A Shattered Dawn

Chapter 21

The knock on Gabriel's door startled him. Who could be asking for him at this hour? He pushed himself out of bed, heading over to the door. It opened before he reached it and a tall woman stood in the doorway, her hair darkened by the low light. She smirked at him, walked into his room with light footsteps, and pushed the door shut behind her. She made herself comfortable on his bed.

"So nice to finally meet you, my famed merchant."

His eyes widened as he realized that she was the anonymous royal who was sending him letters. He would not be so surprised if she were not the Duke's wife. He had expected it would be a royal who was distantly related to the King, but the king's brother's wife? This was surely unexpected.

"Why so surprised? I heard what was going on, what they had planned, and I wanted to change things."

This made Gabriel curious. What, exactly, was being planned?

He asked her.

"You haven't heard?"

He shook his head.

"They're planning an attack..."

He waited for her to continue.

"If you tell me, then I can save lives. Please, I have a family—"

That was Gabriel's first mistake. It would doom him later.

"Yes, I'll be right back."

She left his room, and Gabriel was left wondering. What would happen if the attack happened? Would he and his family make it out alive? They would have to leave their home. Dread filled him as he realized that his daughter would have the life he never wanted her to have.

Soon enough, the woman returned and pulled a rolled–up map out of her robe. She spread it out on the silk sheets.

"He plans to cross the Split here."

She gestured at an eastern point on the Split. It was close to where Gabriel and his family lived. He sucked in a breath.

"Then the legions are going to move west."

It was only a matter of time until his family was murdered.

"Then they will venture into the Nivius Mountains and rid the lands of any tribes residing in the north. There will be no Night Angels left."

Gabriel didn't know what to say. He couldn't speak—he was shocked, and scared, and knew he had to work to stop the attacks from happening. Or, at least, stop them from being so deadly.

"Thank you for telling me this."

She nodded, rolling up the map.

Gabriel turned, watching the moonlight bounce over the placid sea.

"Do you have the stone?"

When he turned around, her robe was gone.

He took a step back in shock.

"Well, don't you want to have some fun first?"

She pouted. He looked away from the long, curving lines of her body.

"I'm sorry, but I have a wife, and—"

She was inches from his face now. He could feel her hot breath on his cheeks.

"Do you want the stone or not?"

Gabriel looked away from her piercing blue eyes, sighing. He put his head in his hands, rubbing his eyes as though he could erase everything he just saw. Everything he didn't want to see.

He didn't know what to do. If he refused to please her, he would return empty-handed, and if he was lucky, he and his family could escape. But where would they run to? The mountains? Even then, if they survived the unbearable cold, there was still a chance that the king's legions would find and kill them anyway.

But if he did decide to do this... the guilt would never leave him. But at least his family would be safer.

So that night, Gabriel did something he would never tell anyone. The act would never leave that bedroom, and he felt nothing but shame as she placed the amber stone in his open hand. He felt dirty and wrong, and he couldn't believe what he had done. A part of him believed it was all a dream, and he would wake up any moment next to his beloved wife. But unfortunately, it was all real, and Gabriel woke the next morning with the stone clutched in his fist like it was the only thing standing between him and death. And it was, in a way.

No matter how twisted it was, that he had to sleep with a royal to protect his loved ones, he did not regret it.

He would never regret protecting his family. He would, always and forever, do whatever it took to keep them safe. So when the sun rose, all Gabriel was thinking about was them. His daughter's beautiful smile, his perfect wife. All he wanted was for them to be safe and happy, no matter how many sacrifices he had to make along the way.

He collected his belongings as fast as he could, desperate to make it back to his family in time. But the moment he opened the door, he knew something was wrong. Servants were running door to door, informing each guest that the grounds were on lockdown—a powerful weapon had been stolen and no one was allowed to leave. Gabriel shut his door, locking the bolts tightly. He had to find another way out, and fast.

There was one window in his room, but the drop was too high to manage. It was the only option, though. Just like how Gabriel had no choice in sleeping with the royal, he had no choice but to open the window. Looking down made his stomach drop. He knew he could not take both of his bags. He unpacked as quickly as he could and only brought the essential items for his return, abandoning the rest on his bed.

He faced the window again, crawling through and gripping the sides to stabilize himself. There was a thin ledge that wrapped around the building, and Gabriel took advantage of it, using it as a foothold. He still needed to get down to the next level, though. The windowsill below him was wider. He could drop, but only if he was able to hang low enough to minimize damage. If he jumped from where he currently stood to the ground below, he would surely break one of his legs. Or worse.

With extreme care, Gabriel knelt down, ignoring the deadly drop below him, and gripped the ledge with both hands, and ensuring that his grip was stable, he swung his legs down. His fingers were the only thing keeping him from falling to his death, and he could feel sweat dripping down his brow. His fingers, too, became slippery with sweat. He shimmied across the ledge until he was in a position to drop, and the shouts from his hallway motivated him to let go of the ledge, dragging his hands down the stone side of the building until he slammed to a stop, swaying. His instability motivated him to scramble for anything to hold onto, and within seconds he grabbed the inside of the window. He had to move fast and make sure that no one saw him escape. He repeated the process, hanging from his fingertips before dropping to the ground in a crouch. He let out a breath he had been holding and wiped his skinned palms on his trousers.

His horse. He had to get to his horse.

He made his way around the ornately constructed building, careful not to turn a corner and walk into a guard.

His heartbeat rang in his ears like a constant voice, saying Go. Go. Go.

He increased his pace, finally rounding the corner that led him to the posts where the horses were tied. There were guards at the front of the building—they would surely see him if he tried to get to his horse.

Debating the risks for a few moments, Gabriel got complacent and wasn't paying attention when a guard grabbed him from behind. He whirled around, shoving the guard away, and sprinted for his horse. He had no more time to think. He just had to go. The guard was only a few paces behind him, and more guards were alerted to his escape now.

He wasn't going to make it.

He untied the horse just as the first guard reached him, trying to land a hit. Gabriel tasted blood in his mouth as he punched the guard, sending him flying into the others. It gave him the break he needed to swing his leg over the horse and take off, thundering off into the horizon.