Before she had a chance to say anything at all, a sudden snow flurry blinded Kara. It filled her eyes, her mouth, her nose. Shouts and cries came from the crowd, but she could see nothing. She coughed as she held her hand over her eyes and stumbled back against the pillar. She couldn’t breathe without sucking snow up her nose, and the intense smell of peppermint made her sneeze.
The next thing she knew, she no longer felt snow whirling around her body, but something sharp against her neck instead. Knowing what she would find, she lowered her arm and blinked snow from her eyes to see the flurry had vanished—and there was a knife poised at her throat. The curved blade glinted in the sunlight and Kara almost screamed. She recognized Chai wielding the weapon, and the woman wore a fierce expression. A ring of ice-ghosts surrounded Kara, T’ni Lael, and the Tower of Light.
Kara’s heart beat so loud it thrummed in her ears. But she could still hear the clear voice of the Ice-Witch ringing through the air as she addressed a furious Adan.
Echna removed her curved sword from its sheath, the sound of metal scraping against leather ringing out through the silent valley. Her voice came through her voicebox, low and controlled. “Order the wench to give me the crystal and I shall allow her to live.”
“No!” Kara shouted and then winced as Chai pushed the point of the blade tighter against her throat. “She can’t kill me. You know that.”
Knowing that was true, that the ice-ghosts couldn’t hurt Kara, Adan unsheathed his sword and the runes sparked with fire. No doubt this was what the Ice-Witch had been doing in her tower all these days. She had found a way to infiltrate the valley’s powershielding.
In a lightning-fast movement, he swung his sword at the Ice-Witch. She met him in an easy parry with her curved blade, her moves as quick as his own.
All around them Adan’s black-suited knights and Echna’s white-clad ice-ghosts erupted into battle. Sounds of metal clashing against metal, grunts, and cries rang through the crisp air. The smell of battle and blood met his nose and a metallic taste filled his mouth as he fought Echna. The rush of adrenaline heightened his senses, fueled his body and sang through his sword. Beside him Dominik and Dane battled opponents almost as fierce as Echna.
Adan never let his guard down, but he was intensely aware of Kara and the ice-ghost with the blade at her throat.
Echna fought with a strength equal to his own. Her pale eyes glowed and a smile graced her lips while they parried, as if she truly enjoyed their sparring.
Every thrust she deflected, and she nearly gutted him with a lunge so fast he barely dodged it, yet it still sliced through the fabric of his snowsuit.
The sight of Kara pressed against the monument infuriated Adan. He picked up his pace, fought even harder against Echna. But she continued to match him, if not outmaneuver him. Now he had to focus entirely on the Ice-Witch to keep from being skewered.
Adan slipped on a patch of icy snow. At the same time Echna swung her booted foot out and caught Adan at the ankles. He lost his footing and his legs slid out from beneath him.
He found himself flat on his back, Echna’s sword settled across his throat. “Whatever it takes, Adan Valnez, I will not allow you to harm my people.”
Helplessly, Kara watched the battle as Chai kept her pinned against the pillar. The Cwen stood beside Kara, another ice-ghost guarding the woman.
Their guards divided their attention between watching Kara and T’ni Lael, keeping an eye on the battle, and being prepared for potential attackers.
“The time nears,” the Cwen whispered. “To your left. There is a crevice the size of your pendant. Place the crystal there when the pillar begins to glow.”
“Move and I’ll cut your throat, crystal or no,” Chai said, her voice as cold as the snowbound planet.
The ice-ghost pressed the point of her blade in enough to pierce Kara’s flesh. She gasped and felt a drop of blood trickle down her neck.
Just a few feet behind Chai, Kara could see Adan battling Echna. Adan was an incredible swordsman, but the Ice-Witch matched him blow for blow.
Thoughts reeled through Kara’s mind. How could she escape to help him?
Were the Clans and the people of Sanor right in what they wanted to do? Shouldn’t the Ice-Witch and her ice-ghosts have a say in the matter, too?
