CaptiveoftheStars Read Online Free Page A

I am a servant. It is not appropriate." She waved her hands at her damp gown.
    "Wait a moment. Lord Kalowell will be along shortly. He is expecting to find you with them."
    "Then I shall wait."
    She returned to the women who were gathered in a knot and speaking in hushed tones. "Lord Kalowell will be here shortly. He is actively searching for the avatar of Ithena and believes you will know something about it."
    Her companions took seats in the outer room and waited. Nasha gave them all cups of wine and stood by with an empty goblet, waiting for her captor to make himself known.
    Nothing that she said or did betrayed her station or the nervous tension that was shimmying in her belly.
    She was so calm that when the door opened again, her arms jerked in shock and she almost dropped the goblet.

    Chapter Five
    Her portrait was staring at her. Not her face, but her back and feet. It was an image of her in meditation facing the rising sun, the icon of Ithena.
    The men entering the room were bringing portrait after portrait into the room, holding them so that they faced the women in the room.
    Each one was a picture of the avatar of Ithena, but none showed her face. Nasha was pleased. There was one portrait in existence with her face on it, but it had been painted when she was a child.
    Something else got her attention. All of her companions were in at least one portrait, clearly recognizable. A ball of lead started to form in Nasha's stomach.
    "Ladies. Thank you for accepting my hospitality." Lord Kalowell bowed to the ladies in the room and Nasha did her best to fade into the background.
    Tish straightened. "We were not invited, we were taken. Hospitality was never offered."
    Nasha winced. She had no idea what his lordship would make of the Fano woman's direct attack.
    "I stand corrected. Thank you for not running from your captors as Haella did. I would hate to have to chain you as well."
    "Thank you for your restraint." She curtsied and the other women followed suit.
    Nasha watched and at his imperceptible nod, she went to serve him a goblet of wine. Her chains clashed and tinkled as she crossed the room and as soon as she finished serving, she tried to bow her way back, but his hand lashed out to grab her wrist. "Stay here, Haella. I think you will be interested in the conversation."
    Turning, she set her carafe down on a short table and stood next to his lordship while her ladies looked at her with worried expressions.
    "Now, ladies, the scouts who found you also found these portraits. Who is the woman in the portraits with you?"
    Her ladies didn't say a word. Poor Mithwai looked as if she wanted to cry.
    Lord Kalowell's hand tightened on her wrist and he started to twist it behind her back. The chain dug into her waist as the metal refused to give and she kept her face impassive.
    "You know, Haella, I am amazed at your stoic acceptance of pain when it would stop with one word from those ladies." He moved her arm up her back and tears stung her eyes.
    Vavi broke. "It is the avatar of Ithena."
    He relaxed his grip on Nasha's arm and she breathed deeply. He didn't release her and that let her know that the pain would continue if the questioning stalled.
    "Where is she? Is she on the other side of the gap?"
    Nasha bit her lip as her arm was raised again when silence ensued.
    Tish answered. "She is not. She didn't make it through the gap. She closed it to keep your troops from razing our people. We came out to look for her."
    Nasha was able to breathe once again.
    "Where did she go?"
    Orial spoke, "We don't know. If we knew where she had gone, we would have been with her before now."
    A quick glance at his lordship showed a frustrated expression on his face. "Where would she go?"
    Tish nodded. "We don't know, my lord. The battle started and she was with the men. When we were all safe, the gap was sealed and she was not seen again. We were afraid she was dead."
    He closed his eyes before opening them again. "What are those