Unguilded
Jane Glatt
Author Bio
I am a fantasy novelist who lives in a downtown Toronto condo with a lake view – as long as I’m standing on a chair looking out her bedroom window. I have been writing fantasy for over ten years but reading it for much longer – ever since I read The Hobbit and the Lord of the Rings trilogy in grade school.
The Humber School for Writers helped me hone my writing skills. I also have a BA in Sociology from Western University and a Certificate in Marketing from Ryerson which I put to good use dreaming up the worlds and characters I writes about.
An avid cyclist, I love to pedal along the shores of Lake Ontario and have even taken my cycling as far afield as Ireland, Austria and Hungary.
My latest novel Unguilded – from Tyche Books – is loosely based on Venice of the twelfth and thirteenth centuries and the very strong guild system that existed the. Kara’s magical ability is based on synesthesia, a condition where the senses somehow are mixed so that people “see” sound, for instance.
My Brotherhood of the Throne trilogy “Thief”, “Healer” and “Queen” can be found in ebook format on your favourite book etailer site.
Description
At 16, Mage Guild born Kara Fonti still has no magic. Arabella, Kara’s ruthless and absent mother, visits and urges her daughter to do the unthinkable; run away to live outside the guild system rather than become a servant – or worse – to those with power.
During a harrowing escape through the mountains Kara realizes that although she can not do magic, she can see it. She meets and strikes a bargain with Mika, an unguilded traveler who promises to take Kara to Rillidi, the capital city. Kara finds refuge on Old Rillidi, the original island city and the only island neither created by magic nor controlled by one of the guilds. A small band of children take Kara in and she finds a place with them, using some of the skills she learned while in Mage Guild.
For safety, the small band moves uncomfortably close to the estate of the mad mage, a man whose uncontrolled spells have caused major destruction over the years. Kara discovers that the mad mage is Santos Nimali, once the most powerful man in the country. Santos has been cursed into his madness and Kara can undo the spells that make him mad. She trades removing the curses for a safe place for her and her friends and Kara finally feels that she has found her place in the world.
Then an innocent trip to the market exposes Kara’s talents to Reo Medina, one of Warrior Guild’s best Assassins. Reo tracks Kara down; he wants to use her abilities to help him avoid the early death that is a hallmark of his trade. With no real choice, Kara reluctantly agrees. But when Reo betrays her she rescinds her offer of help. Furious and desperate to prove to her that she needs him, Reo takes Kara to Mage Guild Island to meet the Mage who wants him to assassinate her. It’s Arabella and Reo is horrified to learn that she’s Kara’s mother. Arabella tries to kill them both.
Reo and Kara must find a way off Mage Guild Island and back to the safety of Old Rillidi and Santos Nimali. But can they even stay alive?
Book excerpt
“Hurry!”
Kara Fonti scrambled up the narrow stairs after her mother.
“Which room is yours?”
“Here.” Kara brushed past her mother’s rigid figure to the small door at the end of the hall. She opened the door, revealing an even steeper set of steps. “Be careful,” she told her mother. “The ceiling is low.” Uneasy, she paused on the stairs. Her mother had wanted to see her room—to watch the sunset, she’d said–but Kara didn’t think she’d travelled so far for a view.
“Keep moving,” her mother said, her hands firm on her daughter’s back.
Kara stumbled up the half dozen stairs that led to her room, ducking to avoid the low ceiling.
Kara’s room was the smallest in the house, barely large enough to hold her pallet and small desk and chair. The low sloping ceiling had been perfect for the eight year old Kara, the Kara who’d held such promise, the Kara they’d all had such hopes for.
Now she could only stand up straight when she stood at the foot of her bed. At sixteen, she’d outgrown her room – and everyone’s hope.
Her mother, Arabella Fonti, frowned and, with eyes so dark they looked black, scanned the cramped space. With more grace than Kara had ever managed, she glided to the chair.
“So,” her mother said as she settled herself. “You’ve failed again.”
“I’m sorry, Mother,” Kara said, gazing at her feet. She was used to the shame of failure – or so she’d thought before she’d had to face her mother.
“Don’t call me that,” her mother snapped. “You may call me Donna Fonti or Donna Arabella.”
“Yes, Donna,” Kara said. Her mother had come to visit – for the first time ever – but it wasn’t out of love.
Arabella Fonti was even more beautiful than Kara had imagined. She was tall, although not quite as tall as Kara, and her long black hair gleamed against pale, smooth skin. Her mother turned her head and in the sunlight that streamed in through the small window, her eyes flashed a deep purple.
Resigned, Kara looked down at the smooth orange tiles of the floor. Her mother was here – filled with disapproval and disdain – because she’d failed the test, again. And now that she was sixteen she had no more chances.
“Now I have to come back here, to the villa I’d hoped to never set foot in again.” Arabella glared at her and a purple mist swirled around her angry features.
“I’m sorry,” Kara repeated.
And she was. Every year since she’d turned eight she’d waited for the Guild Tester to come. Every year she was sure that this year would be different – this year her talent would show itself. Instead, every year the Guild Tester left in a shimmer of blue with a promise to return next year. And Kara was left to deal with the disappointment of her father and the bitterness of his not-quite wife.
“You’re sorry,” Arabella said.
Kara flinched at the venom in her mother’s voice.