Paint the Night: Unweaving Chronicles

By Sarah K. L. Wilson

Amandera might be powerful in magic and intellect, but that won't be enough to keep her safe from her strange traveling companion.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Sarah K. L. Wilson
• Release date: Jul 6, 2018
• ISBN: 9781393458012

Book preview

Paint the Night

Unweaving Chronicles

Sarah K. L. Wilson

Published by Sarah K. L. Wilson, 2018.

This is a work of fiction. Similarities to real people, places, or events are entirely coincidental.

PAINT THE NIGHT

First edition. July 6, 2018.

Copyright © 2018 Sarah K. L. Wilson.

Written by Sarah K. L. Wilson.

Table of Contents

Title Page

Copyright Page

Paint the Night

Paint the Night

Y ou marry him the day after you arrive, but the journey takes two weeks. You know all this, why are you asking me again?

My grandmother sounded irritated, but her eyes were misty as she pretended to rearrange how my sarette fit. I glanced around the palm oasis, the last village on the edge of our tiny jewel of a kingdom.

They’ll be safe here, grandmother. Safe to live at peace for another generation. It was why I was marrying, after all, to keep my kingdom from being gobbled up by the Empire of Canderabai. To keep my family safe. Although, it wasn’t like they’d given me a choice.

Stop looking so upset. Girls marry older men all the time. They marry into other nations. They move far away. What did you think would happen here?

I hadn’t thought it would happen so quickly. The Lesser Tazmin Farida came during the Feast of Lights and when he met me he smiled, and two weeks after he left, a messenger came with a demand. My mother packed up all the finery we had and after a lengthy explanation of everything I needed to do to prepare, she sent me off to Vastette on the edge of the Empire. Now, here I was, waiting for the elephants of Canderabai to come and bear me away.

They didn’t even spare me a retinue. Not a guard. Not a maid. If you weren’t dead you wouldn’t be here, I said, toying with the glowing red stone that hung on my forehead. If it wasn’t for my connection to the Common and my ability to enter the meditation world, I wouldn’t be talking to my ancestor. I would be standing alone in an oasis with only my elephant and my baggage to keep me company. Imagine, the freedom of being able to think in total peace.

Stop whining. Hold your chin high. You’ll be a High Tazminera of Canderabai in two weeks and the one thing you must never compromise is your dignity. Remember, you are more than where you came from and more than the circumstances you were forced into. I have big expectations for you, Amandera.

That’s what she always said – big expectations –