Annatrice of Cayborne Read Online Free PDF

not have enough penitence in you already man?”
    Jeaynus reared up as he realised that Annatrice, who stood and watched in horror, was on the path to truth when she spoke those things.
    “Twenty years we've been ridin' together and you put this witch before your own flesh and blood, cousin?”
    Heynagan stood his ground.
    “I'll not have this girls slaughter on my conscience; I’m too old to bear the weight of it. I am already paying for my sins havin' broken the child in!”
    “Do you know what you're saying, cousin? You'll give me no choice but to put an end to ya?” Jeaynus refused to give an inch to Heynagan's demands. Either way, someone's will was about to be denied and a life taken.
    “It's the girl, she is a witch! She is addling your thoughts; it is her curse on you for breakin' her!” Jeaynus screamed out all the while his sword hand hovered over his hilt.
    “Please Heynagan, don't let him do it!” Annatrice yelped, her face contorted with anguish and tears streaming from her face intermingling with the rain.
    “I cannot go against my cousin girl, can ye not see I am in an impossible situation!” The sympathetic soldier replied and Annatrice knew she was losing the battle.
    “No, please! He does not only intend to kill me, he wants me again, I have seen it! I have seen it!”
    Heynagan looked over to Jeaynus who thrust his shoulders back defiantly.
    “Did you plan on taking her before or after you bled her, cousin?” Heynagan's tone was aggressive; he seemed to now take Annatrice's word as truth.
    “What matter does it make? You speak with the lips of a preacher yet your hands are as dirty as mine. I'll not bow down at the knees of a hypocrite!”
    With that Heynagan lunged at Jeaynus bringing the giant man to the ground before he could unsheathe his blade. Annatrice backed off not knowing if to run or wait to see the conclusion of the conflict. The men rolled around the sodden grassland, fists flailing and throats growling. It was a shocking and violent scene; the soldiers were powerful and experienced in hand to hand combat. Annatrice turned to run when she abruptly halted and held her hands to her head.
    “No, he has a knife! Heynagan!”
    Jeaynus reached down to his boot and with the very tips of his fingers, managed to free the blade. Taking a firm grip, he swung his arm back to deliver a stabbing blow which would have ended Heynagan's resistance, however alerted by her urgent scream, Annatrice's defender reached out and clasped Jeaynus' wrist. With the weight of his bulk on top, Heynagan held the advantage and with Jeaynus' grip on his stealthy blade slipping, in a moment of utter despair, Heynagan turned the knife around and plunged the cold steel deep into his cousins chest, pushing it all the way in to the hilt with the weight of his upper body. There was no gurgled cry or whimper of pain. Jeaynus' own weapon had pierced his lung on its way to splicing his heart in two. Jeaynus' body fell limp and Heynagan lay for a while upon him, as if in a sorrowful parting embrace.
    Heynagan rolled over and brought himself to his feet, he was visibly shaking, his face full of grief and anger. Annatrice stood there fearful of what might happen next and she looked him in the eye for some kind of reassurance that she would not suffer the same fate.
    “So, what am I thinking now?” Heynagan hissed, clearly highly moved by the murder of his own blood.
    Annatrice inhaled deeply, her face equally as grieved as she felt his utter deflation.
    “You're wondering if I was worth it. You're wondering if I am worth the life of your friend.”
    Heynagan rolled his head back and closed his eyes.
    “I am a doomed man. I must return you to Fontayne for they will hunt me down if I dare not. Even if I return, it will only be a matter of time before my sins are discovered. I am killed either way.”
    Heynagan gasped a breath so telling that it was impossible to not feel the sudden solitude that he felt.
    “I'll not