The Carnelian Legacy by Cheryl Koevoet Page A

returned, that is.
    “Good morning, sleepyhead!”
    Marisa jumped as Arrie stuck his head inside the tent. Remembering not to say anything out loud, she just smiled and waved to return his greeting, and he quickly excused himself again to make sure all his gear was properly stored on his horse.
    Darian’s head popped in. “Milady, we are preparing to leave now. You’d best be getting ready to go.”
    She set the book down on the mat, stood up, and walked down the hill to the bucket of fresh water to splash some on her face.
    Darian glanced around and noticed that Marisa’s was the only tent still standing. He entered it and bent down to roll up her bedding but hesitated when he spotted the book lying on the mat. He touched the velvety softness of its cover and rubbed the black stubble on his chin in quiet thought.
    Finally, he opened it and quickly skimmed through the pages but stopped when he noticed a strange drawing. While he was studying it, a thin slip of paper fell out of the book. He bent down to pick it up and unfolded it just Marisa entered the tent.
    “Hey, what are you doing with that?” she asked.
    “Milady, I apologize. I was just rolling up your mat when I found this beautiful book.” Flustered, he quickly folded the paper, slipped it between the pages, and handed the book to her.
    “Thanks,” she whispered, slipping it back in the satchel.
    “Did you write it?” he asked curiously.
    “No.”
    Darian said nothing but hastily rolled up her mat and left the tent. She watched as he hurried down to the grove of trees where Talvan was barking orders and couldn’t help but admire the way his muscular body filled his uniform.
    She saw him pointing to her as he discussed something with one of the warriors and her heart stopped. As the soldier walked up to where Marisa stood and began to take her tent down, she sheepishly stepped aside.
    A few minutes later, Darian announced that they would be leaving immediately. The small company of seven men and one woman mounted their horses and began the last leg of their journey toward Abbadon.
    With no desire to be a part of the warriors’ lewd conversations laced with male humor and raucous laughter, Marisa stayed on the outermost edges of the formation and focused on the beauty of the magnificent nature surrounding them. She stared up into the sky and noticed that the heavens were such a brilliant color of blue with only a few puffs of clouds here and there. The leaves were turning into their fall colors just as they had back in Oregon and as far as she could tell, Carnelia’s seasons were the same as on Earth.
    Her focus on the breathtaking scenery slowly drifted as thoughts of the handsome young ambassador invaded her mind. The fact that she could not stop thinking about him bothered her. Since Darian rode behind her on the opposite side, she was grateful not to have his handsome form as a constant distraction within her range of vision.
    As Marisa turned to peek at Darian, she was once again met by his unsmiling, stony expression. She looked away. Why did he act so pleasant to her one minute, only to flip over to extreme coldness the next?
    She remembered Arrie’s comment about how complicated Darian was. Obviously, there was much more to this young man than meets the eye. No matter how attractive he was, though, she just could not fall for him. Her heart had been shattered once before, and she didn’t care to relive that again anytime soon.
    Just one week before graduation and on the night of their senior prom, Marisa had been humiliated in front of the entire school when Troy Matthews had taken off with her good friend Michaela Adams. Looking back now, it had been nothing more than a brief obsession, but at the time, it had seemed like the end of her world.
    But with Darian, things were different. He wasn’t some hick-town quarterback with a pickup truck and his daddy’s credit card. Darian was already a key player in the power and politics of the