Katherine Roberts

Natalie saw the first spell in the supermarket car park. It was floating in a puddle near the recycling bins, glimmering bronze and green in the October drizzle. At first it looked like a leaf, though as she drew closer it began to look more like a crumpled wrapper. She shook her head and hurried past. She was wet and cold and had more things to worry about than someone else's litter.  But the trap had been baited by someone who knew a lot more about spells than she did.  Before she knew what she was doing, she'd put down her chinking carrier bags and gone back for it.  As her hand closed about the strange wrapper, a voice behind her whispered "Innocent enough to crawl through the Thrallstone..." Most of the year, the mysterious Thrallstone is the only way into Earthaven, and only those with Earthaven blood can open the gateway to pass through. Natalie is one of those people, although she does not know this until she encounters the exiled spell caster known as Lord Ha