The Silver Falcon
Authors: Katia Fox
Also by Katia Fox:
The Copper Sign
The Golden Throne (forthcoming)
Text copyright © 2008 by Verlagsgruppe Lübbe
GmbH & Co. KG, Bergisch Gladbach
English translation copyright © 2013 by Aubrey Botsford
Interior illustrations and maps copyright © 2008 by Franz Vohwinkel
All rights reserved.
No part of this book may be reproduced, or stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without express written permission of the publisher.
The Silver Falcon
by Katia Fox was first published in 2008 by Bastei Lübbe in Köln, Germany, as
Der silberne Falke
. Translated from the German by Aubrey Botsford. First published in English in 2013 by AmazonCrossing.
Published by AmazonCrossing
PO Box 400818
Las Vegas, NV 89140
ISBN-13: 9781611090369
ISBN-10: 1611090369
Library of Congress Control Number: 2013900606
For MaPa
Near Saint Edmundsbury, October 1184
Near Sevenoaks, December 13, 1184
Just outside Saint Edmundsbury, 1185
April 14, 1188 Three Days before Easter
Elmswick Castle, Winter 1191–92
Near Saint Edmundsbury, October 1193
Oakham, April 1199 The King Is Dead! Long Live the King!
Saint Edmundsbury, November 1199
Near Saint Edmundsbury, March 1202
Canterbury Castle, Early January 1204
Dear Reader,
I am delighted to present my second novel, and with it I invite you to accompany me to the twelfth century. Allow yourself to be transported back to the fascinating world of knights and nobles and their favorite pastime: falconry. If you have read
The Copper Sign
, I’m sure you will be glad to hear more about William, the swordsmith’s son. If you don’t yet know
The Copper Sign
, I warmly recommend it.
Do you like history? Would you like to peep behind the curtain for a view of the novel from behind the scenes? If so, don’t miss the Closing Remarks at the end.
Now, make yourself comfortable and follow me…
With best wishes,
Katia Fox
I
n the days when gods still lived on Mount Olympus, Hera gave birth to a boy and named him Hephaestus. When she saw that the child’s feet were deformed, she was ashamed of him and tossed him off Olympus. The boy plummeted down toward the sea, but instead of being smashed against the jagged cliffs, he was caught by Thetis and Eurynome. They were the daughters of Oceanus, god of the sea, who had also raised Hera. The two sisters kept the boy with them, hiding him in a grotto for many years.
Hephaestus grew up and learned to be a blacksmith, using the volcano as a natural forge. He fashioned fine jewelry, gorgeous palaces with golden maidservants, and exquisite, sharp swords for Achilles, the brave warrior. And yet Hephaestus was not happy; he desired revenge on his mother. He forged a golden throne and had it brought to her. When Hera sat in it, she was immediately gripped by golden shackles. No one could free her, so the gods decided to summon Hephaestus back to Olympus. He refused. Ares tried to bring him back by force and failed, but Dionysus managed to get him drunk and lead him back to the circle of the gods on Olympus.
And so Hephaestus, the god of blacksmiths, allowed himself to be reconciled, and he released his mother from the shackles of her throne. And it seems he forged some very special arrows for Eros…
