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Trust In Love: A Love Mark Romance Epigraph
“And then, one not-so-very special day, I went to my typewriter, I sat down, and I wrote this story. A story about a time, a story about a place, a story about the people. But above all things, a story about love. A love that will live forever.” —From Moulin Rouge
Last Updated : 2021-11-24Trust In Love: A Love Mark Romance 1. Farrow
I’d witnessed the birthing process enough from growing up in the brothel where my mother had worked to know the queen’s babe would be here soon.Low, distressed moans and heightened murmurs of encouragement filtered from her royal bedchamber and out into the corridor, echoing down the hall to me like shards of haunting memories that pelted me with visions better left forgotten.Pain and blood, and too often death, mixed in with the new breath of life; I’d seen it all. I knew exactly what was happening in that room.Biting my bottom lip, I stole an inconspicuous glance around the corner and watched the assortment of men gathered outside her door, waiting for news, men who knew nothing about the process transpiring on the other side of that portal.Among the ignorant, the king sat gruffly in a padded chair that someone had brought for him as he glared at the chamber’s entrance and impatiently rolled his signet ring around his pinkie. Even in the middle of the night, he wore his gold
Last Updated : 2021-11-24Trust In Love: A Love Mark Romance 2. Farrow
“Who is it?” I heard my father demanding from across the room. “A thief? An assassin? What type of weapon is he brandishing?”Around me, the guards eased closer, ignoring the fact that I had my bare hands lifted in surrender to show them I came in peace and was unarmed.When one moron actually nicked my collarbone, I flinched and scowled at him.“Ouch, you fool.” I wiped at the cut, and my fingers came away smeared with red. “Watch where you aim that thing. That hurt.”“Never fear, Your Majesty,” Greggor announced, yawning, as he had a better view of me from where he sat than my father did from the throne. “There’s no danger here. It’s just Farrow, the bastard.”“Who?” King Torrance made a face, not comprehending. “Will you idiots just step aside and let me see the cutthroat before I have him run through?”Immediately, I was given room to breathe again as the guards scurried backward until I was exposed enough to face my father fully.Keeping my hands up and exposed, I gifted th
Last Updated : 2021-11-24Trust In Love: A Love Mark Romance 3. Farrow
Half an hour later, I sat atop the horse I’d borrowed from the royal guards’ stable with my fingers tapping impatiently against the saddle horn while I waited at the opening of the courtyard for the two knights who were being forced to accompany me.Honestly, I didn’t want anyone else to tag along. They’d only slow me down, and I didn’t exactly trust my father’s servants. Aside from Sable, everyone in this damn castle seemed corrupt.But only royal knights had enough authorization to access the stockroom and gather all the supplies we would need for our journey. So I’d have to devise a way to steal their provisions and lose them on the road. Hopefully this very night.The courtyard was dark, and the torches slotted into their sconces on the walls cast more shadows than actual illumination. When a single figure meandered into the clearing on foot from a side passage as if lost, a feeling of distinct unease crawled up the back of my neck.Who the hell was this? I very much doubted th
Last Updated : 2021-11-24Trust In Love: A Love Mark Romance 4. Nicolette
Plucking a white rose from the bush in front of me, I broke the thorns free from their stem before dropping the beauty into the basket that dangled from my arm.“Flower picking,” an offended voice from my right lamented. “There’s a festival going on down in the village right now. Music, dancing, cups overflowing with wine, girls whose bosoms are overflowing from the tops of their dresses, and you choose to go flower picking instead.”I sent the disgruntled man an amused smile. “Yes, well. While I do love a good overflowing bosom…” Tone dry with sarcasm, I shrugged. “I just didn’t feel much like joining in on the revelries today.”My personal guard slumped his shoulders and sent me a pleading scowl. “But what about me, my lady? I’m forced to go where you go. Why didn’t you consider what I felt like doing for once? And not that you care or anything, but it’s been far too long since I explored a healthy bosom.”“Eww.” I wrinkled my nose and turned back to the bush, searching for the n
Last Updated : 2021-11-24Trust In Love: A Love Mark Romance 5. Nicolette
Half an hour later, I stepped into the dining hall with my usual trepidation.Five years had passed, but I’d never forgotten how I’d seen my own brother Caulder—dead with a sword wound in his back—laid upon the long table in here. Or my cousin Soren, who’d been disemboweled ten feet away for killing Caulder. Or Yasmin—Vienne’s sister—whom I’d murdered, turning to dust with magic power, not but minutes after Soren’s demise.Sometimes, I still woke in a cold sweat, breathing hard and trembling, just remembering that one horrible hour that had transpired in this very room.Tonight, however, it was full of lights and music and the merry, mingled voices of my closest loved ones.“Nicolette! Nicolette!” Five-year-old Anniston ran up to me, grinning wildly. “Look what I got in the village at the celebration today. Isn’t it beautiful?”She touched the pink floral wreath she wore on her head and beamed with pride as she twirled in a circle before me, making her lavender skirts float in a c
Last Updated : 2021-11-24Trust In Love: A Love Mark Romance 6. Nicolette
