Read Online Dark Side of Dawn: The Nightmare Chronicles by Kathryn Smith - Free Book Online

they sat apart from the proceedings, but in a spot where they could see all and be seen by all. It was a comfort having my father there, even if he wouldn’t be able to intervene on my behalf.
    He met my gaze and gave me a small, but bolstering smile. I tried to give him one back, but it melted when I saw Verek coming toward me, looking very fierce and official.
    “Are you my guard?” I asked when he was within spitting distance.
    He nodded, pale eyes serious. “I’m to escort you to the front of the room.”
    “Do I need an escort?”
    “You don’t have a choice.” His hushed reply had all the sympathy his expression lacked.
    Well, there you go. “When you put it like that,” I remarked with forced lightness, “how can I refuse?” He’d offered his arm and I took it. This was all very civilized, and yet not. It was like they were trying to give the impression of being rational creatures, but really were just waiting until no one was looking to pounce.
    Bloodthirsty bunch.
    The large, rugged Nightmare escorted me to the front of the room, and left me to stand alone beside the table. For a moment I thought the Council meant to make me stand beside this empty seat for the entireproceedings, but then they stood as well. It wasn’t for my benefit, that I knew. Only my father and his brothers remained seated as a robed figure came through a door in the back corner. Talk about making an entrance!
    The Warden of the Nightmare Council was a woman. At first the thought gave me a rush of hope, but when I looked up into that pinched, white face I thought of my eighth-grade math teacher and I knew I was in trouble.
    Her eyes weren’t the typical pale blue of this realm. I’m sure eye color meant something, but I had no idea what. Mine were aqua, and I thought them my nicest feature, except when they lightened and the rims went all black and spidery. I didn’t like them then.
    The Warden had cold green eyes, complete with black rims, but instead of being spidery, the line was thick and bold, as though someone had drawn it there with a Magic Marker. Weird. Her hair was bright copper, and hung down the back of her violet robe like a ripple of flame.
    She was scary, and she knew it. I lifted my chin as she joined us at the table and fixed me with a cold gaze. I held her attention, and though I wanted to look away, I refused to give in.
    “So you are the one named after Eos,” she half asked, half accused in a tone that was as scorching as her hair.“The daughter of Morpheus and a human.” She said human like it was some kind of disease.
    “Yes,” I answered with a slight incline of my head—all the acknowledgment she would get from me. I’d be damned if I’d be ashamed of what I was.
    The Warden’s peach lips thinned. She could have been a beautiful woman were it not for the bitterness etched in every feature, every aspect of her being. “You have been brought before this Council on charges of willful endangerment of the realm, wanton disrespect for our rules, and reckless disregard for the safety of our kind.”
    I scowled. Hell, I glared. “I haven’t done any such things!” The only way I could have sounded more indignant would have been if I’d had an English accent.
    Clearly the Warden didn’t like being talked back to. She drew up to her full height—which was a little taller than my own—and shot daggers at me with her eyes. Thankfully, she didn’t try to conjure real daggers. “You endangered this realm by bringing a human into it. A human who was fully aware of this world and totally cognizant of his time in it.”
    That was Noah. I had brought him through a portal into the Dreaming when we’d realized Karatos had stolen his ability to dream. “I didn’t know it was wrong,” I replied. “I only wanted to help him.”
    She was unmoved. “Your ignorance only proves yourdisrespect for our customs and rules. Had you taken the time to learn these things, you would have known better, but