Darkspell

Darkspell
Katharine Kerr

Book Two of the celebrated Deverry series, an epic fantasy rooted in Celtic mythology that intricately interweaves human and elven history over several hundred years.Inextricably bound to the fate of the land, Nevyn, Rhodry and Jill struggle to unite the humans of Deverry with the mysterious and once-hostile race of ElvesBut the sinister and powerful sorcerers of Annwn know that any alliance between the two races will threaten their own evil dominion – and so they strike out against the union in an uneasy alliance of dark forces.Now the ancient and cunning wizard, Nevyn, must rescue his comrades and the destiny of Deverry – and save himself from Annwn’s deadly magic…

KATHARINE KERR

Darkspell

New Revised edition

COPYRIGHT (#ulink_5f72dcd5-ef76-5bfa-95f8-e4b093523f45)

HarperVoyager

An imprint of HarperCollinsPublishers Ltd. 1 London Bridge Street London SE1 9GF

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First published in Great Britain by GraftonBooks 1988

Copyright © Katharine Kerr 1987

Revised edition © Katharine Kerr 1994

Katharine Kerr asserts the moral right to be identified as the author of this work

A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library

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Source ISBN: 9780007333813

Ebook Edition © APRIL 2015 ISBN: 9780007391936

Version: 2017-04-25

DEDICATION (#ulink_793ed4a3-dd0a-5c68-8ef7-d3a5fb5e1c7c)

For my father, Sergeant John Carl Brahtin, 1918–44, who died fighting to free Europe from a worse evil than anything a novelist can invent.

MAP (#ulink_56cc7109-1960-512d-8ef7-13ea1a817dd2)

CONTENTS

Cover (#u95a06260-df2e-5e3b-9fb8-774914c0b6fe)

Title Page (#u90fa8c3e-bd4e-5462-9737-728a47c7fa3e)

Copyright (#ulink_e23befa8-6d05-50bf-9c7a-9e9b6a4ced70)

Dedication (#ulink_ea6490e7-5972-5ac4-b531-67d01d362e26)

Map (#ulink_2aed945a-7a3a-5b47-afe6-b4a5aa3215f9)

Pronunciation Notes (#ulink_2fa6af47-85cf-53a4-a398-3099d76395cc)

Prologue: Autumn, 1062 (#ulink_52585acb-9117-59d5-8193-51373620f0b4)

Deverry 733 (#ulink_4ea27f54-0f3a-536e-a5ed-15433c97595b)

Interlude: Spring, 1063 (#litres_trial_promo)

Cerrmor and Eldidd 790–797 (#litres_trial_promo)

Summer, 1063 (#litres_trial_promo)

Epilogue: 1062 (#litres_trial_promo)

Keep Reading (#litres_trial_promo)

Appendix A: The Characters and their Incarnations (#litres_trial_promo)

Appendix B: Glossary (#litres_trial_promo)

Acknowledgments (#litres_trial_promo)

About the Author (#litres_trial_promo)

Also by the Author (#litres_trial_promo)

About the Publisher (#litres_trial_promo)

PRONUNCIATION NOTES (#ulink_6f7bbfe8-aefc-5517-b28d-5ca4282b1b50)

The language spoken in Deverry, which we might well call Neo-Gaulish, is a member of the P-Celtic family. Although closely related to Welsh, Cornish, and Breton, it is by no means identical to any of these actual languages and should never be taken as such, just as the Deverrians themselves are quite different from any historical Celts.

VOWELS are divided by Deverry scribes into two classes: noble and common. Nobles have two pronunciations; commons, one.

A as in father when long; a shorter version of the same sound, as in far, when short.

O as in bone when long; as in pot when short.

W as the oo in spook when long; as in roof when short.

Y as the i in machine when long; as the e in butter when short.

E as in pen.