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    King of Swords (and other prequel stories to Tarot Queen)
    King of Swords (and other prequel stories to Tarot Queen)
    King of Swords (and other prequel stories to Tarot Queen)
    Ebook87 pages1 hour

    King of Swords (and other prequel stories to Tarot Queen)

    By Stephanie Barr

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    About this ebook

    Tarot Queens are imbued with great power, but there is always a price. In restrictions. In limitations. And implications for what is predicted can be far more powerful than even the Queen can envision.

    Follow Melan as she navigates the dangerous shoals of her own power, finds her own vengeance, and struggles for the benefit of those that beg her for readings, but her child, and even the child of the only man she ever loved.

    Find also a story to introduce Dante da Silva and his methods for success.

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherStephanie Barr
    Release dateJun 12, 2018
    ISBN9780463656426
    King of Swords (and other prequel stories to Tarot Queen)
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    Author

    Stephanie Barr

    Although Stephanie Barr is a slave to three children and a slew of cats, she actually leads a double life as a part time novelist and full time rocket scientist. People everywhere have learned to watch out for fear of becoming part of her stories. Beware! You might be next!

    Read more from Stephanie Barr

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      Book preview

      King of Swords (and other prequel stories to Tarot Queen) - Stephanie Barr

      King of Swords

      and other prequel stories to Tarot Queen

      by Stephanie Barr

      Smashwords Edition

      Copyright 2018 Stephanie Barr

      Discover other titles by Stephanie Barr

      Conjuring Dreams: Learning to Write by Writing

      Tarot Queen

      Beast Within (First of the Bete Novels)

      Nine Lives (Second of the Bete Novels)

      Twice the Man (Third and final Bete Novel)

      Saving Tessa

      Musings of a Nascent Poet

      Curse of the Jenri

      Legacy

      Ideal Insurgent

      The Taming of Dracul Morsus

      Pussycats Galore

      Catalyst

      The Library at Castle Herriot

      Dedicated to Stephanie, Roxy and Alex, always.

      To Chuck, Mirren and many other beta readers, proof that good beta readers are worth their weight in gold but I'm too scatterbrained to keep track of who read each story.

      Tarot Queen: Melan stories edited by Fiona Skye.

      All stories were first published in Legacy.

      Cover Art by Stephanie Barr

      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.

      Table of Contents

      King of Swords (Tarot Queen: Melan, Part 1)

      King of Wands (Tarot Queen: Melan, Part 2)

      The Hanged Man (Tarot Queen: Melan, Part 3)

      Wheel of Fortune (Tarot Queen: Melan, Part 4)

      Where Credit Is Due

      About the Author

      Preview of Tarot Queen

      King of Swords

      Melan knelt in the dust, a voluminous robe of amethyst silk spread around her. Before her was a low platform covered in soft purple cloth. It was there she plied her trade, but there were no customers now. Today, the cards she turned over were for herself.

      She had turned over her card of future influences, Swords X, when she felt rather than heard the someone coming. She closed her eyes and could just distinguish the sharp sound of booted footsteps above the noisy hum of the marketplace. Without turning another card, she opened her eyes and saw him, knew him amongst twice a hundred people. He was half a head taller than the natives around him and as different in appearance as she was herself. He was someone she had foreseen. He was someone she knew would affect her life, even if she didn't yet know how.

      With practiced skill she swept the cards back into the deck without looking at them. She whispered a question to her cards and pulled one from the deck. She blinked at the card: The Lovers. That wasn't quite what she'd expected, but the cards had never lied to her. There was always a reason for what they foretold.

      She returned the card to the deck, shuffled, and spread the cards, face down, on the table before her in a sinuous arc. Then, she studied the man who cut an easy path through the milling commoners. She knew who he was, aside from her destiny. The Black Count was a famed native of lands as far off as Melan's own, and his appearance was stunning in a land abounding with fair beauty. He wore black and silver from head to toe—even a black fur-lined cape, despite the stifling heat. His hair was crisp and black, and flowed freely down his back. His skin was darker and deeper than the pale skin most common to this part of the world. His eyes were said to be a dark violet-blue that glared fearlessly from beneath thick black brows. She could not see, from where she knelt, the color of his eyes or the famous birthmark below his jaw, but from his extraordinary height, his flowing black hair, and his unmistakable air of assurance, he was the Black Count. He was a Presence.

      Shod feet were a rarity in this mountain village and his boots were decorated with silver. His was the walk of a man who had appeared from nowhere, taken charge of a failing king's armies and given them victory when all was thought lost. His was the walk of a man who has been promised everything, through merit, and who means to collect. His was the walk of a man who had proved himself to all around him on whim; he had always known his own worth. There could not be two such men in all the world. He was the Black Count.

      The booted feet stopped before her platform.

      She could tell he wasn't sure whether he stopped because of her unusual appearance or because she stared at him fearlessly, without a hint of obeisance. She knew she was strange to any eye on this continent. There was a filled circle of silver embedded in her forehead. Her face was round, her lips very full, her nose quite wide and her eyes glittering black. Her coarse and wiry hair was black as well, and pulled back from her face. He glanced at her body and frowned. Clearly, he could not see her body in all that flowing silk, but he wanted to. He reached out and touched her hand. Is it real? he asked.

      Her eyes flickered to her skin, almost blue-black in color. She smiled, knowing her teeth were glaringly white in her black face. It is my own skin.

      And you are like this, everywhere?

      She could have laughed out loud at his question, could sense how her skin aroused him, how the very thought of her difference excited him. He took pains to show nothing in his face, but his eyes... His eyes were so expressive, it was as though he were a deck of cards to her.

      She could not forbear a smile. All of my skin is like this.

      He was forced to control his breathing. He stared at her for a moment. Then, sat in the dust before her platform, with the ease of one who had done so many times before. What are these cards? Do you play a game of chance?

      Tarot, my lord. Not a game but a tool, an avenue to find one's future.

      He snorted derisively. She smiled again and added, Choose a card and it will tell me of your past.

      He stared at her. A pulse began to throb in his throat. Without looking, he pulled a card from the deck. For only an instant, his eyes broke with hers to glance at the card before they

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