The Dark Knight [Paperback]

USElizabeth Elliottis the author ofThe Warlord,a huge bestseller that garnered numerous awards, including the RITA for Best First Book. She followed it withScoundrelandBetrothed. Elizabeth Elliott lives in Minnesota with her husband.9780553575675|excerpt

Elliott / THE DARK KNIGHT

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The Magician

Here lies the start of the journey, both a beginning and an end. The Magician reaches to the heavens for guidance and points toward the paths of greatest potential. From his hand accept the power to shape destiny and the will that mani- fests great change.

The Tower of London housed many royal secrets. The chamber above the dungeons held a carefully guarded one.

A narrow shaft of sunlight streamed in through an arrow loop in one wall, creating more shadows than light in the cavernous room. There, in a place few men entered willingly, a man dressed in long, dark robes stood before a row of dusty shelves. Searching for something, he moved into the light. The brightness made his blond hair appear an angelic halo of curls, a disarming contrast to the inky darkness of his robes that shifted and flowed around him like a living thing; at once bloodred, then black, then the deep blue color of midnight. He leaned closer to the cluttered shelves, pushed aside a dried frog and a stack of parchment scrolls to lift a tarnished metal chest.

“The signs are favorable, Sefu,” Mordecai told the black cat who sat staring at him from the sun-­warmed flagstones. He walked toward a scarred wooden table with the chest cradled in the crook of his arm, polishing the lid with the wide cuff of his sleeve. Beneath thick layers of grime and tarnish, the metal began to gleam the color of bright silver and he caught the faint scent of cedar. His fingers traced intricate etchings of moons and stars. “Fate may be my master, but I shall soon wield the power of destiny. Our visitor wil³'