The Witches Of Eileanon

By

Kate Forsyth

"The Witches Of Eileanan" is a wonderful tale about betrayal, and hatred.

Ms. Forsyth begins the tail with Isabeau meeting a friend of her mentor, Megan. They are witches who are living in exile because the wife of the current Righ had them declared to be traitors and the whole order was arrested and tortured or killed. The friend of Megan, Seychella is there so they can test Isabeau for admittance into the Coven. With these two are also Jorge, a blind seer and Isabeau's mother. Isabeau tested well, becoming a Sorcerer of Fire. The magical energy attracted the attention of the Righ's Guards who attacked the witches. With them was a Mesmerd, a vile creature which drains the life of a person. The fight allows Jorge, Megan, and Isabeau to escape. Seychella is killed. The group leaves the valley they were in and splits up. Megan heads up Dragonclaw and Isabeau heads toward the capital to meet with another witch.

Along the way Isabeau meets with the leader of the underground, the Righ's youngest brother. She rescues him from a group of guards lead by a Seeker. She steals the Seeker's horse and flees, leading the guards on a merry chase through the forest. She escape, only to be caught entering a city. She is able to escape the dungeon, by blunders into the Grand Questioner. He tortures her and she causes a heavy iron rack to fall from the ceiling and kill him. She is tried for witchcraft and convicted. To execute her, she is thrown into the loch and fed to the serpent which lives there. She survives and is helped by another of Megan's friend to heal and move on to the capitol.

Megan, meanwhile, talks the dragons into destroying the guards coming to kill them without ravaging the countryside. The dragons do this and introduce Megan to Isabeau's twin sister, Iseult. She was raised in the Spine Of The World by nomads. At eight, she was given into the care of the dragons for six months of each year to be instructed in magic. She and Megan begin to travel to the capitol to meet with Isabeau. Along the way they meet with the Righ's brother who informs them of Isabeau's capture and death. Megan later find out that her death wasn't real and they continue to the capitol.

This was a good book, being the first in a trilogy. The only thing I didn't like was the heavy Scottish accent all the characters had. It made following the conversations hard at times and it wasn't used in the thought sequences of the characters. I did enjoy it and recommend it highly. It is a good story.