Of all the books in the series I had to map out every move for Children of the Serpent. All those loose ends I left dangling had to be tied up but didn’t know how! (post it notes are a writer’s best friend!) And others like this character I knew the outcome for all the way back in the first draft of the first book.
Children of the Serpent: The Final Book of the Revel Night Saga
Twenty-three
Sarah smiled as the girls’ laughter drifted from upstairs. She often envied her granddaughters, having a sister seemed wonderful. One had a partner in crime, a confidant, and, when needed, someone to kick you in the ass.
Sarah had been lonely growing up, her father’s family never accepted her. It had been apparent from the beginning she wasn’t a normal child. Able to hear what the trees gossiped about and wishing the flowers good morning earned her the reputation as a kook. It set her apart from everyone else and she soon realized if she didn’t what to continue to be “Crazy Sarah,” she would have to blind her eyes to what she could see, deafen her ears to what spoke to her.
She got good at it, passing for normal, and her deception was complete when she began to date and eventually marry a human man named David Bright. They had been happy for a time, but Sarah’s true nature had been hard to suppress.
Then she had met Niall, a wild and beautiful Faerie, and she’d been tempted beyond all reason for a taste of the life denied her. She believed he was in love with her, believed he would leave his wife and she her husband and they would run away together. Her hopes and her heart were broken when Niall had grown bored with her revealing he was not the least bit interested in leaving his rich and titled wife, Elspeth Glenghlas.
David learned of her betrayal and left her. He had never contacted she or Stella again. It was just deserts; she’d been stupid and reckless. She had raised their daughter alone, lonely once more.
She’d been bitter toward the Fae; they had brought nothing but sorrow into her life. She let that feeling fester for a long time turning her against even her own daughter. The actions she had taken at the time had nearly doomed both she and Stella to lives of pain and resentment.
Her past seemed like the life of another woman now. She and Stella had been reunited with their Faerie kin, Stella was happy in her marriage and had her hands full with three beautiful children and a career as a Pathfinder. And herself? Sarah toyed with the chunky emerald and Drakon claw necklace draped around her neck. She’d finally achieved a happily ever after too. Almost.
As leader of the Wild Hunt, Hunter was bound to his vow. He had long ago sold himself to the hunt and once bound, it was forever. Why he had done so was a mystery, for once one surrendered themselves to it their memories, knowledge of who they were before, was stripped.
They were under the command of the Seelie Queen who used them sometimes as mercenaries but most often to fill her trophy room with exotic and rare species. They ranged the wilds of Faerie, the hunt a never-ending revelry of drinking, camaraderie, and sport. Sarah and Hunter could only be together twice a year, on the nights of the summer and winter solstice when they hunted in the Mortal realm.
For years, Sarah would hide in the tree line surrounding the meadow on the solstice and watch the Wild Hunt as they set forth on their bi-annual excursion into the Mortal realm, hoping to glimpse their leader.
She’d pictured herself riding beside him many times. It was a silly fantasy, her and the leader of the Wild Hunt.
However, he had been aware of her watching him and he had come looking for her. He offered her a place at his side, and she’d been tempted, but she couldn’t miss out on becoming a grandmother and enjoying the renewed relationship with Sibah, she hadn’t been ready for oblivion, even if it meant eternity with Hunter. Now, however. She thought about it more and more. She wasn’t getting any younger, she’d be sixty in April, though thanks to her Faerie bloodline she didn’t remotely look it.
If she joined him, she would forget her whole life up until she took the vow, for her there would only be the hunt and she would only be the hunter. But there was time yet for decisions of this magnitude after all this crap with the Phaji was over. She had faith her son-in-law and grandson would lead the Shadows to victory again. She had to believe it, the alternative was too grim to consider.
Picking up the television remote she turned on the idiot box hoping to turn her mood around. She’d pondered herself into a funk, what she needed was some mind candy. There was a lot of that on offer these days. Weird game shows, dubious survival programs, not to mention too many so-called reality shows to count, all courtesy of the Demonic realm. Most media, social and otherwise was produced by Demons.
Though apparently not today, the screen was full of nothing but static. Jiggling the connection at the cable box wasn’t a help either. She pressed a few random buttons on the remote and a picture sprung into view. The scene on the screen was of total mayhem.
Demons in fancy dresses and formal wear were running for cover and huddling in groups while a force of human men flung fireballs from their bare hands at the stage in a huge arena carved from stone. This was no action movie! Sarah saw Daniel Acer draw a trident and defend the people around him. This was Queen Morag’s coronation ceremony! Following the death of her brother, Alocer, she was supposed to be crowned Satan the Sixth. What in the Sam-hill was happening!
“Girls!” she hollered. “Girls!” She turned from the TV and ran up the stairs.
I hope you’ve enjoyed the excerpts! Happy 4 year anniversary to the Revel Night Saga!
You can buy the whole series by clicking this LINK!
Be well my friends!
Kathleen Rear 