Ward & Weft: What’s a warden, anyway?
Before Ward & Weft is released, I wanted to expand on part of the world it’s set in. Wolf in King’s Clothing focused on the werewolf side of things – and we don’t leave that behind, since Llywelyn ap Hywel is a werewolf! – but in W&W the focus is on wardens. And what with wardens being, ah, not Kent’s favourite people, I thought Griffith deserved a fair shake.
So, wardens! They’re magic users, and their magic takes the physical form (in the modern age) of something inspired by Victorian calling cards. I love this concept, and if you’ve loitered on the internet, you’ll have seen some of the ‘flirtation’ cards. Which is basically late nineteenth-century Tinder.
These cards are easy to transport and simple to use even by the non-warden, but very difficult to make. Wardens create them using knowledge passed down from those like Griffith’s grandmother, the previous Warden Jones, through apprenticeships, or from textbooks that may be more useless than not. Magic is dangerous, even for the studied, and wardings can be unpredictable – as Griffith learns during his adventure.
The biggest warding in W&W is much older than cardstock, though. They’re the stones buried around Hywel-Jones territory, sunk into the earth. I imagine them as a cross between the Rollrights and something… Slightly more portable. Which allows me to link to one of my favourite bits from Dressed to Kill – ‘fantastic, building a henge, are we?’
But those stones have been there a long time, and the magic in Britain is fading. So what happens when you add one over-eager warden to the mix?
Find out in Ward & Weft, out September 12 with Carina Press!
Wales, 1912
For generations, the magic wardens and the fierce werewolves combined forces to keep their enemies at bay. But when his family breaks longstanding ties to the pack that’s been a part of his life since birth, warden Griffith Jones sets out on a journey to learn all he can of the magic that will reunite them. And reunite Griffith with the first—and only—man he’s ever loved.
Llywelyn ap Hywel, son of the alpha, can’t let painful—or passionate—memories of Griffith distract him. His dwindling pack is in trouble, reeling from loss and locked in a grim battle with a dangerous rival—a pack with a warden who hasn’t abandoned them. A warden whose dark magic could destroy them all.
Up against enemies determined to steal their land and end life as they know it, Griffith and Llywelyn must fight as one to protect all they hold dear—their territory, their people and the fiery love they can no longer deny.
Carina Press – Amazon: CA / COM / UK – Kobo