Dark Heart is a fantasy novel by Margaret Weis. In very many ways it is a tragedy. I mean, just read the hook on the back cover, ”
Justinian, Lord Sterling, has lived for centuries, serving an ancient entity known only as the Dragon. Immortality is Justin’s reward. But to keep it, he must keep killing.
Lt. Sandra McCormick is a dedicated cop, a loner whose job is her refuge from a twisted past. But to keep it, she must stop the killing.
Two loners, each stalking the other. Each destined to be the other’s savior–and downfall. For love, unexpected, unstoppable, draws them together. And love is the one vice the Dragon will not allow . . .”
As the fool I was, I assumed innocently that the two would fall in love and… somehow defeat the dragon together. The cover shows him protecting her from the dragon, so clearly that must be the case… NOPE. They do fall in love, but Justin is unable to resist the dragon’s will and kills her at the end. I hated the book right afterward, but later I came to appreciate it.
Even though it was heartbreaking (read it yourself and find out), it touched on the lessons that can be learned by keeping secrets and justifying the wrong. It really makes you question your life.
Justin, the protagonist, is a few centuries old. In the beginning, he was lord of a castle with his wife, and they were both swept by a plague. The entity known as the Dragon appeared to Justin in a mirror and offered him immortality in exchange for his service as a killer for the dragon. Justin sees the Dragon as a savior and accepts, he brings the mirror to his wife, who is horrified by the Dragon and Justin’s acceptance of his offer. As the centuries past, Justin kills who the Dragon says to, even girls who remind him of his past wife even though their deaths benefit the Dragon in no way. The Dragon is in many ways like the comical devil, he sees love as a weakness and a distraction.
But then Justin meets Sandra McCormick, a detective, who is on the case of a mysterious death… committed by Justin by orders of the Dragon. By this shared situation, the two meet and spend time together on the case, and later on a date. Sandra reminds him, near exactly, to his past wife. The two fall in love with a shared strong mutual attraction. But the Dragon refuses to let it fester, and orders her death. Justin bargains with the Dragon to agree to let her live if she will join the Dragon.
Like his past wife, she sees the Dragon for the monster he is and refuses. The Dragon’s will overpowers Justin and he kills Sandra with his claw. He holds her in his arms before going on a rampage and destroying a few buildings. After this event, Justin finds the will to push back the Dragon, kills another minion of the Dragon, and finds a magical item to help him.
The Dark Heart sinks its claw deep into your heart, ay? Again, tragic but very much worth it.