Chai turned her attention to the battle, and the sword point moved slightly away from Kara’s neck. Only slightly, but enough that Kara could breathe without fear of the blade digging deeper into her throat.
Her heart pounded so hard her chest ached, and she wished there was something she could do to help Adan. Anything.
To her horror, Adan went down.
It happened so fast Kara couldn’t believe it. First he was on his feet battling the Ice-Witch, and the next moment he was flat on his back with Echna’s sword across his throat.
Fighting around them ceased. The remaining ice-ghosts and knights held each other at sword-point, but nobody moved. Crimson stained the once beautiful snow, and bodies littered the ground.
At the same time the sunlight became brighter and the Tower of Light began to glow. Softly at first, but then slowly stronger and stronger.
“Now,” T’ni Lael said in a fierce whisper. “Do it now.”
All it took was those few moments for Kara’s fear and fury to combine and become so intense that the pendant burned hot and fierce upon her chest. Intense heat and a flare of light burst from the crystal, slamming into Chai and throwing the ice-ghost across the battlefield, burying her in a snowbank. The warrior guarding the Cwen was flung back, too, and her sword flipped through the air, nearly driving into the ice-ghost as it fell within a fraction of her head.
Power seared Kara’s veins and magnified the light and heat. She held her arms wide and her body shook as the spray of light and heat widened. It blasted into ice-ghosts and knights alike, knocking them all to the ground like bowling pins, and melting snow in a wide arc. The faces of every ice-ghost turned a brilliant shade of red as the heat overtook them.
The power slammed into Echna, throwing her back to land on her ass as her sword spun into a snowbank.
In a flash the Ice-Witch was back on her feet—her skin no longer beautiful and pale, but bright red.
Adan had made it up first, and this time his sword point was placed over Echna’s heart. The symbols upon the blade glowed brighter than ever.
“Adan, don’t.” Kara’s cry rang through the air as the light and heat faded from the pendant.
He never took his eyes off Echna. “One good reason.”
“Kill her,” Dane growled.
“No!” The pillar behind Kara glowed brighter, casting multicolored lights over everyone as they scrambled to their feet. Symbols appeared upon it, matching the ones on the time-arch and on Adan’s sword.
“Now!” T’ni Lael’s features grew more intense, no longer serene, but almost fierce. “You must complete the process now!”
“Please don’t.” The Ice-Witch held her head high, her gaze leveled at Kara. “My people will die if you change this world as you wish to.”
“She lies.” The Cwen’s voice rose. She clenched her fists and glared at Kara. “Do it now, daughter!”
Adan’s expression grew perplexed, as if realizing things were not as they seemed to be.
The colors displayed across the snow began to whirl, slowly at first, then faster and faster.
Kara’s head ached and her heart pounded even harder. She grasped the crystal in one hand while she used the other to grab the chain and slip it over her head. It was painful, gut-wrenching to take the crystal from around her neck. This time the pendant was so hot she felt her skin sizzle, smelled burning flesh.
“Kill me, I care not.” The Ice-Witch’s voice held desperation. “But do not destroy my people.”
T’ni Lael reached for Kara, trying to get to the pendant. “Do not listen to her.”
Adan lowered his sword, his gaze fixed upon Kara. “You were right, love. This is their world, to
o.”
Colors flashed faster, like they were in the middle of a kaleidoscope, and Kara’s head swam. She stumbled away from the Cwen, and then ran.
She couldn’t give the crystal to anyone else, but she could make sure no one would ever have it.
Kara bolted toward the lake. At the same time she wound up to pitch like she had in softball game after softball game.
She released the pendant. Pain ground through her body at the sudden loss of contact.
The crystal shot toward the lake.
In the background, T’ni Lael screamed.
The pendant landed on the smooth surface and skidded toward the hole in the ice.
Kara’s heart stopped.
The crystal slid and slid, and then came to a halt at the very edge of the hole, half on, half off.
The Cwen screamed again and ran past Kara toward the lake.
