Grayfall
On the brink of grasping power, the other two parts of Serathea’s power tripod, the Throne and the Priesthood, are reluctant to risk civil war, but if Rai’s foes can secure the Chanters Guild’s Memory Archives – Serathea’s most sacred treasure and the kingdom’s legacy – the tenuous balance of power would shift and Rai’s life would be forfeit.
Accompanied by her pocket-tiger – familiarly, a p’tiger – a fierce, fully detailed tiger small enough to sit on the palm of a woman’s hand, Rai is escorted from the capital, Currendor, to Grayfall, a village near the base of an enormous waterfall of the same name.
The waterfall is mysterious – it doesn’t go anywhere. Neither lake nor river are formed by the cascade; it simply disappears into the ground.
The fate of the kingdom forms the backdrop and mirrors Rai’s challenges in Grayfall.
Truth adorned is untruth.
Rai, the daughter of a prostitute, faces the internal conflict of overcoming that upbringing, as well as the loneliness and bitterness of being exiled. Her past is tainted by choices that have brought her fame, at the expense of truth: She has achieved popularity by taking the memories entrusted to her and making them what her audience wants to hear. Thus, threads of deceit are woven into the fabric of her fame. Fueling her bitterness is the irony that, when confronted by a memory that compels her to be truthful, she brings about her own exile.
In Grayfall, she forges friendships and makes enemies, not only the target of the Priests, who seek once and for all to tip the political balance the realm, but also of a rogue memory-chanter who, if he can’t persuade her to join him, will seek to destroy her.
And the mystery of the Grayfall and its dangers are never far away.
Ultimately, she discovers the truth about the waterfall, and finds truths – and strengths – about herself.
Truth shared is legacy
Serathea is a land of unrest, shrunken from its former glories, beset on its borders, teetering on the brink of civil war, a people who have lost their way. The advent of a strong new king after generations of aimless leadership has given hope for lasting peace.
Truth unspoken is still truth.
Rai is a memory-chanter, a rare individual who can summon memories from anything. All beings leave a trail of memory-energy and she can tap and interpret this energy, turning it into stories or songs to educate or to entertain. At the pinnacle of her success, adored by the masses, Rai uncovers a shocking truth about the lineage of the heir apparent and chooses to reveal it. The succession is threatened. The prospect of renewed chaos looms.
For telling the truth, she is sent into exile. Her foes would kill her if they dared, but their hands are stayed by her enormous popularity and the power of the Chanters Guild.
