UPDATED: Minor spelling errors have been fixed, and a few hundred words of additional material have been added since the book was published two weeks ago. A new cover appears as well. 

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A novelette by V. M. Jaskiernia, LARKSPUR is a dark fantasy romance where a necromancer must try and balance his love for childhood sweetheart, Elizabeth Anne, and the lady of death herself.

Pierre Salvador has returned to court after graduating early, and there is a party in his honour that very evening. But feeling unwell so shortly after his travels the princeling excuses himself from dancing-and-flirting with Lady Elizabeth Anne, and retreats to his room with a black cat in tow. In addition to medical studies, Pierre has almost finished the last task set by Mora, lady of death, to complete his knowledge of necrocræft. Enthralled with the illegal magic, the power over life and death, he consorts with Mora as he also begins to court Elizabeth.

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"Look, my Familiar." The cat jumped from the table to the bed, and sat dutifully beside her master. He placed a finger in her mouth and she bit down. Black blood dripped from the wound. He touched the purple flower with it and watched as the bloom shriveled up.

Pierre then snapped his fingers, smearing blood on his hand, and quite the opposite took place--a flower returned to life. New buds and leaves poked from the stem, and the roots grew long. He leaned over and replanted it.

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4.5 stars on Amazon

"A distinct style and it practically drips from the page. The constant motion of the piece, the fluidity, was moving and engaging." - Brandon Sanderson

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