Magic In The Storm (44 page)

A brilliant flash of light broke them apart
and both women staggered backward. Adriana caught Kat before she
fell, and Jack the Lad made a lunge for his mother.

“I’m sorry that was painful,” Merlin’s voice
sounded old and weary. “But it will get easier for you, Katrina. As
with all magic, it gets easier the more you use it.”

“I will have to do that again? To others?”
Kat asked, her voice hoarse with fatigue. Lord Byron stepped up and
took her weight from Adriana, who was having difficulty holding her
up.

“I’m afraid so.”

“My power, it’s gone!” his mother cried. “All
gone.” Her knees began to buckle from under her, but Jack caught
her and then slowly led her away from the gathering.

There was a silence everyone still present
retreated into his or her own thoughts. But Morgan’s eyes fixed on
Adriana, drawn to her as if beyond his control.

“Let us not end this night in sadness,” he
said, determined to be cheerful.

He took a step forward, taking Adriana’s hand
with his free one. “Before all of these witnesses I would like to
pledge myself to you, Adriana. I think now is the perfect time for
us to marry.”

A smile spread slowly across her face,
brightening it into joy.

“An excellent idea!” Mr. Kean said. Other
voices chimed in, and everyone seemed to be relieved of the
oppressive sadness that had blanketed them all.

“May I?” Mr. Kean asked, reaching for the
chalice.

Morgan turned it over to him and then turned
back to Adriana.

“Tonight is the start of something new,” he
said quietly, but in a clear voice that carried around the circle.
He held his hands out palms facing up

“Tonight we leave our old lives behind and
forge a new life together,” Adriana replied, placing her hands
gently upon his.

“Tonight I devote my life to you, for you are
my life,” he said.

“Tonight I devote my soul to you, for you are
what makes it complete.”

“Tonight I devote my body to you, so that we
may join as one.”

“Together we shall live, breathe, and be as
one.”

“Together we will create, work and die.”

“We join our lives, our souls, and our
minds.”

“We are one in our love,” Morgan said with
finality.

Thank you for reading Morgan’s story. I hope
you enjoyed it.

If you would like to find out what Tatiana
was like as a young woman, read on for a sneak preview into
Storm on the Horizon
.

Guilt
poured from
Trina’s eyes, along with her tears. She had paused, her hand on the
railing, and was looking back at Tatiana.

“Where are you going? Shouldn’t be in your
room getting dressed for the ball?” Tatiana asked in surprise.

“I’m going… I’m going downstairs. Or… out.
Yes, out. I’ll be back.”

Trina was too far away for Tatiana to stop
her flight. Tatiana hesitated, and then held out her hand, using
her magic to put an invisible wall between Trina and her escape
route.

“No, you are not going anywhere.”

“Let me go, Tatiana. I have to get out of
here. I can’t do this. You know I can’t.”

Tatiana caught up to her twin. Smoothing the
tension from her thin face with her thumb, while pushing through as
much love and confidence as she could. “You can and you will.”

She took Trina’s overly warm hand and gently
led her back to her room. Oh, how she hated being the enforcer
here! But she had no choice. “I told you, I will be with you at
both your presentation to the queen and at the ball afterward. You
won’t be alone. I promise.”

Trina continued to look miserable; her brown
eyes were dull with reluctance and dismay. It was all Tatiana could
do to keep herself from folding her sister into her arms. She
wanted to do so badly, but she knew that if she did, Trina would
start to cry. Then her eyes would turn red and puffy, and she’d be
in no state to go anywhere. She couldn’t do that to her beloved
sister, so she just gave her hand a comforting squeeze as they
walked back to Trina’s room.

She really did hate being in collusion with
their parents against Trina. It had always been the two of them
against everyone else. They’d always stood together, from the time
they could both stand at all. But this time… this time, their
parents were right. Tatiana hated that almost as much as she hated
forcing her shy, unwilling sister to make her curtsey to society
and to place herself in the market for a husband.

Trina started to shake her head, but Tatiana
cut her off as she opened her mouth to protest. “You can do this,
and you will. You’re stronger than this, Trina.”

