A SHADOW'S TOUCH
A Shadow's Touch
Melissa Fairchild
UK & Commonwealth rights: Working Partners Ltd
US rights: Working Partners Ltd
German rights: Droemer
All other rights available
The first title in the Secrets of the Bridge Oracle Trilogy
Faeries and Mortals had lived as one since the dawn of time, but with the rise of the enlightenment, when superstition began to fade, the Faeries became less significant to mortal people. As a consequence the worlds began to divide. Kellen, in trying to fuse the worlds together again, was lost in Between for many years. While he was absent, his wife Arethusa – believing he was dead – had a relationship with Oren, one of Kellen’s men. She gave birth to a boy called Avi. When Kellen miraculously returned, Arethusa put her six-year-old child into the hands of her maidservant, Iphigenia, fearing Kellen’s anger. Oren and she swore to keep their baby a secret from Kellen.
Three years later, Kellen and Arethusa go on to have a son of their own, a boy called Levi. Kellen, still interested in combining the two worlds, visited the Oracle to discover a way, and was told that the worlds would be joined again when Arethusa’s first child is crowned. The prophecy was:
For Fairie and Mortal to be one again.
The Queen’s first born must take the throne.
Kellen didn’t tell Arethusa this, as she doesn’t want to combine the two worlds – she’s happy ruling over the Faerie Realm, and is no fan of mortal folk. But Kellen took Levi to a being called Fugit, who aged Levi from seven to eighteen, so that he can take the throne. Arethusa is furious that the childhood of her son has been stolen, and for no purpose – he’s not even her firstborn! She and Kellen fall out because he now knows she has another child.
Arethusa doesn’t want the worlds to be untied again, nor will she allow Kellen to harm Avi, so she sends him to the Mortal Realm in the charge of a Pixie called Brucie, much to Iphigenia’s consternation. Iphigenia tries to stop Arethusa and is banished.
A Shadow's Touch is the first title in an exciting new young adult / crossover fantasy trilogy. The second title, This Gentle Concord will be about the pull of Avi’s father and the Oracle’s call and the third, Following Darkness, about shifting allegiances and the worlds being reconciled.
This series was created by Working Partners Ltd. Since 1995, Working Partners has created some of the most recognised series in children's fiction including Animal Ark, Heartland and, more recently, Rainbow Magic and Warriors. Rainbow Magic now has sales of five million copies in the UK and Commonwealth and translation rights have been licensed in seventeen territories. Animal Ark, now with its own Classics list in the UK, has sold over fifteen million copies worldwide.
In 2006 Working Partners Two was formed to develop book ideas and to establish a network of writers to emulate the children’s success in the arenas of adult and young adult fiction. Melissa Fairchild is a pen name.
