Free Breaking Stars (Book 2) by Jenna Van Vleet

her the words from Gabriel’s lips, Robyn was injured badly and headed for Jaden. They did not know if she had a party with her, but Aisling wagered General Calsifer was still with her, and the General was skilled in evasion.
    If the Princess was as wounded as Gabriel whispered, it was possible the whole palace could fall that very night, and Balien would be in grave danger. Aisling voiced as much as she dressed. “You need to make yourself scarce,” she advised him. “Where is the last place Nolen will look for you?”
    “I cannot rightly tell you , my Lady,” he had replied with a faint smile. “I will be in the palace, and I will be close.” With that he swept away, swallowed by the cloth-of-gold cloak and the darkness.
    “I awoke to lightning a while before Balien arrived,” Cordis called. “Could a girl sustain a lightning strike?” His voice betrayed a hint of worry. Cordis loved the girl like one of his own.
    “It…it is unlikely,” she returned.
    They rode until the sun rose behind them, waking the world in a golden sheen. Their horses slowed to a trot, catching their wind as they crested a slight hill. Cordis squinted into daybreak and looked along the road.
    “A fire at night can be seen for miles,” he said, but his eyes were not solely for the road. “If her wounds are bad, they will need to light a fire to cauterize or boil the damage.” They stopped the horses and waited on the crest for several minutes, and far off in the distance they spotted rising smoke. Cordis kicked his heels and took off.
    “It could be anyone,” Aisling called, but the man did not hear her.
    “We cannot be far. They could not have gotten much farther ahead of us,” he yelled. They had fine palace chargers, and the chance that Robyn found better was logical but not guaranteed. If she was traveling on roneys and garrons, there was slim chance they were much farther ahead.
    They slowed to a trot as they came off the road. There was evidence of recent trafficking in the brush. Before too long they heard horses ahead, and Cordis dismounted in hopes that a man on foot would not seem as threatening. Aisling followed suit but took the lead as she was accustomed to. Cordis liked to be the leader in their relationship, but she rarely gave him as much control as she was used to.
    They smelled the fire before they saw it. She moved slowly, keeping her footsteps soft as they picked their way through the brush. The forest was thick with pines that filled the air with their earthy scent. The underbrush scattered with pine needles, a dozen varieties of ferns, and a few thorn plants snagged at her skirts.
    Aisling spotted several men around a fire and a blonde woman as they came around a tree.
    “Hello there,” Aisling called gently and the girl spun, her wide red eyes surprised. Instantly, a dozen men grabbed their swords and weapons that made a shrill metallic ring through the trees.
    “Mage Gabriel sent us,” Aisling said and raised her hands. “As well as the Princess’ brother.”
    “Nolen?” the blonde girl spat with an accusing, suspicious tone. Aisling looked at her a second time. She knew the face but not the name.
    “ Brother , not cousin,” a tall man with dusty blond hair replied and put a hand on the girl’s shoulder. “Lady Aisling, you are welcome in our camp. I am Talon Estrin; this is my sister Andolyn.”
    “We came as soon as we could.” Cordis said and stepped up beside Aisling. “Where is she?”
    Andolyn’s eyes welled up. “I’m afraid you have come too late.”
    Fear clenched Aisling’s heart, but she had long ago learned to push it aside. General Calsifer had his back to them, swathed in a gray blanket that almost drowned his head, but Aisling knew his short salt-and-pepper hair too well. She swallowed and prepared herself for the worst as she stepped around the blanket’s edges.
    The General hunched over, his legs folded beneath him, and the blanket wrapped around him. “I failed her,