Rise of the Witch

By Jason Kondrath

Karolina was beautiful. Named after the State she was born.


A rich heiress with fiery red hair whose heart could not be tamed.


Her father wanted her to settle down and marry, or he would cut her out of his will.


But she wanted to go to the university to be trained as a nurse instead.


That was her passion.


But he refused her until the war of 1812, which escalated just off the coast of their private estate on Lake Erie.


So he sent her to the university to shield her from the war.


But instead of protecting her, her profession landed her right in the middle of the battlefield instead.


There she fell in love with a patient she was tending to, an officer named Alex Steele. He was wounded and left for dead, but she nursed him back to health.


After he recovered, he seemed even more determined to get himself killed by fighting in the next battle with the remainder of the army under his command.


Karolina was determined to give him a reason to live instead of die.


So she propositioned him.


Would Karolina save the man she loves, and could she convince him to marry her, if only long enough to save her inheritance, or would the Battle of 1812 see Karolina in ruins?


-Rath

• Language: English
• Publisher: BookRix
• Release date: Apr 3, 2023
• ISBN: 9783755437802

Book preview

Karolina Inn Ruins

Karolina pronounced her nickname, Karo, with an a. instead of with an o, so she pronounced it Kara because she hated her name that much. So, she made sure to enunciate it as different from its true spelling.

The rest of her siblings were all born in Michigan, but Karolina was born in Columbia; her father insisted that his wife accompany him on all his business trips, even when she was very pregnant, and her mother went into labor while they were in South Carolina.    

Now her father was quite wealthy, in contrast to his last name, pronounced Runes (ruins). So, when she was older, Karolina asked him if she could study at the university.

But her father, Ryan thought she was too headstrong and needed to live properly, that is, settle down, marry, raise a family, and live vicariously through her children as all women in high society were taught.

Ryan knew he would not live forever, so he would not always be there for her, and vetting her choice of a husband would be his way of protecting his eldest child from the evils of the world. Despite his money, he thought Karolina stood a better chance with a husband. The problem was there were no choices. And she had brought him nothing to the vet.

Karolina misunderstood her father. She thought that her father was punishing her because she had been born in the wrong order. She should have been born last and not first, as a girl decided upon was always sought last and only after many sons.

And being first, Kara had been trying to prove herself as worthy as her other siblings (who were all males) ever since.

Stop treating me as if I was inferior to your other children, she screamed at her father during their last argument."

I see you have your mother's temper, he commented, pouring himself a drink.

And she accuses me of having yours.

And we're both right, he said, instantly tossing down a snifter of brandy.

She ran out crying, but Karolina could never stay mad at her father for long.

Kara was not trying to be difficult; just trying to prove herself. And she desperately wanted to go to school and have the same opportunities as the boys. And being the eldest, she thought her father should honor her request -despite her sex.

But he did not.

Ryan Prescott Runes said that she was embarrassing the family with her behavior. Women were not allowed to practice business or medicine, so she chose to be a nurse. Elizabeth Blackwell (3 February 1821 – 31 May 1910) was a British physician, notable as the first woman to receive a medical degree in the United States and the first woman on the Medical Register of the General Medical Council.

Karolina could only be a nurse, but still, she begged and cried for the opportunity. Then the War of 1812 broke out. And the latest battle was just off the coast of Lake Erie and not very far from their picturesque estate.

Her mother convinced her father to let her go so that she would be further away from the war, and only because of safety he yielded. Karolina leaving for school seemed the right thing to do at the time.

And because none of the suitors from her province were acceptable, perhaps Karolina would meet someone there at the university instead. Instead of being a doctor, she would marry one and return with a husband just like they wanted.

When that didn't happen, the war raged on two fronts!!!

She had gone to the University where there was nothing but a majority of men. And still, she came home empty-handed. That very night at the dinner table,