Song in the Silence

infobox Book |
name = Song in the Silence
title_orig =
translator =


author = Elizabeth Kerner
cover_artist = Stephen Hickman
country = America
language = English
series = Lanen Kaelar
genre = Fantasy novel
publisher = Tor Fantasy
release_date = 1997
pages =
isbn = ISBN 0-8125-6875-3
preceded_by = -
followed_by = The Lesser Kindred

"Song in the Silence" (1997) is the first book in the Lanen Kaelar trilogy.

Plot summary

Lanen Maransdatter is a young woman who is raised in Hadronsstead, believing that Hadron (the horsekeeper) was her father. However, she leads an unhappy life as she secretly longs to talk to the dragons to understand underneath the cruel thumb of her unloving father.

So when Hadron finally dies, she feels freed. After an abrupt proposal from her cousin (who gets a bruise from her fist in response), she leaves to seek out the objective of her dreams; the dragons, learning, on her journey, that her true father Marik seeks her out to kill her for a demon sacrifice.

Sure enough, she finds a ship to the dragon isle for the annual Lansip harvest that no man has returned from in over 500 years. After travelling on the ship with her evil father marik as the captain, she amazingly makes it safely to the dragon isles and meets Akhor, the mighty silver-scaled king of the Kantri (known to humans as "dragons"). She seeks him out with the two words that she utters on instinct, that he respects her instantly for; 'My brother?' Akhor, tired of the Ferrinshadik, reveals himself, and discovers that Lanen knows True Speech. A Gift of all the Kantri, but found in a rare few of the Gedri.

Lanen comes to know Akhor, and for the first time since "the fall" , Kantri and Gedri are once again allies, although only towards each other. Their meetings must be secret and both must break all the rules of their people in order to meet with each other.

In a short time, both grow to love each other and Lanen burns her hands and arms terribly in helping Mirazhe, another Kantri, to give birth to the first young kantri in years. Akhor worried for Lanens life, reluctantly delivers her into the hands of the only healer in the campus - an ally of Marik.

When Lanen's life is in danger of Demon sacrifice under Marik, she calls out desperately to Akhor and he comes to save her from the guard of Kantri life enemy demons and her death. Deciding that it was safer for her, Akhor took her back to his Weh Chamber away from everybody, where they are faced with the Council, which had turned to disaster after the Noble council of the Kantri found out that their king loved a Gedri (a human).

Marik, longing for revenge, comes and steals something very precious to the Kantri while they are distracted and so the Kantri break the boundary and break Marik's mind. Due to awful wounds sustained during the desperate battle, Akhor falls into the "Weh" sleep. After his Inner Fire burns his body inside out, Akhor has passed away to the great grief of his people and his love. But when Lanen re enters the Weh Chamber, something stirs in Akhors ashes. Akhor has become human just as the Winds and Goddess Shia had foretold.

At the end of the book, Lanen and Varien (Akhor transformed) journey back to Hadronsstead and are married.

Characters

Gedri:
* Lanen Kaeler
* Jamie - An old man who worked at Hadronsstead, Whome Lanen considers her father, and Jamie considers Lanen his daughter.
* Hadron - Lanen's father figure after her mother marries him
* Rella - An wise woman of a secret organization that helps Lanen at the Dragon Isle
* Maran - Lanen's real mother, who is still missing
* Varien - Means "the changed one" in Old Speech. Lanens LoveKantri:
* Akhor () - Silver King. Lanen's beloved, later turned into a human (Gedri)
* Hadreshikrar - Akhor's soul Friend. Bronze, father of Kedra
* Kedra -Mirazhe's husband. Father of the first of the young kantri for years
* Mirazhe - Protector of Lanen. Mother of first Young Kantri in years
* Idai - Akhors life long admirer. Wise Female of the Kantri

References