Sandra Hults
Author
Running the shadows
Current Listening: The Chain – Fleetwood Mac
Current Reading: The Well of Ascension – Brandon Sanderson
Some days…it just feels good to take a breath. This day, dear readers, has been one for the books. If I did not believe in Murphy’s Law before today, I would after. Anything that could possible fuck up did. But, I made it to my favorite coffee shop, I checked into their wifi, into some Fleetwood Mac and I’m about to hang out with my favorite Sorceress.
A few updates before we go down that rabbit hole. I am a few chapters into the revisions for Guardian’s Redemption. With the craziness that is life in January, I am not as far as I would like to be but I will get there. I am too stubborn not to. This story’s flow is full of a lot of “what the fuck was I thinking” or just straight up “wut?” moments. Those of you that have been through this process with me, well, you know exactly what I mean. I am not tearing my hair out just yet. It will get done. I am shooting for a October release/November signing. Those dates will be coming.
So this week’s prompts for Ink and Quill; this week I decided to go for the guided prompt. The prompt is this:
Dream-catcher: Write something inspired by a recent dream you had.
So, naturally I am going to take my own twist on this because that is what I do. I mentioned my favorite Sorceress above and she and I have been having a few chats as of late. If you have read Shadow’s Journey, you will know what she’s dreaming about and why. If you have not, please keep reading to appease your curiosity.
Reborn in the Light’s Grace. The thought snapped Alexandra Jade awake with a gasp. In her dreams, she saw Devin. Her eyes shadowed with the force of memory. “Why now?” She whispered and hugged her knees to her chest. Sunset had long since fled. She passed most nights with her sleep disturbed by this exact dream. Poison, death and a fight to find the reason among Fate’s grace. Her past collided with the future in a way she grasped to understand.
The streets of Mornesse, the lists beyond held her destiny. That, she understood. Once, years ago, she ignored Fate’s direction. That ignorance cost a good man his life. If she could sacrifice to prevent others from that brutal fate she would. The dress, that day burned in her memory like the fire she stroked to life with her thoughts. Troubled emotions brewed behind her sea-shaded eyes. The fire shaped again and again to a crossbow bolt no larger than her finger yet that bolt would do damage to the realm; to the fragile family they built. Her eyes flickered emerald as she fed that panic and pain into the hearth before her.
“What troubles you beloved?” The quiet words caused a scream to catch in her throat. Though Nicholas slept beside her most nights, Alexandra was so comfortable in his presence both within her mind and beside her body, that she often forgot he was beside her when she woke with such a start. “You’ve had nightmares the last five nights in seven. I have watched you meld the flames until you are calm enough to go back to sleep. What is Fate trying to tell you? Or am I not to know?”
For a few minutes, she took in his honest, earnest face. She could not leave him out of this. Alexandra decided he could not suffer through what lay ahead without her. He may be the key to the entire puzzle, she suspected. Her own white, blood-stained wedding dress flickered through the back of her mind. “I need your help and I do not think I could make you suffer as you once did.” At his expectant expression, she smiled. He would settle for no less than the entire truth once she chose to involve him in her scheme. “Does the phrase ‘reborn in the Light’s grace’ mean anything to you?”
Nicholas pushed himself up onto his elbows and blinked the sleep from his sapphire eyes. “The phrase was often used in my time to describe someone who suffered through Fate’s trials and came out the other side with a better understanding. What do you believe it means to you, little one?” He sat up and snaked an arm around her to pull her close.
“I think for me, it may mean I have to hurt my loved ones to understand the road ahead.” She whispered as her head found the warm hollow of his shoulder. “And I hope, in the end, that they can forgive me.”
Sandra Hults 