TO BE UNBROKEN
The Stone Warrior Series Book 1
by
Stein Willard
To Be Unbroken
Book 1- Stone Warrior Series
By Stein Willard
© 2015 Stein Willard
Kindle Edition
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This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are the product of the author’s imagination or used fictitiously and any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, businesses, companies, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.
Editor: BMac
Editor: R. Lee Fitzsimmons
Editor: Peetsden
Cover Design: DEPE
Cover image: Jo Schi
Back of the Book
Once, the most celebrated warrior of her time, Maxima was a true legend. But wealth and esteem came second only to the passionate, albeit illicit, love she felt for Princess Anima. Their secret liaison came to an abrupt end when Anima’s duty to her father and the Kingdom tore them apart; triggering an ancient curse. Heartbroken and cast in stone, Maxima was left yearning for her paramour. Finding Anima’s soul was the only way to break the curse and reclaim her lover.
Rich and beautiful, Sara Laramie grew up as one of the most sought after socialites in Boston’s elite circles. A failed relationship caused her to retreat from the social scene and instead focus all her attention on starting a private gallery. Finally, with a purpose in life, she thought she had enough to keep her busy. That was until she received an unexpected request to showcase the statue of a formidable ancient Greek female warrior in her gallery. The arrival of the statue coincided with the appearance of a gorgeous flint-eye stranger who with a single kiss spun Sara’s life out of control.
Acknowledgements
My gratitude goes out to my editors and betas for the work and dedication that went into this book.
I would like to thank my fans for their loyalty and support over all these years.
Dedication
To Sara.
My superhero
PROLOGUE
Greece, 700 BC
A small hand reached out to her, but Maxima stepped out of touching range. She saw the hurt her action caused, but shaking her head continued to walk away.
“Please do not leave like this, Maxima. I cannot let you go. Not like this.”
The tall woman turned to face the younger woman, her pale blue eyes cold even as tears ran down her face.
“How else do you want this to end, Anima?”
“Not…not like this. Please, no.” The shorter blonde woman slowly walked over to where the tall, powerfully built warlord stood. She looked up into the cold blue eyes.
Maxima’s face hardened. “No matter what you and the rest of the kingdom thinks, I am still human and I do, indeed hurt like everyone else.”
“Please try to understand. I have to do this. I have no choice”, Anima pleaded.
The dark warrior pushed a large hand through closely cropped black hair. She opened her mouth to speak, but closed it again. Shaking her head she walked through the door without a second glance. Behind her, the blonde dropped her head in her hands. If only Maxima would try to understand why she had to do this. Her head suddenly jerked up. Oh, no…no…the curse! She ran to the door and threw it open, but it was already too late. She could see a dust cloud a long ways down the dusty road. Maxima was already gone. How could I have forgotten about the curse?
She rushed in the direction of the stables. “Gyro, saddle my horse. I need to catch Commander Maxima before it is too late.” The stable boy hurried to obey.
***
The wine tasted the same, but the effect was different. It was numbing her body at an alarming pace. Maxima stared into the ruby red liquid. It was the same wine she drank every night upon returning from the training ground. She took another sip and coughed softly. What is happening? Impatiently, she pulled at the fastenings on the leather breastplate. She…she couldn’t breathe. Air, I need air. The door crashed open behind her and she turned slowly to find a wide-eyed Anima in the open doorway. Frowning at her lover…no…ex-lover, she opened her mouth to send the blonde woman away, but her jaws refused to move. Her pale blue eyes widened in panic and she reached her hand to her mouth. What she found there made her close her eyes. The curse. How could I have forgotten about the curse?
“Noooooo,” she heard Anima’s anguished wail as she rushed over to her. The princess’ green eyes filled with tears. “I am too late. Forgive me, my love. I beg you; please forgive me for what I have done to you…to us.”
Maxima took a deep breath. She knew what was happening, but she couldn’t say anything anymore. Her vocal cords were the first to go. Her face was already beginning to harden. She slowly turned away from Anima and jerkily walked over to the large balcony overlooking the city of Amos. She would miss this particular view. As a child she grew up in the countryside, working her parents’ farm to keep food on the table. As she’d grown older, her father, impressed by her size and prowess with a bow and arrow, enlisted her into the trust of Jaqul. The Great Jaqul had taken one look at her and had smiled broadly.
“You brought me a great challenge, Sunam. Just looking at her, I can tell that she has the makings of a great warrior.”
