In his search, Mikeli learns the heart that belongs to him is wrongly taken and he loses all claims to the heavenly realm for his failure to reunite their celestial souls. Into his world comes another heart, his own daughter, who lives under his protection until the seraph who holds claim to her comes forward.
Marija loves her father, but her mother’s spiteful words haunt her as time promises her no escape from her inevitable part in the games of men.
His soul tugged at by death, Cael nears the end of his hunt until a black stallion races through the snow and delivers his heart into his grasp. His search is ended, but her ways are set and his chances are slim.
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A Heart's Chance
Copyright © 2008 by Paula Calloway
ISBN: 978-1-55487-001-1
Cover art by Angela Waters
All rights reserved. Except for use in any review, the reproduction or utilization of this work in whole or in part in any form by any electronic, mechanical or other means, now known or hereafter invented, is forbidden without the written permission of the publisher.
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Smashwords Edition
A Heart’s Chance
Tarot: Two of Swords
By
Paula Calloway
Dedication
To my husband and daughter, with love.
Tarot Card: Two of Swords
Peace may become detrimental in a delicate balance when conflicts between equally matched forces create a stalemate without a clear advantage. Whether good versus evil, wrong against right or voicing as opposed to silence, a move to choose speaking versus biting your tongue, acting as opposed to holding ground or the decision of knowing instead of doing, failure to resolve leads to confusion and stagnation.
Swords can open doors or create barriers internally and outwardly. Blocked emotions or feelings kept under control provide a false sense of security while avoiding the truth provides the pretense all’s well. Our mind and heart play tug of war as we divide off bits of ourselves and maintain such when reconciliation is wise.
To stifle a natural response or keep another at arm’s length hides distress for the moment, but the inner war wages. To turn a deaf ear or become defensive is natural as maintaining your cool in the moment is a strength, which conceals conflict. The unwillingness to accept some truth about one’s self or a situation is merely denial. Do you resist for fear of being hurt? Does fury lurk behind your smile? What facts remain covered by your hands? How many warning signs did you turn a blind eye to? How long will you choose not to know?
A closed heart serves as a barrier erected to protect from perceived danger. At times, swords are not oppositional forces, but stand allied against that which might pry to reveal what they guard. Cut off emotionally, we sever the connection that allows our love an outward flow. When this action is necessary, it comes at a great price for a closed heart becomes more difficult to open each time. A broken barrier is painful, but if it remains, it strengthens as tension builds until it breaks.
In relationships where barriers are between partners, such forces a stalemate. This leads to a vicious cycle of secrets and defensive posturing followed by hurtful retaliation. The fear to act is natural, but the impasse forces all to remain bogged in the mire. Those unwilling to rock the boat since they prefer their seat on the fence where emotion’s fiery grasp can’t reach, watch until the relationship collapses or tension is relieved without further defensiveness. Barriers won’t shatter, but must be taken down piece by piece and is uncomfortable.
In situations where answers exist and the truth seen, but one or both involved choose to avoid or recognize the truth, it may be painful to remove blinders. Even the softest light might blind those who dwelled too long in darkness. Opened eyes, ears, minds and hearts are the only healing salve to these nasty wounds. Openness leads to peace and completion.
Prologue
Over a millennium ago, an ancient race of beings sought to learn from another race they deeply cherished and divided their forces to do so without discovery. But time isn’t kind to explorers and many fell by the wayside, lost their way or became trapped and failed to return. Those who await their loved ones must now hunt for the absent heart of their existence or sacrifice their own lives.
Chapter One
Dawn crept into the sky as the moon turned her face from the bloody throes wrought by a campaign of justice. Sunbeams glinted off non-bloodied areas of numerous melee weapons, shields and armor as the various metals lay scattered across the violent battlefield. Some combatants gulped their last breaths while the blood of others ceased to flow before night retreated. A severely wounded foe lifted his head and reached out, his gurgled cry a mere utterance, his attempted attack in vain.
Heavily armored, his visor down, Mikeli inhaled the lingered tang of blood. “The scent of death is sweet victory.” The scrape of metal on his black greave garnered his attention. He tilted his head and pointed his sword at the struggling man’s throat. “Those unable to rise, die.” His blade shoved into the dying man’s neck, he strode past and freed his sword in the process. “Pass the order and find me the weakling Jazep.”
“Yes, sire.”
As he strode into the castle yard and looked up, his gaze zeroed in on a young lady adorned in noble garb. His goal the heavily land-laden woman fixed in his view, he smirked. The scent of her fear tinged the air. Although the woman didn’t match the physical description, he innately knew her for her behavior. “Seize everything. It now belongs to me.” Her sprint down the upper walkway earned his lecherous chuckle. “Especially that prize.”