Celta Thursday, Last bit of cut Heart Search first scene

Laev T'Hawthorn fingered the silver encased writestick that he preferred. His many-times ancestress's red gold desk set had gone missing years ago and was not one of the items that had been recovered. He wondered if the desk set had been melted down. Wondered who had the pieces. If he had enemies he didn't know about who were collecting Hawthorn Family items.

He'd talk about the loss of his HeartGift in person with his private investigator, Primross. That was going to be a fun conversation, though it was an old open secret that Laev T'Hawthorn had gone against his Family's wishes and wed a girl he'd believed was his HeartMate. A girl who had encouraged him to think so. She'd wanted the wealth and status of being a GreatLady, the highest of the high on the planet Celta.

Primross was a smart man and a competent one, he probably already guessed what Laev wanted.

Of course Laev had a link to his HeartGift, and once again he closed his eyes, settled into his inner balance and reached for it. The sculpture was wedged somewhere and he couldn't translocate it. Nor could he determine the coordinates. Dark. Dry, he thought. In good shape, he hoped.