“No!” Kara tried to grab T’ni Lael’s robe as she ran by, but missed, the cloth just brushing her hand.
She chased after the woman—her mother—trying to stop her from running onto the ice.
The pillar’s brilliant flashing lights scattered across the mostly frozen lake, becoming brighter and brighter yet. The colors illuminated the Cwen’s form as she stepped onto the frozen lake’s surface, slipped, and fell to her knees.
Kara ran after her, and she heard Adan’s call from behind. She ignored him, trying to get to T’ni Lael before she crawled out to the weakest point on the lake.
The Cwen scrambled across the ice, nearing the hole.
Kara found herself at the edge of the lake. She dropped to her hands and knees and started scooting toward her mother.
T’ni Lael came within a foot of the pendant. She reached out and grabbed it tight in her fist.
Ice cracked as loud as thunder.
Kara screamed and pushed herself farther across the lake.
The ice gave out from beneath the Cwen.
“No!” Kara cried out as T’ni Lael plunged into the lake.
Kara tried to get close enough to grab onto the Cwen’s arm, but suddenly strong arms were around her waist, pulling her back.
“No, damn it.” Kara struggled against the man’s hold, knowing at once that it was Adan. “I’ve got to get to her.”
Even as she fought Adan, two ice-ghosts slipped past them, lightly treading on the frozen lake to within feet of the shattered ice. One produced a fine silver rope and lowered it into the gaping hole.
Kara held her breath, praying that her mother would grab onto the rope and that they would pull her to safety.
She waited. And waited.
All around them was complete silence. Not even the snowbirds chirped.
The colors from the Tower of Light slowly faded until there was nothing but white ice and snow around them.
Except for the one patch of black ice that her mother had fallen through.
Tears burned the corners of Kara’s eyes and before she knew it, the tears rolled down her cheeks. They instantly chilled and froze upon her skin, but she barely noticed.
When they had waited for what seemed an eternity, or no time at all, the ice-ghosts looked at Kara, compassion in their pale eyes.
“She is gone,” Chai said through the box at her throat.
Kara turned into Adan’s embrace, let him pick her up and carry her away. She cried for a life senselessly lost. She cried for a mother she never knew. And she cried because she’d never given her mother a chance. And never forgave her while she was still alive.
Chapter Fifteen
Keiden pressed a bright synth-paper flower into Kara’s palm.
“I made this for you.” His adorable dimple showed when he smiled. “‘Cause you’re the bestest.”
Kara squeezed him to her in a giant bear hug, barely avoiding crushing the paper flower between them. He smelled so good, like gingerbread and little boy. When she released Keiden, he grinned and trotted back to his desk.
For a long moment Kara watched him and the other children, her elbows on her knees and her chin propped in her hands, and listened to their chatter. She sat cross-legged on the floor in her dark blue harem pants and tunic, preparing another project for the kids to work on in the afternoon. Here she actually felt like she could make a difference in these kids’ lives, that what she did mattered more than just getting a new loan for some couple refinancing their home. The only thing she had done at home that seemed to matter was stopping by the orphanage and playing with the kids.
Soon she had to make her decision.
Could she leave the children?
Could she leave Adan?
She moved her hands from her chin, opened her right hand, and studied her palm. An imprint of the pendant had been permanently seared into her flesh. Thanks to the Clans’ technology the wound had already healed, but a vivid pink scar remained.
The scar would always remind her of her mistakes. And of the things she managed to get right.
The week following the accident had passed in a blur for Kara. Two days after T’ni Lael’s death, the Clans had a simple traditional ceremony. The people of Sanor refused to join them and performed their own ritual deep in the bowels of the planet where they had lived for over two decades.
After the death rites, the Clans had held a communal feast to celebrate the Cwen’s life and her contribution to the people of Sanor and the three Clans. During the feast Kara hadn’t been able to bring herself to celebrate anything. She blamed herself for her mother’s death. She believed she had been right in not allowing the world-change to take place, but by throwing the pendant into the lake, she had inadvertently caused T’ni Lael’s death.
