Cierin's Apology

By Jane Ryane

Long before Cierin was a 21st century scholar, he was a Civil War doctor, doing his best to save lives on the battlefield. During this difficult time in American history, Cierin first meets Savannah and discovers she's his soul mate, the one woman he's destined to be with. Read Cierin's Apology and uncover why the second oldest Grant man has a hard time trusting fate.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Jane Ryane
• Release date: Jun 19, 2023
• ISBN: 9798215034934

Jane Ryane

We are a sister team who work together to create romance novels we would like to read ourselves. Our favorite topic is paranormal romance, so if that's your thing, give us a look!

Book preview

Cierin’s Apology

Smashwords Edition

Copyright 2013 Jane Ryane

Smashwords Edition, License Notes

This ebook is licensed for your personal enjoyment only. This ebook may not be re-sold or given away to other people. If you would like to share this book with another person, please purchase an additional copy for each recipient. If you’re reading this book and did not purchase it, or it was not purchased for your use only, then please return to Smashwords.com and purchase your own copy. Thank you for respecting the hard work of this author.

* * * * *

Chapter One-

July 1861

British Colony of West Virginia

Cierin Grant- originally of Scotland, formerly of England, currently of the United States of America- stood in the door of his medical tent, staring in severe dismay at the carnage in the distance. So many slain, he thought. So much senseless death. And all because some thought it was perfectly within their rights to enslave an entire race simply because they’re skin was a different color.

Cierin rolled his deep brown eyes and turned back to his mostly empty ‘hospital’. He and his two female nurses had cleared out any soldiers that needed more care than they could give in their little field office this morning, as well as removed the dead- More dead than he wanted to recall, but this was war.

It wasn’t Cierin’s first war, nor would it likely be his last. He had a tendency to move where he was needed most, for in five-hundred-and-forty-some-odd years of life, he’d acquired a vast array of knowledge, both medical and other. He’d attended medical school in Europe multiple times, where things were much more common than here in the States. About once every fifty years, he’d guess, to keep up with the latest advances.

He hadn’t aged a day after twenty-three years old, approximately, so he could safely attend any school he wanted. Any recognition among staff, which was unlikely, could be attributed to genetics, if necessary. In fact, he’d attended the University of Salerno, the oldest official medical school in the world, four times. He’d graduated top of his class almost every time he’d graduated, even back before they’d kept track of such a thing. He was quite possibly the best trained physician in the world.

He focused once more on his nurses, currently cleaning the small room as best they could, considering the clean water shortage. But Cierin insisted on keeping as sanitary a hospital as possible, and one of his nurses was always boiling water, though Cierin himself fetched it from the nearby river. Being an immortal shapeshifter came with enhanced strength, speed, hearing, vision, and healing, and he couldn’t very well ask two women to do in ten trips what he could do in one or two.

With a sigh, he moved to the bed farthest from the door and began stripping the sheets from it. He’d like to burn them every time they were changed, just so he didn’t have to keep seeing the same blood stains, but that would be foolish. Out in the battlefield, there was little chance of getting new ones.

Let me do that, Dr. Grant. A pair of female hands started brushing his away from the filthy sheet.

He looked down- At 6’4, he looked down upon nearly everyone- saw it was Jennifer. He smiled faintly at his youngest nurse. I can do it. I’m capable of more than just dirtying them, you know."

The smile on her pretty face and in her summer-blue eyes was sweet and a little shy. She’d been quietly fostering a crush on him for weeks now, he knew.

I know. But you do so much to help these men. We can do our part. She nodded to the other nurse, Matilda, including her so as not to call too much attention to herself.

Cierin’s eyes flitted to the slightly older Matilda, who watched them silently as she slowly dropped surgical instruments into a pot of boiling water. She gave him a quietly understanding smile, for Jennifer’s crush was no secret.

Looking back at Jennifer, Cierin brushed a lock of his reddish-brown hair off his forehead. He’d need to cut it soon or go crazy with it in his eyes all the time. You two do a lot for these men, as well. I may have the knowledge, but it would be useless without someone to listen to it.

You make it easy, Dr. Grant, she said softly, looking down at her petite hands.

On the other side of the room, Cierin saw Matilda roll her eyes slightly and shake her head at the younger nurse. Though they were only about three years apart in age, it was painfully obvious that Jennifer was completely innocent. Matilda, on the other hand- at the ripe old age of twenty-three- had a husband who was fighting for the Confederacy. Despite their difference in opinion about the war, she was a good nurse and Cierin felt grateful to have her.

Thank you, Jennifer, he said, careful to keep his voice empty of any emotion but the barest of gratitude. While she was attractive with her long blonde hair and pretty blue eyes, he had no interest in deflowering the girl in the middle of a war battlefield.

Suddenly, from outside, there was a loud volley of gunfire, nearby but not really a threat to their well-being. Cierin ran to the door of his tent, watching for the field medics who would bring him any wounded they thought could be saved. It was a horrible position to be in, he thought as he scouted for the younger men, to be the one who decided who lived and who died. If he could, he’d have saved them all, but the gods were never that kind.

A series of shots blasted near the tent, a couple ripping holes in the fabric. Cierin dropped to the ground, turning to see his nurses do the same. It wasn’t a common occurrence, but it happened. When the gunshots moved off- for the moment, for they were never gone long- Cierin picked himself up and moved once more into the doorway. He wanted to see the medics coming, just in case he could help.

Over his shoulder, he called orders. "Matilda, get