Gillian Philip - Rebel Angels Series - Frost Child, Firebrand, Bloodstone, Wolfsbane. (YA) - Kindle & ePub - Eilidh-4

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A short novella - the prequel to FIREBRAND.

Sithe captain Griogair MacLorcan is his queen’s fighter of choice, skilled and ruthless at clearing her glens of the vile Lammyr. He is not used to them coming back, so when they defiantly return, holding a young Sithe girl captive, Griogair doesn’t hesitate to rout them and free the child.

But the girl Lilith has been a long time with Lammyr, and keeps secrets of her own.

The most vulnerable of creatures can be the most deadly.

A prequel to Gillian Philip’s acclaimed FIREBRAND, FROST CHILD tells how Seth’s parents Griogair and Lilith met - and the first deadly consequences.
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Seth MacGregor is the half-feral, bastard son of a Sithe nobleman. It’s the last decade of the sixteenth century: a time of religious wars and witch-hunts in the full-mortal world. But the Sithe are at peace – until their queen, Kate NicNiven, determines to destroy the protecting Veil.
When his father Griogair is assassinated, and Seth is exiled with his brother Conal to the full-mortal world, they vow to survive, to return to reclaim their fortress and save the Veil.
But even its power can’t protect the brothers when the witch-hunts begin...
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We shouldn’t be here. We said we’d never cross the Veil, that we wouldn’t come home till we found the Stone. But we’d given no oath. So we lied. So what? As if we could live without breathing our own air once a decade. Kate NicNiven must know that as well as we did. But if our queen wanted to kill us, she’d have to find us first… For centuries, Seth and Conal have hunted for the Bloodstone Kate wants, without success. Homesick, and determined to ensure their clann’s safety, they’ve also made secret forays across the Veil. One of these illicit crossings has violent consequences that will devastate both their close family and, eventually, their entire clann. In the otherworld, Jed Cameron – a feral, fullmortal young thief – becomes entangled with the strange and dangerous Finn MacAngus and her shadowy uncles. When he is dragged accidentally into the world of the Sithe, it’s nothing he can’t handle – but that’s before time warps around him, and the danger reaches out to threaten his infant brother. In the collision of two worlds, conflict and tragedy are inevitable – especially when treachery comes from the most shocking of quarters.
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It’s tough being the foretold saviour of your race. Rory MacGregor, kept a virtual prisoner in his own father’s dun and hunted by the Sithe queen, needs a break now and then - and what better fun than tearing the Veil no one else can tear, and escaping to the Otherworld? In that dangerous Otherworld, Hannah Falconer is as trapped by circumstance as the strange wild Sithe boy whose horse nearly kills her. When Rory tricks her into crossing the Veil and entering his own world, she’s sure it can’t be any worse than her usual home life... Meanwhile, Seth MacGregor is fighting to keep his clann safe from the malevolent queen Kate. When an attack comes after years of stalemate, he is shocked to discover who is leading it…and who else is conspiring against him. Will the cunning and experience of five hundred years be enough to confront the threat? And how many friends, and how many lovers, is Seth willing to sacrifice to keep his son?
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