Written in the Stars by Patricia Rosemoor, Sherrill Bodine Page A

could see her one last
     time. He felt again the aching disappointment when he realized Alice was alone, coming
     to say good-bye to his smitten lieutenant.
    Now, face solemn, Tom rode beside him, Alice’s parcel of ginger and other concoctions
     she swore would keep him healthy tucked securely in his saddlebag.
    Although Tom had appeared to listen and grasp Will’s plans for the weeks of their
     campaign, his unusually grim countenance told another story.
    “We shall return before you are forgotten. Stop fretting,” Will coaxed and was rewarded
     by a grin.
    “Aye, Alice is quite a girl. I hope she stays a bit after the grand wedding.”
    The grand wedding of my brother to the woman I love.
    Images burned through his mind and seared his heart.
    Carlyle’s hands touching the warmth of Elizabeth’s lush, responsive body. Carlyle
     pushing his fingers through the glory of her hair, pulling her close to plunder the
     sweetness of her lips. Carlyle possessing her.
    Pounding jealousy and fear shattered all other feelings, leaving only one at his center.
     She had asked what might be greater than honor. He had always known the answer but
     been fearful of accepting the truth.
    Will! She was calling to him as he had called to her in the courtyard. He could see
     her being led into a secluded glade by Carlyle. Her fear poured through him, drowning
     his iron resolve. He must make sure she was safe.
    No longer able to still his deep-seated fear for her, he held up his arm and his troops
     halted behind him. “Tom, take the men back to Dunham Castle. I shall meet you there.”
    Wheeling his horse, he raced to find her before it was too late.
    …
    Patches of sunshine, falling down through the arch of trees above them, played across
     Carlyle’s intense face as he led Elizabeth into a quiet glade. Thick, low bushes surrounded
     an odd circle of flat grass. In one corner a small pool was fed by an underground
     spring. She slid off her horse, allowing it to drink there.
    Her defenses weakened by fatigue, she couldn’t step away before Carlyle clasped her
     hand, pressing his lips to her birthmark.
    “I have chosen you for this. And for this.” With his fingertips he stroked the celestial
     girdle around her hips.
    His touch and smile froze her with unease and the edge of fear she didn’t understand.
    “Your birthmark and girdle represent the old arts of which I know much. As do you,
     my beautiful Elizabeth. Here, I brought you to my special place to show you who I
     am and what we shall be together.”
    He reached into what appeared to be a hollow between felled logs and pulled out a
     heavy, black-hooded robe.
    Every instinct screamed danger and she backed away one step.
    He placed it around his shoulders before he pushed aside the thick brush. There stood
     a stone altar stained with blood such as Cybil, had described to her as the worship
     place of the dark ways.
    Sickened, now realizing why she had instinctively feared Carlyle, Elizabeth retreated
     even farther from him. “You practice the dark magic.”
    His eyes wide and flickering with emotions which froze Elizabeth, Carlyle, smiling,
     moved closer to her. “Ah, Elizabeth, you are a child of such magic. Marked by the
     pagan gods. Within you lives both darkness and light. It is the purity of your heart
     which shields you from all you are destined to be. When you are joined with me, I
     shall release your full dark power. Together we shall conquer time and space.”
    “Never!” Rage and defiance swelled in her breast, and she pulled the hidden golden
     dagger from her celestial girdle and aimed it at his heart.
    Carlyle laughed. “Good. You like your play rough, Elizabeth. As do I.”
    He lunged toward her.
    Some force within her, like unseen hands, flung him back away from her.
    His triumphant face turned her blood to ice. “You are more than I had hoped. By our
     wedding day I will have the measure of your magic and match it.”
    Frozen in disbelief and