Voices of the Stars
Page 1
Spiral Gate Books
ISBN (Trade Paperback): 978-0692802052
ISBN (eBook): 978-0-9983246-0-9
Voices of the Stars copyright © 2014
by Rowena Whaling
All Rights Reserved.
Cover art by Claudia McKinney, Phatpuppy Art
Author photo by Carla Rey Lankford
This book is a work of fiction. People, places, events, and situations are the product of the author’s imagination. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, or historical events, is purely coincidental.
No part of this book may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted by any means without the written permission of the author and publisher.
Table of Contents
Dedication
Special Thanks
Author’s Note
Introduction by Jack Montgomery
Part One: Foundations
Prologue
Chapter 1: Igraine of the Tribes
Chapter 2: Gwyddion, The Merlin
Chapter 3: The Children
Chapter 4: Morgan of the Woods
Chapter 5: The First Battle
Chapter 6: Endings and Beginnings
Chapter 7: To Make a King
Chapter 8: Vivianne, Lady of the Lake
Chapter 9: Morgan and Arthur
Part Two: Arthur, the King
Chapter 10: Arthur Rex
Chapter 11: Morgan’s Fear
Chapter 12: Of Names, Blood, and Other Topics
Chapter 13: Nimue, the Enchantress
Chapter 14: Gwyddion’s Dreams
Chapter 15: Riddle of the Ages
Chapter 16: Bedwyr and Gwenyfar
Chapter 17: The Royal Wedding
Chapter 18: Harvest Festival on the Isle of Apples
Chapter 19: An Eternal Love
Chapter 20: Return to Gwenyfar
Chapter 21: The Genealogies
Chapter 22: Nimue, the Dragon Caller
Chapter 23: The 12th Battle Strategy
Chapter 24: The Battle of Baddon Hill
Chapter 25: Baldric the Bard
Part Three: The Summer King
Chapter 26: Rest in Peace
Chapter 27: The Nine Mother Goddesses
Chapter 28: Branwen
Chapter 29: Bronte
Chapter 30: The Fortress & Liaisons
Chapter 31: Into the Halls of Paradise
Chapter 32: A Dream Realised
Chapter 33: Morganna Le Faye Returns
Chapter 34: Bedwyr – A Man of Few Words
Part Four: The Final Conflicts
Chapter 35: Growing Threats
Chapter 36: Oh, Mordred
Chapter 37: Hiding in the Prerilous Wood
Chapter 38: The Scarlet Fields
Chapter 39: Endings
Chapter 40: Awakening of the Merlin
Chapter 41: Nimue’s Letters
Chapter 42: Queen of the Bees
Part Five: The Child of Promise
Chapter 43: Pieces of a Puzzle Game
Chapter 44: The Seven Keys
Chapter 45: Morganna Un-raveled
Chapter 46: The Complete Memoires of Morganna Le Faye
Chapter 47: What of Morganna’s Daughter
Chapter 48: Rowena
Chapter 49: Correspondences
Chapter 50: The Brilliance Razed
Chapter 51: The Would-Be Abbess
Chapter 52: Across the Continent
Chapter 53: Other Communications
Chapter 54: Lucian Arrives
Chapter 55: My Earnest Desire
Chapter 56: Rowena & Gwern, The Bard
Book 2 Excerpt
About the Author
Dedicated To:
“Bobby Whaling and Yvette” – who gave my spirit a home in which to dwell and a childhood filled with love, awe, and phantasy... to my beloved Ember – Keeper of the Fire of my heart – who helps me in countless ways... And to Mystic, who shares the Mysteries...
