Cost of a Kiss: Tales of Northam, #2

By Elle Clouse

Desperate to make a good impression on her betrothed, Orla sneaked into the crazy wizard’s garden for an orchid.  Mistaking an elf for a fellow trespasser, she befriends the wizard’s apprentice Lonan.  Drawn together as friends, Orla and Lonan discover their worlds aren’t as perfect as they’re led to believe. When their friendship develops into more, what will be the cost of a kiss?
 

Cost of a Kiss was previously published in the Love Through Heartache anthology. This is a fantasy romance novella set in Northam.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Elle Clouse
• Release date: Apr 7, 2018
• ISBN: 9781386870203

Elle Clouse

Elle has been writing fantasy and science fiction romance for years and an avid participant in the NaNoWriMo. Her first novel, Stealing the Wolf Prince, is a 2016 RONE Award Winner for Fantasy & Science Fiction. Elle is happily married to a martial arts instructor. She’s also the mother of two small boys and is constantly talking her husband out of adopting a new pet. She knits and stamps in her spare time as well as feeds a latte addiction.

Book preview

Chapter 1

Orla Casnar stared across the gated garden to the orchids and her stomach fell to her feet.

It has to be one of those flowers?  When she agreed to get her betrothed’s favorite bloom as the perfect gift, she’d assumed it could be purchased at the market.  Not locked behind iron gates at the local heretic’s estate.  It was as if the sun shone a little less on the magician’s hill.

It’s his favorite and it will endear you to him if you present it tonight at the first meeting.

Orla glanced at her sister-in-law-to-be and the young woman returned a calculating smile.  The brat knew what she asked.  Orla glance back at her sister-to-be ladies’ maids but they offered no mercy.  Orla would catch her skirts climbing the wall, or snag her lace on a thorn, or worse.  The tall north tower shone with an unnatural light that flickered and flashed in a rainbow of colors.  The wizard was home.

Orla pushed on the gate, wishing that the lock gave way to grant her entrance.  No such luck.  Her mind raced to find an excuse not to retrieve the flower but she’d given her hasty promise.  And her word, her mother said, was her greatest asset.  No one called a Casnar an oath breaker.

She walked off the path and followed the fence until she found a section with enough vines and footholds so she might make the climb.  The gaggle of women followed, giggles and whispers shared between them.  No doubt at Orla’s expense.  Orla knew her engagement to Timur was advantageous for both parties; Timur got her dowry to settle his debt and she got a title.  It didn’t mean his family would truly accept her as one of their own though.

The vines bit into her hands as she pulled herself up, her feet finding purchase where ever they could.  The foliage was overgrown, giving her hardy branches to step on.  The giggles stopped when she reached the top.  Careful to avoid the top rail spikes, Orla shifted her weight onto the other side and climbed down. Once on the ground again, she wiped a drip of sweat from her temple.  The midday sun offered her no mercy either.

If possible, the orchids looked farther away than when she peered through the front gate.  She stood on the edge of a raised flower bed, the residing plants mere strings of grass.  She stepped down to the stone path.  To her left was a clear way to the front gate and to her right a meandering path farther into a jungle of unknown plants.  The only greenery she could name was the chamomile.

Light from the tower flickered above.  If the wizard remained occupied with his work, she couldn’t get caught, right?  Everyone knew the crazy old man wouldn’t be bothered in the middle of his experiments, and he wouldn’t answer his door or be seen for days.  Sometimes weeks. 

Orla tiptoed down the path, hunching to keep as small and silent as possible.  Purple vines arched over the walkway in places and green blooms littered the flowerbed. She couldn’t tell foliage from flower.  Chirps and cheeps sounded in the distance but