Resonance

  Contents

  Title Page

  Copyright Page

  Acknowledgements

  Dedication

  Chapter One

  Chapter Two

  Chapter Three

  Chapter Four

  Chapter Five

  Chapter Six

  Chapter Seven

  Chapter Eight

  Chapter Nine

  Chapter Ten

  Chapter Eleven

  Chapter Twelve

  Chapter Thirteen

  Chapter Fourteen

  Chapter Fifteen

  Chapter Sixteen

  Chapter Seventeen

  Chapter Eighteen

  Chapter Nineteen

  Chapter Twenty

  Chapter Twenty-One

  Newsletter & Website

  About the Author

  Song One: Resonance

  in

  Songs of the Eternal Past

  An Epic Fantasy Series

  C.S. Vass

  All rights reserved. No portion of this book may be reproduced in any form without permission from the publisher, except as permitted by U.S. Copyright law. For permissions contact: cameron@csvass.com

  Copyright © 2018 C.S. Vass

  Come visit: www.csvass.com

  ISBN: 9781719856744

  My goal with this book was to write a story that has a powerful resonance, a tale that echoes my deepest beliefs while simultaneously giving the reader a chance to experience the world through the lens of epic fantasy. Of course I also try to make you laugh, cry, and shake your fist in rage at the existential cruelty of the universe, as I expect any author does.

  This book would not have happened without the support of family, friends, teachers, the writing community, and all the greats who picked up a pen before me. Thank you.

  Cover design produced by The Cover Designer. For more information visit thecoveresigner.com

  This book is dedicated to Hannah.

  I love you, and yes, I will marry you.

  Chapter One

  “Independence meant losing so much. But as you all know the sacrifices were well worth it.”

  It was hot and dry in the classroom, and Professor Musty’s hauntingly boring voice did not decrease the temptation to drift off to sleep. Fiona Sacrosin was fantasizing about what life would be like in three months when she would find herself free from the tedium of Clearwater Academy and adventuring throughout Tellos with her brother.

  Professor Musty’s tired eyes scanned the room. At eighty-one he was the oldest professor at Clearwater by at least twenty years, but he didn’t let that get in the way of the unceasing drones of his history lectures. Fiona visibly winced when his eyes finally landed on her.

  “Sacrosin.” He made her name a rebuke. “In your opinion, what were the greatest challenges that faced our people after the war?”

  Fiona knew the trap was there, and yet she walked into it willingly. “Duke Redfire had given up most of his lands in order to consolidate power here in Haygarden,” she began. “That meant that scores of people—mostly peasants—were without the protection of the Duke. Their woes were many, whether from the raids of marauders, from famine when the Empire came for their food stores, or from the existential misery of lacking a formal country.”

  Professor Musty scratched at the short impatient goatee that sprouted from his chin and observed her with unkind eyes. “Sacrosin. You misunderstand the question. I asked you about our people. The entire point of the Movement for Independence was to make clear to all Tellos that our people are the ones you find here in Haygarden, that we were not responsible for the livelihoods of every peasant outside the city walls.”

  There were some snickers from around the room. Fiona felt her face flush. It was not the first time they had gone through this song and dance, yet somehow she always allowed herself to get dragged into it. For once she exercised some restraint and only replied, “Yes, sir.”

  Jared, the boy to her right with a fat, broad face and small quick eyes raised his hand. “I think Fiona is forgetting a lot of the context of the rebellion,” he offered. “Duke Redfire knew the most important thing for his people was to protect us from the Empire. It’s true that with his fellow patriots he shrunk the size of his Duchy considerably, but that meant freedom for all of us. The Lordless Lands will be better off once they find a ruler of their own choosing, just like we’re better off without a foreign emperor ruling over us.” He shot her a nasty grin. “Maybe she’ll be more grateful for our freedom if she spends some time to think on that.”

  Professor Musty nodded approvingly. Fiona’s nails were digging into her palm so hard she was surprised she wasn’t drawing blood.

