a scene from Black Heart

This is a scene with Kieran and Jessa, from the first chapter of Black Heart. The story takes place seven years after the end of Eldala. 

Kieran nodded to the night guards who kept vigil outside the girls’ room and made his way down the spiral stairs to the bottom floor of the tower. The keep was older and draftier than the main castle. The new windows let in scant light, and the heavy tapestries did little to keep away the chill. He wouldn’t have had it any other way. Living here made it easier to feel like a normal family instead of the royal family.

 

Once inside his apartments, he closed the door and inhaled. The room smelled like Jessa, just a hint of cinnamon and cascabel, two of his favorite smells. The candles were all snuffed, but a fire crackled in the large fireplace. He rested one hand on the mantle and stared into the flames. They still fascinated him. He’d worked with fire most of his life, using it to shape lumps of metal into works of art. Life had been simpler when he was blacksmith. He’d learned over the last few years that forging iron was far easier than reforging a country.


to read the rest, go to my Eldala blog: A Tidbit From Black Heart