The Heir of King Meldh, Copyright 2004 by S.J.E. Brainerd
Kriki's Gift, Copyright 2013 by S.J.E. Brainerd

Tuesday, March 12, 2013

Kriki's Gift, Chapter 29, Reading 10


The excitement builds as the release of 
Kriki's Gift, Book Two of the Geometry of Power 
draws near.



Darrine had unconsciously sunk into a state of gray depression. Her mind was filled with doubts, feelings that she was too old to have any use or purpose remaining in life. It didn't matter that she'd been placed in a position where she was likely to meet her doom. She was expendable and everyone knew it - that was everybody except for herself. She was an old and foolish woman who had deceived herself into believing that she still had value.
Darrine heard the voices at the rear of the column rising in a shouted repetition of the Queen's chant and felt the strange sense of apathy lift from her mind. In an instant, her thoughts cleared and she understood that the unfamiliar lethargy was not of her own making. Anger replaced the doubt for she was outraged that she'd succumbed so easily to the Valkea's illusions. The bitch wasn't going to be able to do that again!
Turning, she looked at Trooper Kulm and finally realized that he'd long ago stopped singing his romantic ballads to the decoy Lady Carra in the wagon. She watched him shake himself like a wet dog. "What in the name of the Spirit was I thinking?" he muttered in disgust.
Darrine started to speak to him to let him know that he wasn't alone in being victimized by the Valkea's deception, but her horse staggered as three arrows pierced deeply into the mare's flesh, one severing an artery in her neck. Darrine barely got her feet free of the stirrups before the bay collapsed to the ground.

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