Written Works
by
D. A. Holley
When a descendant of the God of Music sings, a deposed emperor must rise to violence once more.
For the sins he committed in a life that never was, Sao Njack was recalled into a prison outside time; but when a child of the God of Music sings, he is able to escape into time’s stream long enough to tell his former lover, Dupec Safar, of the fate awaiting him. If Dupec is to weather a coming cataclysm, he must again assume the mantle of a conqueror. The once emperor is ensnared in a game he does not understand, the stakes of which could spell doom for his people.
In pursuit of their aims, the gods will use the people who were closest to these defunct emperors, or see them removed from their Greatest Game before they can be used against them. In the mortal ability to evolve, they are met with a rare uncertainty, a fear for what will become of them if their iron grip on power is loosened. They are met with the possibility that these pawns in their endless games may become equal to them, and they will do anything to stop it from happening.
Ank A'tar is a dangerously curious man. A man of two minds, his study of the gods will earn himself a place in the Halls of Time.
As a Sun Man, Ank A'tar was born lucky, but when he fails to gain the favor of an order of warrior priests called the Gilded Sons, he is left with a bad taste in his mouth. Disappointments and setbacks lead him to believe his bloodright gift is being undermined by external forces, but his other half does not think so. A man with two souls, Ank is rarely of one mind in anything, and his Earth Soul believes it is his poor manners that have kept them from getting what they want. The Sanarks, to whom the Order of Gilded Sons belongs, don't like him and don't trust him, and they shouldn't. Ank's goals deviate from their mission, leading him to court the imprisoned Great King who they are honor bound to watch over, and defend the various peoples of the land of Sana against. Where they see an enemy, he sees a potential wellspring of information he may use to unlock myriad secrets about the gods of the Waxing World.
Ank A'tar is a man with a dangerous bent toward curiosity, and it shows when he seeks out the Great King alone.
Along came a spider to stand against a queen, and awaken her servants to their forgotten pasts.
When Lance starts hearing voices in the deep hours of the night, he thinks he is losing his mind. He has nightmares that feel too much like memories of a childhood that doesn't make sense. To his knowledge, he has always lived in the Palace at Shadovane, has been a servant to the nobility for most of his life.
When the ruler of the Sun Empire arrives in Shadovane for a state visit, everything changes. He is enlisted into a conspiracy to undermine his queen and her volatile aristocrats, but he does not want what its leaders desire. With the newfound discovery of secrets that have been kept from him his entire life, he wishes only for escape from the palace and its lords, but the resistance is reluctant to get on board. Shadovane is their home, and they would much rather remain there, but without his newly awakened powers to communicate with the spirits of the elements, they cannot succeed in deposing their rulers and ushering in a new era of peace and prosperity for their people. If they go along with his wants, they must abandon their home.
Lance needs their help to escape from the palace, and start his new life on the outside, but to make his plans work, he needs to steal something from the queen herself, and he cannot hope to do it alone.