Island Shifters: Book 02 - An Oath of the Mage by Valerie Zambito Page A

night, Your Grace. But, I had no idea that Captain Tray…” Roman Traynor’s hand swept out and backhanded the man with tremendous force.
    “Idiot! Just tell her what you saw!”
    The soldier shook his head and when he looked up, a deep cut in his lip was bleeding profusely. “I saw Prince Beck leave the party last night. I…I was patrolling the outside perimeter and watched him approach a woman who was standing among the boulders.”
    “Why did you not report this, Brega!” demanded Roman Traynor.
    The soldier shook his head miserably. “Forgive me, Your Grace. I thought he was simply meeting with…with a mistress. My duty was to the perimeter, not to…” Again, Traynor hit the man and he fell over on his side to the marble floor.
    “Roman!” screamed Kiernan. “Enough!”
    “I saw him, too, Maman.” All eyes turned to the little girl standing just outside of their circle. Kiernan rushed to her, and Rogan was horrified that she had just witnessed Roman’s unusual brutality.
    “What, darling? What did you see?”
    Kenley was crying now, the tears streaming down her pink cheeks. “I saw Daddy.”
    Kiernan knelt in front of Kenley and grabbed her shoulders. “This is important. Where did you see him? What was he doing?”
    “He left me alone at the party, Maman. He told me to go to bed, but I didn’t want to go by myself, so I followed him.”
    “Where, Kenley? Where did you follow him?” she urged.
    “Into the boulders, Maman. The Saber was telling the truth. He met a lady there.”
    “And, what happened?”
    The little girl paused. “He kissed her.”
    Rogan heard Kiernan moan and gestured for Airron to take her away. The Elf immediately lifted Kiernan from her position kneeling in front of Kenley and, in her anguish, she offered no resistance.
    Rogan took her place in front of the little girl. “Do you remember what this lady looked like, Kenley?”
    “Yes.” Her bright green eyes rapidly blinked back the pool of tears settling in their depths like puddles. “She had a cloak on, but I could see that she had black hair. She also had something strange on her face.”
    “Strange? What do you mean?”
    “Well, there were three long scars on one cheek.”

     
    There is a place deep in the soul where people carry their innermost fears like lead balloons. For the fortunate, these fears never materialize. They surface every once in awhile, but get pushed back down and tucked into place and never amount to much.
    For the not so fortunate, they come in the form of Avalon Ravener.
    Kiernan had always known that this day would come. From the little she knew about the sorceress, it had been easy to predict that she would never let things lie. She would need to settle the score, just like she did with Titus. There had been no reason for her to enter Nysa and kill the young Cyman all those years ago, but she did.
    And, now she had Beck.
    What did she want with him? Would she physically harm him?
    Kiernan winced and reached out to grab her bedpost. It was impossible to stop the mental images that played across her mind like a sick and tortuous display. Titus told them about the depraved desires of this woman, and now her husband could be the focus of them. Both Rogan and Airron vowed to search until Beck was found, but Kiernan had her doubts. Avalon had many years to plan this abduction, and she was a sorceress and bodyshifter of incredible skill. If she did not want to be found, she most likely would not be.
    Kiernan did not remember ever feeling so helpless before. Even when she spent those weeks with the Gems in Elloree and was kept behind a locked door, she always knew that she had options still available to her. This time, she had none.
    Thinking of the Gems naturally caused her to think of Gemini. The sorceress who had been like a second mother to her would know what to do. She would know exactly how to track the woman who she had known over three hundred years ago.
    The errant thought hit her