Evensong's Heir

by L. S. Baird

Overview

For centuries in the Temple of Valnon, young men have paid a tremendous price to be chosen as Songbirds. Every twelve years, a new Lark and Thrush are castrated for their heavenly voices, but few men have ever been capable of claiming the title of Dove: the holy avatar of Saint Alveron himself. In the six hundred years since the Temple's founding, Willim is only the third to buy the Evensong with his blood. A virtual prisoner of the Temple for the duration of his term, Willim pays little heed to anything but his duty to sing for Valnon. That all changes with the murder of the Songbirds' loyal bodyguard and Willim's rescue by Nicholas Grayson, a sell-sword who brings whispers of Temple scandal and ancient prophecy in his wake.

Plagued by ghosts and nightmares, betrayed by a fellow Temple Bird and forced into exile, Willim struggles to unravel the tangled history of his title in the hopes of understanding what it truly means to be Valnon's Dove. With his friends scattered and Valnon poised on the brink of war, Willim's only hope lies in summoning the ancient power of his saint: to Sing Down from Heaven a music that can fell an army in its tracks, or wipe a city from the surface of the earth. But the song of Saint Alveron is as unpredictable as it is powerful. Whether Willim's Song will bring salvation for his city or the destruction of everything he holds dear, only Heaven knows.

Product Details

BN ID:	2940044473164
Publisher:	L. S. Baird
Publication date:	04/14/2013
Sold by:	Smashwords
Format:	eBook
File size:	414 KB

About the Author

Leah S. Baird is a native of Kentucky and a graduate of Berea College with a degree in Theater. She has been by turns a weaver, a costume designer, a tour guide, an animal handler, a jewelry maker, an actor, a switchboard operator, a corporate drone, and a cash register jockey. She has been telling stories all her life, including the one when she was seven about how it was totally someone else that drew on her jeans with magic marker. She's been getting into trouble over her stories ever since, up to and including getting married because of them.

Currently she lives in Maryland with her partner, Joy, their cat, Tseng, and their action figure collection, Legion. She is a dragon-year Cancer, a believer in mountain folk magic, a player of video games and a baker of cookies. She is not the famous silent film star you will find when you google her name. She enjoys dressing up as other people and talking about herself in the third person. Her hair is often pink. You've probably read some of her fanfic.