Written in the Stars by Patricia Rosemoor, Sherrill Bodine Page B

heal you with my magic,” she sobbed, pressing the
     crescent moon against the stab wound in his back.
    Her breath caught in horror.
    It is not healing.
    In roiling, scalding desperation, she pressed another crescent against the wound and
     another and another, held each tighter, held each longer, yet still Will’s blood bubbled
     around her hands and into the earth.
    Her moans of anguish were carried by the wind, rustling the leaves above her.
    “It is too deep, too deep,” she sobbed, cradling him in her arms, rocking him as her
     tears wet his face and hair.
    “Elizabeth, my love. Must…overcome…Carlyle’s magic,” he gasped, his breathing more
     labored, the flame flickering in his eyes.
    Through her dark agony arose a great swell of strength, and a shuddering understanding
     of her power washed over her.
    “We shall overcome Carlyle.” She kissed Will’s cold lips, trying to warm them. “Love,
     do not fear this darkness, for it is but a moment. This is not the end for us, my
     love. I know I carry your child and I promise Stephen will be granted his birthright.
     For us, heaven can wait. If it takes a thousand lifetimes, we will be together again.”
    “I believe you…Elizabeth…” His eyes drifted shut and she pressed her lips to his to
     feel and taste his last breath.
    She flung back her head, crying out her rage. Dark clouds rolled across the sun above
     her. Jagged shafts of light cut the blackness and the heavens roared.
    Beneath her, the earth trembled before she heard the horses galloping toward them.
    Cradling Will in her arms, she looked up into his grandfather’s face.
    Aging before her eyes, Charles Grey knelt beside her, Will’s soldiers at his back.
    Sick to her soul, yet full of primal knowledge of what she must do to secure the future
     for all of them, she lied. “It was the thieves who roam these woods who did this deed.”
    Raindrops mingled with his tears as Will’s grandfather nodded. “Come, child, we must
     take Will home to Dunham Castle.”
    Tom, frank tears and anguish stark upon his face, lifted Will into his arms, carrying
     him to his horse.
    “No!” Elizabeth screamed, not wanting to relinquish her love.
    Charles Grey, his eyes steady and full of knowledge met hers. “Will is gone, Elizabeth.”
     His arms surprisingly strong, he held her back. “You must let his bodily remains be
     put to rest.”
    Trembling, her world a storm of vengeance and disbelief, she fell to her knees, weeping.
    “Elizabeth, remember what Will would wish you to do.”
    The challenge in his grandfather’s voice snapped her back to the moment. To what she
     knew she must do to keep her promises.
    With Charles Grey’s help, she rose to her feet, and leaning upon him, climbed onto
     her saddle for the long, agonizing ride home to Dunham Castle.
    The heavens opened and a storm of raindrops mingled with her tears and those of Will’s
     men.
    Charles Grey had sent a scout ahead with the tragic news. As they slowly entered the
     strong, high walls of the castle, the bells tolled, and in the courtyard, the duke
     and Laurel waited.
    Elizabeth, wild with grief, searched for Carlyle, her fingers eager on her dagger,
     ready to pierce his heart.
    His face still and blank, he stood beside the duke. Yet she saw that he gave away
     his fear by rubbing the hilt of his blade with his long fingers.
    I cannot destroy him for the sake of my unborn child I sense within me, for my power
     has told it is true. I must protect Stephen and keep my promises to Will.
    Weeping, the duke gently took Will’s body into his arms and sank to the cobblestones.
     “My son. My son,” he cried his anguish to the heavens.
    Laurel threw herself down beside him, her fine hair a veil over Will’s still face,
     before she collapsed in despair.
    From Elizabeth’s agony arose a strength she could not have believed possible. Her
     world lay shattered around her yet she found the courage to rise, to command. I will
     not