Coming soon

Book 6 in the Chrysalis series--a small portion of the beginning (unedited)

Chapter 1

May 2008 

As morning light broke through the gray clouds covering the Lucerian Forest, Esmeralda stood at the entrance of the cave where she had sought refuge. Her fight to regain her position on the council bench was at its end, and she was in hiding. As she rubbed the cold from her arms—the thick fur draped around her shoulders didn’t stop the damp air from settling in her soul, she thought about the predicament she faced. 

The capital she had worked so hard to achieve was gone now. The fear she had instilled to keep her enemies in line was but a memory. She no longer had her longtime friends and confidants, Karol and Nelson, by her side. Nelson was dead, and Karol spoke out against her at her trial. Oh, she still had Madalyn, Marcus, and David, but they were just as hated. She had only a few dragons left in her fleet, but even they knew to stay out of sight—Aubrey’s sisters were searching for them.

Esmeralda closed her eyes and hung her head in her lament. She was so sure she had won this time. As she saw it, she had beaten Aubrey. She had cast Aubrey as the villain and Aubrey had not done anything to dispute her claims except for the few press releases coming from her legal team which amounted to nothing more than a wait and see type of a response. So, who wouldn’t have believed her story? After all, she wasn’t in the dungeons as Karol was. She hadn’t been arrested or charged with anything…until now anyway. 

Esmeralda had had the Magicals of the Realm supporting her with her claims of Aubrey imprisoning Karol unjustly. She’d had support with her claims of Aubrey covering for the Guardians. She’d had everyone believing that everything that had happened was the Guardian Orders’ fault. After all, it was the Guardians who cast the spell removing all knowledge of her mother’s involvement replacing the truth with a lie. It was the Guardian Chair who had colluded with her mother to kill Eleanor Brentwood. It was the Guardians who had aided her mother with the evil. It was the Guardian Order, which placed the world in peril by doing what they did. And by the time she was finished telling her story, she’d had everyone believing she was the one who had destroyed the evil, she had killed her mother, and she was the one who had saved the Aubrey and the Realm from a terrible fate. 

As many in the Realm had begun showing their support for her, she hadn’t been worried about anything Aubrey, or her companions, or clan, or the Halsings would claim. Of course, she knew Aubrey’s clan would deliver a different story—their version of what happened. But she hadn’t let that stop her. She continued to plant the seed of distrust by strengthening the narrative of her claim. Through the many interviews she gave, she reminded everyone you simply could not trust anything Thomas Halsing claimed as truth, then listed she the horrible deeds he’d committed and then the lies he’d told to cover them up. Yes, he wasin her employment at the time, but heaven’s, she had acted just as surprised as everyone else when she learned of his deeds, and she had tried to punish him, but Aubrey saved him by bringing him into her confidence. She brought light to Thomas’ traitorous acts against his race—posing as a Traditional, while in truth was on the Non-Com side of their race. Then, to add insult to injury, she questioned how anyone could trust Aubrey—a Chosen One, who showed such poor judgment as to allow a liar and a traitor gain her confidence. All that, at the time, had seemed to do the trick and she’d held the Realm in her grasp.

Esmeralda raised her head and gazed into the trees that hid her shelter. Rain was falling. The wind blew gently. There were no sounds of the forest. It was quiet and cold, so quiet she could hear her pulse pound in her ears, so cold she could see her breaths.

She wrapped her fur cape tighter around her as she thought about the letter she’d sent to Aubrey on her wedding day. She told Aubrey to enjoy her day because once this trial was over and the Realm saw Aubrey for what she was—a conniving, self-centered, prima donna, who was a menace to the Realms, not their savior, she would ensure the dismemberment of Aubrey’s head from her shoulders would be painful. And she promised Aubrey would not lose her head before she saw her sisters, her companions, her clan, her friends, and her families lose theirs. She had confidence then. Yes, indeed she had thought the tides had turned in her favor.