  She turned to Jared. “I wonder if the people in the Lordless Lands feel that way,” she said.

  “Who cares what a bunch of flea-ridden yokels think,” Jared said while he chortled.

  “Probably more people than the ones who care what a fat little pampered shit with more chins than brains thinks,” Fiona growled.

  “Sacrosin!” Professor Musty rasped. “Far out of line. Watch your tongue.”

  Jared smirked at her, and looked her whole body up and down in a way that made her skin crawl. She instinctively tugged her tunic upwards. Jared waited until Musty began speaking again and then whispered, “No need for that. No one wants whatever pathetic little orphan teats you’re hiding under there.”

  “Be quiet,” Professor muttered at no one in particular.

  Fiona felt the sting of the words and they brought an immediate redness to her eyes, but it went no further than that. It had been a long time since she had shed any tears. She was an adult now, or near enough at seventeen years old. She was only three months away from graduation. The rest of this spoiled class would go on to become money-lenders or priests or some other such nonsense. Not her. Fiona’s childhood had been dedicated to strengthening her body and preparing her mind for the life of a warrior. She would go on to serve under her older brother Rodrick in the Brightbows. She would rise up just as quickly as he did and eventually they would be equals, protecting Haygarden and living the good life.

  “Here in the Leaf District,” Professor Musty continued. “We didn’t see so much of the bloodshed. As the Tellosian Empire moved in the Stone District took the brunt. Someone tell me why we were successful in repelling the invasion. How about you, Rains?”

  Sasha Rains was best in the class and Fiona’s only friend. She was very beautiful, with a heart-shaped faced and long curls of auburn hair that swept past her shoulders. “Our greatest advantages were arguably the skill of the soundmages that orchestrated a coherent defense of the city, and the military prowess of our Lord Defender, Geoff Hightower. Those two factors, along with Duke Redfire’s leadership, are largely responsible for our successful secession from the Tellosian Empire.”

  Professor Musty nodded approvingly. “Couldn’t have found it said better in a textbook,” Professor Musty said. “Though I’m sure Sacrosin would be quick to start an argument against such a patriotic answer.”

  Sasha shot Fiona a sympathetic look. “I’m sure she’d do no such thing,” Sasha said.

  “You can’t say I’m not a patriot!” Fiona said.

  “Calm down, Sacrosin,” Professor Musty said with a wave of his hand. “It was just a jest.”

  “Yeah, don’t worry,” Jared said. “The little sots in the Lordless Lands know how much of a patriot you are. If you want to be so critical of the Duke you should probably just go back to them.”

  “I’m allowed to be critical of the Duke, and anyone else I want to be critical of!” Fiona snapped. “Wasn’t that the whole point of the Movement for Independence? To gain the freedom to question our leaders?”

  Professor Musty scratched at his goatee
again. “An excellent question. What do you think, class?”

  “Duke Redfire knew he didn’t need to take any more crap from the Tellosian Empire,” Jared said immediately. “We were paying taxes we shouldn’t have paid, supporting people who weren’t our own, and propping up a government that was downright evil! The Tellosians were butchering their own people for the last five-hundred years. Duke Redfire and his fellow rebels knew it was time to get out!”

  “No one is saying that the Tellosian Empire was a force for good,” Fiona said. “But how do we know if he did it because he didn’t want to support an evil Empire, or if he did it because he didn’t want to pay taxes he felt he could get out of?”

  “Unbelievable,” Jared groaned. “How could you even say that? You’d think with such a prominent brother you’d be a little more loyal to the Duke. For hell’s sake, you sound like a damn traitor!”

  Fiona rolled her eyes, but before she could respond Sasha said, “We shouldn’t bring family into classroom debates.”

  “Sorry, I forgot,” Jared sneered. “She doesn’t have one.”

