StarMark - Softcover

Hetzel, Katherine

Softcover

ISBN 10: 1943837023 ISBN 13: 9781943837021

Verlag: Bedazzled Ink Publishing Company, 2016

Inhaltsangabe

After Irvana's grandmother dies in their remote clifftop home, Irvana must travel to Koltarn. Alone in a strange city, Irvana finds employment at the palace, home of Lord Terenz, current overlord and bearer of the StarMark. Suddenly immersed in palace life, Irvana makes a friend in fellow-servant Rosann, and there is a spark between her and the lively Mikal, Terenz's ward. But when Terenz discovers that Irvana has something he wants, her life is suddenly in danger. 

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Über die Autorin bzw. den Autor

Katherine Hetzel enjoys writing short stories for adults and has been published in several anthologies. She lives in the heart of the UK with her husband and two teenaged children.

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StarMark

By Katherine Hetzel

Bedazzled Ink Publishing, LLC

Copyright © 2016 Katherine Hetzel
All rights reserved.

ISBN: 978-1-943837-02-1

Contents

CHAPTER 1 Changes, 
CHAPTER 2 Gramma's Box, 
CHAPTER 3 Helping Hands, 
CHAPTER 4 The Broken Apple, 
CHAPTER 5 The Hiring Stand, 
CHAPTER 6 In the Kitchen, 
CHAPTER 7 Terenz Returns, 
CHAPTER 8 The Guest List, 
CHAPTER 9 A Second Meeting, 
CHAPTER 10 Yulia, 
CHAPTER 11 Discoveries, 
CHAPTER 12 Thief, 
CHAPTER 13 The Truth, 
CHAPTER 14 A Broken Mark, 
CHAPTER 15 The Safe House, 
CHAPTER 16 The Road to Bernea, 
CHAPTER 17 New Friends, 
CHAPTER 18 Waiting, 
CHAPTER 19 The Presentation, 
CHAPTER 20 Betrayal, 
CHAPTER 21 Gold, at Last, 
CHAPTER 22 A Fatal Encounter, 
CHAPTER 23 The Great Fair, 
CHAPTER 24 Memories, 
CHAPTER 25 Cracks, 
CHAPTER 26 Fire!, 
CHAPTER 27 The Darkest Hour, 
CHAPTER 28 A Brighter Star, 

CHAPTER 1

Changes

IRVANA HADN'T EXPECTED a frail old lady to weigh so much. But when she could barely walk and Irvana had to take most of her weight to get her outside, to see the stars before ...

Irvana gritted her teeth, tightened her hold on Gramma's waist, and took another couple of steps. She wasn't going to think that thought. They were almost there, and Gramma would feel better for being out of the shack. She would. She had to.

"Here you go, Gramma. Sit here, against the rock. I'll wrap the quilt 'round. Look, we're just in time."

She could tell from the glimmer on the horizon that it would soon be dawn, but the brightest of the stars were thankfully still visible in the darkness above their heads. Otherwise it would have been so much effort, wasted.

"Irvana."

She looked quickly at Gramma. "What is it? Is the pain worse?"

"No worse than before." How faint Gramma's voice was. "Sit with me."

Irvana sat. In the darkness, she felt for Gramma's hand and gave it a squeeze.

"Ah, child, we've had such good times ... not wanted for much ... have we?"

It was a good job Gramma couldn't see Irvana's face. But just in case she could, Irvana shook her head and tried to smile. So what if her stomach rumbled sometimes and the driftwood shack that was their home wasn't always as dry inside as it could be?

"We've got each other. That's enough," she whispered.

Gramma managed a hoarse chuckle. "I remember the day you arrived ... how long ago? Twelve years? You were tiny ... mewling like a kitten ... your poor ma dead not long after you arrived in the world and your pa drowned ... just like my Freyd ..."

"Don't think of that now. You know it always makes you sad."

The stars were paling in the rose light of a new day, winking out, one by one. Soon, there would be none left. Irvana loved to watch the dawn, when colours streaked the join between sky and sea. The sky was never blue as the sun approached, but pink and orange and green and purple.

"I've tried not ... to dwell ... on what I lost." Gramma's murmur was loud in the pre-dawn silence. "Too painful. You ... helped ease the grief." From somewhere, she found the energy to squeeze Irvana's hand. "It won't be long ... before I am lost too."

