Jennifer Roberson - CotC 8 - A Tapestry of Lions.pdf - Jennifer Roberson - margozap

The Chronicles of the Cheysuli:

An Overview

THE PROPHECY OF THE FIRSTBORN:

"One day a man of all blood shall unite. In peace.

four warring realms and two magical races.

Originally a race of shapechangers known as the

Cheysuli, descendants of the Firstborn, Homana's

original race, held the Lion Throne, but increasing

unrest on the part of the Homanans, who lacked

magical powers and therefore feared the Cheysuli,

threatened to tear the realm apart. The Cheysuli

royal dynast voluntarily gave up the Lion Throne

so that Homanans could rule Homana, thereby

avoiding fullblown internecine war.

The clans withdrew altogether from Homanan

society save for one remaining and binding tradi-

tion: each Homanan king, called a Mujhar, must

have a Cheysuli liege man as bodyguard, council-

lor, companion, dedicated to serving the throne

and protecting the Mujhar, until such a time as

the prophecy is fulfilled and the Firstborn rule

again.

This tradition was adhered to without incident

for nearly four centuries, until Lindir, the only

daughter of Shaine the Mujhar, jilted her prospec-

tive bridegroom to elope with Hale, her father's

Cheysuli liege man. Because the jilted bridegroom

was the heir of a neighboring king, Bellam of So-

linde, and because the marriage was meant to seal

an alliance after years of bloody war, the elope-

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ment resulted in tragic consequences. Shaine con-

cocted a web of lies to salve his obsessive pride,

and in so doing laid the groundwork for the anni-

hilation of a race.

Declared sorcerers and demons dedicated to the

downfall of the Homanan throne, the Cheysuli

were summarily outlawed and sentenced to imme-

diate execution if found within Homanan borders.

Shapechangers begins the "Chronicles of the

Cheysuli," telling the tale of Alix, daughter of

Lindir, once Princess of Homana, and Hale, once

Cheysuli liege man to Shaine. Alix is an unknown

catalyst bearing the Old Blood of the Firstborn,

which gives her the ability to link with all lir and

assume any animal shape at will. But Alix is

raised by a Homanan and has no knowledge of her

abilities, until she is kidnapped by Finn, a Chey-

suli warrior who is Hale's son by his Cheysuli

wife, and therefore Alix's half-brother. Kidnapped

with her is Carillon, Prince of Homana. Alix learns

the true power in her gifts, the nature of the

prophecy which rules all Cheysuli, and eventually

marries a warrior, Duncan, to whom she bears a

son, Donal, and, much later, a daughter, Bronwyn.

But Homana's internal strife weakens her de-

fenses. Bellam of Solinde, with his sorcerous aide,

Tynstar the Ihlini, conquers Homana and assumes

the Lion Throne.

In The Song of Homana, Carillon returns from

a five-year exile, faced with the difficult task of

gathering an army capable of overcoming Bellam.

He is accompanied by Finn, who has assumed the

traditional role of liege man. Aided by Cheysuli

magic and his own brand of personal power, Caril-

lon is able to win back his realm and restore the

Cheysuli to their homeland by ending the purge

begun by his uncle, Shaine. Alix's grandfather. He

marries Bellam's daughter to seal peace between

A TAPESTRY OF LIONS

the lands, but Electra has already cast her lot with

Tynstar the Ihlini, and works against her Homa-

nan husband. Carillon's failure to father a son

forces him to betroth his only daughter, Aislinn,

to Donal, Alix's son, whom he names Prince of

Homana. This public approbation of a Cheysuli

warrior is the first step in restoring the Lion

Throne to the sovereignty of the Cheysuli, required

by the prophecy, and sows the seeds of civil

unrest.

Legacy of the Sword focuses on Donal's slow as-

sumption of power within Homana, and his per-

sonal assumption of his role in the prophecy.

Because by clan custom a warrior is free to take

both wife and mistress, Donal has started a Chey-

suli family even though he will one day have to

marry Carillon's daughter to cement his right to

the Lion Throne. By his Cheysuli mistress he has

two children, lan and Isolde; by Aislinn, Carillon's

daughter, he eventually sires a son who will be-

come his heir. But the marriage is rocky immedi-

ately; in addition to the problems caused by a

second family, Donal's Homanan wife is also

under the magical influence of her mother, Electra,

who is mistress to Tynstar. Problems are com-

pounded by the son of Tynstar and Electra, Strahan,

who has his father's powers in full measure. On

Carillon's death Donal inherits the Lion, naming

his legitimate son, Niall, to succeed him. But to

further the prophecy he marries his sister, Bron-

wyn, to Alaric of Atvia, lord of an island kingdom.

Bronwyn is later killed by Alaric accidentally

while in /ir-shape, but lives long enough to give

birth to a daughter, Gisella, who is mad.

In Track of the White Wolf, Donal's son Niall is

a young man caught between two worlds. To the

Homanans, fearful of Cheysuli power and inten-

tions, he is worthy only of distrust, the focus of

Jennifer Roberson

their discontent. To the Cheysuli he is an "un-

blessed" man, because even though far past the

age for it, Niall has not linked with his animal.

He is therfore a lirless man, a warrior with no

power, and such a man has no place within the

clans. His Cheysuli half-brother is his liege man,

fully "blessed," and lan's abilities serve to add to

Niall's feelings of inferiority.

Niall is meant to marry his half-Atvian cousin,

Gisella, but falls in love with the princess of a

neighboring kingdom, Deirdre of Erinn. Lirless,

and with Gisella under the influence of Tynstar's

Ihlini daughter, Lillith, Niall falls prey to sorcery.