Thanks To:
The Great Teachers who inspire... to Solitaire who took my hand at
the beginning... to Lord Serphant for sharing The Dream, to Katherine
Lohr, who gave the gift of hypnosis to me, to Silver RavenWolf who
elicited from me the promise to write a novel, to B. Willie Dryden who
walked a long part of the winding path with me…
To Carla Rey Lankford, who captures beauty, to Kia for your help and love,
to my sisters Dahlia and Gwendolyn and to all of my family and friends of
the Village of Dragonstone who have shared the Magic with and encouraged
me: Avalon, Covenant, Denise, Divana, Eagle, Eclipse, Ember, Fle, Gwyddyon,
Jacquelyn, Ken, Lazarus, Mystic, Pat, Persephone, Raymond, Star and Witness...
to Wanda, Patricia, Kay, Gypsy Ravish, John Wisdom Gonce, and Jack
and Lesley Montgomery, for your help and support… To Corinda Carfora and
Anthony Ziccardi for believing in me
And to my sister Anastasia… who showed me ‘the other side of the mirror.’
Special Love to Meghan (Ashira), Mikie, Mightor, Miss Pusskins, and Chance...
Author’s Note:
These histories are, of course, translated from their original languages into our commonly spoken tongue. You will note that I have used the device of capitalising many words that are not normally capitalised in the English language. The reason for this is to keep the reader’s thoughts set in the characters’ understanding of the Sacred Nature of all Creation, and that every endeavour under the Sun is a reflection of what the Gods taught us to do “In the beginning” – at the Cosmogenesis. Thus – Hunter, Weaver, Healer, Seer, Priest/ess and so forth will also be capitalised to remind the reader of the respect accorded these vocations and pursuits. All Magical actions or psychic phenomena such as Dreams, Visions, and Casting of Spells, as well as all Divine names and principals such as Love, Death, Time, Night, etc. are likewise capitalised, as opposed to dreams – as in an aspirations. Please note, too, that I have used British spellings. Oh, yes – and as the plural of “Wolf,” I have used “Wolfs” – just because.
On names... Pendragon is the traditional spelling of what is understood to be the surname of Uther, coming from French romances written six to seven hundred years after Post Roman times. However, the gist of this novel is that Morgan's Histories tell the "true" stories and not the layers of legends added long after the fact. The fact is that Brythonic and Old Welsh descriptive names were broken down into the two or three words that they mean. As an example, the modern name Johnson would have been written and spoken as John’s Son in the Brythonic tongue. The name of one character in my book is – Rhodri ab Naw Caw which means: Rhodri = Circle or Wheel ruler... Naw = “Legendary son of Seithved,” seventh son of a ninth son... Caw = full of joy. The Ap – means from or son of. So, in the case of Pendragon, I am using Pen Dragon. Pen means chief or high and Dragon (Draig or Dragwn), of course, means Dragon, but the title Pen Dragon was used to denote Chief Battle Commander. The Brythonic or Old Welsh name reads as Pen Draig or Pen Dragwn.
On proper pronunciation of Brythonic words... the absolutely correct pronunciation is unknown. However, for some sense of clarity, you might try using Welsh rules of pronunciation. There are many good sites on the internet to help with this, as well as to bring a little joviality into your day. This will help greatly in the reading of this book. As an example, understanding why Annwyn (Ah-noon) rhymes with ‘Moon’ in the opening poem “My Mother taught me how to thread a needle...”
Every time I travel in Wales, I and my companions have uproarious fun trying to pronounce the Welsh street, town, or farm names written
on sign posts along the very narrow, low stone-walled Welsh country roads or, for that matter, along the modern motorways, too. It’s impossible, of course, to pronounce them using English rules! We always get a bonus laugh when hearing the way the words are actually supposed to sound in the beautiful, lilting Welsh tongue.
Have fun!
Rowena
Introduction by Jack Montgomery
In these days of “Games of Thrones,” The Lord of the Rings” and “Hunger Games,” it is hard to imagine what new mythic, fantasy saga could possibly be told, and even it told, would be interesting enough to draw and hold a jaded fantasy reader’s attention. There are two basic types of fantasy novels being produced nowadays: one that are the sole product of the author’s imagination like the Lord of the Rings and those with a connection to a defined historical or mythical person or period. While both types can be enthralling, the ones with a historical connection can be enchanting at a deeper level as they have an anchor in the common memory and can inspire further research and study. “Voices of the Stars, is an enchanting saga which is built thematically upon the Arthurian legends and yet is not explicitly tied to those 13th century stories. For a historically based novel to work as fiction, it must go beneath the surface of the historical events and probe the shadowy depths of the agendas, motives and passions that generated those events. “Voices of the Stars” accomplishes this task in several ways including character development, thematic harmony and poetical/lyrical addendums.