Now that a week had passed—with her work with the Clans’ children and Adan’s love to ease her pain—Kara had begun to forgive herself. There was nothing she could do about it now, but she still felt some guilt and grief at not trying to get to know her mother better, at not forgiving her for doing what she had thought was the right thing. Maybe she had saved Kara’s life all those years ago when she sent her to live on Earth.
No, nothing had been like it seemed to be. Even the ice-ghosts hadn’t truly been evil. They had only wanted to save their own lives.
Kara snatched a pair of scissors from the floor beside her, and rounded a corner off a piece of red synth-paper.
One good thing she had accomplished was to help the Clans form a treaty with the Ice-Witch and her ice-ghosts. Adan had told Kara he didn’t think any love would be lost between their people, but he rested easier knowing a bond of peace now existed between them. But, he wasn’t about to lower his guard, wasn’t about to allow the Clans to be unprepared—just in case.
Kara rounded another corner off the paper, made a V-cut, then snipped off two sides. When she was done she held a bright red heart in her hands. Next thing she knew she would be writing “Kara loves Adan” on it.
And she did. More than anything.
Her gaze flicked from the heart back to the students busy writing their vocabulary words on synth-paper. The Clans had the technology for the students to use only electronic devices for their schoolwork, but they wanted to preserve the past in small ways, so their children could read and write with writing utensils and synth-paper.
Kara’s gaze fixed on Keiden and a tight feeling wound itself in her heart. A feeling of pride, joy, and love, as if he was her son. What would it be like to have a child of her own, to feel that precious life growing in her womb and to cherish every moment of her child’s life?
She could only imagine having a child with Adan. Could only imagine being in his arms forevermore.
Kara rubbed one hand over her modest harem pants, the dark silk-like material soothing against the scar on her palm. What about her friends Jan and Sheri? Would she be allowed to say goodbye to them, to let them know what happened to her? Surely Adan could let her use the time-arch. Maybe Jan and Sheri would visit the orphanage for her. They had expressed interest, hadn’t they? What about her job, her life back on Earth? Her job
had never been as fulfilling as her work with the children of Blackstar, and her life had been beyond dull. And her friends—she loved them, but she loved Adan even more.
Truly, in her heart, she knew there had been no real doubt. She had just been scared to take that step. It seemed so final, so complete, severing her ties with all that she had ever known. But she had absolutely no doubt any more…her place was here on Blackstar, at Adan’s side. On Earth, her two friends had been all the family she’d known. Here, she felt like she had an entire extended family including the children, their parents, the knights, and everyone she’d met. And Adan. Of course, Adan.
The sound of boot steps jerked her attention from the children to the doorway, and her heart nearly exploded with joy at seeing Adan. Impulsively, she jumped up and ran to meet him. Almost without thought, she climbed him, wrapping her arms and legs around his waist.
“I love you, Adan Valnez.” She pressed her forehead to his. “I could never ever leave you.”
The look that came over his masculine features was one of fierce joy, amazement, and love.
“I thought I would have to chain you to my side,” he said in a husky growl. “You are mine, Kara Marks.”
Their lips met in a hungry, anxious kiss. His tongue made love to hers as if he couldn’t get enough of her. She knew she would never get enough of him.
She was so lost in the warmth of his arms around her, the feel of his body pressed tight to hers, the intensity of his kiss, and his intoxicating scent, that she lost touch with time and reality.
Gradually she became aware of small voices in the background, children laughing and chattering.
“Ewww, yuck,” said one little boy.
“That’s dee-scusting,” said another.
A girl said, “I think Clan Leader Valnez is going to marry Ms. Marks.”
Mrs. Night’s “ah-hem” rang through the room as Kara and Adan pulled apart. Kara’s cheeks burned and she was tempted to bury her face against Adan’s shirt.
He smiled and looked to the classroom. “Aye. I am going to marry Ms. Marks.”
Blackstar: Future Knight Page 15