"You just need to rest." Irvana had to force the words out, past the fear which was threatening to choke her. "You'll soon be well again."

"We both know ..." The old lady's breath was coming now in shallow gasps and she pressed her free hand to her chest.

"Gramma?" Irvana tried to will her young strength into her grandmother's body through their clasped hands.

"When I've gone ... don't stay here ... Go to Koltarn ..." Gramma forced the words out between laboured breaths. "To the Broken Apple ... Ask for Matteuw ... He's the only one I can think of ... who will help ... Tell him ... who you are ... Take my box ..."

"Your box, Gramma? I don't understand."

Even as Irvana spoke, the old lady sighed a long sigh and fell silent.

"Gramma!"

No.

No!

Not yet! Another breath, please! Breathe, Gramma, breathe ...

But Gramma didn't. There was no sound except the waves and the cry of a lonely gull. No breath.

Irvana stared at ... at ... at what had been a living, loving person moments before. Gramma was dead. Irvana dropped her cheek onto the hand that had relaxed so completely in her own and wept.

How could she carry on without Gramma? She needed her, needed her love and care. Life wasn't worth living without her. Irvana cried until there were no tears left and the sun had risen well into the sky. Then she raised her head and gazed through swollen eyes at the face of the woman who had been her only family for as long as she could remember. Gramma lay so peacefully, as though asleep, and she was still holding Gramma's hand. Her lifeless, cold hand. Irvana released a deep, shuddering sigh and tucked Gramma's hand inside the quilt.

Then, stiff and numb after so long sitting on the floor, Irvana got up. Her legs moved automatically, taking her to the edge of the cliff, where she felt the warm breeze caress her skin. She could smell the salty tang of the sea, even up here. Everything was the same — the sun still shone, the sea still washed the pebbles, the birds still soared above the water — and yet everything was different.

Irvana wrapped her arms around herself and held tight. It shouldn't be like this. The world should have stopped spinning. A light wind played with her hair, teasing it loose from its plait, as though by tickling her cheek it could put a smile back onto her face.

Not a chance. Irvana felt like she might never smile again.

She turned her back on the sea and the sun. She had to keep her mind occupied. She had to do something with Gramma's body.

There was a possibility that niggled at her from one of Gramma's stories. Fire! That was it. That was how the city folk sent the spirits of the dead on their way to the next life: in the smoke. Was that something she could do? The shack was wood after all and there was a little fish oil left to burn ... But that meant destroying the place she'd called home, and she wasn't prepared to do that.

You won't need the shack if you go to the city, a treacherous little voice whispered in her head, but Irvana ignored it. She wasn't going to think about what Gramma had said. Not yet. She needed to deal with what was left of Gramma first.

If she wasn't going to use fire, what other options were there?

A hole in the ground? Gramma used to bury the fish bones so the wolves and bears wouldn't smell them and come out of the forest. The soil at the top of the cliff was stony, true, but it might still be possible. And if she dug close to the rock where Gramma had died, she wouldn't have to move the body very far either ...

A sharp stone served as a crude spade and Irvana scraped at the soil until the sun was high over her head. That's when she stopped and flung the stone away.

"It's no use! It's too hard."

Tears and sweat stung her eyes. She'd dug all morning, and only managed to make a shallow dent, nowhere near deep enough to do the job it needed to. It made her feel sick, the thought that she'd failed and would have to leave Gramma where she was, propped up against the rock.

Irvana wouldn't let that happen. She sat back on her heels and forced herself to think. There had to be something.

What about stones? Brought up from the beach and piled around the body? It wouldn't be easy, and wasn't the best solution, but ...

Using the...

Details zur Ausgabe

• Verlag: Bedazzled Ink Publishing Company
• Erscheinungsdatum: 2016
• Sprache: Englisch
• ISBN 10: 1943837023
• ISBN 13: 9781943837021
• Einband: Taschenbuch
• Anzahl der Seiten: 224
• Kontakt zum Hersteller: preigu GmbH & Co. KG; mail@preigu.de; ; Lengericher Landstr. 19; Osnabrück; Niedersachsen; 49078; Deutschland