‘My pleasure entirely.’ He placed her empty glass on a passing waiter’s tray, and grabbed two new ones.
‘But there’s still a few things I don’t understand.’ Liz took possession of her drink from Simon, as they turned to view ‘The Unknown Woman’.
‘Just a few? You’re doing better than me.’
‘How did Sara come to know about Jon? Why did he paint this? And is that you?’ Liz pointed to the French lord holding her close in one of the depictions.
‘Actually, that’s the Marquis Alexandre de Brie, Baron de Pornic,’ Simon informed her, ‘and his lover, Mademoiselle Marianna Paquet.’ He played down the coincidence of their resemblance to the characters in question.
‘Is that right?’
‘And that’s the Great Witch of Balwearie.’ He pointed to the other depiction of her, wallowing in her undivided attention.
‘You don’t say.’ Liz was fascinated.
THE CHAIRS
‘Rosalind!’ Sara called. ‘Where are you?’
‘Here, with Uncle Willie!’ came the reply from the waterfront — Willie was answering on her daughter’s behalf.
‘Come on back, we’re going to unveil the memorial.’ Sara waved them forth, barely able to see them through the trees.
‘These are fresh from the garden.’ Connie and Richard carried over two big bunches of flowers that would adorn their monument once it was unveiled.
Liz was leaning heavily on Simon as they made their way up the track that had been cut through the wood when Richard had finally dug out all the sandstone from the Marchard Manor ruins. Naturally Liz had insisted on wearing heels, yet she seemed to be negotiating the uneven earth fairly well.
When Sara looked closer she noted Liz had clear cap soles on her heels that turned them into a wedges. ‘That’s rather ingenious, where did you get those?’
Liz motioned adoringly to Simon. ‘How can I not adore consideration like that?’ She kissed his cheek, and he was chuffed.
‘We’re here!’ Willie and Tyrell returned with the baby.
‘Want to come to Mummy?’ Sara offered to take her off Willie’s hands, but the babe shook her head. ‘Uncle Willie is way more fun, huh?’
‘Yeah, you bet he is.’ He tickled her belly and she chuckled with delight.
‘Are we all here?’ Jon took hold of the tarp covering his work, ready for the unveiling.
‘All present and accounted for,’ Simon confirmed. ‘So let’s see it then, we’ve only been waiting a year and a half!’
‘Well, they’ve been a little busy.’ Richard defended his young friend. ‘Let’s see you do a piece this size, a wedding, a honeymoon, a baby—’
‘Please stop — Let’s just . . . not.’ Simon was clearly discomforted by the suggestion, and Liz didn’t appear very thrilled either. ‘Back to you, maestro.’ Simon referred everyone’s attention to Jon.
‘We are gathered here today, to pay homage to the woman who has touched the lives of us all in one way or another. And although Rosalind Marchard perished a thousand years ago, I hope this token of our appreciation will stand as a lasting reminder of what a truly patient and innovative soul she was.’ Jon pulled away the tarp to reveal two life-sized stone carvings of the chairs, sitting one beside the other.
Everyone gasped at the magnificent reproduction, except Simon.
‘Oh no!’ He covered his eyes, faking trauma.
‘They’re beautiful.’ Sara hugged her husband, knowing how much time he’d spent making them just perfect; although Jon had hidden the work from her, so that it would be a surprise. ‘So, I bet I can guess why you wanted me to bring my stone today.’
There was a clasp in the headrest of each of the chairs, for the stones to lock into.
‘You guessed it.’ Jon pulled his stone from his pocket.
Together they stepped up onto the monument, and with a good dab of wet cement to the back, they both affixed their stones into the chairs.
‘Rest in peace, Rosalind,’ said Jon, as they stepped back to view the completed monument. ‘A greater guide there will never be, than the one who returned my love to me.’
‘Aw . . .’ Sara had to kiss him for that thought. ‘I completely agree. Good job.’ Sara noted a plaque inset in front of the memorial, and leaning over it, she read it aloud for the benefit of all.
‘If letting you go
means you are set free,
I shall give not another thought to thee.
But should our paths cross
in the karmic cycles of men,
I’ll treasure your company all over again.’
The words brought a tear to the eyes of everyone present, but to Sara most of all. ‘My sentiments exactly.’
EXCERPT FROM THE STORYTELLER’S MUSE
Bestselling author Traci Harding moves into commercial fiction with a story of intrigue and deception.
A bitter writer, an enthusiastic protégé and a story that must be told.
Peter is a young nurse and aspiring author whose professional dreams have come true – a patient in his care, Penelope, needs someone to transcribe her final story, which revolves around four friends sharing an apartment where they hone their artistic and musical skills. Peter soon realises there is more to the story – another presence is lurking in the building, an intriguing, creative, temperamental force that goes by the name Em Jewel.
When tragedy strikes, Peter and his charming co-worker Gabrielle must finish Penelope’s story before it ruins both their lives. With the help of a motley group of authors, Peter and Gabrielle are swept up into a world of art, intrigue and deception. They must choose whether to follow their heads or their hearts – with life-altering consequences.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
TRACI HARDING is one of Australia’s best loved and most prolific authors. Her stories blend fantasy, fact, esoteric belief, time travel and quantum physics, into adventurous romps through history, alternative dimensions, universes and states of consciousness. She has published several bestselling books and been translated into several languages.
ALSO BY TRACI HARDING
THE ANCIENT FUTURE TRILOGY
The Ancient Future: the Dark Age (1)
An Echo in Time: Atlantis (2)
Masters of Reality: the Gathering (3)
The Alchemist’s Key
THE CELESTIAL TRIAD
Chronicle of Ages (1)
Tablet of Destinies (2)
The Cosmic Logos (3)
Ghostwriting
The Book of Dreams
THE MYSTIQUE TRILOGY
Gene of Isis (1)
The Dragon Queens (2)
The Black Madonna (3)
TRIAD OF BEING TRILOGY
Being of the Field (1)
The Universe Parallel (2)
The Light-field (3)
THE TIMEKEEPERS
Dreaming of Zhou Gong (1)
The Eternity Gate (2)
AWOL (3)
The Storyteller’s Muse
The Immortal Bind
COPYRIGHT
HarperCollinsPublishers
First published in Australia in 2017
by HarperCollinsPublishers Australia Pty Limited
ABN 36 009 913 517
harpercollins.com.au
Copyright © Traci Harding 2017
The right of Traci Harding to be identified as the author of this work has been asserted by her in accordance with the Copyright Amendment (Moral Rights) Act 2000.
This work is copyright. Apart from any use as permitted under the Copyright Act 1968, no part may be reproduced, copied, scanned, stored in a retrieval system, recorded, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, without the prior written permission of the publisher.
HarperCollinsPublishers
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n SE1 9GF, United Kingdom
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195 Broadway, New York, NY 10007, USA
978 0 7322 9942 2 (paperback)
978 1 4607 0316 8 (ebook)
National Library of Australia Cataloguing-in-Publication data:
Harding, Traci, author.
The immortal bind / Traci Harding.
Australian fiction.
A823.3
Cover design by HarperCollins Design Studio
Cover images: Woman by Stephen Carroll / Trevillion Images;
background images by shutterstock.com
Author photograph by Kathy Luu 2015
The Immortal Bind Page 32