“No. I’m not. I’m terrified. No one is even
going to look at me at the ball. They never do.” The tears were
coming back. Tatiana could feel the heat of her sister’s fear
radiating off of her.

She had to do something. Something big.
Something dramatic. And something fast. Their grandmother was going
to be calling for them any moment. She pulled her sister to the
standing mirror in the corner of her room. Firmly placing her in
front of it, she said, “Look, Trina. Look at this gorgeous dress!
How can you say that no one will look at you?”

Trina fluffed out the heavy silk overdress
with no enthusiasm. “Well, at least I am stylish. I’m glad
Grandmama allowed me the most recent fashion. I like it à
l’Anglaise, without panniers. I don’t think I could have stood
having a dress that extended further out than my arms.”

Tatiana laughed. “You are not only dressed in
the first stare, you look beautiful!”

That comment made Trina’s face begin to
crumple once again. “No. That I am not.”

“Oh, yes, you are,” Tatiana said. And that is
when she had the idea! The brilliance of her inspiration made her
almost laugh out aloud in delight, but she controlled herself.
Instead, she narrowed her eyes a little and focused herself inward.
She gathered her magical power into her core and allowed a slow
smile to spread across her face.

In her mind’s eye, she saw her sister’s dull,
brown hair shine with vibrancy. Her eyes lost their brown coloring
and instead glowed a brilliant green. She made her lips and cheeks
ever so slightly more plump, and filled out her bust-line, giving
her a more womanly figure.

“Oh!” her sister gasped. She stared into the
mirror, stunned at the woman she was seeing.

Tatiana then focused her attention on
herself. She dulled her own rich, dark brown hair, and faded her
sparkling black eyes to muddy brown. She thinned her face and lips,
and made herself look nearly as angular as a scarecrow. Her
perfectly-fitted, vibrant blue dress now hung limply on her
frame.

“Oh, no! Tatiana, what are you doing?” Trina
exclaimed, horrified.

“Much better,” Tatiana looked in the mirror
and nodded approvingly.

“No! Tatiana, really!”

“Yes, really! It is important that you look
your best,” Tatiana said, admiring her handiwork. “And just as
important that I don’t. This way, no one will look twice at me, but
focus all of their attention on you. Just as they should.”

“But your beauty…” Trina objected.

“Is inside, just as yours always is. Only now
yours is showing outwardly for all of those superficial men to
see—and mine is hidden away.” Tatiana nodded again. “This is the
way it should be.”

Trina looked more closely at herself in the
mirror. A small smile trembled on to her lips and tears shone in
her eyes yet again. “You are too good to me,” she whispered.

“No. I love you. But if you cry, I’m going to
be extremely annoyed. I don’t want to have to overlay even more
magic on you to keep everyone from seeing red, puffy eyes and
blotchy cheeks.”

A giggle burst out of Trina and she blinked
away the tears. “No. I won’t do that to you. I promise.” She sighed
and turned herself from side to side to admire her new splendor.
“It is a shame, though.”

“What, that you have to marry? I’m sure
you’ll find a wonderful man, Trina. You’ve got the entire season to
do so.”

“Yes. But
you
won’t be here the entire
season. And that’s not what I was referring to. It’s a shame that
you won’t get to choose your own husband.”

Tatiana’s heart constricted at that thought.
It was not only a shame, it was downright painful — and terrifying.
She took a deep breath. “Yes, well. I have to pay for this gift
that was given to me.”

Meredith Bond is an award-winning author of
a series of traditionally published Regency romances and
indie-published paranormal romances. Her paranormal romances
include
Magic In The Storm
,
Storm
on the Horizon
, and “In A Beginning” (in the anthology
Tales From The Mist
). Her traditional Regencies
include
The Merry Men Quartet
of which
An
Exotic Heir
will be republished in March, 2013. Meredith also
teaches writing. If you want a taste of her class,
Chapter One
is available at your favorite e-retailer.

Want to know more? Come visit Meredith at
her website,
www.meredithbond.com
or chat with her on
Facebook (
www.facebook.com/meredithbondfan
) or
Twitter (@merrybond).

Find out more about the Vallen by following
this link–available only to those who have a copy of this book!
http://magicinthestorm.meredithbond.com