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Vow of Ashes
Aena is dying. As a Pleiade-a creature whose flesh can heal those who consume it-she spent her youth a prisoner to the royal court, offering blood and healing to both king and country. Upon release, she retired to the quiet countryside with her human husband, Michael. The cost of her service, however, has finally come, draining away her life and luster.
Aena will not go quietly into the hereafter. She knows the fate awaiting all Pleiades, of the covetous nature of the Royal Court, and those who would seek healing magic from her blood and bones even after death.
She demands a vow from her he will flee with her through the Farwoods to the White Cliffs beyond, so that in death he may give her to the sea where none may touch her.
The journey will be harsh. The Court is watching. Friends reveal themselves as spies, soldiers give chase, and even the aging king seeks a desecration of his lost Pleiade. Despite Michael’s grief and Aena’s failing health, they have but one choice if they are to preserve her honor and dignity. They will bring her to the sea…either alive, or in ashes.
VOW OF ASHES is a story of grief, of responsibility, of love, and of letting go.
Aena will not go quietly into the hereafter. She knows the fate awaiting all Pleiades, of the covetous nature of the Royal Court, and those who would seek healing magic from her blood and bones even after death.
She demands a vow from her he will flee with her through the Farwoods to the White Cliffs beyond, so that in death he may give her to the sea where none may touch her.
The journey will be harsh. The Court is watching. Friends reveal themselves as spies, soldiers give chase, and even the aging king seeks a desecration of his lost Pleiade. Despite Michael’s grief and Aena’s failing health, they have but one choice if they are to preserve her honor and dignity. They will bring her to the sea…either alive, or in ashes.
VOW OF ASHES is a story of grief, of responsibility, of love, and of letting go.
- GenresRomance
145 pages, Kindle Edition
Published July 31, 2026
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Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews
August 12, 2026
Dalglish does something different here. He drops the Epic fantasy setting he is known for, and embarks on something a little more personal. Its short, its sweet. Its a bit harrowing and sad. But this felt like a great experiment to branch away from just being an epic fantasy guy (not a complaint, just also nice to see him spread his wings and flex those creative muscles with something a little different).
Review of advance copy received from Author
After a life of being bled so that others may live, Aena is dying. Her and her husband, Micheal have both known this day was coming they simply hoped they had more time. As she can feel her last day drawing nearer, she extracts a vow from Michael, take her to the cliffs and there place her body upon a pyre so he may then scatter her ashes in the sea. As an ex-soldier Michael takes his oaths seriously, but one made to his wife, her last request of him he will fulfil no matter the cost.
I'm going to start his by arguing with the author. David had posted on his Bluesky that this was nothing like anything he had ever written, that it would essentially rip your heart out. On that latter portion he would absolutely be correct. On the former not so much. While this is easily the best thing he has written to date, many of his stories have contained this level of heart wrenching joy (yes, joy because death, loss should contain some memories of joy, or the death would not matter) and loss. Prior to this though his books simply did not focus so much on those things. Which to be fair is completely valid. To focus so intensely on a person's end (fictional character or otherwise) would be difficult to do for most of us, for a writer I believe it would be even more difficult. To know the story would end with loss the writer must convince us of why that loss was so great to begin with, they must create characters that we love and cherish knowing that we will only briefly get to love them in the present tense. So, while David says that this is different than anything else he has ever written it is only because created a character and a love that burned so brightly for such a brief period of time.
I feel like there is a lot more that I could say here; truly I could spend the next four hours dissecting a book that took me less than that to read. But I don't actually see the point in that. People will interpret this story from their experiences, and I believe that most of us will walk away from it with the same feelings and yet the reasons behind those feelings will be extremely personal. I simply don't want to influence that.
I cannot begin to thank David for providing me with an eArc. I knew this would be wonderful the minute I read his post that said it "fucking terrified" him knowing it was going to be out in the world, and I am extremely grateful I got to read it.
I'm going to start his by arguing with the author. David had posted on his Bluesky that this was nothing like anything he had ever written, that it would essentially rip your heart out. On that latter portion he would absolutely be correct. On the former not so much. While this is easily the best thing he has written to date, many of his stories have contained this level of heart wrenching joy (yes, joy because death, loss should contain some memories of joy, or the death would not matter) and loss. Prior to this though his books simply did not focus so much on those things. Which to be fair is completely valid. To focus so intensely on a person's end (fictional character or otherwise) would be difficult to do for most of us, for a writer I believe it would be even more difficult. To know the story would end with loss the writer must convince us of why that loss was so great to begin with, they must create characters that we love and cherish knowing that we will only briefly get to love them in the present tense. So, while David says that this is different than anything else he has ever written it is only because created a character and a love that burned so brightly for such a brief period of time.
I feel like there is a lot more that I could say here; truly I could spend the next four hours dissecting a book that took me less than that to read. But I don't actually see the point in that. People will interpret this story from their experiences, and I believe that most of us will walk away from it with the same feelings and yet the reasons behind those feelings will be extremely personal. I simply don't want to influence that.
I cannot begin to thank David for providing me with an eArc. I knew this would be wonderful the minute I read his post that said it "fucking terrified" him knowing it was going to be out in the world, and I am extremely grateful I got to read it.
Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews