Hello readers! As promised, I’m dumping some more character concept doodles before releasing the new edition of Sylvre later this year. For those of you that bought the original version, I’ll be making the new edition available for free for a limited time, so you can easily replace it. Stay tuned for more updates!
And Ada is…?
Ada provides the fifth perspective in Sylvre, the second book in the Highmoor series. The story revolves around the four main protagonists on their interwoven journeys, but the fifth perspective provides an outsider viewpoint as they travel to new parts of the world. Ada comes from the forested Sylvre Kingdom (there’s the name of the book!) and has been left to govern it – or what remains of it – following the death of the king and his family in an elvish invasion twenty years ago. The elves now claim the forest as their own, and have let the trees overrun the old principal cities. All human survivors have fled to a narrow strip of land between the mountains and the sea, and they cannot oust the elvish occupiers on their own.
Ada frequently visits the rich, desert empire to the north to request aid for her people. In her spare time, she tries to track down the true heir to the Sylvre throne. The Sylvre royal bloodline is the oldest in the world, and should be easily traced; every worthy successor to the throne possesses a unique birthmark which only appears when they become first in line. It’s an efficient way to settle inheritance disputes, to say the least – and according to legend, it was devised by the goddess of the forest herself. The mark has never appeared on Ada or her family, so she has never declared herself queen. Instead, her subjects call her the Sylvre Stewardess, and they wait for the return of their rightful ruler.
The story starts with the sudden reappearance of the Sylvre heir in the distant, windswept land of Highmoor – and Ada is immediately suspicious. Highmoor is hundreds of miles from the Sylvre Kingdom, across the sea. How could any of the king’s descendants have ended up there? To the Emperor, however, this is of little consequence. He has been biding his time, waiting for the Sylvre birthmark to present itself. And now that it has, he believes he has the gods’ blessing to force the elves out of the forest and return it to human hands – restoring the Sylvre Kingdom to its former glory.
Ada is keen to bring her subjects home. Still, she can’t help but doubt the veracity of the birthmark. Is it a plot devised by the Emperor? Or by the wizards from the moors? The last thing she wants is for her kingdom to become an extension of the empire, losing its autonomy. So, she sets out on a mission to learn the truth – to uncover the origins of one (or more) of our protagonists.
If any of this piques your interest…
The first three books in the Highmoor series are available on Amazon: https://www.amazon.co.uk/C-W-Clayton/e/B09YZXSQ3D.
The first instalment, Highmoor, is available in paperback and on Kindle in its definitive second edition. Sylvre and Synwyr are currently in their beta editions on Kindle only – but Sylvre will have a definitive second edition and paperback before the end of the year! I’m currently working on the fourth and final instalment.
Happy reading, and have a lovely week!
Links:
C. W. Clayton books on Amazon: https://www.amazon.co.uk/C-W-Clayton/e/B09YZXSQ3D
My Amazon author page: https://www.amazon.co.uk/stores/C.-W.-Clayton/author/B09YZXSQ3D (you can also follow me on Amazon if you want)
Highmoor series maps: https://cwclaytonauthor.co.uk/highmoor-series-maps/
Highmoor series art: https://cwclaytonauthor.co.uk/highmoor-series-art/
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