Avalaine tilted her head back until her neck hurt. She stared up at the bleak, gray sky.

  Ominous clouds were moving in streams, almost looking as if they were running away from something.

  She had never seen clouds move like that. It was making her dizzy, so Avalaine looked away, intending to return indoors.

  Only she then found that there was no indoors.

  She was in a field of grass that extended as far as the eye could see in all directions. The sight of the strangely uniform field also made her dizzy.

  How had she come here? She didn’t remember walking this far out into the grasslands. Had she come by carriage? There were none nearby.

  No people, either.

  She spun around, making two complete circles, but no castle or other people appeared.

  Then a change in the sky caught her attention.

  The clouds, still moving quickly across the sky, were thinning out. Only now did Avalaine realize something strange about their movement. The clouds were not sailing across the sky.

  They were draining.

  It was as if some monstrous hand had grabbed hold of the heavens themselves and upended them, causing the clouds and whatever else was in there to flow out of the other side.

  She stared in mute horror at the gray sky. Something about the featureless expanse was terrifying.

  Then there was a disturbance in that endless gray space. There was a darkening, as if black lightning were rippling across it.

  No, she thought, not lightning. Cracks.

  As she completed her thought, the sky shattered, and a monstrous hand forced its way through. The hand grabbed one edge of the torn sky and forced it roughly aside, revealing a black void beyond.

  Avalaine felt her heart pumping wildly, and she stifled a scream. Then she realized that she had heard no sounds in a long time. Everything around her had been completely silent.

  She still stared at the great black tear in the sky. The awful hand retreated, then a baleful red eye appeared, looking through the crack into this world.

  The eye had no pupil or iris, only bright glowing red. It should not have been possible to tell which way it was looking, but Avalaine could tell… it focused on her.

  She screamed then, even knowing it would make no sound.

  Avalaine sat up in her bed as if launched from a catapult. She was covered in sweat, and her nightgown was cold and wet against her body. She couldn’t tell if she had screamed out loud or not.

  Harsh moonlight blasted through her unblocked windows, leaving a pattern of bright rectangles covering the entire room.

  By the Gods! she thought. Thank the Gods that was but a dream!

  The door to her chamber burst open then, and one of the castle guardsmen rushed in.

  “I heard a scream!” the large guardsman shouted.

  Avalaine was embarrassed. She was about to apologize and wave him off when she saw the man’s expression change.

  “My Lady, WHO IS THAT!!?” he shouted, pointing past her.

  Turning, Avalaine’s stomach lurched when she realized someone had been sitting in a chair beside her bed the entire time.

  The man was sitting so still she had not even noticed him. Most of his upper body was still in shadow, but she could see his gray breeches were flared at the bottom. They were tucked into a pair of gray boots with curled tips that pointed upwards.

  Then Avalaine saw the red eyes. Though the rest of the man was in shadow, the red eyes were not. They focused on her, and she could tell they were malevolent.

  Seeming to be in slow motion, the man leaned forward, and then Avalaine could see that this was not a man.

  He looked like a man, but his skin was white, and his motion was unnatural. He seemed to flicker, moving from position to position without making the necessary intervening motions.

  Avalaine was so frightened she could not even scream. It was stuck in her throat.

  Then the thing grabbed her wrist. It happened so fast. She had not even seen it move.

  She experienced freezing, burning pain, and the thing’s face filled her vision.

  “LET IT GO, MORTAL COW!”

  Then Avalaine forced herself awake.

  Again, she was sweating, and again she was uncertain if she had screamed. This time, though, she felt certain she was truly awake.

  Sunlight streamed in through her windows, and she realized that she now felt the weight of reality that had not been there in her dreams.

  Avalaine had sat up in her canopy bed. A bed which had seemed larger before she had seen how the Royal Family lived.

  She was breathing hard, but not drenched in sweat, as in her nightmare. She placed a hand over her heart. It was beating like a trapped bird was trying to escape her chest.

  Where did all of that come from? she thought, even as she calmed down.

  The details of the successive nightmares grew fuzzy. She was partially glad of that, but she also felt as if there must be something important to them.

  Her dealings with Viscount Brandu had taught her to keep a journal nearby, and she reached for it out of habit.

  Only then did she realize the journal was not on her night table, as usual.

  Looking around, she saw that none of her belongings from her recent trip were in her room. She determined to ask Myria about her luggage later in the day.

  As if summoned, Myria’s voice called out as she rapped sharply at Avalaine’s chamber door.

  Avalaine jumped a little, then laughed to herself at her skittishness.