Eventually he links with his lir and assumes the

full range of Cheysuli powers, but he pays for it

with an eye. His marriage to Gisella is disastrous,

but two sets of twins are bom—Brennan and Hart,

Corin and Keely—which gives Niall the opportu-

nity to extend his range of influence via betrothal

alliances. He banishes Gisella to At via after he

foils an Ihlini plot involving her, and then settles

into life with his mistress, Deirdre of Erinn, who

has already borne Maeve, his illegitimate

daughter.

A Pride of Princes tells the story of each of Niall's

three sons. Brennan, the eldest, will inherit Ho-

mana and has been betrothed to Aileen, Deirdre's

niece, to add a heretofore unknown bloodline to

the prophecy. Brennan's twin. Hart, is Prince of

Solinde, a compulsive gambler whose addiction

results in a tragic accident involving all three of

Niall's sons. Hart is banished to Solinde for a year,

and the rebellious youngest son, Corin, to Atvia.

Brennan is tricked into siring a child on an Ihlini-

Cheysuli woman; Hart loses a hand and nearly his

life in a Solindish plot; in Erinn, Corin falls in

love with Brennan's bride, Aileen, before going to

Atvia. One by one each is captured by Strahan,

A TAPESTRY OF LIONS xiii

Tynstar's son, who intends to turn Niall's sons

into puppet-kings so he can rule through them. All

three manage to escape, but not until after each

has been made to recognize particular strengths

and weaknesses.

For Keely, sister of Niall's sons, things are dif-

ferent. In Daughter of the Lion, Keely herself is

caught up in the machinations of politics, evil sor-

cery, and her own volatile emotions. Trained from

childhood in masculine pursuits such as weap-

onry, Keely prefers the freedom of choice and life-

style, and as both are threatened by the imminent

arrival of her betrothed, Sean of Erinn, she fights

to maintain her sense of self in a world ruled by

men. She is therefore ripe for rebellion when a

strong-minded, powerful Erinnish brigand—and

possible murderer—enters her life.

But Keely's battles are increased tenfold when

Strahan chooses her as his next target. Betrayed,

trapped, and imprisoned on the Crystal Isle, Keely

is forced through sorcery into a liaison with the

Ihlini that results in pregnancy. But before the

child can be born, Keely escapes with the aid of

the Ihlini bard, Taliesin. On her way home she

meets the man believed to be her betrothed, and

realizes not only must she somehow rid herself of

the unwanted child, but must also decide which

man she will have—thief or prince—in order to be

a true Cheysuli in service to the prophecy.

Flight of the Raven is the story of Aidan, only

son of Brennan and Aileen. Hounded in childhood

by nightmares, Aidan grows to adulthood con-

vinced he is not meant to hold the Lion Throne

after all, but is intended to follow a different path,

This path becomes more evident as he sets out to

visit his kin in Solinde and Erinn in order to find

a bride; very quickly it becomes apparent that

Aidan has been singled out by the Cheysuli gods

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xtv

to complete a quest for golden links personifying

specific Mujhars. In pursuing his quest, Aidan be-

comes the target of Lochiel the Ihlini, Strahan's

son.

Bound by their mutual Erinnish gift of kivama,

a strong empathy, Aidan and Shona of Erinn

marry. The child of this union wilt bring the Chey-

suli one step closer to completion of the prophecy,

and is therefore a grave threat to Lochiel. The Ih-

lini attacks Clankeep, kills Shona, and cuts the

child from her belly. Aidan, seriously wounded,

falls victim to epilepsy; in his "fits" he prophesies

of the coming of Cynric, the Firstborn. To get back

his stolen child, Aidan conquers his weakness to

confront Lochiel in Valgaard itself, where he wins

back his son. But Aidan realizes he is not meant

for thrones and titles; he renounces his rank, gives

his son, Kellin, into the keeping of Aileen and

Brennan, and takes up residence as a shar tahl on

the Crystal Isle, where he begins to prepare the

way for the coming of the Firstborn.

Prologue

In thread, on cloth, against a rose-red stone wall

gilt-washed by early light: Lions. Mujhars. Chey-

suli, and Homanan; and the makings of the world

in which the boy and his grand-uncle lived.

"Magic," the boy declared solemnly, more in-

tent upon his declaration than most eight-year-

olds; but then most eight-year-old boys do not dis-

cover magic within the walls of their homes.

The old man agreed easily without the hesita-

tion of those who doubted, or wished to doubt, put

off by magic's power; magic was no more alien to

him than to the boy, in whose blood it lived as it

lived in his own, and in others Cheysuli-bom.

"Woman's magic," he said, "conjured from head

and hands." His own long-fingered left hand, once

darkly supple and eloquent, now stiffened bone be-

neath wrinkled, yellowing flesh, traced out the intri-

cate stitchwork patterns of the massive embroidered

arras hung behind the Lion Throne. "Do you see,

Kellin? This is Shame, whom the Homanans

would call your five times great-grandfather.

Cheysuli would call him hosa'ana."

It was mid-morning in Shaine's own Great Hall.

Moted light sliced through stained glass case-

ments to paint the hall all colors, illuminating the

vast expanse of ancient architecture that had

housed a hundred kings long before Kellin—or

lan—was born.

16 Jennifer Roberson

The boy, undaunted by the immensity of history

Jennifer Roberson - CotC 8 - A Tapestry of Lions.pdf

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