Thrall: Beyond Gold and Glory
“Once more Barbara has outdone herself in her penmanship. Icannot sing enough praises. A little Vikings, a dash of The Witcher, peppered with TheGame of Thrones, and a pinch of Lord of The Rings. Mesmerizing. …Iwas ecstatic to read this book. It did not disappoint. Barbara pours life intoher characters with sarcasm, wit and surreal imagery, they leap from the pageand stand before you in all their glory. I am left satisfied and starving formore, the clashing of swords, whistling of arrows still ringing in my ears.”—Lunar Rainbow Reviews
“In their adventures, the women must wrestle with issues offreedom, loyalty, and justice. The characters were likable, the issues complex,and the battles were exciting. I really enjoyed this book and I highlyrecommend it.”—All OurWorlds: Diverse Fantastic Fiction
“This was the first Barbara Ann Wright novel I’ve read, andI doubt it will be the last. Her dialogue was concise and natural, and she builta fantastical world that I easily imagined from one scene to the next. Loversof Vikings, monsters and magic won’t be disappointed by this one.”—Curve
Lady of Stone
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Lady Of Stone
© 2020 By Barbara Ann Wright. All Rights Reserved.
ISBN 13: 978-1-63555-773-2
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First Edition: September 2020
This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, andincidents are the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously.Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, business establishments,events, or locales is entirely coincidental.
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Credits
Editor: Cindy Cresap
Production Design: Susan Ramundo
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By the Author
The Pyradisté Adventures
The Pyramid Waltz
For Want of a Fiend
A Kingdom Lost
The Fiend Queen
Lady of Stone
Thrall: Beyond Gold and Glory
The Godfall Novels
Paladins of the Storm Lord
Widows of the Sun-Moon
Children of the Healer
Inheritors of Chaos
Coils
House of Fate
The Tattered Lands
Not Your Average Love Spell
Acknowledgments
As always, thanks to the whole team at BSB. Especially Cindy, wholet me fudge this deadline so many times.
Thanks to the Beavers and Writer’s Ink: Angela, Deb, Erin, Matt,Natsu, Sarah, and Trakena. You are superheroes.
Thanks to all my readers. I had fun revisiting this universe.Let’s go here again.
I love you, Mom. I love my cat, too, but not as much.
Dedication
To Matt and Nicole, always willing to help and asking nothingin return.
Author’s Note
This book takes place approximately two hundred years beforethe events in The PyramidWaltz.
Chapter One
The air smelled of jasmine and honeysuckle, an aroma Sylphwould have enjoyed if she hadn’t been terrified someone would uncover hermagic.
The enormous royal gardens contained a pond, a small forest, anda hedge maze as well as colorful blooms. A cadre of glittering nobles, all ofthem nearly as perfumed as the flowers, strolled at will, secure in theknowledge that two walls encircled them, a large one around the palace and itsgrounds, and a smaller, decorative wall so the royal Umbriels and their guestsnever had to see the plain wall that protected them.
Just like the cursed walls, everything seemed like an illusion,especially the calm nobles, those happy to be at court and among their own socialcircle, secure in the knowledge that all was well.
Sylph had never felt so apart from them, even though her fatherwas a duke.
He stood surrounded by lesser nobles clamoring for his attention,and Sylph would have been equally courted—if only as a stepping-stone to herfather—but every time someone approached, she moved a little farther into thetrees and blossoms, her heart thumping at the idea that one of them might havea stray pyramid about their person. With her mind, she would reach for it withoutthinking, without even knowing how she did it, and the magic would be on heragain.
No one would be in a rush to speak to her if they witnessed that.
Her father had only dragged her to court in Marienne to find agood marriage. It wasn’t enough that she would be the duchess after he passed.In his mind, she hadto increase their holdings before she inherited the title. He’d always hungeredfor land as most craved food and water. But she wasn’t ready to chain herselfto someone for a few acres.
Not that he cared.
If he found out about the magic, would that make him care? Easingbehind a large tree with leaves dangling nearly to the ground, she sighed.She’d have to bend to her father’s will someday, magic or not.
Clutching her fists, she nearly let loose a curse she’d heard oneof the grooms use while she’d hidden in the stables. She couldn’t even lamenther tyrannical father in her own head without her thoughts going back to thespirits-cursed magic, to the fact that she might be a pyradisté.
She remembered the first time it had happened, nearly threemonths ago. She’d moved one stone without touching it, which made it a fluke,easy to dismiss. Then she’d felt a wall pullingat her another afternoon, wanting her to use the power lurking within her totouch it, move it, yank it from the ground as if it was no more than a blanket.She’d learned to stay away from the pyramids guarding the gates of her estatebefore they plucked at her emotions and her will as easily as a minstrelplucked at a lute.
In the garden now, she breathed deeply, trying to dispel the bilethat rose at the memories. It was all a mistake. She did not have power, oneway or another. Nothing ever had to happen again. She was not drawn to stone,had no urge to move it. And the mere presence of a pyramid did not pull at herlike a
