Synopsis: Ironbound / Liberys / Blood-Bond / Silent Antagony / Liquor of Life / The Key / The Canvas

*** Ironbound ***

Shunned by those of her village who believe her birth was the cause of her mother’s leaving behind an embittered husband, a toddler son and a newborn daughter, Ghetlan soon discovers that “life rarely keeps time with our personal wishes.” She, like her mother, has been chosen by The Elementals to bear their gifts. Yet, unlike her mother, a third level, silver-banded mage who embraces and accepts her lot in life, Ghetlan grudgingly accepts the lessons she will need to use once life-bonded in the service of a king as a rare sixth-level, steel and iron magus.

***Liberys***

What happens to all those books and scrolls which, over the ages, no one ever reads again? To her horror, Liberys, the lonely bookish daughter of a Scottish noble, learns the true meaning of what those mysterious sounds in her father’s library portend for her future when she finds a doorway that leads to a land of wonder and a place of magic known only as The Library.

***Blood-Bond***

Born with the gift of healing, which as been passed down through her mother’s female line for generations, Ílyne vows she will never marry or bear children in order to force the curse of the blood-bond, which sickens the bearer when near enough to smell exposed male blood until after she is married and bedded. The trouble is she is the daughter of the Duke of Essencaire’s steward and her best friends are Dunard, the duke’s heir and Abelard, the man expected to eventually become his right hand. On top of it all, she and Dunard secretly harbor deep-seated feelings for each other. After the duke dies and his son takes his place as the new duke, Ílyne, unwilling to sully Dunard’s line with her blood-curse, convinces herself that she is far too low in status and so can never think of becoming his duchess. Dunard, on the other hand, will take nothing short of acquiescence from her with regards to their union. What’s a poor girl to do?

***Silent Antagony***

A boy goes about regaining the throne lost to him when his father and mother are murdered by his uncle, his father's bastard half-brother and general of his armies. Rescued by two trusted family retainers, he and his sisters are raised to know the truth of what happened. Trained in various occupations and tutored as the royalty they are, the siblings ensconce themselves within their usurping uncle’s castle and ready themselves for the day when they will take back what is rightly theirs.

***Liquor of Life***

Jevan, a solitary farmer and woodsman, finds a strange woman who appears to be sleeping next to the edge of a streambed near his house. The trouble is she is naked. Who is she? What does her appearance augur for his life?

***The Key ***

A young woman brings a special object as part of her dowry to her marriage with the Duke of Sauveterre – a key. Though none outside her immediate family has ever seen it, it is known to have been passed down through their family line for generations. It is rumored to be able to bring those possessing it great prosperity, something her family has enjoyed for longer than any can remember. Through any means possible, others vie for domination within the realm and openly try to force her to open the box her maidservant carries.