Storm On The Horizon, a paranormal Regency romance novella (Vallen) (9 page)

“I did just say so, did I not, child?” her mother asked. “You are an extremely lucky man, Mr. Vallentyn, you do realize this? It is quite a responsibility you are taking on here.”

“The responsibility is mine, Mother,” Tatiana protested, “not his.”

“What responsibility, ma’am? There is something very important I’m missing here,” Mr. Vallentyn interrupted.

“What are you two going on about?” Lord Durrington echoed his son, looking from Tatiana to her mother and back again.

Lady Ashurst looked at Tatiana. “I can see that you’ve hidden yourself well, child. So I assume that you’ve not told either of them.”

“Told us what?” Lord Durrington asked again.

Tatiana let her magic fall away. “No. I haven’t…” She could hear Lord Durrington gasp, but Mr. Vallentyn seemed to be expecting it.

Her mother tsked. “Really, Tatiana, you cannot agree to marry someone without informing them of what they’d be getting themselves into. That’s not right.”

“But I didn’t really think you would allow us to marry. You said that
you
would be choosing my husband,” Tatiana argued.

“Excuse me,” Lord Durrington broke in again, his voice slightly cracking now with nervousness.

Mr. Vallentyn, too, looked expectantly between Tatiana and her mother.

Tatiana stayed quiet and allowed her mother to do the explaining. Lady Ashurst just shook her head before turning to the two men.

“Tatiana is of the sixth generation, her seventh child will be
the
Seventh. That is quite a responsibility for both her and the child’s father.”

“The seventh what?” Lord Durrington asked.

“You don’t mean…” Mr. Vallentyn started, but his words petered out. He was beginning to understand, Tatiana was certain.

“What do you mean the seventh, what?” Lady Ashurst snapped at Lord Durrington, clearly now thinking him an imbecile.

“He doesn’t know, Mother.” Tatiana said. She turned to Mr. Vallentyn. “You know now, though, don’t you?”

“I have an idea, but it may be entirely wrong,” he said. Tatiana wished she could have wiped his forehead clean of the worry lines criss-crossing it.

“What? What is it?” Lord Durrington was perhaps beginning to lose his patience.

Tatiana took pity on him. “My mother is the High Priestess of all Vallen. Upon my twenty-first birthday, I will take her position. I will be the sixth to do so since the last Seventh, so, according to the prophecy, my seventh child will not only become the High Priestess, but also the Seventh—the one destined to be the most powerful Vallen in centuries.”

“The one who gives all Vallen the power back that we have lost over so many generations?” Lord Durrington’s voice squeaked.

“Yes,” Tatiana nodded. She turned back to Mr. Vallentyn, giving him a little smile. “I’ve even already decided what I’m going to name her, my seventh child. She’ll be Morgan, after my great ancestor, Morgan le Fey.”

Mr. Vallentyn’s face had lost all of its color. Tatiana watched with growing worry as his Adam’s apple bobbed up and down in his throat as he struggled to speak. Finally, he came out with it.

“I’m so sorry, Tatiana.” He shook his head, his eyes becoming sad. “I cannot marry you. I cannot be the father of your Morgan.” His words were little more than a whisper, but they echoed in Tatiana’s ears as if he’d shouted them.

“But she has chosen you!” her mother protested. “And even more importantly,
I
have chosen you.”

He looked over at her, still shaking his head. “I must beg your indulgence, my lady, but I cannot.”

“Christopher, don’t be an idiot!” his father growled.

“No. I’m not, I’m…” he started.

“May I have word?” Tatiana interrupted him. He wasn’t going to do this to her. He was
not
going to turn his back on her just because of who she was. Why did this hurt even more than when Lord Durrington’s words had cut into her earlier?

She walked to the other side of the copse of trees, hoping Mr. Vallentyn was following her. She was relieved when she turned and found him right next to her.

“I’m sorry, Tatiana. If I had known…”

“If you had known, would you have spent so much time with me?” she asked, looking up at him, willing her eyes to stay dry.

“No,” he whispered. “Yes!” he said, quickly changing his answer.

Tatiana shook her head, confused.

Mr. Vallentyn seemed to be equally confused. He dropped his head down into his hands. “I don’t know.”

She waited for him to figure it out. To explain himself to her.

Finally, he looked up. “I do not regret a moment I’ve spent with you. I’ve thoroughly enjoyed talking with you, being with you, and I truly thought I could easily spend the rest of my life with you. But I cannot marry the High Priestess. I can’t be the father of the Seventh.”

“I don’t understand. Why not? Is it the responsibility? As I said to my mother…”

“No, it’s not the responsibility. It’s… it’s that I’m not worthy.”

“You are more than worthy! You stopped me, Mr. Vallentyn! You stopped me from using my magic. You’re extremely powerful. But even more than that…” she paused wondering if she could be so bold and forthright. But then she remembered that he valued plain speaking.

