Chapter 1
Navarro was late. Charlotte stood at the top of the northeast tower of her castle, waiting. A gentle breeze tugged at her curls and a full moon hung in the sky like an ornamental pearl. She wrapped her arms around herself, trying to stay warm. Navarro left word to meet him here at this particular moment. The note sounded urgent and she worried he might be in danger.
Unfolding the note she read it again.
To Charlotte, daughter of Lord Cantinbury,
Meet me at the northeast tower on the night of the full moon. It is of the utmost urgency that you arrive at the hour of midnight. A gift I give to you beyond all gifts will be kept near your heart. Let it not be parted from your skin as I wish I were not.
But if they find it, you must pass it on, to another, to be held next to their beating soul. For without a heart, it can no longer live.
And now farewell and God give you good rest. But yet when you have read this, I pray you burn it or keep it secret to yourself.
Your love,
Navarro
She folded the note and placed it in the front of her dress. He’d never been late before. She searched every square inch of the tower. Should she be worried?
The sky clouded and Charlotte felt drops of rain on her head. She looked up and saw the clouds darkening with her mood. He clearly wasn’t coming. She moved towards the door as slow as she could, thinking he would show up in the small moments it took her to get there. As she descended the spiral staircase she heard a voice.
“Charlotte.”
Her heart stirred at the sound.
She turned around and saw him. He looked a mess to say the least with sticks in his curly hair and smudges of mud on his face. She had never seen him in such disarray. Was he hurt? He was always her protector making sure she was safe from siege, wild animals, and old men trying to win her heart. To see him a mess disturbed her. She hurried to his side.
“Wha-,” she began but he took her face in his hands and held it, causing her to lose sense of thought. Her breathing became uneven, her head spun. It was like this every time they met. She wished she had more control over her feelings.
“I have something for you,” he whispered. His brown eyes danced and he broke into a smile. A tiny glimmer caught her eye. It belonged to a chain draped around his neck. The necklace wasn’t as attractive as he was and Charlotte felt disappointed to look at it. It was discolored and decrepit. Curiously, the center of the chain lowered itself to his left, directly over his heart, and held an emblem of some sort with tarnished silver wrapped around it. The necklace didn’t match any of the other gifts Navarro brought her. They were extravagant and rich in gold, silk, and diamonds. She wrinkled her nose.
“Oh, come now! It is a beautiful gift and I bought it especially for you.” His voice melted her. He could give her a box of rocks and she would cherish them. The simplicity of the gift caught her off guard, but it was nonetheless a gift, and she would accept it.
“Of course, my love,” she whispered. “But you already have my heart. You need not give me anymore gifts.”
As she spoke, dark clouds flooded the sky and the wind picked up. Light from the moon peeked from behind the furloughing billows. Just enough light filtered through for her to see a dark figure jump up the stone crenel. Fear gripped her heart and squeezed the warmth out of it, replacing it with the chill of the wind.
Navarro saw it in her eyes or her face, for his expression turned to stone as he watched Charlotte’s reaction.
A sneer swept across the dark figure’s toothless, grimy face. Before she knew it, the man in black raised a knife in his hand and brought it with cunning efficiency down into Navarro’s back.
Charlotte screamed, but the wind carried it away.
Navarro’s face twisted in anguish.
He turned towards the assassin. Blood, dark and tarry, leaked from the hole in his back. He moved his lips but only a gurgling noise could be heard. The gruesome smile continued on the dark figures’ face, and Charlotte staggered backwards.
Navarro’s nostrils flared and he jumped at the dark figure, sending them both toppling on the edge of the tower.
Charlotte screamed and reached for Navarro, her fingers wisped past his hair and silk shirt. She wasn’t quick enough. Patches of his hair came out in her fingers and the necklace broke, sending it tumbling down the jutted rocks along with the two men. She sprang forward, still reaching, gasping for air as she did. She watched as the two men fell to their death at the bottom of the cliff, the waves washing over them.
The rock wall that provided shelter all these years from siege helped steal her love from her. Anguish swept over her body and made her feel as if she could blow away with the wind. Nothing mattered anymore. Her soul no longer existed.
She collapsed to her knees feeling the cold from the stone floor flood through her body. She trembled from crying and the cold. How could the universe take Navarro from her? What had she done so wrong to endure this loss? Anguish turned to anger and she screamed at the top of her lungs. “I will be with him again! I will not let you take him from me!” She shook her fist at the sky. She held her knees and rocked herself back and forth, trying to lull the pain away.
Having no idea how long she cried, she finally pulled herself together and looked over the crenel. Through blurry tears, she saw something sparkling in the moonlight. The clouds dissipated and gave her a better glimpse of the shiny object. It was the necklace. It hadn’t fallen to the bottom as assumed but sat in a pool of salty water nestled in the jutting rocks against the top of the castle’s tower. Charlotte found a stick and pulled the necklace to her. It looked different. It wasn’t so old and tarnished now. The salt water cleaned the necklace. A large pink pearl lay in the center and pure silver surrounded it.
Grasping it in her fingers, she held it tight. An ounce of hope sparked a tiny fire in her unconscious heart.
Remembering the note, she pulled it out of her dress and unfolded it with her shaking fingers. What did no longer live mean? It was just a necklace, not a living thing. And who were ‘they’? She draped the chain around her neck and felt a tiny jolt, like lightening in her heart. She traced the silver that encased the pearl with her finger and swore she could see it glowing.
She looked around the tower, wondering if anyone else had come with the assassin. Would more come later? Why did he kill Navarro? Was it the necklace they were after?
Charlotte moaned and sat back against the stone wall. She closed her eyes, wishing this was all a bad dream.
When she woke, she was being poked in the arm by a stubby finger.
“My lady! Are you up here again! If your father sees you here sneaking off with that Navarro, he will be-head you!” The plump lady kept poking.
Navarro, she thought. Was it all a dream? She looked down at the necklace nestled in her bosom and groaned.
“Jacsenda, stop.” Charlotte demanded and looked at her seamstress with a cautious eye.
“That’s an eye catcher if I ever saw one, My Lady.” Jacsenda pointed to her necklace.
“Yes, yes it is.” Thoughts filled her head.
But if they find it, you must pass it on, to another, to be held next to their beating soul. For without a heart, it can no longer live.
“Would you like it someday?” She saw the look of surprise cross Jascenda’s face. Jacsenda always looked out for her. She felt she could trust her. “I-I mean I could give it to your daughter someday. How old is she now?”
“A year, My Lady, but…” Her pudgy face shook no, making her cheeks jiggle.
“This necklace will be hers, when she’s old enough. All I ask is she wait outside the gates in town, every night from the time she is able to walk. When the time is right, I will be there with the necklace. I do not know when that will be, but rest assured I will be there.” Charlotte saw Jacsenda’s hesitation. “And I will throw in gold coins.” She knew that would get her attention. Jacsenda’s family lived in a home at the edge of her kingdom that was only theirs for as long as she was her seamstress. This was an enormous offer for her family to never see poverty again.
“Yes, My Lady. It is done. But for now, you must get yourself back together or your father will send the guards!” The short stubby woman helped Charlotte up and back into her room.
Charlotte slumped on her bed and placed her face in her hands. The deafening silence interrupted only by the sound of her tears hitting the stone floor.