The interesting thing about sequels is the fact that I have to keep straight who knows what, especially the history of the Wild Hunt. I'm having to reference Heart's Desire often enough to be very happy about Word's "find" feature.
When the Hunt was bound by the Council a century before, the Hounds numbered sixteen. After the binding, the Hounds numbered six, and the Council refused to allow Gabriel to add to his ranks.
Now that the Hunt is free, Gabriel can do what he likes, of course, but he has no true desire to build up his Hunt again. The "new and improved" Wild Hunt isn't very wild after a century of servitude, and others have noticed. They think the Hunt weak after living at the beck and call of human wizards for so long.
One in particular, whose history intertwines with the history of the Hunt, has decided that the Council's precious balance cannot be tolerated any longer. But to overthrow the Council, he will have to destroy the Wild Hunt first, and Gabriel will not relinquish his hold quietly. In fact, this usurper will discover that the Hunt hasn't been tamed by the Council.
Of course, to complicate things, Lucas, the highest ranking Council member, is on vacation in Faerie, and Niklas, the only other active Council member and a dragon, is embroiled in a messy succession (and partly the happenings in The Tenth Ghost, but that comes a bit later.) The third Council member is in ill-health and cannot be relied on for help.
So Lucas has placed Michael in charge, with the order that he work with Sarah as much as he can, and that they contact Niklas if anything goes wrong. And of course, Michael has only been free for six months and does not think he is up to the challenge of being in charge. Sarah is still learning about the magical end of things, and they both are trying to work through their feelings for each other without ending up with disastrous results.
This is going to be an interesting novel to write.
When the Hunt was bound by the Council a century before, the Hounds numbered sixteen. After the binding, the Hounds numbered six, and the Council refused to allow Gabriel to add to his ranks.
Now that the Hunt is free, Gabriel can do what he likes, of course, but he has no true desire to build up his Hunt again. The "new and improved" Wild Hunt isn't very wild after a century of servitude, and others have noticed. They think the Hunt weak after living at the beck and call of human wizards for so long.
One in particular, whose history intertwines with the history of the Hunt, has decided that the Council's precious balance cannot be tolerated any longer. But to overthrow the Council, he will have to destroy the Wild Hunt first, and Gabriel will not relinquish his hold quietly. In fact, this usurper will discover that the Hunt hasn't been tamed by the Council.
Of course, to complicate things, Lucas, the highest ranking Council member, is on vacation in Faerie, and Niklas, the only other active Council member and a dragon, is embroiled in a messy succession (and partly the happenings in The Tenth Ghost, but that comes a bit later.) The third Council member is in ill-health and cannot be relied on for help.
So Lucas has placed Michael in charge, with the order that he work with Sarah as much as he can, and that they contact Niklas if anything goes wrong. And of course, Michael has only been free for six months and does not think he is up to the challenge of being in charge. Sarah is still learning about the magical end of things, and they both are trying to work through their feelings for each other without ending up with disastrous results.
This is going to be an interesting novel to write.
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