The Gift of Battle Read Online Free PDF Page A

If you do not value your
family, I cannot teach you to value it.”
    Kristof looked
back at her gravely.
    “And do you
think my father values family?” he asked.
    “Very much,” she
replied. “At least from what I can see.”
    Kristof shook
his head.
    “Let me show you
something.”
    Kristof took her
elbow and led her down another corridor to the left, then up a long flight of
steps, stopping before a thick oak door. He looked at her meaningfully, then
pulled it open, revealing a set of iron bars.
    Gwen stood
there, curious, nervous to see whatever he wanted to show her—then she stepped
up and stared through the bars. She was horrified to see a young, beautiful
girl sitting alone in a cell, staring out the window, her long hair hanging on
her face. Though her eyes were wide open, she did not seem to take notice of
their presence.
    “This is how my
father cares for family,” Kristof said.
    Gwen looked back
at him, curious.
    “His family?”
Gwen asked, stunned.
    Kristof nodded.
    “Kathryn. His
other daughter. The one he hides from the world. She has been relegated here,
to this cell. Why? Because she is touched. Because she’s not perfect, like him.
Because he’s ashamed of her.”
    Gwen fell
silent, feeling a pit in her stomach as she looked at the girl sadly, wanting
to help her. She started to wonder about the King, and started to wonder if Kristof
had any truth to his words.
    “Eldof values
family,” Kristof continued. “He would never abandon one of his own. He values
our true selves. No one here is turned away out of shame. That is the
blight of pride. And those who are touched are closest to their true selves.”
    Kristof sighed.
    “When you meet Eldof,”
he said, “you will understand. There is no one like him, nor will there ever
be.”
    Gwen could see
the fanaticism in his eyes, could see how lost he was in this place, this cult,
and she knew he was too far lost to ever return to the King. She looked over
and saw the King’s daughter sitting there, and she felt overwhelmed with
sadness for her, for this entire place, for their shattered family. Her
picture-perfect view of the Ridge, of the perfect royal family, was crumbling.
This place, like every other, had its own dark underbelly. There was a silent
battle raging here, and it was a battle of beliefs.
    It was a battle
Gwen knew she could not win. Nor did she have time to. Gwen thought of her own
abandoned family, and she felt the pressing urgency to rescue her husband and
her son. Her head was spinning in this place, with the incense thick in the air
and lack of windows disorienting her, and she wanted to get what she needed and
leave. She tried to remember why she’d even come here, then it came back to
her: to save the Ridge, as she had vowed to the King.
    “Your father
believes that this tower holds a secret,” Gwen said, getting to the point, “a
secret that could save the Ridge, could save your people.”
    Kristof smiled
and crossed his fingers.
    “My father and
his beliefs,” he replied.
    Gwen furrowed
her brow.
    “Are you saying
it is not true?” she asked. “That there is no ancient book?”
    He paused,
looked away, then sighed deeply and fell silent for a long time. Finally, he
continued.
    “What should be
revealed to you, and when,” he said, “is beyond me. Only Eldof can answer your
questions.”
    Gwen felt a
sense of urgency rising within her.
    “Can you bring
me to him?”
    Kristof smiled,
turned, and began to walk down the corridor.
    “As surely,” he
said, walking quickly, already distant, “as a moth to a flame.”
     

CHAPTER FIVE
     
     
    Stara stood on
the precarious platform, trying not to look down as she was pulled higher and
higher in the sky, seeing the vista expand with each yank of the rope. The
platform rose higher and higher along the edge of the Ridge, and Stara stood
there, her heart pounding, in disguise, the hood pulled low over her face, and
sweat trickling down her back as she felt the desert