The Shepherd King, #2
Two Twisted Crowns
by Rachel Gillig
Contents
Prologue
Overview
Elspeth awakens or exists in a dark, dreamlike sea where time, memory, and self have nearly dissolved. Her repeated demand to be let out leads her to a black shore, where an armored, yellow-eyed man rescues her from the water and identifies her by name.
The prologue establishes a liminal, ominous setting and introduces a mysterious figure who has been waiting for Elspeth, suggesting her fate has shifted into a new and unsettling realm.
Summary
Elspeth drifts in a lightless, timeless sea beneath a sky blocked by heavy clouds. She feels no pain, fear, memory, or hope, and her body and the surrounding salt water seem to blur together.
As time loses meaning, one thought begins to persist in Elspeth's empty mind: she wants to be let out. The thought grows into speech, though her voice sounds broken and briny water fills her mouth.
A black beach eventually appears from the nothingness, and Elspeth sees an aged man in golden armor waiting on the shore. As the tide carries Elspeth toward him, her heavy wool dress drags her under the water before she can do more than cry out.
The man pulls Elspeth from the water and carries her onto the black sand. Elspeth cannot stand, but the stranger recognizes her and says he has been waiting for Elspeth Spindle, revealing that her arrival in this strange place was expected.
Who Appears
- Elspeth SpindleDrifts in a dark sea, desperate to be let out, then reaches a mysterious shore.
- Unnamed man in golden armorAged, yellow-eyed figure who rescues Elspeth and says he has been waiting for her.