Tears of Artamon

The Tears of Artamon is a series of three fantasy novels by the English author Sarah Ash (sister of Jessica Rydill). The three books are Lord of Snow and Shadows (2003), Prisoner of the Iron Tower (2004), and Children of the Serpent Gate (2005). They are published by Bantam Press in the United Kingdom and Bantam Spectra in the United States. The series follows the protagonist Gavril Andar, later Gavril Nagarian under his father’s name, from his humble beginnings as a portraitist from Smarna through to becoming the High Steward of Azhkendir.

Background Information
Artamon was the former emperor of Rossiya, a kingdom that comprised Tielen, Smarna, Muscobar, Azhkendir and Khitari. Artamon’s sons fought vehemently between themselves over land and title and once possessed by Drakhaouls they tore the empire apart. A grand ruby of their father was broken into pieces and each son took one each, these became referred to as the Tears of Artamon. Four out of five of the Drakhaouls were driven back and banished from the mortal realm by Saint Sergius, however the final Drakhaoul, Khezef, defeated and killed Sergius. Khezef continued to dwell among mortals by inhabiting the ruling monarch of Azhkendir, through the generations. The remainder of Artamon’s descendents spread out across the fragmented empire and over time all knowledge of the Drakhaouls was forgotten.

Synopsis
Gavril Andar who has a surprisingly vivid dream, and is subsequently kidnapped from his home in Smarna, where he resided with his mother, Elysia. He is taken to Azhkendir and informed that he is the son of the recently deceased Lord Volkh Nagarian and that he is to assume power as his father’s heir. Gavril soon comes to understand that his father’s Drakhaoul, Khezef, had sought him out and possessed him as the rightful inheritor and one of Artamon’s descendents.

During the course of this first instalment in the trilogy, Gavril must learn to adjust to the new culture and environment he has so suddenly found himself enveloped in, and come to terms with his birthrights. While battling with his unwanted Drakhoul in his father’s Kastel he forms a fondness toward one of the young maids, Kiukiu, a girl who falls in love with Gavril. Despite endeavouring to discover methods of banishing his Drakhaoul, Gavril embraces him in a battle against an advancing army, under the leadership of Eugene of Tielen, in order to save his Kastel and its inhabitants. Meanwhile, Kiukiu has uncovered her true heritage as a Spirit Singer after she unexpectedly met her (previously unknown to her) grandmother, Malusha. At the climax of the book, Gavril persuades Malusha to help him exorcise Khezef, which he achieves at a terrible cost to himself and those around him.

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