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The Black Lotus
by Claire Warner
....though I would dearly love to play court to you, I would hurt you more than any other.
It is 1752. The year that will change the life of heiress Melissa De Vire. As she makes her first fumbling steps into society, she meets the handsome young cad Justin Lestrade and his world tears her perceptions apart. For Justin is more than he appears and his secrets and enemies are manifold. Drawn irresistibly to him, she finds herself sinking into a realm of feuds, magic and old curses and her life will never again be the same.
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★ Age Group/Genre: Young Adult, Historical Romance
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Melissa
looked away and back out of the window, the view through the small portal was
smeared and hazy. In the increasingly heavy rain, they rattled through the
villages that lay closest to the manor. As the carriage rumbled along the
familiar roads, she marked each well known sight with increasing depression.
The village inn, the church, the green, all went by with a dreary familiarity.
With a jolt, they took a left at the mile marker and headed along the roads
that led towards the manor. As the carriage jolted and jerked along the muddy
thoroughfare, Melissa stared at the damp landscape.
“Marcus?” At her call, he looked up from his light
doze. “Look at that,” Grumbling lightly under his breath, Marcus stretched
across his sister and stared out at the landscape.
“What
am I looking at?” He enquired, his sleepy brain finding it difficult to sort
out landscape from rain spatter.
“Someone’s
put a gate up at the ruin next to us.” She pointed at the newly acquired gate,
as they slowly moved past it. Marcus sighed and settled back against his chair.
“Don’t
you pay any attention to local gossip?” He exclaimed as the gate passed out of
sight. “That place has been sold for about six months.”
“I
don’t pay attention to gossip,” Melissa retorted, as she craned her neck and
tried to see into the overgrown estate.
“Clearly,
if it wasn’t for Mother, you wouldn’t know who the king was.” He winced as
Melissa thumped him. “Well that’s dashed unladylike, you’re not supposed to go
around thumping me anymore.”
“We’re
not in the middle of some party now.” A mischievous gleam chased away the
melancholy look in her eyes that had haunted her all morning. I can slap you whenever you deserve it.” She
grinned at her brother, who rolled his eyes. “Who would buy that place?”
“Justin
Lestrade apparently,” Marcus replied, not missing the interest spark in his
sister’s eyes as he spoke the words. “No one knows why, but he brought the
place and is refurbishing it. It’s taking an age though, as the debris in the
place goes back several decades.”
“I can
imagine,” She murmured remembering the sight of that crumbling relic of a
bygone age. As children they had run through the woods between the estates and
run through the overgrown gardens. The house had loomed over the surrounding
grounds, its walls ruined and overgrown. Only part of the building seemed
standing, the rest was a brooding wreck, its stones scorched by a fire in its
distant past.
“Surely
he has his family estate?”
“By
all accounts that is his family estate,” Marcus replied, leaning forward to
stare at the weed choked land. “Apparently after the fire, his family went to
the Americas
“It must be costing a fortune to rebuild that
ruin.” Melissa mused as they trundled closer to the gates of their estate.“I
daresay,” Marcus replied, losing interest in the conversation as they drew
closer to home. “Still if he wants to waste his money then who are we to
argue.”
The
carriage turned towards the gatehouse and trundled along the drive towards
their home. The house had only been built in the last forty years. Its façade
was in pale cream stone and large windows overlooked formal gardens. The
carriage rolled to a stop before the main doors and their mother woke. As the
footman placed the steps before the door, Melissa caught hold of her brother.
“What
is it Melly?” He asked, pushing the carriage door open as he spoke.
“Sorry,”
She muttered as the footmen reached forward a hand and helped her from the
coach.
“For
what?” Marcus stepped down after her and began walking to the main doors,
shoulders hunched against the rain.
“For
this morning, I shouldn’t have snapped as I did, you were only trying to..”
Marcus
held up his hand and stopped her. “Don’t fret about it,” He caught hold of her
arm and escorted her to the door. “I know you hate being helpless,”
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When I was a child, I made up games and characters when my sister and I played with dolls. As I grew older, I would make up scenarios and scenes, fully intending to write them down but never finding the time. In my late teens, I discovered the world of role playing and settled into an avid ‘geeky’ life of D&D, comics, sci-fi and fantasy fiction. Years passed and I finally gave voice to the stories in my head. I write romance, fantasy, action and adventure. I love tales of steampunk and history, tales of magical powers and dark curses lurking in the shadows. Though The Black Lotus is not my first attempt at a novel, it is the first I have finished.
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