Written in the Stars Read Free Page A

had once stood. Long ago, when they were boys, Carlyle had shown
     him a special place he had found. It was an old memory he kept silent out of past
     love for his brother. For the love he still felt, he tried to ignore the cunning and
     depravity he sometimes sensed in Carlyle. If his brother had succumb to his fascination
     with the old, dark ways, he would discover the truth and put a stop to it for the
     sake of their father. And to spare Elizabeth.
    Will lifted his chin and stared steadily back at his grandfather. “Have you spoken
     to the duke about what you have seen?”
    His grandfather glanced back to Laurel, who slept peacefully now. “When her attacks
     of the lungs become less frequent, I shall burden him with the news. No need to spoil
     tomorrow’s banquet to celebrate Carlyle and Elizabeth’s betrothal.” Watching him,
     his grandfather’s eyes darkened. “What think you of the match, Will?”
    The match is wrong! Elizabeth belongs to me! As he had done with Laurel, Will chose
     his words with care, fighting the powerful feelings pounding through him from the
     moment he saw Elizabeth.
    “My brother is a fortunate man.”
    …
    The pungent aroma from the flowers and herbs Florea kept thickly strewn across his
     chamber floor masked the sharp scent of blood.
    Carlyle waited for her as he had every night in remembered time.
    She appeared as if born of the shadows. Her long fingers stroked his hair, knew where
     his neck muscles corded with tension. He sighed, lifting one of her gnarled hands
     to his lips, kissing the rough flesh.
    This was the hand, as strong as the sacred oak, which had held his fist clutching
     the jeweled blade for his first sacrifice to the old gods.
    “My Flower, it is as you foretold. Elizabeth is marked by magic.”
    Florea’s chuckle warmed his ear. “As you were marked by magic as a babe suckling at
     my breasts and learning the lore of our pagan gods in your nightly lullabies. All
     shall be as I promised.”
    He tensed. “When? I grow eager for my due all the old gods decree I should possess.”
    Again her fingers dug deep into his flesh, smoothing his bunched muscles.
    “Elizabeth is young and pure of heart. She does not yet understand the great power
     she possesses within or wears wrapped about her body.”
    He twisted to gaze up at his old nurse. “Her celestial girdle is her source of power?”
    “The power of the girdle can only be released by Elizabeth recognizing and accepting
     all she is destined to be.” Florea cupped his face with hot palms. “You are destined
     to be the catalyst to release Elizabeth’s darkness. With her by your side there is
     naught you cannot possess in the future.”
    The past flashed before his eyes. Will showing him how to fence with his first small
     rapier. Will, taller and stronger, teaching him to ride with the wind. Will, his strokes
     sure, helping him as he floundered clumsily while swimming in the stream. Always watching
     with indulgence and affection, the duke’s eyes lingered on Will, never on him. Florea
     had helped him see the truth. She had guided and soothed him as admiration and fondness
     had dissolved into jealousy and scorn for his brother—and finally into a deep hatred
     for Will, whom all loved. None more than the duke, who could not hide his preference
     for this favored son. “In the future I shall have my father’s respect above all others?
     There will be none to challenge me?”
    She kissed his cheek. “Yes, Carlyle. As I made sure there would be no other heir to
     threaten what is rightfully yours, I promise at last you can vanquish your bastard
     brother.”

Dunham Castle, 1601
    My world spins around me, scattering my thoughts to the winds.
    I have faced the danger my old nurse had foreseen. My choice, made in eagerness with
     my heart and soul, was unwise beyond my capacity to fully understand how I could so
     have lost my way.
    A strong passion and deep longing I dare not have believed