Title: The Hunters and the Queen
Author: Virginia
Vayna
Genre: Paranormal
Romance / Historical Fiction
How do families become members of the aristocracy? Does the
universe choose them? Have you ever wondered what happened to Constantinople?
The Hunters and the Queen is a work of fiction in the young adult, urban
fantasy, and paranormal romance genres. The story blends elements of romance,
darkness, history, fantasy, aristocracy, and reincarnation.
Author Bio
Virginia Vayna was born in Dayton, Ohio. During 1999, she moved to Long
Beach, California, where she lived on a sailboat for three-years. She currently
holds a Bachelor of Arts in Political Science, and she is
completing a Master of Social Science. She has worked as a policy
researcher, a legal writer, and she currently works as a freelance copywriter.
Virginia enjoys writing historical fiction, fantasy, paranormal romance, mystery,
and YA.
Links
Excerpt: The Dream
A deep sleep washed over Jolán. She was in
such a slumber that she didn’t hear Crispus return home. Jolán didn’t hear the
conversations held by her brother, mother, and father; and she didn’t hear them
turn in for the night. The dream world had a hold of Jolán, and it wouldn’t let
her go.
As she dreamed, Jolán saw images of extreme
beauty; then, she witnessed pictures of extreme darkness. The darkness was so
strong that Jolán began to sweat and turn while she slept in her bed. Her sweat
drenched the back of her neck and dampened her hair. Jolán dreamed of beautiful
winged men dancing around water fountains while doing arabesques and throwing
red, pink, white, and deep blue rose petals into the fountains of rushing clear
water. In her dream, Jolán walked over to the fountain, and she picked up a
dark blue rose petal and held it in her hand. She watched the winged performers
dance around the fountains splashing petals wherever they danced. The sun cast
a sunbeam on to her cheeks. She felt a warm breeze blow all around her, and she
enjoyed the warmth of the sun on her face. While Jolán held the rose petal in
her hand, she smelled the petal and she loved the clean and lightly perfumed
aroma it held. As she closed her eyes and enjoyed the moment, a rather short
and round-figured man approached her by the fountain. The man had a pleasant
face with a short and neatly trimmed moustache. He scooped up water in his
palm, and the water turned a brilliant shade of purple. As Jolán stared at the
water in his hand, she watched as the water turned black, and then turned to
red, and then to yellow, and then finally the water turned back to a beautiful
shade of purple. As the man had his eyes locked on Jolán, he studied her
beauty, and he examined her curiosity.
When Jolán looked up and met the man’s eyes
she asked, “How did you do that?”
The man didn’t say anything, but instead he
reached behind Jolán’s left ear, and he pulled out a long willow branch with a
beautiful white dove perched on its limb.
Jolán let out a vibrant laugh and said, “Oh,
My! You’re a magician!”
The man slightly shook his head, indicating
that he was not a magician. Jolán looked at the white dove, and she reached out
to pet the bird’s head. The bird allowed Jolán to pet its head, and then the
bird started to coo in a subtle manner. Jolán thought she had never pet a bird
on its head before.
As the man allowed Jolán to continue petting
the bird, he looked at her and said, “I am Voipele. I am the spirit of the
forest. The Sky World created me to watch over all of the living creatures that
dwell within the boundaries of the woods, but I am having a hard time
protecting them right now.”
Jolán thought to herself “Wow, this is an
awesome dream,” but she didn’t say anything to Voipele. Instead, Jolán
continued to pet the dove.
Voipele continued to say, “The sky world
created you too, Jolán. We have the responsibility of protecting the elements
and the good spirits on Earth.”
Jolán nonchalantly replied, “I have a hard
enough time with my own responsibilities, Voipele. I don’t think a sky world
would have much use for me.”
Jolán turned inward towards Voipele, and she
thanked him for allowing her to pet his bird. She then walked away.
As Jolán walked by the water fountains, she
started to see the fountain water turn brown, and then she watched the water
turn to black. The dancing winged performers began to slow down, and then
freeze in motion. Once the performers were completely frozen, they solidified
into a concrete like substance. The once colorful rose petals were now all gray
and dry, and they lacked color and vibrancy.
Jolán heard her brother’s voice in the
distance, so she immediately began running towards his sound. As she ran, she
felt her heart beat; and she heard screams and voices calling her name. Jolán
ran faster to get to her brother, but she couldn’t see him, and she couldn’t
hear him anymore. All Jolán could hear were the sounds of pain, and the sounds
of awful screams.
No comments:
Post a Comment