About The Blind Prophecy
by Jamie Lowe
250 pages / 56400 words
ISBN: 978-1-61040-037-4
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Prince Meilyr of Aurendale doesn't get along with Nicholi, the oracle of his country's matron goddess, or Nicholi's barbarian lover, Ein. But after King Reagan is assassinated and Prince Meilyr's own life is threatened, there is no one else he can turn to. Nicholi and Ein put aside their dislike for the prince to deliver him to the safety of his loyal soldiers, but the situation turns even more dangerous when the prince finds himself attracted to the lovers. The trio has to learn to work together to get Prince Meilyr to the border before his kingdom falls apart. Can they make it in time, or will their feelings get in the way?
Review
Angela Benedetti, author of A Hidden Magic, writes: The kingdom of
Aurendale is plagued with problems, between internal politics and border
raids from the outside. King Reagan is ignoring the advice of the
kingdom's patron goddess, and Nicholi, the goddess's chief priest, is
worried that doing so will bring disaster. The elder of King Reagan's
two sons, Crown Prince Meilyr is, if anything, worse than his father, a
point which becomes immediately relevant when King Reagan is
assassinated.
Jamie Lowe has created some likeable characters, particularly in the
blind priest Nicholi, and his companion and bodygaurd Ein. Characters
with disabilities are rare in fiction, and it's good to see an author
who's willing to create a character with a significant disability, let
him be competent and confident rather than an object of pity, and not
"fix" him by the end of the story. I liked that Ein took care of Nicholi
when necessary, yanking him out of the way of assassins' swords and
such, but didn't try to baby him or overprotect him under normal
circumstances.
I also thought the method she came up with for having the goddess
communicate with Nicholi was creative and interesting. She sends the
scents of flowers and herbs and other aromatics, and Nicholi has
memorized meanings for each. It's not as clear as getting a memo from
the deity -- which would've made things too easy and less fun for the
reader -- but it works well and lets Nicholi show that he's put some
effort into the memorization and interpretation. He's not just a passive
conduit for her messages; he has to understand what's going on in order
to correctly interpret the goddess's answers, and upon one significant
occasion he's bewildered by what he scents. (It might or might not be
obvious to the reader what the goddess is trying to say, but knowing
more than the characters can be a very entertaining, in and of itself.)
Ms. Lowe has done some enjoyable work here, and I look forward to seeing
what she offers us in the future.
Sample
Ein rolled his eyes slightly, sure that the king did
not have anything groundbreaking or new to offer. It would make the
government appear inefficient if he said something that startled his
advisors in front of such a huge group of people, so if he tuned the speech
out he would likely not miss anything but flowery words and half-truths.
Instead, he focused on their surroundings. For some reason, he felt uneasy
and he couldn’t explain exactly why.
There was an empty seat where General Slone should have been sitting, but he
had gone with the soldiers to the border. He was going to lead the attack on
Kinpesh as soon as the king sent word.
His dark eyes darted to Chancellor Airell who, like usual, had a tablet in
his hand writing down every word to leave the king’s mouth. He also was
fidgeting, something no self-respecting Chancellor would do. He seemed
nervous about something and Ein wondered if something really was wrong.
Perhaps Prince Brend would know and he could get Nicholi to ask later.
On the chancellor’s left, at the king’s right hand as usual, was Prince
Meilyr. He seemed perfectly content to be in his place, giving the people a
look that was a mix of magnanimity and arrogance. How anyone could pull off
both, Ein wasn’t sure. Unless one of them was a lie and if so he would bet
it was the former. The spoiled crown prince looked like a peacock in his
colorful clothes with the gold trimming. Whenever he saw people dressed like
that, it always pissed him off. In his home country of Sigmund, people were
starving. He had been one of five children and no one in his family had ever
had enough to eat. Yet one of the prince’s jeweled rings could feed them all
for five years.
It was infuriating.
Instead of listening to the king’s boring speech, Ein let his eyes wander,
looking for something to catch his attention. He stood at the end of a line
of royal guards, a separate branch of the military formed to protect the
king and his heir. They answered directly to the general when he was there,
but Ein wasn’t sure who was in command now that he was gone.
The royal guards were all rigidly trained, but something was wrong with
their line. A soldier was standing too far ahead and seemed to be inching
closer to the line of chairs. How did no one else see him? None of the other
guards were reacting to snatch him back into the line. He narrowed his eyes
and watched closer. The stray guard’s hand was moving slowly closer to the
handle of his sword.
“Someone grab him,” he whispered to the guy standing next to him, but the
guard just brushed him off. “Hey, did you hear me?”
People were starting to fuss in the crowd about the guard moving up behind
the council’s chairs. One man up near the stage tried to get Prince Meilyr’s
attention but he just stared over him, not giving him any attention.
Ein saw his lover perk up and tip his nose into the air. “Your Majesty!”
Nicholi called, “Look out!”
The guard pulled his sword in an instant and broke through the line of
chairs, moving up behind the king and ramming the sword through his body.