Book Info:
Title: Primordial Dust
Author: Sarah Daltry
Genre: Fantasy (Romance/YA)
A princess, trained to behave. An assassin, betrothed to her. A thief, whose eyes she dreams of at night. A kingdom at war, torn apart by the suppression of magic and truth, as well as family secrets that threaten to destroy decades of peace.
Questions of loyalty, of morality, and of free will culminate in a fantasy novel about forging one’s own path and choosing one’s own destiny.
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Excerpt:
Alusia smiles wanly. “What happened in Kooram?” she asks.
“There was a party. We were dancing. Seamus and I were celebrating our engagement...” I pause, ashamed. He sits beside me, unaware of my role in this, oblivious to my own deception. “It was my fault.”
Seamus takes my hand. “Alondra, stop. You know this has nothing to do with you.”
“It has everything to do with her,” Alusia interrupts. “And her mother.”
“Look, although Alondra seems thankful for whatever you want to share with her, I don't care what these secrets are. This is not her fault and she does not need you blaming her.” Seamus's anger is new to me. I have been so amazed by his calm, his kindness; he is more like a Demorian now than I have ever seen him, and I have watched him cut a man's throat.
Alusia sighs. “I do not mean to assign blame. But we can no longer pretend that this was a rogue attack, that these events have not culminated in bringing you here, that fate has not worked its magic to get this book into her hands.” She runs her fingers along the book on her lap.
“It's fine,” I say. “But it was not fate. Maybe I did not make the only bad choices, but choices got us here. And I, for one, am tired of hearing about fate.”
“The attack,” Seamus continues. “It was sudden. A siren spell warned us before the mages were slaughtered. I don't know how they breached the Demorian guard, but without the dying spell of an elder mage, no one would be sitting here right now with you.”
“So you ran?” Alusia asks.
“I don't run,” I argue. “In fact, I am only here because someone kidnapped me in my sleep.”
“It was her father's wish,” Seamus mumbles.
“The forces came quickly. We spread the word to meet in the caves and Kooram split into two groups: those who were running for the caves, and those who would stay behind. My parents were with those running, but I stayed. Ereditus, our commander, rallied the troops. Seamus was already by my side. My friend, Lormander...”
I stop and think of that moment. Sanara's face, broken by the choice he was making, is etched into my memory. I watched her fingers slowly fall from his hand and the agony in her glance as she turned back to see him one last time tore me asunder. And now, somewhere, are they reunited? Did she lead everyone to Tallagut? Did he stay behind in the caves to face his death, remembering her kiss as the blade entered his heart? I choke on the images and tears rest on the precipice of my eyelids.
“We stayed,” I repeat. “There were so many of them. It was chaos. Smoke billowed from the streets, from our homes, from everything that was my childhood. I saw young boys, thinking they were brave, split in twain as the attackers stepped over the corpses, trailing death. What I remember most was the sound. The crash of swords, the screams of the fallen, the crackle of burning. The details are hazy. We left Kooram in ruins when we saw that we were outclassed. I walked through fields of carnage to the caves, only to wake on the other side, in a mirror world, yet untouched.”
“The king, he asked that we come here. He said you had the answers, the only weapon we could use against him,” Seamus adds. My shattered body sits beside him, but my mind and my soul are still with the dead.
“I am an old woman, and a forgotten mage,” Alusia says. “I am also the keeper of secrets and memories. I do not forge steel. My only weapon is knowledge. But that I have in abundance, and I believe it is time Alondra take her share.”
She rises from the dusty chair and approaches. I sense my hands as they lift to take the book she offers; the leather cover is hardened, but smooth to touch. I run my hand along the spine and trace the embossed seal.
“Please take this to your room. You will need time, and you will need privacy. When you are done, I will be waiting for your questions.”
Dream Cast:
Alondra
A princess of a kingdom lost in time and wrapped in secrets. Snarky and difficult, because life has always been easy, she is unprepared to be the leader she needs to be when her city falls.
Seamus:
A trained assassin tasked with keeping his own city, and all the cities of the kingdom, safe. Betrothed to Alondra for diplomatic reasons. Much kinder than his profession reveals.
Layla:
A young girl trained to be an assassin, sent to kill the son of the king. Her hopes rest on succeeding in her quest, because if she fails, there is no alternative but death.
Tevlin:
The mysterious man who captures Alondra’s heart on a night before the world fell apart. His eyes whispered secrets, but they may be secrets that led to the ruin of everything she held dear.
About the Author:
Sarah Daltry writes about the regular people who populate our lives. She's written works in various genres - romance, erotica, fantasy, horror. Genre isn't as important as telling a story about people and how their lives unfold. Sarah tends to focus on YA/NA characters but she's been known to shake it up. Most of her stories are about relationships - romantic, familial, friendly - because love and empathy are the foundation of life. It doesn't matter if the story is set in contemporary NY, historical Britain, or a fantasy world in the future - human beings are most interesting in the ways they interact with others. This is the principle behind all of Sarah's stories.
Sarah has spent most of her life in school, from her BA and MA in English and writing to teaching both at the high school and college level. She also loves studying art history and really anything because learning is fun.
When Sarah isn't writing, she tends to waste a lot of time checking the internet for pictures of cats, shooting virtual zombies, and simply staring out the window.
She has written several books, most notably
Bitter Fruits, an urban fantasy in the
Eden’s Fall series,
Backward Compatible: A Geek Love Story, and the six book New Adult
Flowering series, including
Forget Me Not, Lily of the Valley, Blue Rose, Star of Bethlehem, Orange Blossom, and
Ambrosia.
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