First Page of Star-Crossed In Time

Chapter 1

Jarrod Hallowfang, the recently crowned King of Trellion, swept his new bride, Diana Starmane of Adoren, around the polished floor to the dulcet sound of the royal musicians. Diana wore a shimmering blue gown and a circlet with a tear drop sapphire dangling between her matching sapphire eyes. Her golden curls were swept up in a net of gold and sapphires. Jarrod wore a dark blue, silk doublet trimmed in gold and black, linen pants. His dark black hair fell in soft waves to his shoulders beneath a golden crown with a wolf inlaid in sapphires in the center. The blue of the doublet enhanced the dark blue of Jarrod’s eyes. The two newly-weds stared dreamily into each other’s eyes, and did not seem to notice the world around them.

They blurred in Marcus Starmane’s vision as warm tears filled his own sapphire eyes. He closed them tight until he was sure the traitorous little droplets of salt water were suppressed. Men did not cry in public, even if the occasion called for it from women. He turned his head away from his sister and her husband, and scanned the room in search of a dance partner of his own. As Diana’s oldest male relative in attendance it would be his duty to join the married couple on the dance floor, thereby signaling to the rest of the guests they were welcome to join. Since Jarrod did not have a sister, there was no one of equal standing Marcus could choose. He would have to choose a woman of lower status, but not too low or he would embarrass himself and his family.

The first woman he laid his eyes on was Evelynn Stormsong. She was the Grand Enchantress of the Trellion Tower of Magi; one of the few high ranking positions of power a mage could hold in Trellion or Adoren. She wore the elegant formal wear of the Grand Enchantress; a blue silk robe and gem encrusted slippers. Her crimson hair hung down her back in a tight braid with a yellow silk ribbon woven through it to indicate her union to a citizen of Bastion. The robe clung to her figure revealing her ample bosom, and the large bulge of her indicating she was almost to term with child. Marcus cringed as he watched the father of her whelp lay a hairy hand over her stomach.