Vow of Lies

VOW OF LIES PROPHECY OF THE MAGE QUEEN BOOK ONE A. LONERGAN Copyright © 2023 by A. Lonergan All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any electronic or mechanical means, including information storage and retrieval systems, without written permission from the author, except for the use of brief quotations in a book review. For those of you that have ever had to fight to prove your worth. CONTENTS Chapter 1 Chapter 2 Chapter 3 Chapter 4 Chapter 5 Chapter 6 Chapter 7 Chapter 8 Chapter 9 Chapter 10 Chapter 11 Chapter 12 Chapter 13 Chapter 14 Chapter 15 Chapter 16 Chapter 17 Chapter 18 Chapter 19 Chapter 20 Chapter 21 Chapter 22 Chapter 23 Chapter 24 Chapter 25 Chapter 26 Chapter 27 Chapter 28 Chapter 29 Chapter 30 Chapter 31 Chapter 32 Chapter 33 Chapter 34 Chapter 35 Chapter 36 Acknowledgments Also by A. Lonergan About the Author CHAPTER ONE JUNIPER I tied my hair above my head and stared into the darkness. This was my life until the first bell of the day tolled, the bell that woke everyone up for their daily activities, if they weren’t already up. This was my life for the last twelve years. I served my court, my people, and then nothing else mattered. I was no one, I was nothing. All that mattered was my service. Then it finally happened, the first bell sounded and my feet were knocked out from under me. The bell tower was directly above my station and each day it stole my breath. The lights flickered on a few seconds later. I gasped for air when the bell finally came to a halting stop and my world was right again. My head would feel a little dizzy for a few minutes, but it wasn’t anything permanent. Even if it was? I had no room to complain. The Kingdom allowed me to live here, to serve them, how could I want anything more? My leather shoes scraped across the stone pavers as I walked to the door. I pulled my hood over my head and exited the only place I had called home since I was a child. It wasn’t often that I saw others, but when I did it was servants or courtiers, no one of noble birth.“Peace be with you,” I would mutter to them under my breath. Every day it was the same thing; until I went to my room for the night but some days there were people and other days there were empty hallways. I preferred the solitude most of the time, as it meant I didn’t have to pretend. But when I would return to my chambers, the lights would already be shut off and I would have to prepare for sleep in the darkness. There was no room for being vain while serving the kingdom. Which didn’t bother me now. In the beginning, it had. I cried for hours until I had fallen into a restless sleep. When I had awoken that first night, a woman was standing above me. “Good morning, child,” she said with a sneer. “You are a child of the Veil now. As you grow older you will become a servant of the Veil. Do you know what that means?” I had shaken my head no. I didn’t know why I was taken from my parent’s farm the night before. All I knew was that they were paid handsomely for me. Maybe they would make it through the winter without any problems because of the gold they had been gifted in exchange for my life. Maybe their lives would be easier now. But what did it all mean for me? “It means that you will serve this kingdom with everything you have, you will bless it with your presence. You will serve the new gods, you are a sacrifice to them, in a way.” I hadn’t understood her words and even now, as I walked through the hallways of the castle—I still didn’t understand. I never had any special training after that old woman had come to visit me. I was told to do the same thing over and over. Peace be with you was the only term I was taught. Other than that, I remained silent. That was why I preferred the solitude, I didn’t have to second guess myself or worry that I was doing the wrong things. “You will get dressed in the darkness, you are not to gaze upon yourself. You mustn’t grow vain as you age. You will then walk the halls and place a blessing upon those you pass.” I nodded my head. “No one will touch you, but if they do, you come to me immediately.” That had never happened. Everyone was too afraid to touch a child of the Veil and eventually a servant. When my first moon passed and the blood came, the old woman appeared again just like she had the first time. Throughout my blood moon I was to stay within my chambers, in the dark. When it was over, the lights would be returned and I would be able to clean up. The first phase had been the most difficult. I hadn’t been prepared for the pain that came with it or really anything about it. We weren’t permitted a pillow so I clutched my blankets to my chest and wept in the darkness. Water and bread appeared each morning by the door. The scent of the bread was the only indication that I hadn’t been alone for a moment. At first, I ate it greedily and gobbled it down but as the portions got smaller and smaller, I grew smarter. I rationed my bread and made sure I had enough to stretch out the days of my blood moon time. Which seemed to get longer and worse as the years passed. When my cycle was over, I piled up all the wasted blankets and sheets outside