by Inez Kelley
Time Dancer
By Inez Kelley
Book three of the Eldwyn Chronicles
Everyone has a duty in the royal castle—everyone except Jana Haruk. Despite her promising magical bloodline, her gift is weak. As a Reminiscent Seer, she knows only what happened in the past, not what will happen in the future. When the crown prince’s life is threatened, Jana vows to do everything she can to help him—including asking the queen, a powerful sorceress, to lend her some magic.
The queen summons Darach, a spell in human form. The arrogant and mysterious man soon discovers there’s more to Jana than meets the eye: she’s a time dancer, someone with the ability to move backward through time in her dreams. With Darach as her anchor, Jana can explore the past and try to figure out who is behind the attacks on the prince.
Despite her attraction to him, Jana knows little about the handsome warrior. The past is tying them closer to each other with every trip, but Darach is bound to return to his homeland when his mission is complete...and their time together is running out.
For more of the Eldwyn Chronicles, check out Salome at Sunrise, available now!
84,000 words
Dear Reader,
This February, we decided that we would do something a little different for the month that usually celebrates Valentine’s Day. Not everything always needs to be hearts and roses—sometimes it can be swords, mayhem and spaceships as well—so we’re using this month to not only debut new science fiction and fantasy authors and series, but also to reintroduce some returning authors in these genres. And, of course, since we’re a publisher of variety, we have even more genres on offer this month.
Debut author Steve Vera brings us Drynn, book one in his Last of the Shardyn urban fantasy trilogy. The heroes of two worlds reluctantly join forces to fight the Lord of the Underworld. Joining Steve in the urban fantasy category is David Bridger, returning with his sequel to Quarter Square. Golden Triangle is the story of a golden man, werewolf bikers and two nemeses.
How Beauty Saved the Beast is the second book in Jax Garren’s continuing science fiction romance trilogy, and the sexual tension is ramping up! A burlesque dancer and a scarred soldier defend a colony of anarchists as friends and fellow agents, but when a new weapon threatens to rip them apart, sparks fly as the dancer must take the lead in a fight for the soldier’s life. Don’t miss the trilogy’s conclusion in May.
Returning authors Stacy Gail, Inez Kelley, Shona Husk and Christopher Beats all deliver their respective book twos this month, all in four different genres. Don’t miss paranormal romance Savage Angel, fantasy romance Time Dancer, Western fantasy romance Dark Secrets and steampunk mystery Vacant Graves.
Also in February, author Shawna Thomas launches her newest fantasy series with Journey of Awakening. Trained from birth for one purpose, Sara must reunite three ancient stones to restore balance to the land, but one of the stone keepers has other plans.
Longing for a heroine who’s not your typical heroine? Have an interest in a unique fairy tale retelling? Tia Nevitt delivers both in her latest Accidental Enchantments offering, The Magic Mirror and the Seventh Dwarf, a Snow White retelling where the seventh dwarf is a young woman who walks into adventure with a runaway princess, a prince cursed by a magic mirror, and a romance of her own.
Last, but definitely not least, are our February offerings for those of you who want to read outside of science fiction, fantasy and paranormal. Mystery author Monique Domovitch joins Carina Press with Getting Skinny, the first in her Chef Landry Mystery series. Charlie Cochrane delivers another heart-wrenching tale of love in male/male historical Promises Made Under Fire. And cool Southern belle Althea Grant’s subdued life as an art gallery owner burns out of control when a seductive bad-boy metal sculptor pushes her to explore her deepest, most thrilling desires in Platinum, Jeffe Kennedy’s newest BDSM erotic romance book.
We’re pleased to introduce debut author Darcy Daniel with her contemporary romance Playing the Part. Famous actress Anthea Cane meets her match when she encounters an enigmatic blind farmer…but has she also met the man of her dreams?
And despite my claim that not everything has to be hearts and roses, I’m still a die-hard romantic, so I hope all of you discover an amazing happily ever after this Valentine’s Day, whether between the pages of a Carina Press book or channel surfing on the couch next to you.