  “Watch yourself!” Professor Musty warned. “I’m supposed to have you lot ready for the real world in the next three months. As it is now you’re barely ready to debate a group of toddlers. I think an extra assignment might set that straight. I’ll expect a full five page report on the Movement for Independence from each of you by the end of the week. I’ll not take any excuses for lateness. Ask your parents about it if you have to, it was only thirty years ago. They’ll remember.”

  That was met by a chorus of groans. Fiona felt her stomach sinking. She knew already that she would be blamed for it. She was always blamed for everything. But she would only have to endure it for three more months. After that, there was freedom. A life in the Brightbows. She just knew it.

  After class Fiona wandered outside onto a veranda that overlooked a large part of the Leaf District. Appropriately named, the cobblestone streets of the Leaf District were covered in a red-gold-green carpet of foliage from the array of thick healthy trees that stood like sentinels throughout. Fiona hadn’t always lived amongst such splendid wealth.

  She was of humble origins, born outside of the powerful walls of Haygarden, but still just close enough to be considered a citizen by birth. It’s likely that she would have remained there for life, had it not been for Rodrick. After her parents passed, when she was still very small, he was seized by an intense ambition. He worked hard, became proficient enough with weapons to join the city guard, and eventually was able to move them into the Stone District. After that, growing ever more skilled along the way, he spent some time as a bodyguard for wealthy citizens. Finally, he realized his full potential and joined the Brightbows.

  The Brightbows were the elite of the elite, and Rodrick was their Commander. As their name suggests, the group primarily consisted of exceptionally skilled archers who carried out secret missions directly for the Duke. After Rodrick joined their ranks at the astonishingly young age of nineteen their lives truly changed. Ever since then they had lived in a manor in the Leaf District and never wanted for food or clothing. Fiona was proud of her brother, and proud of their humble origins too. And as a warrior of exceptional skill herself, she would soon join him and leave Clearwater’s prison-like walls forever.

  “Well that was all a bit absurd,” Sasha said. Fiona had not noticed her friend join her on the veranda. A light breeze passed through the air while the sun shone warm on their faces. “We should hurry though, or we’ll be late for the next class.”

  “There’s no next class for me today,” Fiona decided at that moment. She wandered over to a mirror-like glass window that showed her reflection. Quick forest green eyes stared back at her. She was of average height, with a stout body and small, square teeth. Her hair was fashioned into a long silky black braid. There was a faint splash of pimples visible on her cheeks.

  “Fiona,” Sasha said. She moved next to her friend, drawing Fiona’s attention away from her reflection. “You can’t do that. There are only three more months of school. You need to focus on graduating.”

  “You don’t need a degree to be in the Brightbows,” Fiona said stubbornly.

  Sasha frowned. “But that’s only one possible thing to do. You have your whole life ahead of you. Anything could happen. You want to graduate.”

  Fiona sighed. Her bookish friend who had never set foot outside of the boring splendor of the Leaf District couldn’t possibly understand what a burning desire she had to leave Haygarden and travel the world with Rodrick. Fiona said, “You’re telling me I’m planning too much of my future when you’re the one who’s already engaged.”

  “That’s different,” Sasha said, with a faint smile playing at her lips. “I’m eighteen years old, and just because I know my future husband doesn’t mean I pretend to know my whole future.”

  “You should keep the name,” Fiona said.

  “What?”

  “Sasha Rains. That sounds so much better than Sasha Downcastle.”

  “You know perfectly well that I’m going to change my name,” Sasha said. “The Downcastle’s are a respectable family.”

  Fiona nodded, but didn’t speak her mind. The Downcastle’s were as respectable as respect got. An old family, and powerful. Lawrence Downcastle was the Master Soundmage of Haygarden. It was said that he commanded sorceries that the even the renown mages of Laquath could only dream of. Sasha would be marrying his son, Reggie. Normally such a noble-blooded family wouldn’t be caught dead mixing with such common new-money as Sasha came from, but there were rumors that the Downcastle’s coffers were running low and they needed some fresh funds.

