Destiny: Child of the Sky

Plot summary

As the novel opens, Rhapsody and Achmed set out to save children sired by the F'Dor's minion, the Rakshas, from the damnation that carrying the Rakshas's blood (and through it, the F'Dor's) conveys. Achmed, lacking Rhapsody's selflessness, seeks the blood in the hopes that he can use it to track and identify the F'Dor. The journey is successful, though Rhapsody is almost killed when promised reinforcements fail to arrive and she is left nearly naked in wintry conditions. After the children of the Rakshas are purified through extraction of the demon's blood, Achmed returns to his kingdom of Ylorc. Rhapsody travels to the nearby city of Bethany to attend a state wedding and covertly liaison with her lover, Ashe. Though Ashe is delayed fighting the F'Dor's minions (who sought to wreak chaos during the wedding), the celebration goes off without flaw. On the way back to Ylorc from Bethany, Rhapsody is met by Ashe's father, Llauron, a fourth-dragon and leader of one of the two major human religions. Llauron stages a ritual duel with one of his own followers (corrupted by the F'Dor), feigning his own death. Rhapsody, as an unknowing part of Llauron's plan, immolates him in starfire with the blade Daystar Clarion, unlocking Llauron's dragon nature and allowing him to, by shedding his humanity, attain both greater longevity and power. Ashe, enraged at the F'Dor's minion (and at Llauron's callous use of Rhapsody), destroys the traitor in a fiery display of power.

Meanwhile, in Ylorc, Grunthor discovers a secret sect of Bolg (the monstrous citizens of Ylorc) - the Finders, who are compelled to seek artifacts of the previous inhabitants of Ylorc. In the process, Grunthor discovers the treasure which the Finders unknowingly sought - the Great Seal of Canrif, a horn which summons all the Cymrians (survivors of the lost land of Serendair) when it is blown.

Rhapsody goes to Tyrian to hide from the world, frustrated and shamed at her self-perceived failure to protect Llauron. In the process, she re-lights the diamond crown of the Lirin, accidentally fulfilling a generations-old prophecy and, accordingly, becoming Queen of the Lirin. At her coronation, attended by the most powerful and influential people in the neighboring countries, Achmed finally identifies the F'Dor: the Blesser of Bethe Corbair, Lanacan Orlando. Realizing that the F'Dor intends to possess Rhapsody, Achmed assassinates the Patriarch, leader of the other major human religion, to provide a distraction. Roughly a month later, Achmed, Rhapsody, and Grunthor travel together to Bethe Corbair, defeating the F'Dor after a very close battle. Rhapsody is worried, however, by the demon's insinuations: that she had unknowingly had sex with the Rakshas, in the guise of Ashe. She grows more concerned in the weeks that follow, as she starts to feel a knot growing in her belly.

To seal a lasting peace in the wake of the F'Dor's death, Rhapsody travels to the Great Bowl just outside Ylorc, wherein the Cymrian Council had convened in times past. Blowing the Great Seal, she calls the Cymrians into a third Great Moot, wherein she plans to re-establish the old Cymrian Alliance, traditionally led by a Lord and Lady. Despite opposition from the previous Lady Cymrian, the Seer Anwyn, Rhapsody is (to her own surprise) confirmed as Lady Cymrian. Ashe is, after more debate, named Lord Cymrian; a fact which causes Rhapsody no little concern, as she, though loving him, had thought him wedded to another for purposes of state. Ashe convinces Rhapsody that, in fact, Rhapsody was his wife (through a complicated series of events at the end of the previous book), and furthermore informs her that the F'Dor had lied when it claimed the Rakshas had intercourse with her (the growth of her belly was revealed to the product of a 'seed of doubt'.) Anwyn, infuriated by her rejection, steals the Great Seal, calls up a legion of the dead, and transforms into a dragon to wreak havoc. She is defeated by Achmed, though the Cymrians suffer considerable losses, and a new age begins.

Characters