We love to hear from readers, and you can email us your thoughts, comments and questions to [email protected]. You can also interact with Carina Press staff and authors on our blog, Twitter stream and Facebook fan page.
Happy reading!
~Angela James
Executive Editor, Carina Press
www.carinapress.com
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Dedication
For Marianne Nicoletto Strnad and Jo Ann Jansing,
who believed in the magic of Eldwyn and in me.
Acknowledgements
I can’t say enough about Deborah Nemeth, who takes any stilted, confusing words and polishes them to a shine. She deserves the Eldwynian title of Grand Story Master.
A select group of friends and writers were with me on this journey and they dug me out when I got stuck, pushed me through the whining and praised me when I got something right. Without my rat chatters, this book might have never seen the light of day.
Big G and my family suffered through take-out dinners and dug through stacks of clean but unfolded clothes so I could finish this book. Without them, my life would be empty.
Thank you all.
Contents
Chapter One
Chapter Two
Chapter Three
Chapter Four
Chapter Five
Chapter Six
Chapter Seven
Chapter Eight
Chapter Nine
Chapter Ten
Chapter Eleven
Chapter Twelve
Chapter Thirteen
Chapter Fourteen
Chapter Fifteen
Chapter Sixteen
Epilogue
Dear Readers
About the Author
Copyright
Chapter One
The Crowned Prince was on fire.
Jana froze for a half breath, her mind accepting the horror. Batu was on fire. Flames licked up his back as he crawled away from the shattered chandelier. His captain, Argot, had shoved him from beneath the falling iron circle but now the bodyguard lay trapped beneath the twisted metal.
Jana jerked from her shock. She grabbed a pitcher of buttermilk from the table and doused the prince as servants rushed in carrying buckets and bowls. The fire fizzled out but embers glowed on his tunic. Smoke blinded her and the scorched scent of burnt wool choked her but she beat at Prince Batu’s back until her hands stung.
Desperation shoved all fear aside. The Crowned Prince was Eldwyn’s future. More than that, Batu had been her best friend from the time she could walk. It didn’t matter that his bloodline was royal. All that mattered was she loved him like a brother. His life held far more value than hers and she’d die trying to save him.
Argot gripped her arms, hefting her away from the prince. “Jana, stop. You’re going to break his neck.”
Batu coughed and rolled to his singed back. “She just saved my neck. I’ll take a few bruises.”
The droll humor came with a smoky rasp. She sagged in relief. Batu was safe, charred a bit but breathing. Argot’s breeches were burned but he’d climbed from beneath the heavy chandelier alive. Jana blinked, noticing suddenly the rapid clip of her pulse and the heaving of her lungs. Around her, servants kicked at smoldering patches of shattered timber and poured water on puddles of candle wax. Th
e marble floor became a slimy lake. Her gown was soaked and the stench of fire clung to her. Thicker than the smoke, the scent of treachery soured her stomach. This assassination attempt had nearly succeeded.
“That was no accident.” Wax dried on Argot’s face, and angry blisters oozed along his arm. The tops of his boots and his leggings gaped with holes showing burns on his legs, but he bent to pull Batu to his feet. He dropped his voice low. “I’ve summoned more guards. Your would-be assassin is here in Thistlemount.”
Jana scrambled to her feet. “But how? The castle gates have doubled guards.”
“If I knew that, he’d be a dead son of a bitch,” Argot sneered, his thick brows knotting over a twice-broken nose. Close-cut dark hair cast the bones of his head into angles.
Chaos reigned in the dining hall as soldiers flooded in. Fortitude lined every face. They took this inside attempt as a personal affront. A small knot of guards surrounded the prince and escorted him up the stairs, a living shield of muscle and armor. Argot watched until the entourage was no longer visible before allowing pain to crease his face.
Jana was there in an instant, slipping her arms around his waist. “Come on. You need to get to the healer.”
“Not yet,” he muttered. “Someone in this room tried to kill Batu. I need to watch them.”