And she did. She excelled even beyond what Jaqul expected. By the age of 23 summers she had caught the attention of King Noram and became his personal guard. That was how she came to the great city of Amos. They awarded her with a great mansion, gold, and later the title of Commander of the Amos army. She had been so well-respected that they granted her unlimited access to the Royal Palace. That was how she met Anima. Immediately taken with the charming blonde, it wasn’t long before the statuesque, dark, flint eyed warrior and petite green-eyed princess became lovers. Anima came to her mansion one night, while the moon was lazing on its back, casting the night in half shadows. They had kissed cautiously at first. Both not sure what to make of this new experience, but lust can be a great teacher and before long they were both crying out their pleasure in each other’s arms. But Maxima had made a grave mistake. Her preoccupation with the beautiful princess had made her forget about the curse Jaqul had warned her about early in her servitude. Now, here she was, feeling the life draining from her virile body. She felt soft arms wrapping themselves around her waist.
She could hear Anima crying softly, “I am so sorry for having done this to you, my love. I wish I could take it all back, but it is too late already. I never meant for this to happen. I swear it.” Anima held onto her as if her life depended on it. “I will always love you, no matter who I have to wed. You will be the only one I will ever hold in the most sacred chamber of my heart. This I vow, forever.”
Maxima lowered her chin on her chest and allowed the numbing feeling to take over. Anima loved her, but she would never be hers. She was to wed another. Soon some rich prince of a neighboring kingdom would touch and caress the body she had come to know even better than her own. At this very moment four years of blissful happiness were slowly beginning to end with a feeling of…nothingness. Her sight dimmed even as her eyes were still open.
Her heartbeat slowed and with one last weak thud, it stuttered to a halt.
The Great Commander Maxima was no more.
CHAPTER 1
“Will that be all, miss?” The waiter’s eyes lingered longer than necessary on the shapely legs of the blonde as he stepped around the table.
Noticing the appreciative look, but ignoring it completely, she nodded at her waiter. She hated waiting for people. She looked at her watch and sighed. She had so many things to do before the museum opening tonight, but when her lawyer, Harold Kush, called and said that a certain Andra Bells wanted to meet with her, she was intrigued. Why would the reclusive heiress need to meet with me so urgently? She had heard of the Bells heiress, but had never met her officially although they actually moved in many of the same circles. All she really knew about the woman was that she had more money than she could ever spend and she shunned the limelight fervently. Sara looked at her watch again and jumped slightly when a voice spoke out of the blue.
“Ms. Laramie?”
Sara looked up and was shocked to meet piercing pale blue eyes staring down at her from a great height. She nodded slowly. The tall woman took a seat and looked around the restaurant before setting her enigmatic eyes on her again.
“I apologize for being late. I don’t venture out much and had not expected the traffic to be so busy this time of day.”
“Please, think nothing of it.” Sara’s green eyes narrowed as she looked at the older woman. “I apologize if I come across as being too forward, but Harold made it sound very urgent. I must say I’m very curious as to why you would want to see me, Ms. Bells.”
The pale eyes studied her for a while longer, before the woman shrugged. “It has to do with the opening of your museum later tonight.”
Sara stiffened slightly. What could the woman possibly want with my gallery? All the pieces on display came from within her family’s collections which date back centuries. She studied the woman closely. She was incredibly attractive with fascinating eyes, and wisps of grey tinting the dark hair at her temples. She noticed the woman’s height and the way the pinstriped Armani pantsuit had hugged her well-shaped body. For a lesbian like herself, the woman was truly a delight to the senses. And if her gaydar was still as sharp as she believed it to be, then Ms. Bell herself, seemed to find the fairer sex more appealing too. Having yet another thing in common with the imposing Ms. Bell, besides money, Sara relaxed into her chair. It was time to get to the bottom of this. Perhaps, once they had settled their business, they could see if the awareness of each other was mutual and take things from there.
Looking closely at the woman, she could swear that there was a slight flash of amusement in the pale blue eyes. She took a sip from her ice tea. “What is it about the opening that I can help you with, Ms. Bells?”
“Andra, please,” the heiress said softly. “And about the opening tonight, there is a piece I would like to loan your museum for an undetermined period.”
Sara frowned slightly. “Well…this is rather unexpected, Ms.…Andra.”
“Yes, I know. You see, I was abroad when I read about the imminent opening of your family’s private museum. I rushed back as fast as I could and have only arrived this morning from Greece.” She signaled the waiter over with a well-manicured finger and ordered a pot of tea. “I thought your museum would be the perfect venue to showcase my piece. I feel I can be doubly assured that it will be well-taken care of since all the pieces on display are family heirlooms. I didn’t want it displayed in a large museum overrun by bored school kids and the likes. It is rather special to me.”
Sara nodded. “That makes sense, Andra. But the opening is only a few hours away and to add the piece to the current collection, I would have to know what makes it so special for you to want me to add it at the last moment.”
The waiter came over with Andra’s tea and she smiled her thanks at the young man.
“Oh yes, of course.” The pale eyes lit up suddenly. “It’s a statue dating back to 1st century Greece.”
