Katharine Kerr - A Time of Omens

Voyager

KATHARINE KERR

A Time of Omens

A Novel of the Westlands

This novel is entirely a work of fiction. The names, characters and incidents portrayed in it are the work of the author’s imagination. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, events or localities is entirely coincidental.

HarperVoyager

An imprint of HarperCollins Publishers Ltd.

1 London Bridge Street

London SE1 9GF

www.harpercollins.co.uk

First published in Great Britain by HarperCollins Publishers 1992

Previously published in paperback by Grafton 1993 and by HarperCollins Science Fiction & Fantasy 1994

Copyright © Katharine Kerr 1992

A catalogue copy of this book is available from the British Library

Katharine Kerr asserts the moral right to be identified as the author of this work

All rights reserved under International and Pan–American Copyright Conventions. By payment of the required fees, you have been granted the nonexclusive, nontransferable right to access and read the text of this ebook on–screen. No part of this text may be reproduced, transmitted, downloaded, decompiled, reverse–engineered, or stored in or introduced into any information storage and retrieval system, in any form or by any means, whether electronic or mechanical, now known or hereafter invented, without the express written permission of HarperCollins ebooks

HarperCollins Publishers has made every reasonable effort to ensure that any picture content and written content in this ebook has been included or removed in accordance with the contractual and technological constraints in operation at the time of publication

Source ISBN: 9780586211960

Ebook Edition © AUGUST 2014 ISBN: 9780007375363

Version: 2016–09–27

For Nance Jordan Ashton

My Grandmother

Cover

Title Page Voyager KATHARINE KERR A Time of Omens A Novel of the Westlands

Copyright Copyright Copyright Dedication Pronunciation Notes Prologue: Wmmglaedd 1096 Past: Pyrdon and Deverry 843 One Two Present One: The Knave of Flowers Bardek, 1098 Two: The Prince of Swords The Westlands, Autumn 1112 Future Three: The Queen of Golds Arcodd, Summer 1116 Keep Reading Appendices Author's Note Glossary Acknowledgements About the Author Other Books By About the Publisher This novel is entirely a work of fiction. The names, characters and incidents portrayed in it are the work of the author’s imagination. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, events or localities is entirely coincidental. HarperVoyager An imprint of HarperCollins Publishers Ltd. 1 London Bridge Street London SE1 9GF www.harpercollins.co.uk First published in Great Britain by HarperCollins Publishers 1992 Previously published in paperback by Grafton 1993 and by HarperCollins Science Fiction & Fantasy 1994 Copyright © Katharine Kerr 1992 A catalogue copy of this book is available from the British Library Katharine Kerr asserts the moral right to be identified as the author of this work All rights reserved under International and Pan–American Copyright Conventions. By payment of the required fees, you have been granted the nonexclusive, nontransferable right to access and read the text of this ebook on–screen. No part of this text may be reproduced, transmitted, downloaded, decompiled, reverse–engineered, or stored in or introduced into any information storage and retrieval system, in any form or by any means, whether electronic or mechanical, now known or hereafter invented, without the express written permission of HarperCollins ebooks HarperCollins Publishers has made every reasonable effort to ensure that any picture content and written content in this ebook has been included or removed in accordance with the contractual and technological constraints in operation at the time of publication Source ISBN: 9780586211960 Ebook Edition © AUGUST 2014 ISBN: 9780007375363 Version: 2016–09–27

Dedication Dedication Pronunciation Notes Prologue: Wmmglaedd 1096 Past: Pyrdon and Deverry 843 One Two Present One: The Knave of Flowers Bardek, 1098 Two: The Prince of Swords The Westlands, Autumn 1112 Future Three: The Queen of Golds Arcodd, Summer 1116 Keep Reading Appendices Author's Note Glossary Acknowledgements About the Author Other Books By About the Publisher For Nance Jordan Ashton My Grandmother

Pronunciation Notes

Prologue: Wmmglaedd 1096

Past: Pyrdon and Deverry 843

One

Two

Present

One: The Knave of Flowers Bardek, 1098

Two: The Prince of Swords The Westlands, Autumn 1112

Future

Three: The Queen of Golds Arcodd, Summer 1116

Keep Reading

Appendices

Author's Note

Glossary

Acknowledgements

About the Author

Other Books By

About the Publisher

The language spoken in Deverry is a member of the P-Celtic family. Although closely related to Welsh, Cornish, and Breton, it is by no means identical to any of these actual languages and should never be taken as such.

Vowels are divided by Deverry scribes into two classes: noble and common. Nobles have two pronunciations; commons, one.

A as in father when long; a shorter version of the same sound, as in far , when short.

O as in bone when long; as in pot when short.

W as the oo in spook when long; as in roof when short.

Y as the i in machine when long; as the e in butter when short.

E as in pen .

I as in pin .

U as in pun .

Vowels are generally long in stressed syllables; short in unstressed. Y is the primary exception to this rule. When it appears as the last letter of a word, it is always long whether that syllable is stressed or not.

Diphthongs generally have one consistent pronunciation.

AE as the a in mane .

AI as in aisle .

AU as the ow in how .

EO as a combination of eh and oh .

EW as in Welsh, a combination of eh and oo .

IE as in pier .

OE as the oy in boy .

UI as the North Welsh wy , a combination of oo and ee .

Note that OI is never a diphthong, but is two distinct sounds, as in carnoic , (KAR-noh-ik).

Consonants are mostly the same as in English, with these exceptions:

C is always hard as in cat .

G is always hard as in get .

DD is the voiced th as in thin , or breathe , but the voicing is more pronounced than in English. It is opposed to TH, the unvoiced sound as in th or breath . (This is the sound that the Greeks called the Celtic tau.)