Mageborn: An absolutely gripping fantasy novel (The Hollow King Book 1) by Jessica Thorne

Author:Jessica Thorne [Thorne, Jessica]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9781838880972
Publisher: Bookouture
Published: 2020-02-17T16:00:00+00:00

It was a cell, Grace supposed, though not like any cell you’d see elsewhere in Rathlynn. But then this wasn’t the royal dungeons, this was the base of Bastien Larelwynn’s tower. Less a cell and more a small, comfortably furnished bedroom with no windows and highly effective security. Simona nodded at them as they entered, but didn’t follow, engaged in some work of her own that Grace didn’t actually want to investigate too closely.

The Flint sat on the edge of the bed. Her red-rimmed eyes showed she’d been crying and her pallor made her look ill. She held her hands clasped before her and even that couldn’t stop them shaking. Daniel and Ellyn took up position outside the cell. When Grace entered, the Flint stood up, ready to fight, argue or plead her case, but when Bastien followed, she almost threw herself back into the corner.

‘Please… please… don’t let him hurt me.’ She dropped to her knees, sobbing once again.

Grace’s stomach tightened, but she didn’t say anything. Bastien didn’t need to torture anyone. His reputation did that for him.

‘Perhaps I should wait outside,’ he said in that soft, calm voice. He didn’t even need to make it threatening.

‘Thank you,’ Grace replied. ‘That might be best.’

But still he paused for a moment. ‘If you should need me…’

She cut him off with a look. Need him? Why on earth would she need him? And if it was a threat aimed at the girl, it wasn’t exactly helpful.

He closed the door gently behind him. She didn’t hear the lock slide home.

‘What’s your name?’ Grace asked.

‘Sylvie, Sylvie Lexin.’ And suddenly, as if naming herself released her tongue, she was talking, quickly, desperately. ‘They said… they said it was just a simple job. Just kill him, they said. They didn’t tell us who he was… I would never have… if I’d known…’

Who hadn’t told her? That was what Grace was here to find out. But rush it and Sylvie would panic. She was already panicking. She had a lot to panic about. Threats weren’t going to get anywhere here. There was an art to this and Craine had taught her well.

‘Do you often do jobs like that?’

The woman buried her face in her hands and sobbed again. She was younger than Grace had thought, thinner too. Desperate. Slowly, carefully, Grace reached out and helped her back onto the bed. She picked up one of the luxuriously soft blankets and wrapped it around her shoulders. Bastien had said Sylvie was as much a victim as a perpetrator here. Perhaps more so. What choice did she even have?

What choice did any of them have?

‘Were you very young when you found out?’ She didn’t need to elaborate on what Sylvie had found out. They both knew.

‘Five. Maybe six. I don’t know. It was fun at first, lighting candles. The house was draughty but I could heat it. My mam worked long hours as a seamstress and she’d make tea but it would go cold. So when she came back I’d heat it up for her.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.