Mabon
The Clandestine Chronicles
Book One
Kellie M Davies
Genre: Paranormal Romance
Publisher: Aurora House Publishing
Date of Publication: September 2018
ISBN: 978-0-6481851-7-8
ASIN: B07HF18BY5
Number of pages: 227
Cover Artist: Simon Critchell
Tagline: Let the Magick in.
Book Description:
Magick or Love.
If both ran deep in your blood, which would you choose?
On her sixteenth birthday, introvert Lucy DeBane can’t shake the memory of her father’s death, or the possibility that by day’s end a life altering ancestral truth will blow apart the world she knows. Lucy is sure of one thing, her feelings for Gil ... tall, dark and hot ... her first real love.
So when she hears the chiming of ancient bells and her family’s secret is revealed, Lucy must make a decision ... become a DeBane witch, or walk away from family for love.
Is there a way she can have both?
‘Davies weaves together a complex tale of magic and romance in this sweeping adventure.’ ~ Fiona Horne
Excerpt:
The stone was cold as we descended the stairs, but the room was not. I became aware of the alcoves lining the curved wall. Each held a
squat white candle and a small vial of what I was told was frankincense – for
the cleansing, purification and spiritual aspects of my initiation. The room
was lit with hundreds of white pillar candles, many looked as if they were
floating, a trick of the eye I presumed.
The wine cellar - original swept dirt floor,
Mom’s heirloom chaise lounge and side-table, her collection of wines aging row
after row - had never looked the way it did tonight. Racks were now covered in rich burgundy
draped velvet,excluding one, which had bottles, but I guessed they held
something other than wine by the way my sisters scuttled back and forth from
that particular rack - choosing a bottle then emptying a dash of its contents
into a large cauldron that sat dead center in the room. It frothed and bubbled
as if being heated over a fire, but there was nothing underneath it, only the
soft glow of moonlight pouring over it from the open roof above.I could see the
moon was complete but hidden behind a filmy wisp of fairy floss cloud, awaiting
it’s unveiling.
“Self heating cauldron. Doubles as central
heating.” The twins, giggled. They looked at me with wide smiles, trying to
contain a fizzing excitement that appeared to spark back and forth between. It
was contagious, the tiny fluttering in the pit of my stomach had begun to
escalate and with it I recognized the faint tinkling of chimes underlying my
excitement.
“Mom,” I squeezed Dana’s soft hand with unintentional vigor, causing
her to flinch. “The chimes have started again.”
“I thought they would,” she dismissed my
comment with a nod of her head, and led me to a chair. “Sit down here until we
are ready for you.” As she smiled, broad and gentle, she pulled me in for a warm
hug. “This is an amazing event for you Little Soul.” She combed my hair back
from my face in a single move, as if it had been the mere shadows of her
fingers in my hair. “All of my girls, touched by the craft.” Her eyes began to
mist. “Who ever thought we would be blessed so?”
And with that she yanked several hairs from
my head.
“Yeow,” I sulked rubbing at the inflicted
site. “Necessary?”
“Sorry Lucinda. I don’t think you would have
given them to me if I had asked, now would you?” Dana quickly crossed the room
to the cauldron and threw the hairs in. Her lips moved in incantation.
“Probably not,” I whispered under my breath.
My ‘bald spot’ still stinging, I sat down to watch the proceedings. I had seen
Abi and Mat work simple spells, usually in the chaos of their room, and I had
seen my mother work more complex ones in our kitchen, but I hadn’t seen any of
the rituals that took place here. I wasn’t interested. Maybe somewhere buried
in my subconscious, I truly believed in what my family did but I didn’t think
this line would choose me, yet here I was swathed in a white robe, seated on
the edge of my stool, awaiting my inheritance.
Kind of cool?
Very.
My sisters, having finished their concoction,
were now standing close together chatting about their weekend plans. It was
comical that they were discussing social plans dressed from head to toe in
plain black hooded robes, cinched in at their waists with white silk cords,
their feet bare. I wondered what Dion and Frankie would say seeing their
girlfriends like this.
“Girls are you prepared to begin?” My mother
added a few more ingredients to the caldron which turned the steam a shimmering
shade of royal blue.
The
twins stepped forward and filled two tiny decorative phials with the steam,
double quick, and replaced them on the altar. The cauldron was pushed into a
large recess in the wall
“Let us begin.” As my mother spoke these
words, the room flooded with the hoary luminosity of the exposed full moon and
I almost jumped right out of my skin.
Gliding across the cellar floor, my mother
stopped in front of the altar, a table covered with a pure-white cloth
embroidered with more symbols. They were Theban, and with my fresh thirst for
knowledge of our craft I knew studying this alphabet would be my first assignment. I was told the
letters, embroidered in a shiny pewter thread, symbolized the Universe.
With her back to me, I could only see its
handle, Dana’s athame, her personal three foot long ritual sword, was being
unsheathed. With a splatter collection that illustrated the deliciously
dangerous, I had somewhat of a fascination with death …. and blood … and
knives.My sisters had spoken in whispers about this sword, it’s not really
something you bring up at a Sunday lunch though, and as Dana’s athame had never
crossed my eyes before, the suspense was killing me..
Dana moved to the center of the moonlit
circle. She held her athame out high at arm’s length for presentation and I was mesmerized by an iridescent-silver
light that rippled from the handle to the point then back again.Dana clasped
the sword between both hands and a strange contentment crossed her features as it pulled
her hands down until it rested, tip down, on the dirt floor.The dull thudding
of my heart accelerate as my mother walked away from the sword, left balancing
upright
All three witches took their places. Dana
stood in the north quarter in front of the altar stretching her hands out for
the twins to take in theirs. She pressed on their hands and they all smiled at
each other. Abi snatched a wink in my direction and my pulse quickened.
The ritual, my initiation ritual, was
about to begin.
About the Author:
Kellie M Davies was born and lives in Sydney, Australia with her husband and two children. After University and a long period away from writing, she began to dabble with words again. Stories flowed and from the mess of manuscripts that cluttered her computer files, Lucy’s story rose.
Posts
1 comment:
Hey there,
Just a quick note to thank you for hosting me during my Bewitching Book Tour - I’ve had a blast!
I hope to be welcomed back again for the book cover reveal of my second book in The Clandestine Chronicles ‘Yule’.
Kindest Regards
Kellie M Davies
Post a Comment