“It’s nothing, my love,” Allera told Brentley, blowing him a kiss before sending me a guilty, apologetic cringe. “I was merely teasing our sweet Nicolette here and, well, you know me. I took it too far. That’s all.”“Impossible,” Brentley returned. “You could never take anything too far, dear heart. Everything you do is perfectly perfect just as it is.”Oh bother. I rolled my eyes. “If you’ll excuse me,” I muttered, sickened by their overblown lover’s banter. “I think I’ll retire for the evening.” And go throw up in my bedchamber.When I turned away to leave, however, the king beckoned me back, sounding confused. “But we haven’t even eaten yet.”“I’ve lost my appetite,” I answered without pausing, causing Indigo to pop out from against the wall to follow me.But behind me, my annoying brother boomed, “Halt.”Brentley rarely used his kingly status to command anything of me, so it always surprised and irritated me when he did.Grinding to a vexed stop, I fisted my hands at my side
Last Updated : 2021-11-24Trust In Love: A Love Mark Romance 7. Farrow
“Damnation,” I muttered, setting my hands on my hips and turning in a slow, aggravated circle as I scanned the trees.But where the hell was that secret entrance?I knew I’d been blindfolded when the princess had led me from the castle and out here into the forest five years back, but I’d seen her and her guard disappear into the trees somewhere in this general vicinity just a few hours ago to return to the castle. It had to be nearby. Somewhere. And I should’ve been able to locate it by now.Except I couldn’t. This was one aggravatingly well-hidden passageway.If I’d been smart, I would’ve snatched her earlier. Except I would’ve had to take out her protector in the process, which I could’ve done with no hardship. I just hadn’t felt like killing anyone today. And besides, I’d been certain I could simply follow them back inside through their handy secret tunnel that I knew existed under the moat and then take her the first moment she was alone.Like she was now.Except I couldn’t
Last Updated : 2021-11-24
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Trust In Love: A Love Mark Romance About the Author
Linda writes romance fiction from YA to adult, contemporary to fantasy. Most Kage stories lean more toward the lighter, sillier side with a couple meaningful moments thrown in. Focuses more on entertainment value and emotional impact.Published since 2010. Went through a 2-year writing correspondence class in children’s literature from The Institute of Children’s Literature. Then graduated with a Bachelor of Arts, English with an emphasis in creative fiction writing from Pittsburg State University.Now she lives with her hubby, two daughters, cat Holly, and nine cuckoo clocks in southeast Kansas, USA. Farm girl. Parents were dairy farmers. Was youngest of eight. Big family. Day job as a cataloging library assistant.Harry Potter House Gryffindor, Patronus White Stallion, character match Hagrid. Supernatural Team Dean. Game of Thrones Team Jon Snow and Tyrion Lannister. The Walking Dead Team Daryl. Outlander Team Jamie Fraser. Teen Wolf Team Stiles. Avenger Team Thor...or Hulk (can’t
Trust In Love: A Love Mark Romance 2nd Epilogue
“Mater?”I glanced up from the scroll I was writing on and found Wicket hovering in the entrance of my tent.With a snap from my fingers, the journal popped into the air and then spooled closed into a tight roll before disappearing so it could return to the only kingdom in the Outer Realms that actually contained a public library.High Cliff had always been ahead of the others in academics. Then again, the House of Bjorn, who had reigned over it for hundreds of years, had been the first family to cast off their powers. And it hadn’t taken me long to realize the absence of magic forced one to get creative and use critical thinking to solve problems instead, turning to science, inventions, and industry.Maybe that was why my little world here hadn’t evolved as quickly as I’d hoped it would; there was still too much supernatural interference at work, restricting its progress.Not that I was willing to forego any of my own abilities to help in that regard, mind you. So I couldn’t righ
Trust In Love: A Love Mark Romance Epilogue
“You want to know what I don’t understand?” Indigo said as he peeled a grumpacker in the seat across from me.Turning my gaze from the window of the carriage I’d been staring out to watch the Far Shore landscape pass by, I lifted my brows in amusement as he kicked back lazily on his cushion and hiked his boots up onto the padded bench next to me.“What’s that?” I asked.“Why…” he wondered, “is a woman who marries a king labeled a queen, but a man who marries a queen a mere prince?”Sending him an odd look, I answered, “You tell me. You’re the one who insisted it had to be that way in the first place.”He scowled in irritation. “Only because that’s how Bison said it’s done on Earth. Or at least how he thinks it goes. Apparently, he’s never followed royal order that closely before.” He wrinkled his nose. “Strange, that.”“Well, we certainly don’t have to follow Earth’s rules,” I decided, “as we’re not earthlings ourselves.”Farrow gasped at such a suggestion. “Yes, we do,” he argu
Trust In Love: A Love Mark Romance 35. Farrow