She took a deep breath, looking deeply into his eyes so that he could feel her honesty and not just hear it. “You are the joy in my life. You are my happiness. Without you my life would be nothing but duty and responsibility. I need you.” She swallowed again. “I love you, Christopher.”

The wrinkles on his brow smoothed, as if the storm clouds in his mind had rolled away. A small smile lit up one side of his mouth. “Kit.”

“What?”

“My father calls me Christopher when he’s angry, but I prefer to be called Kit.”

Tatiana laughed. She couldn’t help it. She was fretting that her entire life would be spent thinking about what might have been because she hadn’t told him the truth earlier—and his response was that wanted her to call him by his nick-name!

“I love you, Tatiana,” he said, and to ensure that she knew he truly meant it, he said it not just with his words and his voice, but with his eyes and his heart as well.

“I love you, Kit,” she answered, as the warmth of his love seeped into her very being, warming her even in the chill evening air.

“And we’ll create this Morgan of yours?” he asked, a twinkle of laughter in his eyes.

Tatiana could feel her face heat at the thought of having a child with him. “Six more before her, though,” she agreed.

Kit’s laughter moved from his eyes and was replaced by something that made Tatiana feel even warmer.

“Well then, we are going to busy, aren’t we? Perhaps it would be best if we married quickly.”

Thank you for reading Tatiana’s story. I hope you enjoyed it.

If you would like to meet Tatiana and Kit’s child, Morgan, read on for a sneak preview of
Magic In The Storm.

Magic In The Storm

Prologue

June 21, 1794

T
he wind whipped through Tatiana’s hair, prying it free from her forehead where it had been plastered with sweat. Heat swirled around them threatening to burst into flames. Kit jumped as a bolt of lightning shot into the ground just feet from where he stood coddling that infant in his arms.

“Tatiana, stop this! Stop it right now. You cannot kill our son.”

“Our son?” she repeated, fury burning through her. “And what of my daughter?” she shouted over the gale of hot wind that wove around them. “What of the prophecy? What...” her voice faltered.

She was tired. Too tired. Although the birth had been easier than many of the others, she was getting old. Only her fury at this injustice kept her awake now.

How could this have happened? Her child, her beloved, her daughter. Seventh child of the seventh child in the seventh generation—a boy!

Tatiana shoved down the pain that threatened to overwhelm her and instead burst forth with another bolt of anger, coming even closer to Kit this time.

“I don’t know, Tatiana. Truly, I don’t know. But you cannot kill him!” Her husband stood his ground and pleaded with her even as the sweat poured down his forehead.

In a very brief moment of weakness, Tatiana almost felt for him. But then she caught sight of the abomination in his arms and the hot wind picked up once more.

“I can and I will,” she shouted. “He was not meant to be. I was to have a girl. She was to be the most powerful Vallen in generations. As powerful as Morgan Le Fey.” Tatiana could barely keep the tears from her voice. “My Morgan. She was to be...”

“I know, Tatiana,” Kit’s voice filled with soothing magic. “But he is still our seventh child. Perhaps he will be powerful. Perhaps the prophecy will still hold...”

“Perhaps? Perhaps nothing! Perhaps he will burn in hell!” The temperature around them rose even hotter.

“Perhaps we all will, but you cannot kill him. Swear to me that you will not.” Kit’s pale blue eyes looked deeply into her own and she could feel herself crack and cool. How could he do this to her? He was not nearly so powerful as she, and yet... “I swear.” The words burned through her. They scorched the air and hung there dripping sweat and then were blown away on his cooling breeze.

The child peered at her from within the protective cocoon of his father’s arms, his large dark eyes framed with black lashes so like her own. He reached out a small fisted hand toward her, but Tatiana turned away. She hated him as she had never hated before.

About the Author

Meredith Bond is an award–winning author of a series of traditionally published Regency romances and indie–published paranormal romances. Her paranormal romances include
Magic In The Storm
,
Storm on the Horizon
, and “In A Beginning” (originally published in the anthology
Tales From The Mist
). Her traditional Regencies include
An Exotic Heir
, and
A Dandy in Disguise
, which will be released soon. Meredith has been teaching writing for the past six years. If you would like a taste of her class,
Chapter One
is available at your favorite e–retailer.

If you want to find out when Meredith’s next book is coming out, sign up for her mailing list. She does not spam, but will be sending out a quarterly newsletter filled with news and a super-short Vallen story. Sign up
here
at http://meredithbond.com/blog/mailing-list/.

Want to know more? Come visit Meredith at her website,
www.meredithbond.com
or chat with her on
Facebook
or Twitter (@merrybond).

A review of this story would be greatly appreciated. Please click
here
to write your review.

Find out more about the Vallen by following this link—
http://magicinthestorm.meredithbond.com.
available only to those who have a copy of either
Storm on the Horizon
or
Magic In The Storm
!

The first of Meredith’s traditional Regencies has been renewed and republished! Look for
An Exotic Heir
wherever you buy ebooks!