Book Title: QUEEN MOTHER (The Angel Sworn book 1)
Character Name: Azra, a prisoner in the dungeon at Montheron
How would you describe your family or your childhood?
You wish to know about my wretched childhood? Very well. I came from a brutal and evil kingdom. Under the boot of a warlord who despoiled everything he touched. Who knew no boundaries nor accepted any authority above his own. The depravity, if you knew it, would make you weep. I escaped. Barely. And I came here, to Montheron. It was such a contrast to the horrible realm I’d lived in. I was but a child then. No more than eight. But I saw the difference.
What is your greatest talent?
There is a good reason the Queen Mother made me her angel of death.
Angel sworn are forbidden to marry but you did. Why?
I was wounded and the only survivor of my cohort. I did what I did to stay alive. I’ll speak no more of it. You’ve not earned the right to hear my story.
Why are you in this dungeon, Azra?
I joined the angel sworn willingly. But that changed after I nearly died at Tirich Mir. I am here because I refused the first law of heaven. Obedience. I have seen the world. I have seen goodness. I cannot unsee it because I am ordered to.
Do you have any enemies?
Nearly all the angel sworn treat me as enemy now. But not all. Uorsin the blacksmith is still my friend, I think. I respect Captain Odeon. But my true enemy is the Queen Mother. She destroyed everything I ever cared about.
How do you feel about the place where you are now?
A dungeon? On an island citadel? Where the smells from the market place can reach my nostrils. Where I can hear children laugh and play with the changing of the tide? I was put here to suffer for my disobedience. I fulfill that mandate every hour.
Do you have children?
I will speak little of this. They were taken away from me. I know not where they are now.
Greatest disappointment?
Other than enduring this interview? Several I can think of. But I miss having a grafting wand and bonding with different animals.
Do you have an affinity for a particular creature?
That is none of your business. Only my companions in the Long Patrol knew mine and they’re dead.
Greatest source of joy?
She is dead now.
What keeps you awake at night?
There are too many cats in Montheron who howl at night. I would wring their necks if I could.
I meant emotionally.
The Queen Mother believes she can handle any situation or any challenge. She deceives herself. Nature always changes. There will come something she is unprepared for. And then you will all learn the cost of blind obedience.
What is the most pressing problem you have at the moment?
I think it’s rather obvious. She thinks she can wear me down in time. That I will bend the knee to her again. Trust me. It has not been nearly long enough for that.
Is there something that you need or want that you don’t have? Did you happen to bring the fruit of the Gallows Tree with you?
I would like to take a bite. Or several.
Why don’t you have it? What is in the way?
You know why she won’t give it to me. She wants my utter submission. So she allows me to become old and decrepit. To make me crave my youth again and to enjoy the vigor of being an angel sworn. To be willing to regain all I’ve lost. I could have escaped when the Vikander attacked Montheron. But I don’t want to be hunted by the Long Patrol for the rest of my life. I don’t want to kill them in order to survive.
Angel Sworn #1
Wall Street Journal bestselling author Jeff Wheeler weaves a mesmerizing spell of wonder and peril in this eagerly awaited epic fantasy series…
Deep in the mountains lies a valley with a secret to immortality—Clairvaux—where the Queen Mother reigns supreme. Hidden within the cliffs and rocky paths and shrouded by waterfalls, the Gallows Tree grows immortal fruit, but only the loyal angel sworn can partake and live forever, weaving magic with grafting wands and bonding to animals in order to borrow their powers while balancing the good in all living things.
But the idyllic hymns of angelic choirs shatter when death comes to Clairvaux. Bodies strewn and ravaged by claws whisper of a nameless evil threatening the angel sworn and all earthborn. Might Cimree, a young healer in training, hold the key to unraveling the mystery that menaces Clairvaux and the distant bastions it protects? And could a fallen angel held captive deep in the dungeons of Montheron have the answers Cimree seeks? Or will a new magic that transforms animals into monsters force an exodus to a safe haven before all is lost?
Fantasy | Coming of Age | Fiction Adventure [Oliver-Heber Books, On Sale: June 10, 2025, e-Book , / ]
Jeff Wheeler is the author of more than 30 epic-fantasy novels that have sold more than four million copies worldwide and earned him status as a Wall Street Journal bestselling author. Wheeler took an early retirement from his career at Intel in 2014 to pursue writing full-time.
Growing up in Silicon Valley, Wheeler fell in love with the work of Terry Brooks and decided that he wanted to create stories that inspired people, just as Brooks’ novels did for him. His writing journey began early on—writing full-length novels in high school. As a D&D enthusiast, many of his campaigns from high school were the inspiration for his early stories. His first self-published novel, The Wretched of Muirwood trilogy, catapulted Wheeler into the spotlight. Soon after, 47North came to Wheeler with an offer and published The Queen’s Poisoner trilogy in 2016. In July of this year, Wheeler secured an exciting deal to release TV rights to Nucleus Media for a PG or PG-13 adaption of the Kingfountain series. Morgan Gendel (known for his work in Star Trek Next Generation, Dresden Files, and Law & Order) will be leading the development of the series and has signed on as showrunner.
Jeff currently resides in the Rocky Mountains with his wife, Gina, and their five kids. He is a devout member of the Church of Jesus Christ and The Latter Day Saints and has his time full drafting new stories and running Deep Magic, a quarterly e-zine featuring fantasy short stories and novellas by upcoming authors.
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