Excerpt: Stranger at the Gate (Prologue)
The infant wouldn’t stop crying.
Lothara tightened the sling she wore across her chest, bringing the infant closer to her body warmth, but the squalling continued, unabated. The tiny female was hungry.
“Hush, Little One.” Lothara thought her voice sounded harsh and raspy in the frigid December air. “It’ll be over soon enough.”
Over indeed. There was no possibility this tiny infant – born too soon – would survive a plunge into the icy waters below the Lower Falls of the River Danu.
The trees surrounding them were thick with hoar frost, and the sky was milky white. The snow beneath her snowshoes crunched in protest. It was not so deep as it had been in winter’s past, but it was deep enough to make the snowshoes necessary for this hateful journey.
Lothara tightened the sling she wore across her chest, bringing the infant closer to her body warmth, but the squalling continued, unabated. The tiny female was hungry.
“Hush, Little One.” Lothara thought her voice sounded harsh and raspy in the frigid December air. “It’ll be over soon enough.”
Over indeed. There was no possibility this tiny infant – born too soon – would survive a plunge into the icy waters below the Lower Falls of the River Danu.
The trees surrounding them were thick with hoar frost, and the sky was milky white. The snow beneath her snowshoes crunched in protest. It was not so deep as it had been in winter’s past, but it was deep enough to make the snowshoes necessary for this hateful journey.
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