A tyrant occupies the Fae Palace and the only woman who could stop him is hiding in Kentucky, drinking wine with a Milton scholar.
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About the Book
Sabrina and the Lady
The Comus Duology Book One
by Sonya Lawson
Publishing 25 February 2022
Genre: Fantasy
Page Count: 312
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A tyrant occupies the Fae Palace and the only woman who could stop him is hiding in Kentucky, drinking wine with a Milton scholar. But that might be a good thing.
Sabrina, a small-town academic, spends her days teaching and hanging out with the kind but somewhat mysterious best friend she met a few years ago. Her life is steady, maybe even a little dull. Until her friend’s family arrives. Suddenly, Fae is no longer a fictional place. Magic is real. And, oddly enough, Sabrina’s knowledge of a 1634 play may hold the key to saving Nin and her realm.
Nin landed in Kentucky after escaping her captor, the tyrant she once loved. The human realm is calming for her, with moments of joy, but she hates how she hides who and what she is from Sabrina. When Nin’s family unexpectedly arrives at her greenhouse, a series of events force her to share her secrets and grapple with her place in Fae — past, present, and future.
Sabrina and Nin must trust in their friendship, themselves, and John Milton’s Comus to survive in Fae and save the realm from ruin. If they cannot, terror and destruction will reign far beyond the Fae Palace gates.
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Excerpt
“I bound you to me through a spell. Simple, but effective and lasting,” Nin stated dully, before getting up and joining the rest of the group in the living room. She sat crossed-legged in the middle of the floor, staring right at Sabrina but staying away from her to give her physical space. “It is a Fae edict, one of our most ancient and one that is never changing: no human can know of us unless they are bound to a specific Fae. If I had not vowed to take you as mine, Gin would have healed you, and Serge would have cleared you. Meaning you would not have remembered anything: your injury, the scene in the greenhouse, the Fae, or me. It would have been like the last two years were a haze to you, with me removed. It was selfish to do without your clear consent, and I will not blame you for your anger, as it is deserved. I could not imagine you out of my life. I just found your friendship, and I… I still need it.” That last bit she said with a hung head, as if she were shamed by what she had done or the fact that she needed Sabrina.
“Oh, hon,” she said, tears in her eyes. “It’s hard to imagine something that would wipe you from me. You’re strong in here.” Sabrina thumped her chest when Nin looked at her. “In a perfect world, would I have liked a convo first? Yes. Did you do what you had to do in the moment so we could keep each other? Also yes. Can’t be too mad about it because I probably would’ve done the same. Now we move forward and deal with any fallout. Which gets me back to my initial question, which again, hasn’t been answered. What does it mean, really?”
“We just told you what it means,” Mo said in a huff.
“Mo, she has no frame of reference for us. She is a thinker, Nin’s Sabrina. It is obvious,” Gin said through a smile.
Sabrina felt the need to defend herself. “In general, I ask a lot of questions. Often. This whole situation is different, though. I have no idea what is happening or how your world works or what magic entails or any number of things. So I’ll be asking many, many, many questions throughout all of this.” She eyed Mo, then cut away with a haughty sniff. Two could play his games. “Best get used to it now.”
“Fire and bravery. Saw it before in the greenhouse. Still there. I like it,” Serge purred.
“Now is not the time, Serge,” Nin said in a voice that implied she’d repeated that phrase so many times in her life she’d lost count.
“Back to the issue of magic and meaning,” Gin inserted before the old sibling back-and-forth ramped up. “The binding is rather simple, but strong. When Nin said the specific words, while holding a part of you and having a bit of your blood — all of which was because of your fall — it literally bound your fate in Fae with Nin’s fate in Fae. It is not an issue here, in the human realm. Not even an issue if Nin returns to Fae and you stay here in the human realm, with the sole exception that other Fae who encounter you here must consider you as they would Nin and treat you accordingly. However, if you ever go to Fae, you will be extended magical protection, a shield of sorts, that is part of Nin’s Fae life force offered over freely to you in the act of binding. It means you have some immunity from everyday Fae magics that often negatively affect the average human and are less open to physical damage done by magic. It also gives you enough life force to make Fae’s environment non-toxic for you, something that unbound humans in Fae have serious issue with overall.”
“Okay. It gives me some protection from Fae here and a lot of protection if I ever go to Fae. That’s it?”
Nin added more. “You may feel my feelings more acutely when we are in close proximity. And I yours. Our connection is a physical and metaphysical thing in some respects now. There are legal and customary things about it within Fae, but those are not important to you. You will not be going to Fae.”
“We’re not bringing her with us? How sad,” Serge pouted.
“There is no going to Fae, for Sabrina or me,” Nin snapped. “Was it not clear earlier? I. Am. Not. Returning. If I am not returning, Sabrina obviously will also not be going. Even if I did return, she would stay here. It is far too dangerous for her right now.”
About the Author
Sonya Lawson (she/her/they) is a recovering academic currently writing fantasy and other forms of speculative fiction. While she remains a rural Kentuckian at heart, she currently lives in the Pacific Northwest. She fills her days with writing, editing, reading, walking old forests, and watching sitcoms or horror films. You can find more information about current projects and upcoming releases on her website.
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I love the cover. The colors and graphics are great!