Pepper Espinoza - If All Sand Were Pearl.pdf - jessab

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This book is a work of fiction. The names, characters, places, and incidents are products of the writer’s imagination or

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Samhain Publishing, Ltd.

577 Mulberry Street, Suite 1520

Macon GA 31201

If All the Sand Were Pearl

ISBN: 1-60504-199-8

Edited by Sasha Knight

Cover by Anne Cain

All Rights Are Reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced in any manner whatsoever without written

permission, except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews.

First Samhain Publishing, Ltd. electronic publication: September 2008

www.samhainpublishing.com

If All the Sand Were Pearl

Pepper Espinoza

Dedication

To Vivien. For everything.

If All the Sand Were Pearl

Chapter One

The small square box was the first direct communication between Jag Martin and his

husband-to-be.

Jag cradled the box in his palm, wondering if he should open it. Nobody had told

him what to do should Brace Rivers send him a gift. He supposed nobody had thought to

mention it because it had never happened before. All messages, all gifts, all introductions,

should take place between the families of the intended. Had his parents seen this tiny

box? Did they know who delivered it? It must have arrived while Jag was in the bath,

applying the strange concoctions and oils left for him by Drake, the family’s only servant.

The box arrived without a card, but Jag knew the gift came from Rivers. The box had

the traditional mark of a wedding present—two purple entwined vines growing towards

the ruby sun. The mark had infused his life for the past several tidal cycles, appearing on

contracts, gifts and clothing. His mother had even borrowed a large tapestry of the design

to hang in the room where both ceremonies would take place. Was he supposed to

smuggle a present to the other man? He looked around his small bedroom—he had

nothing to give. His intended husband would know that. His family’s current humble

situation was no secret. The two of them wouldn’t be betrothed otherwise. His mother

might have mentioned the gift to him that afternoon before she left to oversee the first

ceremony, but there was so much to remember that it might have slipped his attention.

He untied the heavy purple ribbon and slowly unwound it from the box. He didn’t

recognize the rich material, but it felt like fabric from a fine coat, or a heavy blanket, not

a humble ribbon on a small box. He traced the sharp points and the smooth lines of the

box before carefully easing the lid back.

Jag was almost afraid to learn what was nestled inside. His stomach had been in

knots for the past two months, and now all those knots tightened until he couldn’t even

take a breath. He looked around the room, expecting somebody to barge through the door

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