The Torc Part Three World's Desire

Nursed from the addiction caused by Petrus, Arianwyn now faces fresh challenges from a range of people who have joined her disparate group. Each skilful but flawed in their own way, they appear to place their hope in Arianwyn and her goal to return to her homeland. Arianwyn, now in late adolescence, feels inundated by their demands of her to be a mother figure and their leader but Grainne, now joined by the forceful Tammazult, seems to persuade her to serve the role. An adventurous journey north becomes an emotional turmoil for Arianwyn as Servanius, a bishop fleeing Rome, challenges her beliefs. In part, she counters these but cannot escape the relentless pursuit of her by Petrus. Each time she feels credence gained, the ground is swept from beneath her by events and her own nature, leaving her weak and helpless. Finally trapped by Petrus in Spain, Arianwyn finds herself trying to do the better of two worlds - causing no harm to others and gaining time for the women who trust her to escape to her homeland. A pyrrhic victory sees her, Grainne and the men who have followed her, captured and Petrus remorseful. However, Arianwyn has matured and though still flawed by her passionate nature is optimistic of the future. For Grainne, concerned on how Arianwyn interprets their relationship, it is still too early to tell her what that is as, in chains, to Constantinople they sail.

In World’s Desire, the dark romantic adventure of The Torc continues. Set in a Byzantine past events reflect issue relevant to the present age. At one level, ostensibly one girl’s struggle with adolescence - where pressures of self-image, failed relationships and an outlook influenced by her perceived misgivings of self and others viewpoints - the tale begins to take on deeper aspects. A friend, the girl has known and trusted all her life, takes on a strange new light and suggests hidden intentions with their relationship, which shimmer uncertainly between intimate closeness and a wider spiritual meaning. Whatever purpose Grainne has for Arianwyn, it is not anything she has encountered in the world and as if by sixth sense or design, others join her seeking a greater understanding of themselves and their lives. Along the way events, thrilling and mysterious, shape Arianwyn into a young woman capable of making mistakes but also able to play a crafty strategic hand in outwitting dark forces bent on destroying her constrasting band.