Meredith Mansfield, Author

Valeriah is the main character of BLOOD WILL TELL.  I’ll let her introduce herself.

In Chimeria, all of the magical races can take human form.  It’s our lingua franca, the way we can all talk to each other.  Of course, once we take human form, there’s more we can do than just talk.  Occasionally, interesting hybrids of the races are produced.

I am one such cross; my mother was a werewolf.  Now, werewolves aren’t what you think over here.  Your movies make me laugh.  A werewolf isn’t forced to change by the moon.  They take wolf form whenever they choose.  Of course, as a hybrid, I’ve never been able to change at all, but I am still driven by the moon.  It’s not a ravening madness, though.  It’s more like a manic energy and, of course, a craving for raw meat.  Every werewolf has to find a way to deal with the energy the moon brings out in us, the wild blood.  Now, I’m not denying that some werewolves get violent at the full moon, especially young males, but most of us find other ways to cope.  Myself, I run.  A tired werewolf is a good werewolf, even at the full moon.

But I’m more than just half werewolf.  My father was a hybrid, too.  His father was the wizard Azander and his mother was a unicorn, Elsibel.  Now, werewolves and unicorns are about as far apart as you can get in Chimeria.  This does cause me some problems.  At the new moon, when my unicorn blood is strongest, I’m a vegetarian, but at the full moon, I prefer very rare red meat. 

Other than the compromises I have to make to balance my nature, I know very little about werewolves or unicorns.  Grandmother Elsibel was disowned by the unicorns when she married my grandfather.  And mother never had a chance to introduce me to the werewolves. 

Both my parents and my two older brothers were murdered when I was five.  I was only spared because my father fell on me and the killers didn’t find me.  They seemed to be in a hurry and didn’t look too hard.  I know they used a portal, because I saw them step out of thin air.  But the portal wasn’t there any more by the time Grandfather found me.

That portal is the only clue I have to find those who murdered my family.  My werewolf blood won’t let me forget that, but after twenty years, the trail has gone cold, even for a werewolf to follow.  Grandfather refused to tell me about the portals, so I left to find out for myself as soon as I came of age.

I found work as a member of the Portal Watch.  We protect Chimeria by preventing people from the ordinary, non-magical world from blundering in and finding out about us.  We also try to keep the peace between the different magical races.  And, sometimes, we act as bodyguards for the members of the Council of Magical Races when they cross over to your world for business or pleasure.  I get that duty a lot because of the strength, agility, and instincts I inherited from my werewolf mother.

It’s not easy being a female in the Watch.  There are precious few of us.  It took a couple of years for me to convince my male colleagues that I wasn’t available for the taking.  Every now and again, I still have to show a new recruit how I got my reputation.  I’ve taught them to respect me.  I stay in the Watch because it’s the only way I know to find out more about the portals and track down whoever killed my family.