But, as the hearings began, and the truth of what happened at the Grove surfaced, Esmeralda’s confidence faded. One by one, behind closed doors, where only council members and governors heard the testimonies of the sequestered individual, the truth was told. She was not allowed to be present, which now, of course, she saw that as a good thing or else she wouldn’t be standing where she was standing. It was the news reports that told her which way the wind was blowing. Now, after sending that letter to Aubrey and boasting, she could add one more crime to her growing pile—a written threat against the Chosen One.

Esmeralda pushed away from the wall and walked back into the darkness of the cave to a small fire. She’d used her Dark Magic to send the smoke down into the ground. She couldn’t chance a flyover by the sisters, or the Castle Guard. She wasn’t as worried the Guardians would search for her, they had their problems to correct.

After she had painted the Guardian Order in such a terrible light, she never believed the Realm would take a Guardian’s words as gospel over hers. But when Odessa gave testimony of the deceit Pennington Albright, the reigning Guardian Chair and her staff waged against their Order, they listened. Odessa headed the Order now, and Pennington, Ruth, and Brianna will face the Orders’ judgment. Her thoughts on what that decision would entail sent a chill down her spine, as she knew she would most likely receive the same fate.

As she held her hands cupped together, a mug appeared in her palms. Steam rose from the liquid, and she brought it close to her face for some warmth, but the small bit of warmth brought no relief from her memories of the past few weeks. 

Even the Traditionals and Non-Coms of the Vampire’s race was a surprise to her. Never in all her planning did she believe they would break ranks and testify against her. She had promised Count Finley a kingship. She had pledged to release the constraints against the vampires allowing them to prey as they wished upon the humans. She had promised their ways would revert to the traditional side of a vampire’s life. Even though she did not intend to keep her promises, their betrayal was a surprise. Oh, she didn’t doubt the Non-Conformist side of their race would come to Aubrey’s aid as they favored the Chosen One. She could have easily dismissed their telling of facts as prejudice against her. But the Traditionals was another matter. Their numbers were greater than the Non-Com’s, and they distrusted Aubrey and her sisters. Yes, some on the Traditional side attended Aubrey’s wedding, but she saw that as playing the odds—it’s what their kind does. But when the Traditionals testified of what they had learned at their Gathering—that Count Finley had joined forces with her, his boast she would title him as King of the Vampires, and that she had assumed the title of Empress of the World, and how Aubrey had saved them from herdragons. That testimony was indeed a disaster. 

Nor did she ever think, not for one second, Karol would speak out against her. Yes, she had given Karol and Nelson up as a sacrifice, but that was business. Karol and Nelson understood business and understood sacrificing for the betterment of their cause. Karol had told her many times that sacrifices must be made to achieve their desires. So, she never believed Karol would hold a grudge. After all, she never really expected Karol and Nelson would be sacrificed in the end. She had planned to intervene. She had intended to stop the old crone, who unbeknownst to Esmeralda at the time was her mother, from offering up her best friends as a sacrifice to the Witches of the Black Capes. Then, all would be forgiven. But she never got the chance to go that far.

Karol did speak out against her in the hearings, and her testimony was the final nail in her coffin. As the newspaper article restated Karol’s testimony of how Aubrey battled at the Grove to save the Realm, not once giving any thought to her own life, the reporter made it sound like Aubrey could walk on water. Then as the reporter described Karol’s recollection of events of how Aubrey had protected everyone at the Grove including her, David, Marcus, and Madalyn from certain death, one would have believed Aubrey was a god. And as Karol testified how Aubrey had used the Wizard’s staff to defeat the old crone and the evil, the write-up in the paper made it sound as if Aubrey was a one-woman wrecking ball of a savior. 

Now, the Realm now saw her as the villain and Aubrey as their savior. Now, the Realm saw her as conspiring to rule the world and Aubrey as a shining beacon of light. Now, the Realm wanted her head served up on a platter, and gold, studded gemstone crown placed atop Aubrey’s head.

