The Castle of Thorns by Elle Beaumont

Author:Elle Beaumont
Language: eng
Format: epub

* * *

Gisela’s eyes popped open the moment a loud, groaning creak cut through her sleep. She bolted upright, hair frizzed from the forced bed rest, and spotted Violet rummaging through a small collection of dresses. She withdrew a deep blue dress and spun to face Gisela, her eyes rounding as she jolted in surprise.

“I didn’t mean to wake you.” Violet dipped her head and draped the dress over the privacy screen. “I’m sure you need your rest after yesterday.”

Exhaustion clouded Gisela’s mind, but she was also restless. She didn’t want to stay in bed. When she grew tired enough to sleep, she’d rest then, but she wasn’t incapable of living—if one could call her current situation living. Gisela, in her opinion, had traded one cell for another, but in this case, her warden wouldn’t think twice about killing her.

She frowned and rubbed between her eyebrows. Had she been imagining things? “Violet, was Ylga here last night?”

“Yes. Knorren fetched her when you were out of sorts, my lady.” Violet stepped around the bed and helped Gisela dress for the day.

Knorren. He was outside of her window too . . . or was that her imagination?

“And Knorren . . . is he here?”

“No, he’s gone.” Violet paused then. “But he does have a request. You need to write to your father, requesting someone who is . . . more suited to your fits, as you call them.” Violet guided Gisela to the vanity and took up a brush to comb out Gisela’s curls. “My brother, Maxim, is allowed to visit with food from home. He's due to come today, which means he can deliver your letter.”

Why would Knorren care enough to send for someone to help her? The notion didn’t make sense, but she didn’t even know what he wanted with her, or what he had in store. If he’d killed Lady Anna for lying, what would he do to Gisela if she didn’t fit into his plans—whatever they were?

Gisela nodded. “I’ll need something to write with.”

Violet left and returned with a well of ink, a quill pen, and paper. Gisela lifted the pen with a trembling hand, flexing her fingers to adjust them. This happened with every episode. Her muscles weakened and it took a few days to recover. Small things that anyone else could do without thinking took Gisela longer to accomplish.

With the tip against the paper, she scratched her words with care.

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.