Page 11 of Stolen Fates
Katell couldn’t even blame them. Leywani was beloved by all. She couldn’t leave. And certainly not withhim.
So why wasn’t anyone else speaking up?
It was wrong—all wrong.
Leywani liked to sing and dance. She laughed more than anyone and loved to joke around. She couldn’t leave with a man who would stomp it all out of her. She couldn’t leave to the Moon knew where and never return.
But Katell was powerless to stop it, and her father’s grip was unrelenting.
Katell locked eyes with Leywani, and the sharp ache in her chest deepened at the sight of her friend’s tear-strewn, battered face.
Don’t do this. Don’t go.
But the words were lodged in Katell’s throat, escaping only as a guttural cry. “Ley!”
Hesitation flickered across Leywani’s face until her husband strode towards her. “It’s time to go, wife.” He grabbed her by thearm, barely giving her time to say goodbye to her own mother. When his cold eyes met Katell’s in the crowd, he smirked and wrenched Leywani against him.
A dark tide of violence surged within Katell. “Ley!”
“Kat, stop!” Her father held her by the waist, his grip unyielding. “Don’t make it worse than it has to be. You have to let her go now.”
Leywani hopped onto the back of the cart, her head bent down.
Katell hurled herself forward. “No, take me!” Her anguished scream filled the air. “I’ll go in her place! Ley!LEY!”
Her words vanished into the heavy silence that engulfed the crowd. Leywani didn’t look up and her husband didn’t stop as he sat at the front of the cart and grabbed the reins.
The newly married couple set off, fading from sight through the rows of tents as they headed east. With a strangled sob, Katell sank to her knees, vaguely aware of her father’s comforting whispers behind her.
But nothing—nothing—he said could ever make it right again.
Leywani was gone.
She wasgone.
“Kat!”
Alena’s voice caught her attention. A moment later, the crowd of onlookers parted, revealing Alena and the raw pain etched on her sister’s face shattered something deep with Katell. Hot tears streamed down her cheeks, and she clutched at her mouth, failing to suppress her rising sobs.
Alena flung herself at her, embracing her tight, and Katell clung to her with equal fervour. While Damocles watched over them, a single thought ran through Katell’s head on repeat.
The elders and the Freefolk be damned, she would never let anyone take Alena away like they’d taken Leywani.
She would find a way to stay in Camp Bessi and protect her.
Always.
Alena and Katell’s story continues in WHEN GODS FALL, available now:https://books2read.com/u/bW6OVz
When a fateful event leaves them with no other choice but to leave Camp Bessi, Alena and Katell are thrust into the Old Lands and all the dangers they represent. Will the journey bring the sisters together, or tear them apart?
FIVE YEARS LATER
CHAPTER THREE
Nikander
Nik had never been able to resist a pretty girl, and it was usually his downfall.
