The Wizard's Daughter
In the spirit-haunted wilderness near Kiev, years had passes since the evil wizard Chernevog had given up his life. Ilyana had grown into a young woman. Her mother Eveshka, the former rusalka, and her father Pyetr, kept her close and guarded her well. For Ilyana, like her mother before her, had been born a wizard.
Ilyana was careful of the temptations and mistakes of wizardry, lest they betray her, as they had once betrayed her mother. But there was one secret she kept hidden from her parents: For years, since the time Ilyana was very small, every spring had brought a playmate for her to the shoreline of the river – a ghostly boy, always her own age. Now they were fifteen. He kissed her, and she began to fall in love.
Then Evashka found them together and recognized the boy – Kavi Chernevog, returned to trouble her life again and take Ilyana from her. The peace that she and Pyetr had thought they had was gone. Once more dark magic was loose in their world.
C. J. Cherryh (born 1942) is the pen name of Carolyn Janice Cherry, a multiple-award-winning science fiction and fantasy writer. She currently resides in Spokane County, Washington. Cherryh is pronounced ”Cherry”. The author appended a silent ”h” to her real name because her first editor felt that ”Cherry” sounded too much like a romance writer. The asteroid 77185 Cherryh has been named in her honour.
