Ashes of Revival (The Abdicate Series Book 1) by Alex Shobe

Author:Alex Shobe [Shobe, Alex]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2019-05-03T22:00:00+00:00

Leona

The muted chatter of the villagers drifts through the night as I bask in the privacy of the stable. Though their expressions had lacked disappointment from my failed attempt to kill Crary, my thoughts contain enough defeat for all of us. I should’ve been able to kill him. But instead, the idea of taking a life magnified my reluctance until Colton took the burden from me.

I lean against the stall and reach my hand through the slats. The white and chocolate-spotted horse swishes his tail and let out a snicker at my touch. I stroke my fingers between his large brown eyes, just as I’d done eight years ago. My shoulders slump as I release a sigh. So much has changed in eight years. The horse snorts then nudges his nose against my hand.

“Looks like Maxim remembers you.”

My back goes rigid, but I don’t turn to face the voice. I can’t. If I do, I’ll just be met with the affirmation that I’m who Colton always said I was—a noble girl—someone who’s never had to take vengeance into her own hands when a perfectly capable guard was standing by. I run my fingers over the horse’s snout until he shakes his head and steps to the strung bundle of hay in the corner.

“I’m glad you didn’t kill him.” Colton’s voice is a murmur.

I pull myself from off the stall and turn around. Colton leans back against the planked wall, his hands stuffed in his pockets. He regards me with brows pulled in, the lantern next to him reflecting in his eyes.

“It should’ve been me who did it.” I rake my fingers through my hair and sweep it to one side of my shoulder. “Everyone was expecting it to be me.”

Colton lower his eyes to the floor and shakes his head slowly. “Kaleo shouldn’t have put that responsibility on you. I think sometimes he forgets it’s not easy to take someone’s life.” He pulls a hand out of his pocket and drags it across his jaw. I study his face and the grave expression it makes when he speaks. “When you do, it takes something from you as well.”

I’ve seen him kill three men in the past couple of days, not to mention the countless others who died by his hand in the arena. If each death comes at a price, how much of himself has he lost?

“Does it get easier?”

The lantern’s light casts half of his face in shadows. He stirs against the wall, his mouth opening and closing in failed attempts at speech. After another moment, he walks over to me and drapes his arm over the stall’s wooden railing. Maxim glances at him. When Colton doesn’t move to open the gate, the horse flicks his tail and returns to his meal.

Colton’s chest rises and falls in an uneven rhythm as he fixates on a warped section of a slat. His eyes dart over the wood, but he says nothing. The stable shrinks in size from the silence between us and the air gets warmer.

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