Dark Lady's Chosen by Martin Gail Z

Author:Martin, Gail Z. [Martin, Gail Z.]
Language: eng
Format: mobi
Tags: Fantasy
ISBN: 155404717X
Publisher: Double Dragon Publishing
Published: 2009-12-13T16:00:00+00:00

Chapter Seventeen

Carina set down her quill and sprinkled sand across the parchment to dry the ink. Carefully, she shifted the paper to let the sand that blotted her ink run off before she folded the letter and sealed it with wax. She pressed her signet ring into it, the ring Jonmarc commissioned for her. It bore the same symbol as the shevirbracelet he had given her: the combination of his old river mark as a smuggler and his crest as Lord of Dark Haven.

"What are you doing?"

Carina jumped as Taru entered the bedroom. She sighed, knowing better than to evade the mage's question. "Writing letters. I didn't want to leave Kiara and Cam without saying goodbye." She'd written a third letter, one she feared would go unread. She stared at it, at Jonmarc's name written on the outside of the folded parchment. In case he returned. She knew better. He had sworn the Bargain. She was past the point of being afraid, but not too numb to grieve.

"You don't have to do this."

Carina looked at Taru. "Yes, I do. The Flow has been reaching out to me to heal it. The way the magic is failing, it's got to be affecting Tris and the war in Margolan. If he can't win against Jared's loyalists, Kiara and their baby will never be safe. Isencroft won't be safe-and neither will Cam and Donelan. I've lost Jonmarc. I won't lose the rest of them-not when I might be able to do something about it."

"You don't know that Jonmarc is lost."

"He's not coming back."

Taru came to sit beside her. "I know you saw men swear Istra's Bargain when you were with the mercs. And a vow to the Goddess is always binding. But did you ever consider this-it's up to the Goddess when she claims his soul?"

"What do you mean?"

"Time doesn't work the same way for immortals the way it does for humans. A day, a year, a decade---a lifetime-when you don't have a lifespan, they stop holding any meaning." Taru met her eyes. "If the Goddess accepts Jonmarc's vow, all it means is that he's sworn his soul to Her. She's not obligated to take it until She pleases. You said that Gabriel called Jonmarc the Lady's Chosen. What if he was right? Does the Goddess really need a champion to swat down a vayash moruwho's barely a century old?" Taru shook her head. "He's sworn fealty to Her, much like he made a vow to Staden when he received the title to Dark Haven. I wouldn't count Jonmarc out of the game, Carina. Not yet."

Carina looked at Taru and felt the first stirring of hope she'd felt since she found the ink and stylus in the chapel. "I hope you're right."

Lisette came into the room to draw the draperies. Dawn was only minutes away. "You should eat before you rest," Lisette said, sounding motherly. "You'll need your strength for tomorrow night."

Carina sighed. "I know. Raen came to remind me, just before Taru and I started talking.

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