Tremble in the Dark: A Gwen Farris Novel by P. S. Power Page A

make me do those things. I guess she
felt I was worth more to her as a living pawn than dead, however. On the good
side, my stutter has stayed away. Hopefully for good." Then, letting go of
her hand he stood back and looked away. It was an awkward thing, and made her
feel uncomfortable.
    Too
much so for a simple conversation, but not like an attack at all.
    "I've
been thinking though. You're from a different world, and certain allowances
will need to be made for that, since I don't know your ways, and I'm not all
that magically inclined, which is a large failing here, but if you can see past
that, if the memory of my father passing in your arms isn't too much to bear,
could, I know that I'm about to look the fool, but-" Then he stopped,
since Beth walked into the room, with Lisa in tow. The woman was about
twenty-five or six, so about Beth's age, but there the similarity ended.
    She
had what a compassionate person would call a sturdy build. It wasn't
fat, but she looked like she could at least try out for a major league football
team. She was short too, which wasn't that bad, being slightly over five feet
tall, but her face was simply unpleasant. Not ugly, really, but she had a frown
on it and seemed ready to fight for her man right then and there.
    It
was a shame, because she was almost certain that Christophe had been about to
ask if they could date or something. Be friends at least. That made sense to
her at any rate, given the buildup.
    He
had something different in mind however and asked anyway, in front of the new
witnesses.
    "I
was wondering if we could, kind of forget that I undid our arrangement? Will
you marry me, Gwen Farris?"
    She'd
been asked before, and the answer as far as she was concerned was the same. After
all, it had never really seemed real to her, but she wasn't going to miss the
chance to even play at it. Her entire life she'd known that no one would ever
love her. No man would want to be with her, much less marry.
    After
a second she smiled and let herself nod a bit.
    "Yes.
But we still need to get to know each other better. I mean, what if you find
out that I'm a horrible person in two months? You'll be glad you took the time
then, won't you?" The words flowed a lot more smoothly than she thought
they would, and she realized it was that thing again, attached to her
precognition somehow. The pressure was there at least.
    That
explained why, even though she didn't see Lisa running at her, she was able to
simply take a few steps to the side, letting the woman pass through her old
position in her rage. The angry lady didn't fall down, and turned, ready to do
it again.
    " Stop !"
This came from Beth, who looked at the now red faced woman calmly for all that
she'd just been shouting.
    It
worked too, and everyone stopped where they were, except the guards that ran
into the room who moved to grab people. They tried for everyone but Chris, who
was standing there, fighting to look old and wise, instead of in mild shock.
Gwen however just let the two men take her arms, not worried about being hurt
in particular. If she had to, she could probably fight their way out of the
room, even in a dress. People here, even the guards, didn't handle hand to hand
that well. Plus, she could fire off decently powerful energy blasts and no one
else had a weapon out.
    Lisa
struggled, but didn't get away at all, and broke down in tears.
    For
some reason everyone turned and looked at the young Duke, as if he'd know what to do about all of this. It was the job, but not really fair, given
everything.
    Gwen
just looked at him and started to spout nice sounding BS.
    "It's
that matter of honor that I mentioned a bit ago. A thing that involved Bethany,
Lisa and I. Lisa was just informed, and may feel that she has a right to beat
me for it. Or at least try to. It isn't a big deal. We can forget about
it." To her mind it was settled, and Bethany nodded, speaking softly.
    "That
will suit, I think. Given everything, perhaps Miss Wendell will