Esmeralda shook her head to cast out those horrendous thoughts and gazed into the flame as she refocused on her plight. Her cabin home was no longer safe, as the council decreed the Castle Guards were to bring her back for sentencing. The Dark Arts she practiced has been her only protection. Since the hearings had ended, she’s been on the move, going to cave after cave, not staying more than a day or two in one place. She knew she would be running for the rest of her days if she couldn’t think of something to save her head from being removed from her shoulders.

She glanced at the worn, dusty trunk that sat against the wall of her refuge holding items she had no interest to discover. David had recovered it from one of the many stash caves he and her mother had used as she taught him how to accomplish the blending of demon and magical souls, and how to locate the demons the Elders had buried before they left this world to the races. The Blending knowledge would do little for her now as she was barred from the Aspen Grove in the Hidden Forest as per Aubrey’s command to the forest. She hadn’t believed that possible, but she quickly learned it was after she failed to gain entry to the Grove. The moment she set foot upon the ground, an unseen force rudely catapulted her out of the Forest. 

There was no longing within her to seek any connection with a woman who chose to remain removed from her. There was no desire to rekindle the past she grew up without knowing. There was no craving to learn what treasures may lie inside the locked box. As far as she was concerned, the truck could crumble to dust without ever being opened. 

As a low rumble of thunder rolled outside, the trunk shook. 

Esmeralda ignored the disturbance as nothing more than vibration and turned her thoughts back to forming a plan to save herself. She had earlier toyed with the idea of confessing she was under a spell which caused her to do the things she did, but then as she remembered Pennington and Ruth had tried that nonsense to save their necks, she didn’t hold out too much hope of pulling that lie off either. The thought of claiming she was a victim of this madness had some weight. After all, she wagered, had the Guardians not cast the spell, had she known the truth about her mother, had everyone known the truth—maybe things wouldn’t have turned out the way they did. 

Esmeralda knew she hadn’t the powers to battle Aubrey after witnessing what Aubrey accomplished at the Grove. Aubrey had wielded magic Esmeralda never thought her capable of doing while Aubrey was in her human state. But once Aubrey crossed and held all the power of the Twelve, Esmeralda knew she stood little chance against Aubrey. Granted, Aubrey would be considered a green witch, as handling those skills to their optimum potential would take time for her to master, but she couldn’t count on that to give her a win in their battle. Aubrey has proven a formidable foe while still in her human state and hoping for her to make a mistake could be an oversight on her part. A twelve to one matching made Aubrey stronger than her, green witch or not. She was not about to take anything for granted now when it came to Aubrey—not anymore.

A flash of lightning drew her gaze toward the entrance of her dwelling. A deep roll of thunder shook the ground. Then a small ball of light appeared just beyond where the light to her refuge was swallowed by darkness.

Esmeralda’s heart raced in realizing she’d been found. She rose quickly, and with a quick thought, she began to fold space, only her fold wouldn’t complete. She was now in an absolute panic as she watched the folds of space she’d created fade before her eyes. She’d have to fight.

A ball of fire appeared in Esmeralda’s hand. She cast it toward the light. It fizzled before striking the glowing ball. Another fireball appeared in her hand, again she cast and in rapid secession continued to throw fireball after fireball at the glowing orb, but none landed. 

Esmeralda raised her hands toward the ceiling and caused massive boulders to fall upon the orb. And when the dust settled, and she saw the huge mound of stones and earth and no glowing ball, she stood quiet, too afraid to rejoice with triumph in her victory. She took a tentative step toward the mound. Nothing happened. She took another step, then another. Her guarded stance eased. Her shoulders relaxed. A hesitant smile appeared on her lips.

Then the mound of earth exploded, sending rocks and dirt in all directions. The force of the explosion sent her flying back toward the back wall of her cave, but before she struck the wall, she hung in the air. Her arms were pinned to her side. Her feet dangled in the air as she struggled. The ball of light appeared. Esmeralda’s eyes widened, her heart raced, she now knew this was her end.