Trinity Rising: Book Two of the Wild Hunt (Wild Hunt Trilogy 2) (66 page)
Read Trinity Rising: Book Two of the Wild Hunt (Wild Hunt Trilogy 2) Online
Authors: Elspeth Cooper
And then it was done. Sixteen pledges given to the Chief of Chiefs. A war band more than forty-five-thousand strong, if the other Speakers had given her accurate numbers of men under arms. Drwyn had his warriors and she would have her war.
He stood up, the enspelled spear cradled on his arm, and looked at his chiefs.
‘My brothers,’ he declared. Like his father’s, his voice was strong and resonant, and needed no subtle bending of the air to carry it. ‘This is a momentous occasion. For the first time in the history of this Broken Land, we are united in a common purpose. We speak with one voice and by all the Elder Gods I mean to make our voice heard. Tonight we feast!’
That met with a roar of approval from the watching warriors.
‘In the morning, my Speaker will ask Maegern’s Hounds to show us the way to victory. We will fall upon our enemies as the wolf falls upon the lamb.’ He thrust the spear up towards the bright spring sky. ‘And we will take back what was ours!’
It’s been a hard, lonely road this one. The first book was a fluke, a mix of white-hot creative fury and time. The second was born in much the same way, but on its journey to completion it had to fend off illness, unrealistic expectations, attacks of self-doubt and all the other demons that assail the new novelist when faced with doing it all over again, only better – oh, and this time, to deadline.
As with any journey, friends have helped share the burden, especially Greta, Jenny, Mags and Jo, whose continuing faith in me never fails to both humble and inspire. Much love also to Mum and Dad, my brother Ian and niece Mia. Special thanks go to my redoubtable agent Ian Drury, my editor Gillian Redfearn and all the team at Gollancz, without whom etc.
But most of all I want to thank my husband Rob, who not only manages to live with the snarling monster that is me in a creative funk, he also picks the monster up when she stumbles, makes her laugh when she feels like crying, and brings her endless cups of tea. Every writer should have one.
Also by Elspeth Cooper from Gollancz:
Songs of the Earth
A Gollancz eBook
Copyright © Elspeth Cooper 2012
All rights reserved.
The right of Elspeth Cooper to be identified as the author of this work has been asserted by her in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.
First published in Great Britain in 2012 by Gollancz
The Orion Publishing Group Ltd
Orion House
5 Upper Saint Martin’s Lane
London, WC2H 9EA
An Hachette UK Company
This eBook first published in 2012 by Gollancz.
A CIP catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library.
ISBN
978 0 575 09621 9
All characters and events in this publication are fictitious and any resemblance to real persons, living or dead, is purely coincidental.
No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or transmitted in any form or by any means, without the prior permission in writing of the publisher, nor to be otherwise circulated in any form of binding or cover other than that in which it is published without a similar condition, including this condition, being imposed on the subsequent purchaser.
