by H. M. Clarke
Marion
An Order Short Story
H.M. Clarke
HMC Press
Copyright © H. M. Clarke 2014
All rights reserved; no part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying or otherwise, without the prior permission of the copyright owner.
Third edition published in The United States of America in 2021
HMC Press, Dayton, Ohio.
Cover design by HMC Press
The moral rights of the author have been asserted.
Table of Contents
Title Page
Copyright Page
Marion - An 'Order' Short Story (The Order)
Chapter One
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Winter’s Magic
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Also By H.M. Clarke
Also by H.M. Clarke
The Way to Freedom Series
1: The Kalarthri
1.1: The Cavern of Sethi
2: The Dream Thief
3. The Awakening
4. The Enemy Within
5. The Unknown Queen
6. The Searchers
7. The Whisperer
8. The Deceiver
9. The Great Game
10. The Gathering
11. The Mark of Fate
12. The Mark of Service
The Complete Season One–Books 1-5
The Complete Season Two–Books 6-10
Coming Soon
13. The Mark of Freedom
The Blackwatch Chronicles
1: Proven
2: Uprising
The Book: A Blackwatch Chronicles Short Story
Coming Soon
3: Sacrifice
The Verge
1: The Enclave
Coming Soon
2: Citizen Erased
John McCall Mysteries
1: Howling Vengeance
The Order
1: Winter’s Magic
Marion: An ‘Order’ Short Story
DEDICATION
As always, this book is dedicated to my two beautiful children, Keith and Ariadne.
CONTENTS
Acknowledgments
Marion
Other Books by H.M. Clarke
About the Author
Chapter One
LONDON
England 1599
THE DARK STREETS AROUND her quickly turned into the run down buildings near Southwark and the smell of refuse and human waste assaulted her nostrils. Voices and drunken laughter floated around her from the nearby taverns and the sounds of whores, both male and female, hawking their trade was clearly heard on street corners nearby. She was nearly home.
“Hey Lady. Got any coin you can spare?”
The insistent voice bought Marion out of her thoughts of self-loathing and made her instantly alert. The alley she was in was dark, but Marion could clearly see the handsome young boy beside the wall. She stopped walking and turned to look at him, studying him with eyes quick to pick up detail.
The boy was young, perhaps not even seventeen and looked as if he had come from a well off family. The dirt that marred his perfect skin was not yet ingrained, and his clothes were well made and expensive. A runaway, then. What made him come here?
When Marion did not answer him, the boy stepped towards her, unable to see her scrutiny in the darkness of the alley.
“Please Lady, have you any coin?” he said quietly.
Marion could hear the shame in his voice at having to beg. He had not been doing this long enough to feel comfortable with it. Shame was something she could understand.
“You should go home to your family,” she said. “This is not the place for you.”
The boy straightened at this and an indignant frown crossed his face. At least he still had his pride, Marion thought.
“That is none of your concern, Lady,” He said in a much stronger voice. As he turned his head, a flash of blonde caught in Marion’s eyes. Golden curled locks surrounding such a youthful face should not be out in this part of the city. Not undefended.
Marion kept staring at the young man, who began to move uncomfortably on his feet from her silence. For some strange reason, the boy reminded Marion of herself when she was young. Before she became what she was.
After a few moments under Marion’s scrutiny, the Golden Boy took a step away from her. “Sorry for disturbing you, Lady,” he said holding his hand out before him as if warding her away.
“I am not a Lady. My name is Marion,” she replied with a laugh. Suddenly a decision was made. She would try to save this boy, try to make him into a God-fearing citizen, try to make him into the pure image that she would have liked to have been before she met her Master. “Would you like to come and eat with me?” she asked.
Golden Boy stopped his retreat, and Marion could sense him thinking about her offer. She tried not to read his thoughts. It would have been ill mannered. But the look that crossed his face told her exactly what he was thinking.
“There is no obligation attached to my offer. Just a meal if you are hungry.”
Too late, she heard the thudding of boots in the alley behind her and Marion turned in time to feel the blade of a dagger sink deep into her belly. She looked up into the sweaty, unshaved face of the man holding the dagger who smiled into her eyes as he pushed the knife in deeper. Marion slowly sank to her knees and could feel the point of the blade scrape against her backbone.
From the corner of her eye she saw a large man move around her with more agility than his body looked to have. He tackled the Golden Boy to the ground.
“Got ‘im,” the man grunted as he hauled himself and the Golden Boy from the filth on the alley floor. As Marion sat holding the handle of the dagger in her hands, she watched as the large man dragged Golden Boy kicking and screaming to the thug in front of her.
“This is one the boss’ll like,” he said, holding the boy at arms length in an effort to avoid his wild punches. “He likes blondes, but why’d you have to stab the girl? I would have had her.”
