Starwalker (Starborn 1) (Sci-Fi Fantasy Romance) Read Online Free PDF Page B

face look stupid.
    She had never meant to hurt Ula’s business. She’d only wanted to be sure that she and Emma were treated with respect. Now, in light of this new awareness, people being scared of her seemed like a bad thing, when only moments ago it had seemed an asset.
    Canna nodded once and accepted the basket Ula offered. “I will come no more.”
    Ula went back to her bread dough. “I put some chocolate in there.” She tipped her head toward the woven basket Canna was cradling. “I know you like it,” she said in her hard way.
    “Sincere thanks to you, Ula. Have a nice day.” Canna turned and went quickly from the kafé, this time avoiding the eyes of the brew drinkers.
    As she walked through the city streets, her face set in a scowl. She didn’t count Ula and Emma as her friends but for some reason, she felt as if they’d disowned her, cast her aside. She didn’t have much love in her useless heart but she’d given them what she could: protection. Apparently she’d guarded them too tightly, been too aggressive.
    Figures.
    She was and always had been deemed too aggressive. Couldn’t help it though. It was her nature.
    She sighed as she came to rest on a bench near her favorite of all the fountains in An`gel. It was her bench. Literally. No one dared to sit there just in case she might pass by and desire to use it. And use it, she had.
    This particular bench was her therapy.
    Canna sat the basket on the ground and dug around in the pocket of her robe for the small file she kept with her at all times. When she found it, she carefully laid her bow aside but kept the quiver on. Sitting cross-legged on the bench, she stared at the flowing, blue tinged water of the fountain, trying to figure out what she wanted to write.
    When it finally came to her, she scoped out an empty space in the slab and began carving with the file. As she did, a certain peace came over her. A lull. A stillness. A reprieve from the torrent of emotions that thundered inside her like a storm out of control. Every time she came here, every time she experienced the hush, she wanted it to last forever.
    If only… if only she could be like this always. Then would people like her? Would they cease their chatter about her parents? Would she make friends? Real ones. Would she someday feel her heart pound in her chest? Just… what would it be like to be normal ?
    She blew at the spot where little shavings of ice had accumulated, and then went about carving again.
    Canna remembered the first time she felt the hush, remembered it clear as a picture. She was eight light-years-old—going on twenty—the first time she’d carved the bench. She’d had a rotten day. Her classmates had been especially mean since she’d broken a boy’s finger just the day before. When she finally chased them all away, she found herself oddly disappointed… for now, she was alone. Rather they be taunting her than not talking to her at all.
    Confused and frustrated, she’d wandered to the fountain and plopped down on the bench. When she figured out what she was feeling, she set to carving the word “lonely” into the ice.
    Canna blew again to release the remaining crystals and sat back to examine the new art.
    SAD
    She knew her face was still a stone but inside, she let herself roll around in the emotion. It felt like a weight upon her chest, but one she couldn’t throw off. How ironic that she could best a living being, but she could not best a feeling.
    Frustrated with the thought, she put the file back into her pocket and locked her feelings up tight.
    A few deep breaths later and she was able to eat the lunch Ula had packed for her. She saved the chocolate though. She would eat it at nightfall, since she wouldn’t see Ula and Emma. Instead, she would eat their chocolate and be glad that they would have extra business.
    ***
    Pain bloomed in Breckken’s chest like a poisoned blossom, burning and threatening to choke him. He vigorously rubbed at it with the