Broken by C.K. Bryant Read Free Book Online Page B

covers.
    Long after the effects of the V’Larian should have worn off, Kira still slept. Octavion spent most of the night pacing.
    At some point during the night, Ussay instructed two male servants to move an overstuffed chair from Octavion’s sitting room into the corner near the window. “If you will not sleep in another room, at least sit here and rest. You are making my head spin.” She sounded more like a mother than a servant. “And furthermore, do you not think it wise to eat? You will want your strength when she wakes. She will need you.”
    “Thank you for the chair, but . . .” He glanced at Kira, still sleeping peacefully. “I will wait to eat. Perhaps you should alert the kitchen staff to make something for Kira to eat. Have them prepare something thin, as if for an infant. I may try to wake her again in a while and see if she will take it.”
    Ussay smiled. “As you wish.” Then she scurried out the door.
    For several moments, he heard Ussay’s voice echo up the staircase as she called out to the other servants. He remembered when Ussay was a child. Her mother had been his nursemaid and she often brought Ussay along with her to play with him and his sisters. As he got older, Ussay followed him around like a little cub. She sat and watched him experiment long into the night. Even after her mother was no longer employed, one of the other servants would bring her to the castle and take her home again. She’d become almost a part of the family.
    The longer he reminisced about his childhood, the heavier his eyelids became. Sometime after midday, he gave into sleep. His dreams were of Kira—her kiss, her gentle touch, her warm embrace—but most of all her smile. How he longed to see it again.

Chapter Seven
    Kira slowly pulled air into her lungs and tried to separate the medley of scents and sounds drifting around her. Herbs and spices and melted candle wax. The earthy, woodsy aroma of fresh cut wood and cold ashes from a fireplace. They hung in the air until they were swept away, replaced by the sweet perfume of flowers riding a breeze.
    In the distance, birds chirped and horse hooves clomped on a hard surface, like brick or stone. The muffled chatter of women echoed outside the room and nearby she heard the heavy, even breaths of someone sleeping. Another breeze. Leather and musk— Octavion.
    She forced her eyes open. It took a moment to focus and it wasn’t perfect, but near the source of the light—the window—she saw him. She squinted, trying to see more clearly. The very sight of him made her heart leap in her chest. She wanted to jump out of the bed and crash into his arms, but the slightest adjustment under the covers was painful so she reconsidered. Instead, she watched him sleep peacefully.
    He slouched in a dark blue upholstered chair with his head leaning precariously to one side. It couldn’t have been comfortable, yet he slept. His appearance seemed a little off to her—not as she remembered. His hair appeared to be straighter and several strands flopped over his eyes as they caught the air flowing in from the window. He’d always had a bit of stubble on his face, but now wore a scruffy beard a shade or two darker than his hair.
    He wore black pants made of a loosely woven fabric and a white tunic with puffy sleeves. The laces hung loose, leaving the neck gaping open. The cuffs were rolled up midway between his wrist and elbow and around his waist he wore a thick black belt, leaving several inches of shirt fabric hanging out the bottom. His boots reminded her of an English riding boot with their slick polished leather rising almost to his knees—his pants tucked into the top.
    She flexed the muscles in her back to see if her memory of Zerek’s whip was a dream, but met with the painful reality of his sadistic torture as her wounds brushed against the pillow and sheet below her. She pulled her rope-burned wrists out from under the blankets, wincing when the muscle in her shoulder