Free Dragonswan.doc by Unknown Page B

"Not yet!" He kicked Velkan's sword out of reach before
    he shoved the arrow at the small of Velkan's back deeper into his body. Velkan growled,
    trying to move, but there was nothing he could do.
    Instead, he looked to where she lay inside. " Esperetta ," he breathed in a tone that was filled
    with tragedy and loss.
    Her father seized Velkan by the hair and pulled him back. "She's the least of your concerns,
    you bastard."
    Velkan tried to fight, but he was too wounded to have much effect on the knights who were
    better armed.
    Unable to bear it, Retta turned away. "Take me out of here, Raluca . Now."
    She did, but still she didn't take Retta back to the manor. Instead, Raluca took her to where
    her father was torturing her husband. Retta's breath caught in her throat as she saw him
    bleeding and bruised as they laid hot pokers over his skin.
    "Stop!" she screamed, closing her eyes and covering her ears. "Take me home. Now!"
    To her instant relief, Raluca obeyed her.
    Retta glared at her in anger. "What was the point of that?"
    "Understanding."
    "I got it, okay? I was willing to—"
    "No, not for you. I know you were ready to start over. But now you know why Prince Velkan
    isn't. You couldn't even look at what your father did to him and you didn't even see the worst
    of it." Raluca's eyes blazed in anger as she glared at her. "What do you think he'd have
    given if he could have simply closed his eyes and told me to take him home?"
    Retta swallowed against the knot in her throat. Raluca was right. He'd endured hell for her.
    "I can't undo what I did and he won't forgive me. If you have some magic trick in your bag that
     
    will give us common ground, then by all means pull it out. But at this point, I'm not the one
    being stubborn here. And I'm not the one who has to forgive. I've apologized. There's nothing
    more I can do."
    Raluca let go her hand before she gave a curt nod. "You are absolutely correct, Princess.
    Forgive me."
    And before she could even blink, Raluca vanished from the room.
    Velkan tensed as he felt a presence behind him. He turned quickly in bed to find Raluca
    staring at him with a gimlet look that was unsettling.
    "Is something wrong?"
    "Yes." She reached out and touched his arm.
    Velkan sucked his breath in sharply between his teeth as his vision dimmed. Suddenly he
    wasn't in his room. He was in complete darkness with an awful weight pushing down on his
    chest. It was hot and stifling. Oppressive. Something smelled like rotten earth. Damp and
    cold. It choked him. He couldn't breathe as a putrid terror coursed through his body.
    Desperate, he pushed against the darkness.
    It wouldn't budge.
    More desperate than before, he shoved even harder. Only this time, it caused something to
    rush in on him. He coughed and choked as his entire face was covered with heavy black
    dirt. The weight of it was excruciating. The thick, grainy taste filled his mouth and nostrils as
    he kept pushing and digging, trying to free himself of it.
    He'd never felt anything like this. Every movement only made it worse. Every second ticked
    by with an excruciating slowness as he fought against his prison. Eternity seemed to have
    passed before he finally broke free of it. Wheezing and vomiting earth, he found himself
    climbing out of a grave that bore a single name and date.
    ESPERETTA D. 1476
    Confused, he looked down at his hands, only they weren't his. They were feminine and they
    were torn and ravaged from the digging. They were Esperetta's .
    Still coughing, he tried to move free of the grave, but the weight of his dress pulled him back
    toward the coffin. Afraid of falling, he kicked his feet, tearing the hem, and used his
    trembling arms to get his weight out of the grave.
    And as he lay on the ground, trying to remove the taste of dirt from his mouth, his thoughts
    whirled.
    What had happened?
    We'll be together, Esperetta . Trust me. When you awaken, I'll be there by your side. We shall
    go to Paris, just the two of us,