Read Online Breaking Stars (Book 2) by Jenna Van Vleet - Free Book Online Page B
Authors: Jenna Van Vleet
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voice spoke lowly with the guard outside. Torchlight flickered between the gaps in the doorframe, and the latch opened with a loud screech.
Gabriel raised his head, and his sore back commanded him back to his original position. Light flooded in from several lanterns, and two men stepped in. Gabriel pushed himself off the table slowly but remained seated. He did not care if he faced Nolen standing over him or seated lowly.
Nolen’s silhouette filled the doorframe, holding something large and draped in white in over his arms. He stepped inside, and Gabriel saw the triumphant smile on his face. Gabriel bolted to his feet, knocking the chair back and ripping open the wounds beginning to close.
Nolen held a body.
The Prince set the small bundle on the table between them. The figure was swaddled in white cloth spattered with blood blooming in several locations. Gabriel’s heart caught in his throat as Nolen lifted the corner of the blanket and threw it back.
The girl was burned horribly from her ear down to her thigh, the clothes crumbled revealing black and pink flesh beneath. Her left hand was severed below the wrist, charred around the stump from a jagged blow.
‘It’s not her, it’s not Robyn,’ he told himself, but his eyes went to the girl’s wet brunet hair to see water had splashed across her ruined face and washed brown dye from the golden hair beneath.
Nolen touched a finger to her face and turned it for Gabriel to see. It was charred and streaked with blood. The right lobe was caved in, but the structure of her face was Robyn’s with the same little chin and rounded cheekbone. He passed his eyes over her again, defying reality, looking for anything that would say something else. The strong shoulders were the same, the lithe neck, the golden hair shorn off jaggedly at the shoulder, the pointed nose, the petite body. “No,” Gabriel whispered.
“My men rode her down. It took her a while to die.”
“No,” Gabriel repeated, his voice wavering. It couldn’t be. His eyes searched the near-naked frame again, but he had never seen much of her skin to know if she bore a mark or scar that could help identify her.
“Bannerman,” Nolen called and a youth stepped in. “They found this on her,” he stated and took up a leather quiver, setting it beside the body. Wrought of sturdy brown elk hide, it had adjustable straps and bottom-tipped wood. It was the same as the day he crafted it for her.
“Oh stars,” he whispered, his voice cracking as the tears came to his eyes. “Robyn.” He could not bear to touch her charred skin though he desperately wanted to cradle her into him.
“The Bolt line dies with her, and Balien will be quick to follow. The throne is mine.” Nolen whispered, but his voice sounded so loud. He pulled the sheet over her.
Gabriel leaned on the table and lowered his head as tears fell down his face. His shoulders shook, and his knees wavered in a blank state of shock. The heiress, the only saving grace Anatoly had, the girl he had grown up with and loved and protected—gone. At last everything he knew had been taken from him.
Something strong within him died.
He sank to his knees, and as he wept, he broke.
Chapter 5
Lady Aisling pushed her charger a little harder, urging the beast to lengthen his stride, but the horse was tired. If they were any closer to Robyn, they showed no signs.
“Could we have passed them?” Cordis called on her right. He was dressed in black clothes and a long brown cloak that was tucked around his legs. The clothes were her son’s, and the cloak was hers since no one had made a Mage cloak for Cordis yet. Prince Balien had come to them in the dark of night with distressing news. Balien generously left out the details of her son’s flogging, but enough stable boys talked about it as they saddled the horses.
“They could have veered off the road—but I wager they are heading to Jaden as fast as they can,” she called. Balien had brought
Gabriel raised his head, and his sore back commanded him back to his original position. Light flooded in from several lanterns, and two men stepped in. Gabriel pushed himself off the table slowly but remained seated. He did not care if he faced Nolen standing over him or seated lowly.
Nolen’s silhouette filled the doorframe, holding something large and draped in white in over his arms. He stepped inside, and Gabriel saw the triumphant smile on his face. Gabriel bolted to his feet, knocking the chair back and ripping open the wounds beginning to close.
Nolen held a body.
The Prince set the small bundle on the table between them. The figure was swaddled in white cloth spattered with blood blooming in several locations. Gabriel’s heart caught in his throat as Nolen lifted the corner of the blanket and threw it back.
The girl was burned horribly from her ear down to her thigh, the clothes crumbled revealing black and pink flesh beneath. Her left hand was severed below the wrist, charred around the stump from a jagged blow.
‘It’s not her, it’s not Robyn,’ he told himself, but his eyes went to the girl’s wet brunet hair to see water had splashed across her ruined face and washed brown dye from the golden hair beneath.
Nolen touched a finger to her face and turned it for Gabriel to see. It was charred and streaked with blood. The right lobe was caved in, but the structure of her face was Robyn’s with the same little chin and rounded cheekbone. He passed his eyes over her again, defying reality, looking for anything that would say something else. The strong shoulders were the same, the lithe neck, the golden hair shorn off jaggedly at the shoulder, the pointed nose, the petite body. “No,” Gabriel whispered.
“My men rode her down. It took her a while to die.”
“No,” Gabriel repeated, his voice wavering. It couldn’t be. His eyes searched the near-naked frame again, but he had never seen much of her skin to know if she bore a mark or scar that could help identify her.
“Bannerman,” Nolen called and a youth stepped in. “They found this on her,” he stated and took up a leather quiver, setting it beside the body. Wrought of sturdy brown elk hide, it had adjustable straps and bottom-tipped wood. It was the same as the day he crafted it for her.
“Oh stars,” he whispered, his voice cracking as the tears came to his eyes. “Robyn.” He could not bear to touch her charred skin though he desperately wanted to cradle her into him.
“The Bolt line dies with her, and Balien will be quick to follow. The throne is mine.” Nolen whispered, but his voice sounded so loud. He pulled the sheet over her.
Gabriel leaned on the table and lowered his head as tears fell down his face. His shoulders shook, and his knees wavered in a blank state of shock. The heiress, the only saving grace Anatoly had, the girl he had grown up with and loved and protected—gone. At last everything he knew had been taken from him.
Something strong within him died.
He sank to his knees, and as he wept, he broke.
Chapter 5
Lady Aisling pushed her charger a little harder, urging the beast to lengthen his stride, but the horse was tired. If they were any closer to Robyn, they showed no signs.
“Could we have passed them?” Cordis called on her right. He was dressed in black clothes and a long brown cloak that was tucked around his legs. The clothes were her son’s, and the cloak was hers since no one had made a Mage cloak for Cordis yet. Prince Balien had come to them in the dark of night with distressing news. Balien generously left out the details of her son’s flogging, but enough stable boys talked about it as they saddled the horses.
“They could have veered off the road—but I wager they are heading to Jaden as fast as they can,” she called. Balien had brought
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