Dangerous Magic by Sullivan Clarke Page B

relief was short-lived. The preacher was clutching the talisman she'd put around her neck for protection. With a jerk, he snapped the leather string holding it and held the dangling talisman before Lark's face.
    "Made for protection, no doubt?" he asked with a smirk.
    "Is it no less than you expect," she asked. "You condemned me before you even spoke with me."
    "If you were a witch then where are your gods?" Fervor asked.
    Lark wondered that herself. Never before had she felt so alone, so abandoned. All her life she'd been faithful to the old ways, never expecting anything in return. True, she'd asked for boons, but when they weren't granted she understood and when they were she'd expressed her gratitude whether through a heartfelt poem written in honor of her divine benefactors or a little bowl of milk left out for the fairy spirits who'd assisted her in some way. Never before had she questioned the ancient ones. Never. Until now.
    "It is required for me to have witnesses," Reverend Fervor said, his voice resentful. "So you shall remain here and ponder your sins while I fetch godly elders of this church to preside over what must be done, and to attest to my fairness with you."
    "I offer my services!"
    Reverend Fervor spun around to see Colin standing in the doorway. The larger man's face was a cloud of anger. His fist curled at his side. The pale preacher blanched even paler.
    "You," he said, eyeing Colin as the magistrate walked in behind him. "Are you not supposed to be interred for the crime of assisting a witch?"
    "Is she to be condemned already?" Colin asked. The preacher pressed his thin lips shut, angry that he'd tripped himself by his own tongue.
    "She's confessed!" Fervor sputtered.
    "Not to your charges!" Lark spat. Fervor turned to her, his face angry but Colin was at her side now, brushing the preacher out of the way.
    "Are you all right?" he asked.
    He touched her face. "Yes," he said. "Now that I've explained the situation to the magistrate. He did not know that you recently agreed to accept my hand in marriage, which puts you under my authority and protection..."
    Colin raised his eyebrows at her, indicating that it would be in Lark's best interest to go along with the lie he was telling.
    "Please, Lark," he silently prayed. "This is not the time to be stubborn."
    But he did not have to say the words out loud. Lark read them in his eyes, and knew that to reveal Colin's lie would not only condemn her, but him as well.
    She looked at the magistrate. "I live quietly, treating people who need it. You know this. It should not be a surprise that I did not make news of my betrothal known."
    "It is a lie!" Fervor jumped to his feet. "Tis a trick to remove her from my righteous charge!"
    The magistrate stepped forward. "I've known Colin since he was nae high," the man said, putting his hand to just above his beltline. "I've never known him to be false. If he says he is betrothed to the accused then so he is."
    The pale face of the preacher turned slightly pink with anger. "If that is so," he spat, "then let him marry her now!"
    Lark was about to protest, but Colin - sensing it - stepped forward.
    "If that is what is required to prove my claim true," he said, but Lark shook her head.
    "It should not be..."
    "Being wed to him will increase his protection of you," the magistrate said.
    And Lark knew from the man's expression that she should not protest. The magistrate, who had himself come to her seeking help for his mother's cough, was in a difficult position. While he did not agree with what the church as doing, he could only exert his authority so far against them. Lark doubted that he even believed the claim of betrothal, but realized that the magistrate knew the benefits of what he suggested. It would throw up another obstacle to Rev. Fervor - an obstacle the man clearly did not want.
    "Bring the preacher," Colin said.
    Lark bit her tongue. She knew Colin fancied her, knew since childhood that he'd wanted to marry