Mists of Velvet

gather. When they find the amulet and bring it back, our roles in this prophecy may be set forth.
    To aid the nine immortals, the Sacred Trine will be revealed—women whose virtues are Healer, Oracle, and Nephillim. Their powers complete the prophecy. Yet it is not only the warriors who wish to find the trine, but the master magician whose powers continue to grow stronger with each ritual of dark magick. The warriors must find and protect this Sacred Trine if they are to have any advantage over the mage. For if the mage finds these women, all will be lost.
    Thus far, the mage is winning, but in times of darkness, there is light, and with that light there is still hope.

    The Scribe of the Annwyn Chronicles

CHAPTER ONE

    The king was coming.
    Bronwnn sensed it. The trees whispered of his presence. The winds sang of his strength, and the evening air tasted of his power. Annwyn was alive, humming with the magical aura of the great Sidhe king.
    His approach was slow, deliberate, like a wolf stalking a stag. Without haste he came, seeking any and all advantage as he traversed the hallowed groves to the temple—a place he well knew would not fully welcome him; a place that would try to bend the king to the will of the leader of their ancient order. All this Bronwnn knew, for she was one of them—a member of the order of the goddesses.
    Long had the goddesses ruled Annwyn. For thousands of years, Annwyn’s many races had been united in their awe, enthralled by their beauty and mystery as well as their powers. But Bronwnn knew something her sisters did not. The order was changing. The Dark Times would see to that. Soon the old ways would change—out of necessity—to make way for a new order.
    Closing her eyes, Bronwnn focused on the elements that surrounded her. They spoke of this change, too. They showed her the shadowy image of a new and powerful being who far surpassed the magic of Cailleach, the Supreme Goddess. Did Cailleach know? Bronwnn wondered. Or was it yet another mystery she must keep hidden?
    A strange vibration hummed along her skin, and she opened her eyes to see the mist shrouding the sacred temple shimmer, then part, allowing the king’s progress toward the inner sanctum where the Supreme Goddess held court.
    Bronwnn did not need to hear the warning of the Sidhe king’s arrival murmured throughout the forest, for she had felt him long before the leaves shimmered above her, telling of his nearness to the temple.
    His was a power divined from the earth and the elements. His strength and magic preceded him, making him the most powerful force in Annwyn. Once, it had not been so. Once, the Supreme Goddess had been the most powerful, but Bronwnn had seen the subtle shift of power. Cailleach, of course, did not recognize it yet. But Annwyn did. All living creatures revered the king, bowed to his magic, and stood in wonder of the human queen whose powers made her husband so potent.
    Their union was a force no magic could have forged. They were destined to find each other, fated to love each other. For that was the way of mating in Annwyn. It was fated in the moon and stars, a destiny forged in the cosmos. No one could outrun his fate—nor want to. The desire to find and claim one’s mate was an irresistible force, and the Sidhe king was as helpless before his own destiny as any other creature in Annwyn.
    It was said there was one special soul to match every living thing in the world. One could live lifetimes before crossing paths with one’s soul mate, but in the end, the two destined spirits would finally make their way to each other, just as the king’s and queen’s spirits had merged despite one being human and one Sidhe. The new queen had made her king powerful.
    Even now the earth seemed to pulsate with the king’s authority, and soon all in Annwyn would pledge their fealty to the Sidhe king, and to his eight warriors.
    She had seen it. She did not doubt this vision. It was only a matter of when, for it would happen. Her gift did not lie.
    Sitting on the window ledge, Bronwnn gazed out from her spot high in a temple chamber, watching the clear waters of the meandering river snake toward the horizon, where they would eventually tumble over a waterfall. The climb up to the temple was steep, and the terrain treacherous, designed as it was to protect the ancient order housed within these thick stone walls. A castle supposed to be a sanctuary for her kind, it had never felt like a safe haven for her.