Burning Blood: Bonds of Blood: Book 2 by de Lorne Daniel

Author:de Lorne, Daniel
Language: eng
Format: azw3
Publisher: Scarlo Media
Published: 2020-04-28T16:00:00+00:00

VIII

After a restless night’s sleep, Aurelia awoke feeling drained and despondent. The mountain had never felt so empty—just her, the furniture and her mother’s coffin. She made a move to enter Elaine’s crypt, but shame kept her back. She should not have allowed Carn to get to her. What she and Hame had was special, as strong as it could be. A stronger bond than lovers.

Or so she had thought.

Now it seemed to crumble when she applied the slightest pressure. Didn’t she deserve all his love, as he had hers?

Curse him.

She dressed in a pale green muslin gown, cinched at the waist with an emerald satin sash, suitable clothes for visiting Liesel. She brushed and fashioned her hair into a bouffant, its blackness entirely out of vogue, but she’d be damned if she’d wear a wig. Around her neck she hung a jewel-encrusted necklace. She powdered her face, rouged her cheeks, painted her eyes, and embellished her lips. Once complete, she looked in the mirror and groaned at the need for all of this.

“But it’ll be worth it,” she said in an attempt to convince herself.

She packed her luggage, filling it with clothes and jewels. She couldn’t deny that staying at Liesel’s castle was a chore, requiring planning and a significant expenditure of energy. She couldn’t simply appear in the hall; she needed to arrive by coach, and one befitting the Marquise de Villiers.

She’d adopted a French title some years before, when she’d first met the Baroness while circling her nephew, Reiner. His parents were altogether too dull, but thankfully he spent a lot of time with his aunt. Despite the rivalries between their two countries, the Baroness had not been put off by the Marquise’s foreignness. And Aurelia had not expected to like her quite so much.

Liesel had a vivaciousness that attracted Aurelia like a bear to honey. The Baroness delighted in parties, for new things and discoveries, and for making friends. Liesel’s infectious personality revitalized Aurelia. And when Hame could not provide her with what she wanted, she sought solace in Liesel’s love.

Liesel knew about Hame, or rather the gist, and joked and consoled in equal measure about Aurelia’s redheaded paramour and his denial of love. Liesel understood the reasons behind his evasiveness, which was perhaps why, despite all the preparation and the binding clothes and the subterfuge, when she was finally ready to depart, the weight on her shoulders lifted a little. She stood before the mirror in all her majesty. She had time before her brothers arrived, and she was going to enjoy herself.

Vanishing with her luggage, she reappeared in a carriage fashioned from magic on the road leading to the castle. Pulled by four black horses, a coach driver steered them from above. All were nothing but phantoms.

The road cut through a thick forest and wound into its center where the Baron and Baroness entertained during the summer. Aurelia had attended many of their parties over the years and the approach filled her with a heady excitement.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.