  Without waiting to be allowed entry, Myria opened the door and stormed in. Her movements were hasty and erratic. Avalaine saw the distress on her friend’s face and jumped out of the bed to face her, ready to confront whatever was coming.

  This narrative has been purloined without the author's approval. Report any appearances on Amazon.

  “By LaKrona, would you please rise?” Myria nearly shouted. “They are holding breakfast for you and we are all starving!”

  “Breakfast?” Avalaine asked. Then she burst into laughter.

  Myria did not join, only crossed her arms and scowled.

  ***

  Avalaine found she was not able to enjoy her breakfast, as she was forced to endure the same interrogation she had gone through the night before.

  Her father was near obsessed with the notion of her marrying Prince Randall and becoming a royal princess.

  Of course, Avalaine knew he cared only marginally for what she would get out of it. He cared most about what it would do for the family name.

  “But my dear,” her father said to her, “whatever you have done, surely we can repair the damage? We can write a letter this very day apologizing for your behavior. We will make certain to say it was because of foul airs, and not because of how you were raised!”

  Avalaine only nodded, as her mouth was full of bread. It was easier to evade the questioning if they saw she was chewing on something.

  “Well, that’s it then!” Earl Brentan shouted, slapping the table to accentuate his remark.

  He jumped up from the table and rounded on one of the serving girls.

  “You! Go find Master Crickney and have him meet me in my study with a scribe! Quickly now!”

  The Earl then hurried out of the dining hall without even begging pardon of the Ladies he left behind, including his own wife.

  Avalaine, Countess Margaret, her sister, Lady Alyssa, her mother’s lady, Katherine, and Myria remained at the table, mostly in silence. Alyssa tended to chew her food loudly, and so for brief moments, her enjoyment of breakfast was all that was heard.

  Lady Katherine, a dour, short, solidly built woman with black hair who was only slightly younger than the Countess, sat silently, much as she always did.

  Just when Avalaine thought she was off the hook, her mother spoke.

  “Really dear, I thought I taught you better than this.”

  Avalaine swallowed the bread roll she had been chewing, bracing herself for what she knew was coming.

  “Men of rank expect certain things, Avalaine,” the Countess said. “And men of high rank expect even more of those things, and if they don’t get them from you, they have the option of getting them from somewhere or someone else.”

  Avalaine grimaced.

  “But what was I to do? The Prince wanted what I am not supposed to give. Who would have me if he discarded me after?”

  “Pfaahh!” snorted the Countess. “These men can be satisfied with only a little effort on our part. Had you been listening to me all these years, you would have known exactly how to play the situation. Alyssa, dear, I hope you are listening closely!”

  Lady Alyssa’s only response was to roll her eyes and drink deeply from her wineglass. Lady Katherine always knew how to keep her face perfectly blank, and she did so now.

  Avalaine noticed Myria had a knowing smirk on her face, even as she tried to keep her head lowered. This irritated Avalaine.

  “Yes, I suppose you agree with all this?” Avalaine directed at Myria.

  Myria spluttered and shrugged her shoulders, but before she could answer coherently, the Countess spoke again.

  “Lady Myria listens to me, so of course she does!”

  The eyes of the Countess narrowed. She stared at first Myria, then Avalaine.

  “In fact, the two of you are both far too old to be taking your ease around here with nothing to show for yourselves. It is well past time to marry the both of you off and be done with it. Lady Myria, I’m sure your good father would appreciate my suggestions.”

  Both Avalaine and Myria exploded into animated speech then. Myria’s excited, and Avalaine’s alarmed. Lady Alyssa burst into laughter, then drank more wine.

  Countess Margaret pushed back from the table. Her chair almost toppled over, but a quick-thinking serving girl saved it with a sharp lunge.

  The Countess paid no attention to this. She fixed her attention on Avalaine.

  “Unlike your father, I do not care about marrying into the royal family. However, you shall not put us on bad terms with the Maeras.”

  Avalaine opened her mouth to speak, but the Countess held up a hand.

  “Sign whatever letter your father comes up with, and make sure we are not on bad terms with the Prince.

  “Then, assuming the ship has sailed on the prospect of marriage with the Prince, we will begin serious work on a suitable match for you.”

  The Countess spun and began walking out. Lady Katherine was right on her heels, and therefore almost ran into the Countess when she stopped and spun again.

  “And, my dear, Baron Varsus is most certainly not a suitable match. I always liked him, but that matters little in affairs such as these. I gave you the time and opportunity to have your fun with the man, so I hope you did, as a marriage between you two will never happen.”

  For a brief instant, Avalaine’s face was a picture of despair, but Myria saw it was quickly masked.

