Becoming Lioness: Dual Magics, #3.5

By Meredith Mansfield

Living among a people who distrust magic in any form, Kiara has a secret. She can sense magic in others and she's maddeningly sure that she has the potential for magic, too. She just can't quite reach it. Considering the way her people react to magic, that might be just as well.

When her people are threatened, Kiara must make the choice whether to reveal her hidden talents in order to save them. And to trust the one man who can help her learn to use her magic--the same man who betrayed her trust once before.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Meredith Mansfield
• Release date: Mar 21, 2020
• ISBN: 9781393779438

Book preview

Becoming Lioness

A Dual Magics Story

By Meredith Mansfield

Copyright 2012 Meredith Mansfield

All Rights Reserved.

Cover art:

Background: © Cappan | Dreamstime.com

Lioness: © Marilyn Gould | Dreamstime.com

Author’s Note

This story takes place during the events of the fourth book of the Dual Magics series, WAR OF MAGIC. Some characters that appear in the novels are left out and some parts of the story have been simplified in order to allow Becoming Lioness to stand alone.

Table of Contents

Chapter 1: The Black Lion

Chapter 2: Magic

Chapter 3: Battle

Chapter 4: Making Peace

About the Author

Chapter 1: The Black Lion

I wheeled my horse toward a movement in the tall grass, taking a firmer grip on my spear. From the way the herd dogs growled even as they gathered the nervous cattle, I knew it must be a predator. Too small for a bear. The grass wasn’t that tall. I’d be able to see the bear’s back above the seed heads. Not a lion, either. I’d have felt the presence of my clan totem long before I saw the grass move.

Wolf, maybe. I could deal with a single wolf. No need to call for help. Maybe I’d finally convince Daron that I belonged out here as much as he did.

I shifted my grip on the hardwood shaft and tightened my knees to steady my horse. When the lion stepped out into the open I had to resist the urge to blink. Impossible that I hadn’t sensed him.

I was too stunned to be properly afraid. He was the strangest lion I’d ever seen. Instead of being tawny, with a darker mane, he was all black and he appeared gaunt, undersized and underfed. When he took a step toward me, his movement was clumsy, almost as if he didn’t know how his joints were supposed to work.

The lion took another step forward, but still didn’t charge. My heart leapt to my throat at that intense stare. I’d been prepared for a wolf, not this. Sensing my fear, my horse shied and I fought for control, backing him slowly away from the lion.

Daron! I called, trying not to sound afraid.

This wasn’t the time to let my pride or Daron’s prejudice against me get in the way. I was Lion Clan; I couldn’t kill a lion except to defend my own life. Even then, there’d be a month’s worth of cleansing rituals to go through. Being Horse Clan, Daron had no such restrictions.

Daron turned his horse at my call and charged down on the lion with his heavy lance. The beast turned and fled back into the tall grass.

I watched him go, trying to sort out what was so wrong about him. Besides his strange appearance, he hadn’t behaved like any lion I’d ever seen. Worst of all was the fact that I hadn’t been able to sense him. Reflexively, I reached out, testing my bond to the Spirit of the Lion. I sensed lions under the trees at the waterhole a mile off, but not a hint of the black lion that must still be much closer than that.

How did you let that happen, Kiara? Daron asked when he turned back to me, contempt in