What makes a good fantasy novel truly enchanting is the depth of character development that draws the reader deeply into the lives of the characters and lets them feel empathy for their situation. Author Rowena Whaling has done a magnificent job of character development in “Voices of the Stars” as she develops the story of Morgan of the Woods and in the words of the main character “weaves, entwines and spreads like the gossamer threads of Arachne-ultimately and forever changing the meaning of events as they truly were.”
The elements of magic, myth and the supernatural are also woven together into this epic story with great care to create a unique harmony of the historical and the mythic that carries the reader into the mist-shrouded world between the worlds where Druids chant, dragons fly and the god and goddess make their ethereal presence known. There are also the all-too-human elements of love, violence, sex, relationships and betrayal to mention a few that let the reader further enter into the inner world of the characters. This literary treatment gives the characters humanity and makes them believable.
One further positive literary element found within “Voices of the Stars” is the author’s use of epic poetry and songs throughout the texts. The author, a gifted songwriter and musician has been producing her own musical magic for decades and weaves this element into her storyline with literary grace and elegance.
All of these elements combine in Whaling’s epic story to create a story that will excite you, prompt tears of joy, or simply arouse your sense of wonder. “Voices of the Stars” takes one on a spiritual as well as literary journey and will inspire you to read more about the Arthurian legends as well. The second book of the trilogy”Rowena of the Glen” continues the saga to a new time and place. Whaling is to be commended for her masterful work and I am certain that she will eventually have a place among the great fantasy novelists of our time.
Lyrics of the following of Rowena Whaling’s songs appear in this book by special permission of The Romance Of Rowena Music, ASCAP: “All Time Is Now,” “Branwyn’s Song,” “Bella Morte,” “The Creature,” “Dark Music,” “I Dance Thee,” “Lost,” “Trance Dance,” “Your Eyes,” “Persephone Arise,” “Golden Chances,” and an excerpt from “This Machine Kills Fascists” by R. Whaling & B. Willie Dryden.
Oh Lady of the withering Dream
The potent Art remains…
Yet is ever receding
From Mankind’s world of fame...
Oh beauty of the Moonlight’s beings
Your shadow’s kiss now wanes...
Forgotten abandoned Enchantments…
In ruins they lie unclaimed…
Oh, Lady of the countless Stars
Do men forget your dance?
They march to the drums of War Gods
Devoid of all romance...
Oh why is this thing happening?
Will you ever return again?
Oh Radiant Light – to spin and twirl
To ancient Love’s refrain…
VOICES OF THE STARS
My Mother taught me how to thread a needle...
‘But first,’ said she,
‘We must put thread to spool...
By three, then seven, then thirteen twines...
By three, then seven, then thirteen Times...
With fingers do we wheedle...
By three, then seven, then thirteen twines...
By Hum and tap and spoken rhymes...
By three, then seven, then thirteen Times
By hand we make what is needful...
By three, then seven, then thirteen twines...
By the Magic of Annwyn
By three, then seven, then thirteen Times...
Beneath the thirteen silver Moons...’
Prologue
In the dark and loathsome hours immediately proceding the Death in battle of Mordred, son of Morganna (she called Le Faye) and of the mortal wounding of Arthur, the King, the three ladies: Vivianne, Lady of the Lake; Nimue, the Enchantress; and Morgan, Priestess of the Great Goddess and daughter of the Seer, Igraine – retrieved Arthur from the bloody battlefield and laid him upon a pallet. By Saxon ship they travelled to the port from whence a punt could cross the marshy Waters of the Inland Sea to bring Arthur home to the Isle of Apples. There, it is said, that by their Magics, they even now keep him suspended ‘twixt Death and life in waiting for a fairer Time for the King to return to these Fair Isles of the Britons – to once again bring back the old ways.
