Roar (Book 1 of "Whispers From The Past")

Before Josselyn Thorn and The Whispers of Rings, there were Cyprus, Victoria, and Isabelle.
In the first installment, Cyprus Reyner befriends Victoria d'Audrieu through a common wish to learn more of the Kingdom of Rhoryn. After years of friendship and perseverance, they develop a bond that will withstand the test of time. But when Jeremi Terryn comes to their home city of Lorelyn, their relationship will be tested in ways they never thought possible. Cyprus must make the most important decision of his life: let the woman he loves live her dreams, or beg her to stay by his side.
From best-selling author Catherine LaCroix comes Whispers from the Past.
Love Freely.

~~~~~ Excerpt ~~~~~

It was an inconsequential evening that changed the entire course of my life. I couldn’t say the day or the time, but I remember it was snowing. I was restless, inconsolable, and suffered from the curiosities of childhood. I’m sure my mother knew of my late night escapes, but never said a word. The moon washed over the snow in a gleam that would draw envy from the sun as I padded my way over the white landscape. It was late; far later than any eight-year-old should have wandered from their room, but I couldn’t sleep and nothing in my home ever helped with my fits of insomnia.

I wandered, the powdered streets of Lorelyn abandoned at such an hour. The chill air sometimes calmed the thoughts that rushed through my head- thoughts that should have never weighed me down to begin with. That’s when I saw you.

Dark hair succumbed to the wills of the breeze, bright eyes sparkled in time with the stars; you perched beneath an old oak tree, staring intently at the Isten Mountains. With the wisdom and courage of a child, I approached, taking a seat next to you.

“What are you looking at?” I asked, oblivious to the social anxieties I would learn later.

“I’m…wondering what’s past the Istens,” you replied with the graces of one a few years older than I.

With the all-encompassing dreams of someone who hasn’t been told that there are things that simply don’t exist, I told you with outright confidence, “There’s dragons out there.”

You laughed and my tenacity shattered. I poked at a few pebbles in the snow, avoiding your beautiful gaze and hiding my embarrassment. I wasn’t yet to be bested.

“Well, you don’t know. What if there are?”

“What if there are?” you replied, nodding, hiding your giggles. “What’s your name?”

“Cyprus Reyner,” I announced proudly, as my parents had taught me. Never fear who you are. “And yours?”

“Victoria d’Audrieu,” you declared easily, your name rolling off of your tongue like a melody. “Well met.”

“Well…met.” I responded slowly, unassociated with the phrase. “What’s out there for you?”

“Hmm,” you contemplated my question with more credence than it was worth, “a prince to save me, a world to see, cities far larger than this…”

“I’ll take the dragons.” I responded with distaste, familiar with the fairytales mothers told their daughters.

“Would you fight them, Cyprus?” you asked without missing a beat.

“Of course!” I responded with the fervor of a brave knight.

“Why?”

And, my love, that’s where you had me. Why? For fame? For glory?

“…well, someone would have to lead you to your prince, right?”

You laughed, and it was the most beautiful sound I’d ever heard in my short existence.