The Hidden Key (Second Sacred Trinity) by S E Holmes

Author:S E Holmes
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Teen, Young adult, Paranormal, Romance, Urban Fantasy
Publisher: S E Holmes
Published: 2017-12-01T16:00:00+00:00

Twenty-One

These rolling fields were well tended, the fences surrounding them etched with the mark of someone high in the aristocracy or in favour with the king. She knew from the size of the deer and wolf hides nailed out to cure – even one from a huge brown bear – that a man lived in the homestead she now sought. A powerful, virile man. Could she have finally found a worthy coupling, here on this pitiful dung-heap world? Her true love was ripped from her forever, but she craved. Just once, she would remove the precious gift, sate her desire, quench the inferno raging within, and endure her loneliness ever after. Just once, she told herself.

And without his mirror, her husband could not see.

She hummed tunelessly to herself as she neared the abode, the eager squeals of an infant girl inside like needles to her heightened hearing. As she passed, chittering birds fell silent in the trees and the trill of insects ceased. A woman scolded from within, but there was no masculine counterpoint. Finesse grasped these feminine voices belonged to his family, competition for her affection. A pair of fine chestnut mares hitched to a wagon by a well in the courtyard, chewed placidly from feed bags, flicking their tails to swat flies.

She lingered by the gatepost offering entry between two sown fields, wheat flowing in ripe, golden waves under dawn sunbeams. This was a rich, fertile place where her most-hated enemy thrived. Where was the master of the manor? Surely he would not let them travel alone? He would be nearby, tending crops before their journey. Finesse grew weary of walking. She grew weary of many things. She waited, until the door flung wide and his beautiful flaxen-haired wife, heavy with another child, and tiny daughter appeared. The jagged envy Finesse carried always unfurled. Its ravenous snout sniffed an adversary and bared pointed teeth. And the birth of another was imminent. She could sense the tiny spirit writhing to break free – a boy this time.

“Husband?” the exquisite woman called. If she was the equal of her mate, he would truly be something to feast upon. “She waits at the tavern. We are ready to leave, my love.”

His deep voice echoed faintly back from the edge of the forest, behind the house. She started with shock; he sounded familiar. Her excitement mounting, Finesse shrugged her red velvet robe to the ground at her ankles and stepped forth along the path, naked. Not a breath of wind stirred, her inky tresses flowing out behind her as she glided towards the pair. The horses grew restive, front hooves stamping the ground, heads tossing. They snorted and nickered.

Belatedly, the woman looked up, shading her eyes from the glare to squint at Finesse. She took a hesitant step forward, confusion and concern crinkling her brow. The little girl ran mute with anxiety to her mother, the whites of her eyes showing and tears forming. She gripped her mother’s skirts in fat little fists, tugging her back to the meagre protections of their home.

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