Jana tugged him toward a damp chair then stood as sentinel beside the prince’s bodyguard. Wintry wind blew as the servants opened the shutters and cranked the windows wide. A shiver skittered along Jana’s neck that the morning sunshine couldn’t dispel. She scoured every face, every person in the huge hall. Everyone around was well known, had been part of Thistlemount Keep for her entire life. Was one of them a would-be assassin? “I can’t believe anyone here would want Batu dead.”
“Believe it.” Argot stood with a grimace. He reached to grab a length of thick rope from a servant’s hands. The chandelier cording was new and strong, not darkened with age, the ends clean cut and unfrayed. “These ropes didn’t cut themselves.”
They watched for a half hour but saw no signs of guilt, no shifty looks nor shame-laced bodies. It was futile. When the last of the mess was cleared away and only a few servants were left in the hall, Argot finally agreed to have his injuries tended to.
The healer’s rooms lay behind the kitchens and opened to the herb garden. In the warm months, the sweet scent helped to hide the odor of sickness but on this cold wintry morn, the castle stone held the stench like a miser. Jana steeled her upper lip. Smelling blood she could handle, it was seeing it that nauseated her. One glimpse and she’d vomit.
Thankfully, Argot had only reddened skin and shiny blisters. She left the captain in the healer’s capable hands then leaned along the wall in the shadows of the corridor and waited for her knees to stop quaking.
Argot had earned three different valor marks for preventing Batu’s assassination in the past week and today had earned another. Those pointed dagger points burned into his arm also carried the ominous name “kill marks.” Bile rose in her throat. Kill had never sounded so ugly until it came so close.
As the King’s Captain, her father had earned over a dozen marks for protecting King Taric in the past. But that had been in a time of war—first with the crazed madman Emerto Marchen, then with a band of cannibalistic criminals. The Land of Eldwyn had been at peace for decades. Under King Taric’s rule, prosperity had flourished. Why now would someone want to kill the Crowned Prince?
Magic tingled along her veins, tingeing her sight with a pale glow. She never had a warning when her sight would come but it always left her breathless. The cool stone wall supported her as the vision rushed her.
A hand, a masculine hand gripping a knife. The knife sawing at the thick ropes just above the huge knots that secured the chandelier to the iron hooks in the wall. Vibrations skating up his arm. No one was even watching, so safe and secure in their impenetrable Thistlemount. They’d learn.
Hatred, loathing, vile corruption washed over him. First the son, then the father. The monarchy would collapse and be his for the taking. It was his right. He’d been born to save Eldwyn from the pathetic weaklings who stood in his way to the throne. Hunger. A palpable taste to watch the candles crash down, to crush the mighty Crowned Prince, to vanquish Eldwyn’s Champion. Champion? A scoff burned his throat. Batu didn’t know true power. But he would. He’d writhe in pain as real power crushed him.
The present came back with force, knocking the breath from her lungs. She sucked in gulps of smoke-flavored air, pinching her eyes tight against the burn of tears. Her magic gift was a joke. A helpful gift would have been foreshadowing, seeing the attack before it occurred. But she only saw the past. Her visions put her in the mind of the others, showed her their deeds, their thoughts and emotions, but only after things occurred. The gift of reminiscence was a lovely parlor trick but of little true good.
Even that minor talent hadn’t kept her in Endicort’s Magic Academy. Her marks had been low enough that no one questioned when she chose not to return. Only Batu’s younger brother, Prince Warric, knew the truth, knew of the shame that forced her from her studies. She refused to sink into that disgraced mindset again.
The lower portion of the castle buzzed with action. Soldiers’ boots clacked on the stone as the air rang with the clank of weapons. Jana kept her chin high and climbed the stairs.
The Royal Wing was private and few were allowed inside but she had lived there from birth. Her father’s place as the King’s Captain afforded them a luxurious suite, the finest tutors and a lifestyle most only dreamed of. She was blessed. But she’d never felt more useless.