Sara sat up straight. What the…? Pieces dating back to that time are impossible to find anymore. They are declared national heritage pieces thus commissioned to large public museums or in some cases, as is the case with Andra’s, are locked away in private collections.
“It is near impossible to find such pieces nowadays…even in private collections. May I ask how you came to own such a piece?”
Andra took a sip of her tea. “It was passed down to me.”
“It has been in your family since the first century?” Sara asked incredulously, her green eyes wide in surprise. “Tell me more, please.”
“Of course. I can give you a brief background. If you would like to know more, I have several tomes in my private library which could be helpful. Almost thirty centuries ago, a powerful sorcerer placed a curse on anyone who joined the Amosi army after an Amosi warrior broke the heart of his daughter. The girl committed suicide and the father was so stricken with grief that he cursed the whole Amosi army. The purpose of the curse was so that no warrior would ever know or experience true love and for those who found it and lost it, to be punished severely if and when their hearts were broken. Maxima, that is the name of the statue, was the best warrior to ever come out of Greece. She was also the most revered Commander of the Amosi army. Born into poverty, she trained under a legendary warrior who helped her refine her combat skills. King Noram of Amos noticed her skill and recruited her as his personal guard. It was while she was working for the King that she met and fell in love with his daughter, Princess Anima.”
Andra took another sip from her tea cup and Sara, so engrossed in the story, had to mentally keep herself from rushing the woman to continue. When the dark head rose, she blushed at the open amusement she saw in the woman’s eyes.
“They became lovers after a while and continued with their love affair for four years. Tragedy struck when King Noram found a suitor for his only daughter and she had to break off her relationship with Maxima.”
“Oh my…” Sara heard herself say. To hide her blush at her unexpected expression she reached for her ice tea and took a long sip as she studied Andra over the rim of her glass. The pale blue eyes were sharp as they watched her and Sara couldn’t help feeling like a bug under a looking glass. “What happened?” she heard herself ask. This time Andra chuckled softly.
“The curse turned Maxima into stone.”
“What?!” Sara exclaimed. “She was…turned into stone. How barbaric.”
Andra shrugged. “My thoughts exactly, but times were different back then.”
“Poor woman…What happened to the Princess?”
The blue eyes darkened. “She committed suicide soon afterwards.”
“What a sad end for both of them.” Sara cocked her head to the side. “Is this based on a true story or is it just folklore?”
Andra finished her tea.
“Can’t say for sure. Some believe it to be a true story. Others believe it’s just the over active imagination of storytellers. There’s only one way to know for sure.”
Sara’s blonde eyebrows rose. “Yes?”
“The curse could only be broken by love.”
“I don’t think I understand.”
“Maxima can only be unlocked from her stone tomb if she finds true love again.” Seeing the skeptical look in Sara’s green eyes, Andra shrugged. “I don’t know how it works. As I said earlier, you will have to visit my library if you want to know more. Another interesting thing is that the Bells fortune began with Maxima. Apparently she was extremely wealthy and once she was turned to stone, her remaining family was allowed to keep her fortune.”
“This is so interesting. Maybe I will take you up on your offer and stop by soon to read up on Maxima’s fate.”
“You are more than welcome. But first things first, would you like for me to ship the statue over to the museum?”
“I would be honored to display Maxima to the world.”
“Thank you.” Andra drained h
er cup and rose to her feet. “I would however beg you to be discreet with the information I’ve just given you. I don’t want some infatuated nut deciding to crack the statue to see if Maxima was indeed entombed in there.”
Sara’s eyes widened. “Who would do a thing like that?”
This time it was the tall woman who blushed prettily. “I tried it once before and got such a spanking from my grandmother.”
Sara smiled at the woman. She was unbelievably beautiful. But it was evident that the woman was in no way flirting with her. It seemed that business was the only liaison they were going to have together. It was a shame, but if friendship was all the mysterious woman wanted, then friendship was what she was going to give her.
“Then I believe that it would be much safer in our gallery.”
Andra nodded and rose. “I will have them ship Maxima to you in the next hour.” She stuck out a hand. “I believe we will hear and see a lot of each other in the next few months, Ms. Laramie.”
“Sara, please. And yes, I believe we will. I will let my staff know about Maxima’s arrival,” Sara said as she came to her feet and held out her hand. “I appreciate you trusting us with such a unique and special heirloom, Andra. I will make sure it is returned to you undamaged.”
Sara noticed the strange look in Andra’s eyes as she spoke again. “I’m convinced that you will take really good care of Maxima.”
The tall woman left the restaurant, leaving Sara behind with an odd feeling in her chest. A glance at her watch made her grab her purse. She was running late. As she rushed out of the restaurant, the conversation with Andra Bells instantly retreated to the back of her mind.
***
To Be Unbroken Page 1
