
56 people want to read
About the author
Cate Rowan
16 books572 followersUSA Today bestseller Cate Rowan writes novels of magic and royal romance set in fantasy kingdoms (and queendoms!) near and far.
She has washed laundry in a crocodile-infested African lake, parasailed over a Mexican beach, and had Costa Rican monkeys poop in her hair, but her favorite adventures are story worlds. Her creative, out-of-the-box tales of heroic odysseys and true love have won more than thirty awards.
These days she lives in the wild Rocky Mountains with her husband, their rescued feline fur-children, and a horse suitably nicknamed Stinkerbelle.
She has washed laundry in a crocodile-infested African lake, parasailed over a Mexican beach, and had Costa Rican monkeys poop in her hair, but her favorite adventures are story worlds. Her creative, out-of-the-box tales of heroic odysseys and true love have won more than thirty awards.
These days she lives in the wild Rocky Mountains with her husband, their rescued feline fur-children, and a horse suitably nicknamed Stinkerbelle.
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Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews
December 26, 2012
Book Two in Cate Rowan’s the Alaia Chronicles entitled “Sword and Lute” has a time-warp vibe fusing elements of Antiquity with the Middle Ages and fantasy. A dream-weaver of paranormal fiction, Cate Rowan brings the supernatural and the mortal kind together on the temporal plane showing the two share feelings, desires, and ambitions as well as possessing what the other needs to find happiness.
The story continues where Taso left off in Book One, “Swords and Scimitars” after his mother, the Goddess Queen, put an enchantment on him that keeps him preserved in stone. It is his father’s doing, the God of the sky, who puts Amara, an inspiring court musician in Taso’s path. The maiden is on her way to Velle for an audition in the morning. With her lute in her hand, she remains singularly focused until she stumbles over a large rock which magically transforms into a man who pleads for her help. She tends to his wounds but then stays with him preparing an evening meal for them each.
Feeling forsaken by his family and left petrified in the forest, Taso does not want Amara to leave him. He attempts to charm her, but she is impervious to his tactics of seduction. Amara, herself has personal issues which she struggles with, and being seduced by an immortal is not on her agenda of goals to accomplish. Rowan creates two engaging protagonists, and strangely the only opposing forces they encounter are their own insecurities. These inner conflicts provide Amara and Taso with relatable attributes to the reader, and make them susceptible to the influences around them.
“Sword and Lute” is emotionally enlightening and sensually uplifting. The characters journey into their own souls to find what will give them solace, inspiring the reader to do the same. There are meaningful moments on each page opening the reader’s mind. The single pattern Rowan’s characters seem to prescribe to is the process they follow to find the path to happiness, which becomes clear after long hours of meditation.
The story continues where Taso left off in Book One, “Swords and Scimitars” after his mother, the Goddess Queen, put an enchantment on him that keeps him preserved in stone. It is his father’s doing, the God of the sky, who puts Amara, an inspiring court musician in Taso’s path. The maiden is on her way to Velle for an audition in the morning. With her lute in her hand, she remains singularly focused until she stumbles over a large rock which magically transforms into a man who pleads for her help. She tends to his wounds but then stays with him preparing an evening meal for them each.
Feeling forsaken by his family and left petrified in the forest, Taso does not want Amara to leave him. He attempts to charm her, but she is impervious to his tactics of seduction. Amara, herself has personal issues which she struggles with, and being seduced by an immortal is not on her agenda of goals to accomplish. Rowan creates two engaging protagonists, and strangely the only opposing forces they encounter are their own insecurities. These inner conflicts provide Amara and Taso with relatable attributes to the reader, and make them susceptible to the influences around them.
“Sword and Lute” is emotionally enlightening and sensually uplifting. The characters journey into their own souls to find what will give them solace, inspiring the reader to do the same. There are meaningful moments on each page opening the reader’s mind. The single pattern Rowan’s characters seem to prescribe to is the process they follow to find the path to happiness, which becomes clear after long hours of meditation.
May 18, 2015
Good read
I really liked this story. It was a n excellent continuation of the first book and a far better read. The love story is beautiful although it does progress quickly.
I really liked this story. It was a n excellent continuation of the first book and a far better read. The love story is beautiful although it does progress quickly.
Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews