Thanks for lending your support our first day! As promised here is the opening for Priestess Under Fire. Enjoy!
"I have to say this is highly unusual."
The woman in the threshold of the tiny parish-run orphanage pursed her lips. It was nearly sunrise but the dark skies overhead gave no indication of buckling to the first rays of dawn. Thunder rumbled plaintively above their heads.
And always that harsh, merciless rain poured down; just as it had when the woman drew her last breath...as though the angels of this small, argumentative woman's faith wept uncontrollably at the night's events.
"I cannot support her. She needs a family, warmth, love."
As he spoke he held the child outward in her soggy blanket.
She'd given up on crying some time ago. Fine lashes kissed her cheeks and then fluttered open like the wings of a butterfly. The same flowery blue eyes of her mother stared groggily upward to the bleak skies.
"Really, Mr...?"
"Feblood," he lied smoothly.
The old woman glanced back down at the child as the infant let out a small protest. A fat raindrop had landed on her cheek. It slid down like the ethereal tears he'd conjured seconds ago.
"State law requires--"
"I can't keep her. She's wet, exhausted, hungry...and her parents are dead. You're the only option she has."
"The poor thing isn't a dog," the older woman snapped. "You can't just toss her on the street. We have laws against...we..."
He stared deeper into those watery, dim brown eyes. "You must take her," he said slowly, watching the words wrap round her as if by magic.
They were. So was he.
Magic couldn't protect the child, though. And it certainly couldn't raise her as her mother would have wanted.
Slowly, the older woman reached out to take the small bundle. The instant her weight left him an enormous sense of loss and relief accosted him...to the point where he almost reached out to snatch the infant back.
Instead he curled his fingers into fists at his sides.
"What is her name?"
The words struck him by surprise. He blinked back the foul memories and stared into the blankets. Blue delphiniums stared right back at him...curious, assessing. But those words meant the woman had acquiesced. The babe would be safe.
For now.
"I have to say this is highly unusual."
The woman in the threshold of the tiny parish-run orphanage pursed her lips. It was nearly sunrise but the dark skies overhead gave no indication of buckling to the first rays of dawn. Thunder rumbled plaintively above their heads.
And always that harsh, merciless rain poured down; just as it had when the woman drew her last breath...as though the angels of this small, argumentative woman's faith wept uncontrollably at the night's events.
"I cannot support her. She needs a family, warmth, love."
As he spoke he held the child outward in her soggy blanket.
She'd given up on crying some time ago. Fine lashes kissed her cheeks and then fluttered open like the wings of a butterfly. The same flowery blue eyes of her mother stared groggily upward to the bleak skies.
"Really, Mr...?"
"Feblood," he lied smoothly.
The old woman glanced back down at the child as the infant let out a small protest. A fat raindrop had landed on her cheek. It slid down like the ethereal tears he'd conjured seconds ago.
"State law requires--"
"I can't keep her. She's wet, exhausted, hungry...and her parents are dead. You're the only option she has."
"The poor thing isn't a dog," the older woman snapped. "You can't just toss her on the street. We have laws against...we..."
He stared deeper into those watery, dim brown eyes. "You must take her," he said slowly, watching the words wrap round her as if by magic.
They were. So was he.
Magic couldn't protect the child, though. And it certainly couldn't raise her as her mother would have wanted.
Slowly, the older woman reached out to take the small bundle. The instant her weight left him an enormous sense of loss and relief accosted him...to the point where he almost reached out to snatch the infant back.
Instead he curled his fingers into fists at his sides.
"What is her name?"
The words struck him by surprise. He blinked back the foul memories and stared into the blankets. Blue delphiniums stared right back at him...curious, assessing. But those words meant the woman had acquiesced. The babe would be safe.
For now.