The Donnellean army arrived two days later. In all actuality, it was fairly anticlimactic.Far Shore soldiers waited at the city limits for them, lining the roadways to provide a royal escort for such honored guests that led their commander straight to the castle’s entrance.Urban Bjorn, leader of the Donnelly troops, looked puzzled and suspicious as hell, glancing around him as if he expected an attack any moment even as he strode forward to meet me, where I stood awaiting his arrival at the door to the throne room. When he recognized who I was, his scowl grew.“You!” he boomed as he grabbed the front of my tunic and yanked me against him so he could snarl directly into my face. “This whole mess is your fault?” He shook me harshly, rattling my teeth. “You fucking punk. I should’ve let Brentley execute you that night Nicolette begged me to save your miserable life.”“Be that as it may,” I offered mildly. “What’s done is done, so…” I lifted a bored eyebrow. “If you’ll kindly release
Trust In Love: A Love Mark Romance 34. Nicolette
So, the headcount in our expedition more than doubled. Farrow was adamantly against the idea of letting Roloff join us, but the soothsayer defended his case quite handily, if you wanted my opinion.“They had an axe to my head,” he sobbed. “What was I supposed to do? Besides, destiny was whispering in my ear, telling me you needed to be caught there, sneaking into the castle.”I glanced toward a glowering Farrow. “You really can’t argue with destiny, you know.”“If destiny meant Sable had to die and your life was put into jeopardy, then the hell I can’t.”“It had to happen that way,” Roloff insisted, tears spilling down his cheeks. “I loved Sable, too. She kept me sane while we lived in those dungeon cells together. We watched a tongue-less man starve to death. Rats swarmed in. I would’ve lost my mind without her. But destiny said…” He paused to dab at his wet eyes. “Destiny said it was to happen this way. The results will cause peace among many and—”“You call this peace?” Farrow
Trust In Love: A Love Mark Romance 33. Farrow
I woke to the caw of birds outside the window and nearby waves walloping the shoreline.With a contented groan, I stretched my arms over my head and glanced at Nicolette sleeping beside me. A smile stretched across my lips. I liked sleeping in a bed with her. My fingers coasted over her hair, careful not to disturb her. She looked so young and innocent in rest.Wanting to keep it that way, I eased off the mattress and found my clothes piled on the floor where I’d dropped them last night.Once dressed, I padded barefoot to the door and opened it quietly, peeking into the front room.If I was lucky, no one else would be awake yet. I could sneak back to my bedroll without Bison or Indigo realizing I’d been with Nicolette at all last night.From the table, however, both Indigo and Bison turned from where they’d been sitting and talking, and they each gave me a severe once-over.Dammit. Busted.The High Clifter scowled irritably, his eyes bleary with signs of sleeplessness. But the e
Trust In Love: A Love Mark Romance 32. Nicolette
I fell asleep before Farrow did that night, thank God. Though we’d only shared a handful of dreams together, his always left me disturbed, feeling heavy and despondent afterward.I didn’t like seeing how gray life had left him, either. I mean, had the man never been given a sweet treat or hug in his entire life? It was a miracle he’d turned out as well as he had. With the kind of hopeless existence he’d been given, I would’ve imploded by now.I wanted every night to be full of my dreams, so he could at least experience some warmth and brightness.When I appeared in the village of Mandalay, a smile lit my face.“Oh, thank God,” a voice said from behind me, echoing my thoughts. I turned, beaming at Farrow. He lifted a shoulder almost bashfully, admitting, “Your dreams are better.”“They are,” I agreed, going to him.Needing my hands on his skin, I made his tunic disappear and put that leather and fur-skinned kilt back on him. Purring my approval, I smoothed my palms up his bare che
Trust In Love: A Love Mark Romance 31. Farrow
We reached the destination that Indigo led us to—a cottage on the beach—early the next evening. The other two had let me trail along silently behind them throughout the day, and I was grateful for that.I felt raw. Exposed. I didn’t know how to deal with any of this. So I just kept it all contained inside myself.Glad to not think about my pain for a while, I examined the small but finely built home in front of us and then moved my gaze out to the sea.All my life, I’d lived within a day’s ride from the shore, and yet I’d never been here before.“It’s so massive,” Nicolette murmured, coming up beside me so she could study the scenery as well. “Water as far as the eye can see. I never imagined it’d be like this.”I sent her a questioning glance before realizing the sand princess who’d lived her entire life in the center of the Outer Realms wouldn’t have gotten to see such a sight before either, would she?Holding in the urge to take her hand and squeeze warmly as we experienced th
Trust In Love: A Love Mark Romance 30. Nicolette
Farrow led us from the castle in record time, but we didn’t escape unnoticed. About the same moment we made it outside, a warning trumpet blared from the towers, beckoning more forces to help in finding the escaped felons. In finding us.“We left our horses this way,” Indigo started, but Farrow grabbed his arm.“No. That’s too close to the main entrance. They’ll spot us immediately. Let’s go this way,” he urged, leading us in the other direction. “Maybe if we make it to the stables without being spotted, we can steal some horses and get out of town.”But we no sooner darted in that direction than we found our way blocked.“Whoa!” Indigo grabbed Farrow’s arm, halting him. “Guards.”“Shit. This way, then.”Farrow tried to lead us to a side alley.More guards.They closed in on us from every street and angle, creeping stealthily forward on foot, weapons raised.“We’re surrounded.”I glanced around desperately, only to spot a weathered old man sitting in a two-wheeled cart that w