The door to Batu’s chamber yawned wide, guards lining the walls. Jana peeked around the corner. The prince lay facedown on his bed while her half-sister bathed his red back with a wet cloth. His father, King Taric, paced and ranted.
“This has gone far enough. First, a suspiciously loose mace head gives you a goose egg the size of my fist. Then rocks fall from a secure mountainside and bruise you like an overripe plum. Then the new bridge collapses, killing your mount. But this, inside the castle walls? You’re damned lucky Argot was there. And Jana. You could’ve had far worse than sore skin.”
“I know, Papa,” Batu muttered then hissed as Feena spread a thick ointment along his spine. Jana gritted her teeth in sympathy. “I need to check on Argot. That chandelier had him pinned.”
“You don’t leave this room,” the king bellowed and Jana jumped. “Not until my guard says it’s safe.”
“You want me to cower like a girl?” Pain thinned Batu’s mouth as he sat up. “I won’t do that.”
“You’ll stay here or I’ll put you in chains.” The royal decree thundered from the king, and Jana clamped a hand over her mouth to hide her gasp. She’d rarely heard such anger in the king’s voice.
“Then do it.” Batu surged from the bed. “I’m not going to let some faceless coward rule my life. Whoever wants me dead is going to have to face me eventually.”
Pride warmed Jana’s skin. Batu stood an inch taller than his father and had the same chiseled determination to his chin. He’d been her best friend since childhood, the one who tormented her with frogs and lizards, who’d snuck her jam on bread when she’d been sent to bed without supper, who’d bloodied the lip of the first boy she’d ever kissed. He would make a fine king one day...if he lived.
The present king drew his brows lower. “Do you want to make Feena a widow before she’s a bride?”
“Please, don’t even say that.” Feena curled herself into Batu’s chest.
Batu wrapped sturdy arms around her half-sister and hugged her tight, pressing her face to his chest, to his bondmark, the mystical line that bound them together by forces beyond human strength. One hand sank into her long copper hair and balled into a fist. “What kind of husband will I be if I hide in fear from an invisible man?”
“A live one,” Feena whispered.
Something ached beneath her ribs and Jana averted her face, unable to w
ithstand the wave of longing that crashed down. For ages, the Segur bloodline had been bound by heartmates. Only one mate existed for them. If that mate wasn’t found or died, they would never find love again, never have children, exist alone throughout eternity and beyond. Worse yet, they often went insane.
Jana refused to believe that would happen. Her younger sister loved him with every breath, and in turn, Batu loved her the same. Feena had an inner strength and elegance that would serve Eldwyn well as queen. If Batu lived to one day make her a queen. The mere thought of his death scored pain through Jana’s belly. He couldn’t die. She couldn’t let that happen.
The cruel voice from her vision trickled down her spine. The nagging feeling that she’d missed something lifted her chin and she let her gaze dart over the room. Something in there called to her in a low, barely audible voice but with a magic hum.
A small scratch on Batu’s arm drew her eyes. His blood sang a song that tightened her throat.
The sight of blood had always nauseated her, made her stomach clench and her throat close. Why did that small bit of Batu’s blood entrance her? She’d seen him bleed before. Training as a knight wasn’t without risk and he often sported a gash or bruise, scrape or puncture. He wore them proudly but she’d always had to turn her face. Why now did it change? Why did some unknown call echo through her soul, begging her to reach out and touch that scarlet drop?
King Taric’s voice tore her from her questions. “For today, stay here. Or at least in the private wing. Let me talk to my guards and make sure everything is secure. Let Argot get back on his feet. Tomorrow, we’ll have a better view of things.”
A better view. Jana wandered away from the prince’s chamber and bit her lip in frustration. Her view was backward. Everyone in the castle had a job, a duty to which they were suited. Of course, the monarchy ruled and governed. Her father was the Might and Law of all Eldwyn. Feena was in training for her royal duties to come. Even their baby sister had begun her schooling with the healer. At only ten, she had already found her purpose. Jana was...extra.
