Marie Bilodeau is an Ottawa-based author, TTRPG game writer, and storyteller. Her speculative fiction has won several awards and has been translated into French (Les Éditions Alire) and Chinese (SF World). Her short stories have also appeared in various anthologies and magazines like Analog Science Fiction and Fact and Amazing Stories.

Marie is also a storyteller and has told stories across Canada in theatres, tea shops, at festivals and under disco balls. She's won story slams with personal stories, has participated in epic tellings at the National Arts Centre, and has adapted classical material. She's also the chair of Ottawa's speculative fiction literary con, Can*Con. Find out more about Marie at www.mariebilodeau.com.

Oath Breaker by Marie Bilodeau

Avarielle Grayloft has survived two wars, the loss of family, and a battle against an ancient god. Her magical blade has sliced through monsters and gods alike, and she's no stranger to the tang of her own blood. But that blood runs cold when monsters return to her land after twenty years of peace.

Desperate to protect her son and her home, Avarielle reaches out to old allies for help: the most powerful queen in Graydon, and its highest-ranking sorceress. Together, the three women defeated the monsters once before, and Avarielle hopes they can do so again.

But Avarielle and her allies are not who they once were. The price they paid for their power was steep, and now they are linked by a dark secret forged in the blood of a god…a secret so deadly that it could shatter their world. And them.

CURATOR'S NOTE

Mother, warrior, legend…and oath breaker. I wrote this trilogy because I'm in my mid-forties and craves stories featuring middle-aged heroines (we still kick butt!). – Marie Bilodeau

 

REVIEWS

  • "They've claimed their power, embraced it, and been forever altered by it. Now, the time has come to use it. Highly recommended."

    – Julie E. Czerneda author of the Night’s Edge series from DAW Books

  • "Few fantasy tales in which mighty spells are hurled take you inside the magic, so you're along for the ride as wielders struggle and power transforms. I loved it, and can't wait for the next book!"

    – Ed Greenwood, Creator of The Forgotten Realms 

  • "The perfect start to a new series."

    – Booksirens Reviewer

  • "This book has a cast of strong female characters who are not in teenagers/in their early 20s, but women with families who try to protect the ones they love."

    – Booksirens Reviewer
 

BOOK PREVIEW

Excerpt

"And why won't you tell me why, or how, that happened?" Altessa sounded frustrated, like a child wanting so badly to understand herself. "Why won't you tell me why I'm not powerful like you were?"

Altessa's eyes shone with unspent rage and frustration. Her daughter, gifted in understanding magic, according to Shirina, had so far been unable to tap into the powers of Graydon as she had been. Possibly because of the lack of the amulet. Possibly because it was all locked away in the Wall of Loss.

Was that why she kept the amulet from her? Or was it as a shield, protection for herself? Perhaps a link back to her beloved Edoline?

"Altessa, I—"

Her daughter cut her off with a splash of golden hair as she turned around, grabbing Rojon.

"Let's go," she said. The young man didn't argue, following behind her, slamming the door behind them. Her eldest daughter had her temper and restlessness.

Wonderful.

"I love being a mom," Cassara muttered.

"Me, too," Avarielle answered.

"Wine?"

"Wine."

"Seriously," Avarielle said as she headed to the kitchen and grabbed a bottle and glasses, as familiar with this place as Cassara. "What are we going to do about them? I doubt they'll just decide to let this go."

"I'm sorry." She winced. "My daughter can be a handful."

"She can," Avarielle took a sip of wine. "She reminds me of you."

Cassara smiled, then grew serious. "Would it be such a bad thing? Telling our children our secrets?"

"I've considered it," Avarielle admitted. "But the wider we grow the circle of knowledge, the more people might know."

"But if we don't tell them, they'll relentlessly pursue this."

"Are you sure they won't if we tell them?" Avarielle said. "You remember what we were like, thinking we could change the world?"

"And we did."

Another sip of wine.

"We did. But the world doesn't need changing right now, does it? Just some realigning?"

"We changed the world, Avarielle. Did we save it, though? Or did we just delay the inevitable? Would it be wiser to get extra help?"

"Which help? Rojon can't wield Graysword, and Elihor's magic would see him dead, like it did his father and his grandfather. And Altessa might pull magic from the Wall of Loss if her magic comes from the same well as yours, which Shirina isn't certain it doesn't."

Cassara hesitated, swirled the wine in her glass, the dark color reminding her of the amber of Siabala's Rage. She put the glass down, no longer interested.

"Look." Avarielle sat back. "We taught our children how to protect themselves. Rojon can fight, though I much prefer he stick with his studies. Altessa can shoot a bow like you, and that'll do for now. And they're smart, and apparently, they'll look out for each other." She paused. "Or drag each other into trouble, I suppose." She leaned forward. "We did our part back then, and we left some things unfinished. Now it's up to us to finish them so that our children can know the peaceful life we never could."

Her words made sense, and Cassara had played the same argument in her mind over and over again. But still, it bothered her. Her parents had kept secrets from her, which had almost seen her killed. And she kept secrets from her children, in the hopes of protecting them and all of Graydon.

"I guess I just hoped it would all be easier, somehow."

Avarielle sighed. "I know. But it's not like we have a clear line of sight to what will happen from here, either. We don't know how we'll take the battle to Siabala, when we'll need to, and how we'll win… The road before us is foggy and there are no answers."

"This isn't a winning inspirational speech, Avarielle."

"Well, how about this." The warrior grinned and downed the rest of her drink. "We headed off in the middle of the night, without much of a plan, to take the battle to Siabala himself. And we figured it out, and we're still standing, twenty years later. So, we'll figure this out, too. As long as we do it together."