  Fiona looked at her friend and felt a twang of jealousy. Not for the life she was going to acquire. But Sasha was brilliant, beautiful, and most enviously she was absolutely content with her place in the world. Fiona did not have such certainties in her life. She only had a hope that the Brightbows would take her.

  “A nice day for dallying outdoors.” Professor Thrushling, a kindly teacher with plump red cheeks and warm blue eyes approached them. Fiona had always thought he looked strangely child-like, despite his thinning salt and pepper hair and round spectacles. “I should expect there’s somewhere else for you to be, however.”

  Sasha was about to speak but Fiona interrupted her. “No, Sasha was just going but I’m free the rest of the day.” Such a lame excuse would have drawn rebuke from any other teacher, but Thrushling was a gullible man, and far too sweet to be a professor.

  “Well, I can understand if perhaps you felt the need to get some fresh air,” Thrushling said. “I ran into some of your classmates who are not to happy with you, Fiona.”

  “Yeah, well when have they ever been?” Fiona said.

  Thrushling chuckled. “One would think that someone who aspires to join the Brightbows would assume a more diplomatic personality. It’s not all fighting foreign enemies. You will need to learn tact.”

  “You don’t need to tell me what I need to join the Brightbows,” Fiona snapped. “My brother is their Commander, after all.” Fiona felt embarrassed as soon as the words escaped her lips. They sounded like something one of her arrogant classmates would say. Waving around the titles of a family member to defend herself was beneath her.

  “Professor, I’m sorry,” she began.

  Thrushling waved the apology away. “Fiona, you are an exceptional young woman and you will accomplish exceptional things in your own time, of that I have no doubt. But the world is such a crazy dangerous place these days. It doesn’t need any more people in power who don’t know how to speak to those they disagree with, regardless of how provoked you may feel.”

  “I’ll remember that,” Fiona said.

  “See that you do,” Thrushling said with a clap of his hands that indicated that there was no more to say on the matter. “What of you, Ms. Rains? Surely a wedding is splendid, but I can’t imagine that marriage is all you asp—”

  The blast of the horn threw s
ilence upon them like a bucket of icy water. It sounded for a long, low note that filled them all with dread. Shortly after the air around them became tinged in a foreboding red light. Fiona looked at Sasha, fear splashed across her face. Thrushling betrayed no emotion, but after a moment drew a flute from the holster on his hips. “Inside, now,” he said. “To the chapel.”

  Quickly he ushered the two of them inside. As they went through the long winding hallways of Clearwater, Fiona wondered who it was this time.

  Chapter Two

  As Fiona entered the chapel she was greeted by the same scared and confused faces that she had expected. Everyone was huddled into a small section of the room that was barely able to contain them all. Stained glass windows with stern faces from Haygarden’s history watched them from high above. Throughout the room Clearwater’s professors were armed to the teeth with a multitude of instruments, a sight that they were all unfortunately starting to get used to.

  “Quiet, everyone quiet!” Professor Musty rasped to the room. He held a dangerous looking trumpet in his wrinkled hands, and Fiona guessed that he was the one who had sounded the alarm. Each teacher seemed to wield a weapon. There was a violin, clarinet, accordion, several flutes, and outranking them all Headmaster Helena Fiercewind sat at a great organ like a mother eagle over her eggs. Her fingers hovered dangerously above the keys ready to orchestrate a hell-storm if the situation called for it.

  “What on earth do you think it was this time?” Sasha asked Fiona in a low whisper.

  “What else but another kidnapping?” Fiona whispered back.

  “It might just be a drill,” Sasha said, hopefully.

  “SILENCE!” Helena Fiercewind bellowed from the organ. She waited a few moments while the professors conducted head counts. Once it was determined that everyone was there she rose, looming before them like mountain. Helena Fiercewind was a large woman. She proudly stood tall and broad-shouldered with her hair pulled into a tight bun and a face that could just a quickly scowl or smile. She was a woman who commanded respect.