Author(s): Cecilia Dart-Thornton

Fantasy

Jarred, recently come of age, is leaving the sun-scorched desert village that has always been his home. He sets out with a band of friends to explore the world - to see the mighty and beautiful kingdom of the north, a place he has only ever dreamed of - and to seek out the truth about his father, who came to the village a stranger and departed when Jarred was ten, never to return. But he left Jarred a powerful gift, an amulet that would protect him from all harm, and extracted from his son the promise that he would wear it evermore. And Jarred has done so, although he has come to recognise its mixed blessings. After the travellers are set upon in a ravine and several of their number sustain injuries, they seek shelter in the Marsh, a village of cool green water and dazzling beauty as different from their homeland as night and day. Here Jarred meets Lilith, and in a single moment he realises that his life cannot ever be the same again. But neither realises how closely linked their fates - and their past - really are. During a visit to Cathair Rua, the Red City, Jarred stumbles across the secret of the Iron Tree, and with it an unbearable truth about his father's identity. So begins an extraordinary journey, a chronicle of jealousy and revenge, of wickedness, broken promises and justice, of discovery and truth, and of love. First published 2004.