Amaskan's Blood Raven Oak (polar express read aloud TXT) 📖

away from his embrace and kicked a pine cone over the ledge. It tumbled down and bounced off a rock before landing in the sand. Salt water collided with it, then tossed it over the crest of a wave.

Sitting for hours before this ocean had brought calm. Focus. But now, as she watched the waves crash along the rocky shore, the ocean was the enemy. Waves upon waves of emotions that she didn’t want. Didn’t need.

“If I’m not Amaskan, why should I care about the Kingdom of Alexander? Why should I do this job? Or even take orders from you?”

She didn’t wait for his response. Her feet left the ground, and she was astride the borrowed horse before he’d done more than blink. The mare set off at a fast gallop, and she left her father alone in the twilight.

A thick giggle rose in her chest. “My father? Which one? The one that sold me or the one that sold me out?” she shouted to no one at all. The mare beneath her shifted her gait in response, and Adelei tightened her grip on the reins.

By the time she reached her room, night had fallen and most members of the Order sat in the dining hall or relaxed in one of several entertainment rooms. She avoided all of them, hand held to her throbbing jaw.

Adelei kicked open her chest with a booted toe and snatched her travel bags from their pegs on the wall. In went clothes, travel gear, her extra daggers, and two books she wouldn’t travel without. When everything she could take was packed, she tumbled into her bed, her muscles screaming for sleep. At first she fought it, determined to leave that night and flee the family that had betrayed her, but when her body sank into the wool-stuffed mattress, her eyelids drooped until she woke in the pitch black.

The candle had burned out hours ago, but she didn’t relight it. Something had moved on the other side of her door. That or I’m having some vivid dreams. Adelei swung her feet to the floor in one move and crept forward, one step at a time. Four. Five. Six. She touched a hand to the door itself, but nothing moved on the other side. Not now anyway.

The bells on the knob didn’t sound, and after another minute had passed, she returned to light the candle. When she turned its lit wick to the door, a piece of parchment lay on the floor, her master’s mark upon it. With trembling hands she broke the official wax seal.

Lady Adelei,

You have twelve hours to vacate your room at the Order. You will be given enough food and supplies to get you to the border, and your horse has been readied.

Tell no one of your visit and burn this.

Signed and sealed

by the Order of Amaska

this 21st of Agaen.

Below the date was the signature of every master in the Order, including her own father’s, and she snapped her eyes closed. Something shifted in the envelope, and her finger felt around until it rested on a tiny note tucked inside. The same handwriting that had brought her rushing home from the last job had scripted her name across the front.

Dearest Daughter,

You probably hate me. I hope one day you’ll understand that I had no choice in this. This was not my decision alone, nor was it my idea to evict you from your home, but the council felt I saw this through the eyes of a father. They are right.

No matter what they have done, you are Amaskan. You were Amaskan the moment you came to me and dedicated yourself to our cause. Travel safely to Alexander, my daughter, and serve Justice for the people. When you find your truth, I hope you can find it in your heart to forgive me in my weakness.

You still are my daughter. You’re the best thing that ever happened to me. Always remember that.

Find your Way home, back to us. To me.

-B

Adelei crumpled the paper into a ball and tossed it into the empty washing basin. She dipped the candle’s flame into the bowl until it lit the note, then tossed in the council’s letter. Both burned as she stood, waiting. Waiting for what? For the council to change their minds? For Master Bredych to— The candle flickered when she tossed it into the bowl.

“Damn them all,” she whispered, and she strapped her dirk to her thigh. Her throwing knives she slid into their sheaths before slipping her dagger in place at her waist. The knots of her cloak were thick to her trembling fingers as she struggled with it at her neck. Adelei slung a travel bag over each shoulder and stood in the middle of her mostly empty room.

Ashes were all that remained of her life, her home here. When she shut the door behind her, she used her foot to soften the jingling of the bells that chimed softly in the night. No one remained in the halls, marking the hour later than she thought. The kitchens stood silent while Adelei stuffed travel rations and canteens of water into her bag.

Her next stop was a room of clothing—chests and chests of shirts, skirts, breeches, and even corsets. Anything an Amaskan might need to operate anonymously. She went for generic hired sword gear and ignored the rest. If she needed upper class clothing, there would be plenty in a city like Alesta.

A dozen feet from the stables, Bredych stepped out from the shadows and into her path. “You’re leaving in the cover of night?” he asked.

Adelei tried to step around him, but he grabbed her wrist as she passed. “Let me go.”

“An Amaskan to the bone. Only an Amaskan would move in the shadows like this.”

His words stopped her forward momentum. “I’ve little choice in the matter. I’ve been given twelve hours to leave the property, remember?”

“I do, but surely you could rest until the morning. Please.” He clasped his hands together. “I know