But Morganna grieved excessively and she fled Northward to the Snowy Mountains of Gwynedd. There she saw a strongly built house which was pleasing to her, so she conjured upon the house and family which therein lived a great Charm of invisibility and forgetfulness so that no one passing should ever see it again. And what is more, with her Spells and Incantations, all that ever existed of that house, family, and Animals would be forgotten by any who had ever known them. Furthermore, if a Hunter or a wanderer should, by chance, happen upon the house and walk into it, he would immediately forget that it had happened. That family and their Animals, Morganna turned into her servants. And there, Morganna Le Faye grieved and waited...
What lies within these vellum pages is a history written in the tongue of the Britons which I, Morgan, have written down in order to preserve the truth of these matters – because, it is a fact that legends of the simple folk, as well as songs and poems of the Bards, gallop into fancy like Warhorses to the smell of blood. What begins as a simple circle Weaves, entwines, and spreads like the gossamer threads of Arachne – ultimately and forever changing the meaning of events as they really were. So, now, in my very old age of eighty-three years, but still of clear thought and memory, I have completed the writing and compiling of the truth as it happened; through five generations of histories, the length and breadth of the Isles of the Britons, even through the continent which lies across the Eastern Sea. I shall give it into the hands of one whom I would trust with my very life and all I hold Sacred. With Divine assurance I know that these histories will last through the millennia...
Morgan
When my Mother Igraine was fifteen years, she was married to Gorlois, the Dux of Dumnonia, and later had two daughters by him. The eldest was Morganna and seven years later, she gave birth to me, Morgan. In a very eerie way, both of her daughters resembled her exactly. In Times to come, my sister and I would be confused in legend and in lore. Even now, as I am nearing the end of my life, this has begun.
Now, it so happened that my Mother Igraine was of the Old Dark Tri
bes; those here long before the Romans had invaded, or even before the Clansmen had arrived upon our shores. People of the Old Tribes are of smaller stature and much darker than either of the fair skinned or light eyed invaders of our lands. My Mother Igraine was, already in her fifteenth year, darkly mysterious and exotic: black hair, black eyes and lithe as the Faye – or so it is told – and was acclaimed as being exceedingly beautiful. And so, I suppose, were we.
When the Dux of Dumnonia first laid his eyes upon Igraine, he Loved her and would have her as his wife. He was a Briton of the Clans’ and Roman blood who lived in the Roman style. His fortress lay upon a rocky promontory facing the Western Sea in the land of Dumnonia. Now, he honoured the ancient Goddess of the Old Tribes and their Spirits of Tree and Stone and Spring. But then, he also respected the Druids and the Gods of the Clansmen. However, being a military Commander allied with Rome, he himself worshipped and made sacrifice to the Eastern God Mithras, as well as the Sky Gods of the Greeks and Romans.
Beyond the deep Love Gorlois came to have for my Mother Igraine, she represented great political gain and riches for him. You see, she was the daughter of one of the wealthiest Chieftains and most respected blood lines of the old race, who were not – in spite of commonly held opinion – impoverished savages hiding and living in the secret Woods and Mountains of the wilderness, wearing flea-ridden and filthy Animal skins. No, far from that...
Had not the Clans travelled for centuries and thousands of leagues across many rich and intellectual lands in search of the mysterious Isles of the West? ...the Isles of the Hanging Stones and of gold... and of the people first descended from the Gods inhabiting the land which had once flourished beyond the Western edge of the known world? ...of that which was “the Island of advanced civilization, science and the known Cosmic Mysteries, the Island which sank beneath the Western Sea and whose people sent out one hundred boats in all directions to preserve their race of God-like ones, as well as their vast knowledge?”