Cursed by Diamonds (A Dance with Destiny Book 1) Read Free Page B

considered a black witch of the worst kind, and Jenevier had personally shed more blood than most armies could even boast.
    Alas, no matter how hard she fought, all that she had once loved… had been methodically wiped away. She now sat in this place, a mere stranger. This little village had unwittingly spawned the very birth of evil and vengeance. The man responsible for her current darkness was returning today, and she was prepared.
    The bread wasn’t delicious, just adequate. She ate, drank, and remembered. The boy came once more with fresh ale accompanied by a note he quietly slid under the plate holding her remaining bread crumbs. It simply read… “Not much longer now.”
    Jenevier scanned the tavern’s patrons once more. She saw none that even gave notice to her. No one that is, except for the hooded man sitting in the opposite corner. She couldn’t see his eyes, not clearly, but she felt them upon her. She studied him, took special notice of the blue-black locks now escaping their cloaked hiding place.
    Where have I seen those dark curls before?
    Her guard went up, but it was now useless. Something was fast claiming her consciousness. Jenevier silently cursed her negligence, too little far too late. She was getting so tired, so miserably tired. As her eyes began to betray her, flitting closed, her mind wandered back to Jezreel.
    Jezreel had once been as beautiful and fair as Jenevier herself. They were beloved friends from their youth. But cruel Fate had flung them down the treacherous paths they now trod. The once young and carefree maidens were forever, horribly changed.
    Her groggy mind searched desperately, urgently. But try as she might, she couldn’t recall even one happy moment.
    There were happy times… I used to remember… I loved to smile… Perhaps… At least, I believe I did.
    Then, she slept.
    But Alastyn could remember, and remember well. As he sat in the tavern watching over her now, he could remember exactly how she had once looked. He loved to think about her beautiful smile, her lovely hair, her dainty little bare feet. It warmed his heart to go back in time and see Jenevier and Jezreel in the village square together. He remembered how they sang, how they giggled, and how they danced barefoot in the grass. These memories made him long desperately for the coming day when their stolen lives would be returned to them, and their untarnished happiness right along with it.
    Alastyn grew up in this village, the village of Tamar Broden. It lay just east of Jenevier and Jezreel’s childhood home of Moorglen. He had tirelessly searched over these last ten years just for the chance to look upon her beauty once more, to finally pick up where they’d left off that blissful, dreadful night.
    He had stumbled upon her by chance only a couple days past—covered in blood and (strangely enough) humming. He’d spoken her name before she disappeared. Yet her fierce red eyes gave no hint of recognition. Whoever or whatever she had become, he was certain she did not know the danger she now faced by returning to Tamar Broden.
    Alastyn was but a couple months younger than Jenevier and Jezreel. He remembered their first meeting as if it were yesterday. He had fallen hopelessly in love the first moment he’d laid eyes upon her. That was the summer the two lighthearted maidens had come to Tamar Broden to care for Jenevier’s ailing aunt, Marlise. It was also the last summer he had seen Jenevier’s magical smile. It had vanished the same fated day her aunt had passed… and Prince Merodach had appeared.
    Being so close to her now , after tirelessly searching through the mangled and forgotten places of this world, was intoxicating to Alastyn. The sheer closeness was almost unbearable. She was in the same room with him at last. He was shaking uncontrollably inside. It took every ounce of concentration just to keep the visible proof of his frenzied nerves at bay. He desperately longed to smell her lovely