The oracle sat in a chair opposite him, her knarled hands gripping the edges of the wooden chair.
Indecision flitted across her face.
“Tell me and I will give you the last of my gold.” Pulling out a bag heavy with coins, he threw them onto the floor near her feet.
Her small eyes widened at the bag, then shifted away.
Was that guilt on her face?
“Tell me!” He has had enough of her reticence.
“Suilven’s Mountain. It is near the northwestern coast and across Fionn Loch. The terrain will be difficult and…”
The oracle peered around her hut, as if expecting the devil to leap out of the fireplace.
“And?” he encouraged.
“It will be dangerous, very dangerous.”
“I care not. Merlin’s staff belongs to his future generations.”
The old lady motioned for him to come closer.
He crouched near her.
She whispered, “There is a dark sorceress that guards the mountain. You must kill her if you want what is rightfully yours.”
The image of the beautiful lady sitting upon the floor came to his mind. Surely she could not be evil. But she was the only one in the strange keep. Would he have to fight her for the staff? Perhaps he misread her eyes. If she was indeed evil, he must not let her use Merlin’s power.
“There is one more thing. The mountain is guarded by a powerful spell, keeping mortals out. You cannot break this spell unless you have the combined power of a sorcerer, warlock and wizard.”
The oracle grabbed his arm and squeezed, her eyelids fluttering rapidly.
“Go west for thirty leagues, to the Roberts clan. There you will find a warlock and sorcerer.”
Her hand fell from his arm and she closed her eyes, exhaustion claiming her wrinkled face.
Braen rose and left. Finally, he was close to finding the staff. He would convince the warlock and sorcerer to help him break the curse on Mount Suilven.
In one swift movement, he swung onto his horse and gathered the reins.
Shrugging further into his cloak, he gritted his teeth and galloped into the dark forest with one vow.
He would fight to the death to claim Merlin’s staff.
Lady of the Mountain
Coming October 2008 to Resplendence Publishing
www.ResplendencePublishing.com
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About the Author
Born in Queensland, Australia, Lyn Armstrong has a passion for writing historical romance with an erotic element. This self-confessed romantic wrote her first novel in the early 1990’s and has been writing ever since. Along with touring the countries she writes about, Lyn has served on the board of Florida Romance Writers. When she is not lost in the mystical world of Scottish lairds and enticing witches, she enjoys spending time with family and friends.
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Also from Resplendence Publishing:
Taken with the Enemy by Tia Fanning
Name: Mathews, Brenna Marie
Rank: Sergeant
Date of Birth: September 21st, 1976
Occupation: Combat Medic, United States National Guard
My captor tells me that I’m not a prisoner of war, but how else can I see myself? I was abducted and brought to an unknown location in the middle of the desert. I’m sequestered behind a locked door and bars cover my windows. I even have an armed guard who takes me for walks.
But he, the nameless captor responsible for my care, claims otherwise. He tells me that he’s not my enemy, that if he was, I’d already be dead. He promises to release me when the time is right. He says I’m safer now—with him—than I was before.
Despite his reassurances, I do not feel safe. Though he has treated me kindly, given me every comfort a prisoner could ever want or need, I have to find a way to leave—and soon. I don’t understand how it’s possible, but my captor knows me. He knows my past, he knows my secrets, knows just what to say to move me … and what to say to break me.
I have been taken by the enemy … and I must find a way to escape before I’m taken with him.
$4.50 e-book $12.99 print
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Ghost Seeker By Catherine Chernow
Book IV of the ‘Bride’s Inn’ Series
What happens when two hearts seek to be one? The mysterious apparition that haunts the legendary Bride’s Inn, is acting up and scaring guests. Now, the owners of Bride’s Inn seek help, in the form of the popular television show, ‘Ghost Seeker.’
Ian McIntyre, the director of ‘Ghost Seeker,’ has his hands full when he arrives at Bride’s Inn. He has ten days to film the episode ‘the lady in white’ and the show’s medium, Susan Stalzer, has thrown a royal fit and walked out. Now, a replacement has to be found … quickly. The ill tempered, Irish-born Ian demands a lot from the cast and crew, as well as himself. Buried in his work, Ian tries to shake his painful past but his heart has turned cold as ice, until he meets enchanting Nolan Frey, a clairvoyant with uncanny abilities to read people’s auras.
Nolan has come to Bride’s Inn to seek refuge from a brutal past. Her world is secure, tucked safely behind the sheltering walls of Bride’s Inn, where she’s given a housekeeping job. But Nolan’s heart isn’t safe the day she walks into Ian McIntyre’s room, thinking it’s empty. Lost in thought, intent on her daily chores, Nolan is terrified when she realizes the room’s guest is still there! When Ian confronts her, she sees his mesmerizing deep red aura, a man whose fiery temperament hides deep emotional pain.
One night, as the cast and crew of ‘Ghost Seeker’ are filming the lady in white, Nolan’s clairvoyant abilities are revealed. When she accepts the job as the show’s resident medium, Nolan unlocks the secret behind the lady in white’s ghostly hauntings and places herself in danger, as she becomes the…
GHOST SEEKER.
$3.50 e-book
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The Cult: The Legend of Blackbeard’s Chalice by Maddie James
The Legend of Blackbeard’s Chalice continues….
Victoria Porter knows a good man is hard to find on Ocracoke Island in the year 1754. So curious of the ways of the flesh, she seeks out male affection in a drunken sailor’s lap—but that sailor puts a bullet into her brother Jeremiah’s back, killing him. Jeremiah’s ghost, however, comforts and guides her on an uncertain task—to find their missing brother. Pitched from a ship during a violent storm, she washes up on a beach, soon to be rescued by a man on a strange mechanical beast who whisks her away into a world she could never have dreamed.
In 2007, Colt MacKenzie is tormented by demons of a troubled past and a failing writing career. He fears he has written his last bestselling horror novel until he discovers the The Cult of Teach and a tantalizing nymph wandering the shore on his way to Ocracoke Village. Fascinated by the history of The Cult that surrounds the Legend of Blackbeard’s Chalice, he seeks to learn more about these modern-day pirates, and hopefully write a bestseller using the premise. He’d planned on riding this ride solo until the strange little waif on the back of his Harley touches him in ways his demons hadn’t let anyone touch in a long, long time….
Author Note: Victoria and Jeremiah Porter are two of Jack and Claire Porter’s children (from THE CURSE).
$6.50 e-book $15.99 print
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of a Warlock [Celtic Series Book 3]
Heart of a Warlock [Celtic Series Book 3] Page 13
