(Book Five of the War Stories of the Seven Troublesome Sisters)
by S. R. Cronin
Genre: Historical Fantasy
Do you know what your problem is?
Celestine, the fifth of seven sisters, is tired of hearing about hers. Father thinks she’s frivolous because she likes pretty clothes and caters to the crowds in the taverns who adore her music. Mother thinks that because she’s the most social daughter in the family, she can’t keep quiet about anything.
They’re both wrong. Celestine hides a secret she has kept for most of her life.
As the family beauty and a talented musician with a lyrical voice, she has the best prospects for marriage to a prince. When such a liaison never happens, people assume Celestine is too choosy. But even in somewhat tolerant Ilari, a daughter hates to disappoint her family. How can she tell them she’s in love with a princess instead?
Lucky for Celestine, all her sisters are obsessed with an invading army headed to their realm. Celestine would rather ignore the threat and enjoy the freedom their lack of attention gives her. But, her voice can unlock a power that may help save Ilari. And the woman she loves is determined to fight these invaders. And her family, for all their talents, seems clueless about how to motivate the masses.
Celestine knows she can inspire the citizens of Ilari to do what needs to be done. Is it time to put her inhibitions aside and use her voice to save those she cares about?
~~~~~~~~~~~~~
EXCERPTS (Exclusive Excerpt):
“This is a feast for a prince.”
“Or a princess,” she laughed.
Something about the way she said it caught my attention.
“Neither of us fits that description.”
She looked at me. “Where I grew up, not every woman had the luxury of an education, much less the freedom to become an astronomer. You Ilarian women do not realize how lucky you are.”
“Lucky? Because we get to go to school? Don’t people everywhere force their daughters to do that?” I’d tried to be funny but she answered without the usual undertone of laughter in her voice.
“In my homeland, only the daughter of a ruler would be given the leeway to become a scientist. Yet I was so sheltered, I didn’t realize that most women my age already bore the burden of caring for a husband, a home, and several children. Study the stars? They were lucky to find time to wash their faces.”
“You ran away?”
“I did. After a marriage had been arranged for me. It wasn’t a horrible one, either, and such things were common. I was old enough, yet I was so set in my ways that I couldn’t bear the idea.”
“Why not tolerate him, take herbs, and have no children?” I asked. “That would have been easiest.”
She laughed. “We had no Velka, and no herbs. Child after child was the lot of every fertile woman.”
I sucked in my breath. No Ilarian was forced to marry or bear children, though most chose to do both.
“And after you left, that’s when your land was attacked?”
There. I’d brought up the one thing I’d wanted to never discuss with her.
She nodded.
“After nearly a year spent eluding my father’s soldiers and enduring hardships I’d never imagined, I returned home to beg forgiveness and accept my lot.” She gave a sad smile. “I grew tired of constant hunger.”
“But home was gone?”
“Nothing was left on the palace grounds except for the skeletons.” She closed her eyes and I didn’t want to conjure up the images she must have seen.
“Let’s not speak of it,” I said.
“I’d rather not. Would you hold me instead? Please.”
As she snuggled against me, trembling with her reawakened memories, I wondered about this unseen side to the confident woman I adored. This side was filled with sorrow. Fear. And need.
I did my best. I wrapped my arms around her and let her head rest on my chest the way my sister had once done for me. After a short time she sobbed, softly, while I stroked her hair and murmured whatever comforting words came. I tried humming a lullaby my mother had once sung. Funny, I didn’t remember my mother as the lullaby-singing type, yet there it was, the song I needed.
Sherrie Cronin writes stories about people achieving the astonishing by developing abilities they barely knew they had. She’s made a lot of stops along the way to telling these tells — living in seven cities, visiting forty-six countries, and working as a waitress, technical writer, and geophysicist. She’s lost too many beloved cats to mention, but has acquired a husband and three children who are all doing fine, despite how odd she is.
Today she lives in the mountains of Western North Carolina where she writes, answers a hotline, and occasionally checks her phone for a message from Captain Picard. She still hopes to get the chance to pursue her remaining dream in life and become Chief Science Officer on the Starship Enterprise.
Author Social Media Links:
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Author Blog: https://troublesome7sisters.xyz/
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