“You still can. Dead or alive, it’s the same thing,” the thug said as he reached forward and pulled the dagger from Marion’s stomach.
“You’re not serious, are you?” the stocky man said as he pushed the boy to his partner. “Here hold ‘im. We’d better get ‘im back to the boss.”
Marion heard all this as she felt the blood seep through her fingers. And as her blood left her body, Marion began to feel a hunger grow in her, a hunger that she had managed to fight for over a year. A hunger that was fed by her anger at being caught like this and anger that they dare lay hands on the innocent that she had found.
She let the Power grow in her and her eyes glowed eerily golden in the dark of the alley. The two men had their backs to her and she could hear the sounds of fists hitting flesh and the boy grunting in pain.
Marion held her bloody hand up to her mouth and ran her tongue along her middle finger. The taste of blood in her mouth felt electric. It was the key that released her inhibitions. An animal hunger leapt inside of her, a hunger that compelled her to lust after the lifeblood of others, that forced her to drain it until she felt her victim’s heart give out. It was hard to control at first, but the Master had told her that with time and practice it could be bent to her will and controlled. After two hundred years, she had managed to learn how.
The stocky man was closest to her, and Marion could smell the blood that coursed through his veins. She smiled.
In the blink of an eye she was on him, her teeth easily finding the artery in his neck and she drank deep from the blood that flowed through it. But she held hersel
f back from drinking fully; Marion remembered that there was another who deserved greater punishment. She looked up from the neck she was feasting on and saw the horrified stare of her next victim. Her appetite was wetted, and she did not want to waste it on this filth. A twist of her hand and the man went limp, his body slumping lifeless to the ground.
The thug let the now unconscious boy drop to the ground and stepped backwards, his eyes not leaving the sight of Marion’s blood-stained face. She smiled.
“I killed you...” the thug stammered. “There is no way...” the man took another slow step backwards. To Marion he looked like a startled rabbit caught in the lamp light.
“You cannot kill someone who is already dead,” she said, stepping over the dead man’s body.
The thug's eyes looked ready to pop out from his face and his facial muscles looked grotesquely contorted. Marion could smell his fear. He turned to run.
Suddenly Marion was in front of him. “Leaving already?” she asked sweetly. The thug fell backwards in terror and began to scramble back towards the unconscious boy and his dead friend.
“Please don’t hurt me,” the man whimpered as he crabbed crawled backwards. Marion watched as the man’s hand suddenly slipped in the blood pooling from his dead companion.
“What reason can you give me not to hurt a murderer and a skin merchant?”
He cried out in fear as Marion stepped slowly towards him. Marion could feel the hunger of the Power burning inside of her, a hunger that needed to be satisfied.
“You try to kill me in cold blood and kidnap my companion. I can think of nothing that can redeem you in the eyes of God.”
On that final sentence, Marion let the Power inside of her take control and she became lost in a haze of blood.
MARION BLINKED.
There was something in her arms and she looked down to see that she was carrying the unconscious boy. Thank God that in her bloodlust she did not turn on him. Once the Power is loose inside of her, it is hard to control. The mass of golden curls was now matted with blood and dirt and bruises had already purpled the boys face.
Marion turned down the small street that led to the rundown mansion that she called home. The three-storey edifice rose before her out of the darkness of the night. No one ventured here as the people in this part of London considered the place haunted. That suited her just fine. This dead and decaying house suited its equally dead occupant.
Marion felt a stirring in her arms and glanced down to find the boy’s eyes wide open, watching her. She saw no fear in them and she unconsciously relaxed. Golden Boy must have been knocked out cold before her retribution started. He did not witness the release of the Power. That was something she did not want him to ever see. Marion could smell the blood that was on her skin and soaked into her clothes, knew that it was the blood spattered across her face that drew the boy’s attention.
“How do you feel?” Marion asked. There was no light coming from the houses that lined the street, and the buildings that stood on either side of her house were long abandoned. In this place, they were completely alone.
“I can see that cut above your eye might need to be stitched,” Marion said as she stopped before the old wooden door that was the entrance to her home. “Do you think you can walk?”
Marion felt the muscles of the boy’s legs move against her arms as he tested them.
“I do not think that anything is broken. I should be able to walk.”
Marion nodded and let his feet slowly to the ground, keeping an arm about his waist in case his legs could not take his weight.
But the arm was not needed as the boy’s legs held. Marion looked closely at his face for signs of collapse. A small grunt of pain escaped his lips, but otherwise he gave no other indication that he was in pain. She looked him up and down a moment longer. He stood next to her, not quite as straight as he had before when she first met him in the alley, but he did so without complaint. The boy had grit. It was then that Marion saw his eyes slide down to her stomach, to the mass of blood that had clotted into her clothing. The Golden Boy had remembered the knife.
