Gateway to Elvendom (The Elwardain Chronicles Book 2)

A Gateway Opened. A Kingdom in Peril.

Two years may have passed for Godwin, but in Elvendom, thirty years have slipped away—and now, its very existence hangs in the balance. A terrifying new threat, the Dark Lady of Bletchberm, has risen from the shadows, capturing Elgiva and driving the elves to desperation. Only one person can save their world: the man who once crossed dimensions and claimed the elf-sword Taranuil.

Drawn once more into the tangled timeline of Elvendom, Godwin must navigate a land forever changed by time and war. Unexpected allies and painful revelations await him—including a truth that could reshape everything he thought he knew about his past and future. As the final battle looms at the Castle of Bletchberm, Godwin must confront not just an ancient evil, but the haunting cost of destiny itself.

An epic tale of myth, memory, and second chances, Gateway to Elvendom is the gripping second instalment in Carol Browne’s Elwardain Chronicles—a historical fantasy where love and legend collide across time.

Begin your return to Elvendom. The gateway is open.

Excerpt from the book

Autumn—503 CE

Godwin’s house was far too quiet, and his daughters’ beds were empty. He scrubbed his face with his hands and wiped the sleep from his eyes. No matter how many times he told his daughters to wake him before leaving the house, they rarely remembered.

He didn’t fear for their safety—since the accident, everyone kept a careful watch on all the children of the settlement—but Godwin wanted Mildryth and Dena close by for his own sake.

But it wasn’t his daughters’ absence that sent him hurrying out into the bright morning sun. It was the house itself, the spaces and the stillness in it that his wife had left behind. After ten years together, six months wasn’t nearly enough time to get used to being alone.

He took comfort from the fact that his love for Rowena had never changed. Elgiva had been an unlooked-for complication in his life, and had the elf-queen stolen his heart? It was a question he preferred not to address. Elgiva was lost to him anyway and now so was Rowena; a double bereavement.

Upon his return to Othere’s domain, he had fully intended to take his family and move elsewhere, but Lord Othere wouldn’t hear of it. His joy at seeing Godwin alive and well had prompted him to agree to any terms Godwin set down in exchange for remaining nearby—that and the gold Godwin was willing to share with him.

And so, Othere had set aside several acres of land outside the walls of the stronghold and a fine house had been built there for Godwin and his family—their status as freemen now established— and the stronghold walls had been extended to encompass the new house and outbuildings.

Godwin had returned an entirely different man from the one who had been abducted by Beortnoth’s men, so he kept apart from the Saxons more than he would have liked, but he had been content to stay for Rowena’s sake. She had made everything right and he could ignore those things that were no longer acceptable to him. So, for two years, they were happy together and whatever Godwin’s ambitions had been, he had put them aside and carried on with his life.

He had never revealed his adventures in Elvendom to anyone, apart from Rowena and she, of course, was not privy to all of his secrets. All anyone knew about his time away from the settlement was that he had somehow found his way back to his own tribe and come into an inheritance. But one day he planned to tell his daughters the whole truth. Soon they would be old enough to fully understand everything and to appreciate the wisdom of keeping it to themselves.

At least someone had to know about this wretched ability he had to talk to animals. By Frigg, it was more like a curse than a gift.

Godwin made his way to the latrine area at the rear of the stable and while he was standing there, deep in thought, he heard a sarcastic voice and looked towards its source with a frown on his brow.