Written in the Ashes by K. Hollan Van Zandt

Author:K. Hollan Van Zandt [Zandt, K. Hollan Van]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9781452535142
Publisher: BalboaPress
Published: 2011-07-06T04:00:00+00:00

Dawn approached and the sky through the tower window became pale. Hannah, naked beneath the sheet, fell silent and turned on her side.

Julian brushed her hair away and kissed the back of her neck tenderly, wishing he could remove the terrible bronze collar from her throat. “What is it?” he whispered.

“In an hour they will come for us,” she said sadly, realizing that their precious night, which had seemed so eternal, was waning into day.

“Hannah,” he whispered, turning her to him, taking her chin tenderly between his fingertips. “I may be Master Junkar to all the world, but I will always be Julian to you. Never forget this. Promise me.”

Hannah smiled as two tears slid down her cheeks. “I promise,” she whispered.

Then he kissed her again, burying his hands in her hair, his nostrils flaring as he drank in the scent of her sweet skin. He wanted to remember the feel of her, the taste of her, the thrust of how much he wanted her. He turned her towards him and they made love one final time, in the ecstasy of what was soon to end, her tears anointing his body, his hands cradling her own until her back arched in ecstasy and she held her breath, trembling above him, and he lost himself inside her. Then she collapsed on top of him, her heart pressed against his heart as he kissed her cheek, her hair, her hands.

She pushed the thoughts of the coming day from her mind, wanting the moment between them never to end. Kairos, he whispered, the eternal. She wanted to memorize the shape of his eyes, his shoulders, his sex. She wanted her body to remember the weight of his body, her nose to remember the scent of his breath, her tongue to remember the shape of his name.

He turned her over and took a sip of wine in his mouth and let her drink it from his parted lips.

They had only one more hour.

It passed as though time did not even exist.

She got up and picked up a bowl of figs, and brought it back to him and then nestled her thighs against his. He pulled her naked body to lean on his and they enjoyed the sweet fruit.

When the figs were gone, Julian spoke. “Hannah, there is something I must give you now, and you must accept it without question.”

Hannah tucked her chin and kissed his fingers. “Whatever it is, I accept.”

Julian smiled and held out his hand to reveal a gleaming emerald shard, inscribed with mysterious letters. “I had a vision while you slept. You are the one who will return the Emerald Tablet to us.” He slipped the black cord over her head, and she touched the emerald shard that hung from it between her breasts. “Is it part of the tablet? What does it say?”

“It says ‘Soul immortal, no fire can burn thee, no fate can change thy eternal truth’. The shard will protect you as you travel to see the Pythia in Delfi.

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