Black Rose Read Online Free PDF Page B

by the soft ocean wind.
Mara knelt down, running her hand through the warm, golden sand and then looked
up, gazing out into the blue sea where the water broke in white waves along the
edge of the beach.
    “Hello,”
whispered a small voice. She turned her head to face the young boy who had
walked up beside her. His bronze skin was kissed lightly by the sun, and his
short blond hair blew in the wind. He wore a pair of leather pants and a white
shirt that buttoned up the front with small, sapphire buttons. Her gaze
traveled up to view the boy’s young face, and she found herself staring into a
pair of blue eyes; eyes the color of the sea, with a touch of white running
through them as though the waves of the ocean moved gently within his azure
gaze.
    “How
old are you, child?”
    The
boy held up four bronzed fingers. 
    “What
are you doing out here on the beach?”
    “Mommy
told me to come here,” the boy told her.
    Mara
forced a soft smile upon her full lips. “And who is your mommy?” she asked,
knowing the answer.
    “Sophia.
Please, can you help me? Mommy is really scared. She sent me here.” There were
tears running down the child’s rosy, wind-blown cheeks.
    Mara
held out her arms to the young boy, who trustingly came into her embrace. “What
is your name?”
    “Dorian,”
the child answered quietly.
    “Well,
Prince Dorian, there is nothing to be scared of anymore. I will take you to
your mother.”
    “You
can?”
    She
pulled back slightly. “Yes, child. In fact, I have a secret to tell you. Do you
think you can keep a secret?”
    The
child stopped crying and nodded his head. “This, my Prince, is just a bad
dream, that’s all.” She fought to maintain her smile. “Just a bad dream, and
dreams are nothing to be afraid of.”
    He
looked at her quizzically for a moment before returning her smile. “Can I wake
up now?” Mara’s heart lurched in her chest as she stared into his trusting blue
eyes.
    “Yes,
child. I am going to make the bad dream end. All you have to do is close your
eyes. Do you think you can do that for me, little prince?”
    The
young boy nodded happily as Mara placed a hand upon the hilt of her long,
silver blade. Then the child closed what Mara knew, would be the last eyes to
ever hold the sea.

Chapter IX
    Mara
awoke to find Garreth sitting beside her. A former Sub-Captain of the Black
Rose, Garreth had spent a lifetime attempting to avoid any position of command
within the courts he had devoted his life to. He sat beside Mara dressed in a
dark pair of blue jeans and a white t-shirt.  His blond hair was shaggy
with bangs that were just beginning to obstruct the view to his pale green
eyes. “You need a haircut,” Mara said groggily, a persistent pounding against
her left temple.
    “Hello,
Mara,” he said to his former Captain. “I would say that I was surprised to see
you here. However, after seeing Edward, I would honestly expect to find you
nowhere else.”
    “Go
away,” Mara told him. “Or at least kill the lights.”
    Garreth
glanced toward the desk at the empty bottle, and then he glanced back towards
her. “Are you drunk?”
    Mara
gave a deep groan. “Not anymore.”
    “Mara?
You don’t drink alcohol.”
    “No,”
she replied. “The Captain of the Black Rose does not drink alcohol. I, on the
other hand, drink just fine.”
    He
sat in silence for several moments and then said, “Mara, are you okay?”
    “Aren’t
I always?”
    Garreth
shook his head. “I spoke with Nolan when I arrived. Glorified assassins?”
    Mara
closed her eyes as the previous night slowly returned. “Please go away.”
    “Destroyers,
not protectors?”
    “Well,
aren’t we? You should know, you were one of us.”
    Garreth
shook his head, his long blond bangs swishing along his brow. “I haven’t seen
you like this since the night Phillip died.”
    “A
lot of people died that night.”
    “But
you only cared about one. I came as soon as I heard. It must have been hard for
you to