Rise by Jennifer Anne Davis Read Free Book Online

of the fire, staring at me.
    “What happened?” I asked, my voice raspy.
    “You tripped and knocked yourself out,” he replied, his tone condescending. “I suggest you sleep some more. As soon as the sun rises and you’re able to see the ground, we’ll be on our way.”
    We had been traveling at night through a forest littered with fallen branches and rocks. Of course it would be difficult to see—especially considering I’d never even been in a forest before. He was lucky that I hadn’t fallen to my death.
    Gently touching my forehead, I felt some sort of thick paste that smelled of bracken fern covering it. A horrible thought occurred to me. “How did I get here?”
    “I carried you. Now stop talking and go back to sleep.” Anders shifted his body, his back to me, so he had a view of the cave’s opening.
    Lying down, I faced away from him. He must have thought I was an incompetent fool who had to be taken care of. Not that it mattered what he thought of me. My eyes grew heavy and I drifted off to sleep.
    I stood in the middle of the deserted Town Square next to the execution platform. A thick fog coated the area, making it hard to see the nearby shops and buildings in the early morning light. A harsh wind blew through the square, tossing my hair in my face. The fog parted around the platform, revealing a lone figure wearing a black cape.
    Morlet.
    “Come here,” he commanded, his voice smooth and seductive.
    Where did Anders go, and how did I get here? The fog swirled around my feet, sliding up my legs.
    “I won’t hurt you,” Morlet purred. “I just want to talk.”
    The fog reached my shoulders, slinking around my neck. A sense of calm spread through me and, without thinking, I climbed the stairs and stood before the king.
    “You cut your hair,” he mused, his voice friendly. “And hurt your head.” I touched my forehead, feeling the gooey substance still there. “You’re different from the others.” Cocking his head, his face remained hidden beneath the cover of the black hood. “Where are you hiding?”
    My palms throbbed with pain. “Isn’t this the Town Square?” I balled my hands into fists, willing them to stop hurting. Where were the soldats and all the people?
    “You’re in a dream,” he explained. “When you wake up, where will you be? Are you in the capital somewhere?” He shook his head, frustrated. “I can’t feel your presence. You must have managed to get outside the capital’s walls.”
    My hands flared with intense pain, as if they were on fire. Morlet reached toward me. When his gloved hand neared my face, a feeling rose inside of me that begged me not to tell the king about the cave or the assassin.
    I jerked back. “Don’t touch me!”
    He laughed, a deep, throaty sound, making my skin crawl. “I’ll get what I want from you,” he snarled.
    My eyes flew open, and I gasped. My entire body shook, even though the dying fire burned right next to me. Anders tossed a log into the fire, his eyes dissecting my every move. The flames swayed around the wood, making it crackle.
    “You don’t look good,” he observed, his voice rumbling off the walls of the cave.
    Too bad there wasn’t a small rock to hurl at him. Of course my forehead must look bad, but that didn’t mean he had to point it out to me.
    “Is it morning?” I asked, wanting to change the subject.
    “Yes,” he replied, shifting uncomfortably. “I, uh, just went out to gather some food for breakfast. When I returned, you were tossing and mumbling something unintelligible. Were you dreaming?”
    Trembling from the memory still fresh in my mind, I said, “It was more like a nightmare.” The thought of Morlet’s magic slithering around me made me recoil.
    “Tell me about it,” Anders said, his words laced with a sense of urgency.
    I scooted closer to the fire, and the growing flames warmed me. “I dreamed about Morlet. He wanted to know where I was.”
    The assassin stilled. “You dreamed of the