The Way of Edan (The Edan Trilogy, #1)

by Philip Chase

Dayraven knew the song, for Urd had taught it to him when he was young. It told how Folcwalda and his people broke out of Ellond over the Theodamar River and conquered the now vanished kingdom of Riodara, a name forgotten, but Urd told him it once was among the mightiest of the kingdoms of the Andumae. The land that had been Riodara became Torrlond, whence the folk of the Mark came. Folcwalda made himself King of Torrlond, and Ellond he gave to his eldest son, Fullan. Hence the kings of Torrlond and Ellond, descendants in unbroken lines from Folcwalda, were kin. Such glory placed Folcwalda among the greatest of heroes in all of Eormenlond’s history. His was a story of bravery and new beginnings, and Dayraven wondered if the old woman sang it to strengthen him. He did not feel brave, and his own new beginning seemed more like an end.