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Authors: Kim White

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The Verdict

The judges leave the courtroom and deliberate for what feels like hours. When they return, four look satisfied and three do not. The decision was clearly not unanimous, but the dissenting opinions are not expressed; the chief justice speaks for everyone.

“This Court agrees with the petitioner that Cora Alexander is a threat to our way of life,” he says, “to the very fabric of our civilization.” The courtroom resounds with cheering.

“However,” the justice continues, “we also agree with the respondent. Executing Cora Alexander is too dangerous. But this Court believes that it is even more dangerous to put her in the same realm as the usurper.” The chief justice glares at my lawyer when he says this. In response, she bows her head and smiles demurely.

The chief justice looks directly at me. “Cora Alexander,” he says. I look up defiantly. His eyes are glowing like hot coals, and his face is wrathful. He is more fearsome than the Keres, but I manage to look him in the eyes without trembling. I can see that his mind is made up about me, and probably was before he even heard the arguments, not that anyone ever argued
for
me. The anger I feel about this helps me keep my chin up.

“You will be sentenced to eternity in the innermost prison. Your case is not eligible for appeal, and you are not eligible for pardon or parole.”

My heart seizes at the words
eternity
and
innermost prison.

Then the chief justice addresses the lawyers. “Thank you, Counsel,” he says, banging his gavel. “This Court is adjourned.”

The lawyer leaves the podium and gathers her papers. She stops at my cell and smiles again. Her face shifts and I recognize Sybil’s aquiline nose and velvety gray eyes. I am relieved, angry, and confused, all at the same time. My instincts tell me that she just saved my life, but I wonder if an eternity in prison is any better than execution.

Sybil looks pointedly at the small red stain in the corner of my pocket and nods in approval. Instinctively, I put my hand over it, enclosing the fabric in my fist to hide the bloody seeds. Her face changes back to the lawyer’s face and I wonder what has become of Sybil, or if my attorney
was
Sybil. That possibility gives me a chill because I’ve suddenly remembered who the lawyer reminds me of. Her sly, knowing smile is like the one my own persona gave me when Minotaur conjured her on the plains of Asphodel.

As she walks out of the courtroom, without a backward glance, I start to question everything. What if there was no Sybil at all, only some kind of trick Minotaur was playing on me—but why? And what about the golden pen that drilled into my tooth like a needle whenever something went wrong but was oddly still during my trial? I’m suddenly aware of how little I know about this place. I take hold of the flask that Sybil gave me and wonder if the silver liquid inside really can heal me or if that was a lie, too. The marshal is walking toward my cell. He’s coming for me, to lock me up. Forever.

Rescuing Cora

I awoke with a start, frightened by the dream I’d just had of Cora being attacked by a three-headed monster. I couldn’t go back to sleep, and with my computer gone, there was nothing to do but pace back and forth in my cell, swinging my samurai sword.

After a few seconds, the door of my room swung open and Minotaur’s Lieutenant Garrison filled the frame. “Come with me,” he said. “Your sister is in trouble.”

END OF BOOK ONE

Visit
www.imperfectdarkness.com
to read the first chapters of book two.

Acknowledgments

This book would not have been possible without the support and patience of my husband, Mike McCaffery. Thanks also to my son, whose energy, creativity, and knack for having fun inspire me every day.

I am deeply indebted to my editor, Anne Nolan, for asking all the right questions in just the right way. Without her sharp insights, encouraging comments, and thorough line edits, this book would not be what it is.

I’m grateful for the generosity of writer-friends Jen Laskey, Laura King, and Nick Richardson, who read early drafts and offered insights and encouragement. I’d like to thank my teachers and classmates at Columbia and Hunter, who gave my work careful, thoughtful readings. And special thanks to my teen beta-reader, Harriet Lengel-Enright.

—Kim White, April 2012

About the Author

Kim White is the author of a collection of poetry,
Scratching for Something,
and the novels
The White Oak: Imperfect Darkness, Book One,
and
Sword of Souls: Imperfect Darkness, Book Two
. She graduated from the University of Michigan and holds MFAs in creative writing from Columbia University (fiction) and Hunter College (poetry). She taught creative writing for three years in Columbia’s Summer Program for High School Students and was an adjunct professor of writing at Concordia College. She lives with her family in New York.

Find her online:
www.kimwhitebooks.com

Connect with her on Facebook:
www.facebook.com/KimWhiteBooks

About the Series

In an adventure spanning four novels and three worlds, Cora and Lucas overcome a curse that has plagued their family for generations. With seeds carried into the underworld from the land of the living, a sword forged from the soul of their dead father, and a golden pen that can rewrite the past and shape the future, they embark on an adrenaline-fueled quest to free not only themselves but the souls of the dead.

Visit
www.imperfectdarkness.com
for news about the second book.

Copyright

Copyright © 2012 by Kim White

Cover art & design © 2012 by Michael McCaffery

All rights reserved. Published by Story Machine Studio LLC. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means—electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise—without the written permission of the publisher. For information regarding permission, write to: Story Machine Studio LLC, PO Box 231, Tuckahoe, NY 10707

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data is available.

First edition, April 2012

All rights reserved under International and Pan-American Copyright Conventions. By payment of the required fees, you have been granted the nonexclusive, nontransferable right to access and read the text of this e-book on-screen. No part of this text may be reproduced, transmitted, downloaded, decompiled, reverse engineered, or stored in or introduced into any information storage and retrieval system, in any form or by any means, whether electronic or mechanical, now known or hereinafter invented, without the express permission of the publisher.

ISBN 978-1-938280-02-3

BOOK: The White Oak
12.2Mb size Format: txt, pdf, ePub
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