  But Avalaine’s mother was not finished.

  “My understanding is that he will soon be made an offer of marriage from House Vistal,” she said. “I have good reason to believe this to be true. If so, the Baron would be a fool to refuse this opportunity.”

  The Countess allowed a moment or two of stunned silence, then she and Lady Katherine turned and walked out of the dining hall.

  Avalaine felt cold, suddenly. She felt it wash over her.

  Myria also felt cold, but she felt elation, as well. So Avalaine would not get what she wanted. At least if she had to be married off to some fat, bottom-list back-woods noble, then Avalaine might just join her in that company.

  As soon as the Countess disappeared from view, Lady Alyssa jumped up from the table, startling both Avalaine and Myria.

  Without so much as a word to her sister or Myria, Alyssa raced off through a door on the other side of the hall.

  Avalaine watched her go, but her thoughts were on her mother’s words.

  House Vistal? she thought, disgusted. That would mean Lisbeth Vistal, a lively, dark-haired girl at least five years younger than herself.

  Younger, and definitely beautiful, Avalaine conceded.

  Lisbeth’s father was a Marquess of great renown. He somehow kept his family and province in good standing with the entire kingdom.

  She hated to admit it, but if the Marquess was offering his daughter’s hand to Garrick, then the Baron truly would be a fool to refuse. It would raise the standing of his house immeasurably.

  Avalaine did not understand why Marquess Vistal would do such a thing, but her mother’s information was almost always good.

  She felt nauseous then, and doubled over the table, curling up her fists to fight against the wave of displeasure.

  “Avvy, are you alright?” Myria asked, jumping up and running around the end of the table to reach Avalaine.

  She placed her hand on Avalaine’s shoulder, but was shocked when Avalaine rose sharply, roughly forcing her chair backwards.

  “Myria, I am fine!” Avalaine snapped, waving her arm to keep Myria at bay.

  Myria recoiled, not used to such harsh words from Avalaine. Then the outburst continued.

  “Why don’t you see if you can find my effects and have them delivered to where they are actually supposed to go!?”

  Then Avalaine spun and followed her sister out of the hall. Her footsteps echoed in the nearly empty room.

  Myria stood frozen, anger and embarrassment boiling inside of her. The servants began clearing the table and expertly avoided making eye contact with her.

  After long moments, Myria took a deep breath and gathered herself. Then she strode purposefully out of the hall.

  ***

  Vizron remained in the hall after Myria had gone.

  With their betters no longer in earshot, the servants began talking amongst themselves.

  As they moved, they unconsciously avoided the thing that shared the room with them.

  IT had made discoveries earlier that morning, when it had gone to retrieve the crystal from the female meat.

  First, the female did not have the stone in her possession, yet it had been drawn to her as if she did.

  Somehow, this fool girl had bonded with the crystal. Vizron did not even know what the crystal did or what its true purpose was, so it could not say what that meant.

  It had felt someone touch the stone earlier, and it had assumed that to be the girl it had known from Wademount, yet it was not.

  Vizron could see a tether of some sort. Raw energy coursing around the girl. It must come from the crystal. Incredible that she could not feel it.

  As the nattering women had talked, Vizron had reached out and pulled on the tether.

  The girl had doubled over in discomfort, if not pain.

  Very interesting. It was almost interested enough to allow this to continue, but it wanted the power of that stone for itself. It did not think allowing further binding to this mortal was wise.

  Another discovery was the identity of the mortal it had felt earlier.

  This female Myria was a boiling ocean of resentment and rage. She would be useful, as those low emotions were easily controlled by one of its kind.

  The one called Avalaine had a disposition that did not lend itself to straightforward control, but it could use Myria to convince her to release the stone.

  Killing Avalaine had been its first thought, and a pleasant one, but it did not know what that might do to the stone. It sensed that it was not a way to successfully gain control of the reservoir of power that was contained within.

  For a moment, it doubted. Should it spend time on this crystal that it knew nothing about? Should it not just proceed back to Wademount, continue the enchantment that had been interrupted there?

  It had already wasted time on another whim, and that had not ended well.

  Ergochann demanded results, not wasteful fantasies.

  Then it forced away the doubts. It was no waffling mortal. It was a lich in the service of mighty Ergochann, and nothing must come between it and that service.

  It would move forward with its plan here. It would obtain that crystal, then return to Wademount, then invert the fabric of this foul reality, and then Ergochann would appear.

  Then it would watch as all life on this world was extinguished.

  It smiled. Yes, it was time to move forward.

  That meant it was time for these mortals to start dying.