“No need to worry about me. The blade got caught in the bones of my stays, it only caused a scratch to my ribs.”
“But...the blood...”
“Scratches bleed a lot and most of this is not mine.”
“What happened to the two men? I do not remember anything past the beating they gave me.”
Marion stood a moment in thought, quickly thinking up something to say. She decided on a half-truth.
“Something startled them, distracted them, so I scooped you up and ran.”
“That was quick thinking. I don’t know whether I could have done that,” the boy said, looking at his feet.
“I’m sure you would have if the situation was reversed,” Marion replied. “I think you better stay with me for the rest of this night, you’re in no condition to go anywhere by yourself,” she said, moving to the door. From her pocket Marion pulled a large key that she slid into the keyhole of the imposing oak door. Before turning it, she looked back at the Boy.
“I still do not know your name?”
The boy hesitated a moment before replying. “Adam, my name is Adam Rothe.”
“Adam?” Marion did not believe him. Tonight it seemed was not a night for truth telling. “Well, my name is Marion and you are welcome in my house.” Marion then turned the key and opened the door. She bowed and with a flourish of her hand, Marion gestured for Adam to precede her into her home.
Thank you so much for reading and I hope to see you again. If you enjoyed the adventure, then sign up for my newsletter to be the first to know when the next book is out or what is coming next!
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THE KALARTHRI
The Way to Freedom, Book One
“This Hatar Kalar has more natural Talent than any Second Born found in the Empire.”
Every ten years the Imperium Provosts travel the provinces of the Great Suene Empire and take every second born child as the property of the Emperor. His Due for their continued protection.
Kalena, taken from her family and friends finds herself alone and scared in the imperial Stronghold of Darkon. And when she cries out to the darkness for help, Kalena is shocked when it answers her back.
If you found out that you were different from everyone else, what would you do?
Proven
The Blackwatch Chronicles Book 1
Something is rotten in the city of Brookhaven. And it is up to the Blackwatch to root it out.
ALL RYN WEAVER EVER wanted was to be a warrior. To protect others unable to protect themselves. But on her Proving to join the prestigious Blackwatch Order she finds herself accidentally Paired with Dagan Drake, a Tribunal Mage. Theirs is a reluctant partnership. Given no choice in the matter, Ryn must now work with Dagan to complete his mission to capture a traitor to the realm.
With rogue mages and brutish blades coming at her from every turn, will Ryn be able to gain the respect of her new partner and prove herself worthy of her blade? Or will Ryn and her Order fall to the machinations of the evil set against them?
Proven is the first installment in a new epic fantasy romance series. If you like electrifying action, rich characters, and magical battles, then you'll love H.M. Clarke's series starter.
HOWLING VENGEANCE
John McCall Mysteries, Book One
John McCall just wanted to get a surprise for his men. Instead he got a disemboweled body.
A man is arrested for the murder but McCall is sure that they have the wrong person.
And when McCall starts digging around for the truth, he unearths a whole lot more than he bargained for.
Howling Vengeance. A supernatural mystery in the Old West.
Available now at your favorite Online Bookseller
THE ENCLAVE
The Verge, Book One
Katherine Kirk lived only for vengeance.
Vengeance against the man who destroyed her
home, her family and her life.
Sent on a babysitting mission to Junter 3, RAN officer Katherine Kirk, finds herself quickly embroiled in the politics between the New Holland Government and the Val Myran refugees claiming asylum.
After an Alliance attack Kirk and her team hunt the enemy down and discover that they have finally found the lair of the man they have been searching for...
And the captive who has been waiting patiently for rescue.
“What would you do to the man who destroyed every important person in your life?”
Winter’s Magic
Book One of The Order
KAITLYN WINTER IS BITING at the bit to become an active agent for the Restricted Practitioners Unit. And on her first day in the job she is thrown into a virtual s**t storm (to put it nicely).
First, she gets targeted for Assassination by The Sharda’s top assassin
Second, her Werewolf best friend decides that her being ‘Straight’ means she can’t protect herself and places her in protective custody
Third, the love of her life still won’t notice her existence and the Tempus Mage who’s set to keep an eye on her is infuriatingly attractive....
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
IN A FORMER LIFE, H M Clarke has been a Console Operator, an ICT Project Manager, Public Servant, Paper Shuffler and an Accountant (the last being the most exciting.)
She attended Flinders University in Adelaide, South Australia, where she studied for a Bachelor of Science (Chem), and also picked up a Diploma in Project Management while working for the South Australian Department of Justice.
In her spare time, she likes to lay on the couch and watch TV, garden, draw, read, and tell ALL her family what wonderful human beings they are.
She keeps threatening to go out and get a real job (Cheesecake Test Taster sounds good) and intends to retire somewhere warm and dry – like the middle of the Simpson Desert. For the time being however, she lives in Ohio and dreams about being warm...
