Total pages in book: 60
Estimated words: 57184 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 286(@200wpm)___ 229(@250wpm)___ 191(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 57184 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 286(@200wpm)___ 229(@250wpm)___ 191(@300wpm)
I don’t want to feel sorry for Alwar, but I do. I never understood that these decisions weighed so heavily on him. No, he didn’t give his life in the Blood Battle, but that doesn’t mean he hasn’t suffered.
“Lake, you look just like Mahra. Not similar. Exactly the same. My heart almost stopped when I laid eyes on you.”
I blink. Is this why I’ve caught him looking at me like I’m the love of his life? “Why didn’t you tell me this before?”
“There was no point. I had to learn from my mistakes and send the strongest, bravest Norfolk to proxy for me.”
“The only Norfolk left.”
“Even so, I did not want to. I delayed as long as I could to challenge Benicio again. But I knew I had to. He was scheming to take the wall, and if I did not attempt to regain power, you were doomed anyway.”
“So why are you telling me this now?” What’s changed?
“Our fates have always been intertwined. And I am not merely speaking of the original group of humans who came to my people and taught us to build, which changed the fate of the War People. I am speaking specifically of the Norfolk bloodline. It is why I cannot let go of Mahra’s memory. It is why I look at you and feel this is all meant to be. It is why, ever since you negotiated my freedom with Mato and spared Tiago from the No Ones, my people feel invincible with you at our side.”
“So what are you saying?”
He brushes a strand of my long hair back behind my ear. “I’m saying that you must leave. We cannot afford—I cannot afford—to lose you.”
“But—”
“If you want the War People and the No Ones to have the smallest chance of defending this wall against every creature in every kingdom, we have to know we are fighting for something that matters on the other side of that bridge. You.”
My heart squeezes, and his words touch me deeply. He’s not the sort of man who goes around speaking about his feelings.
I sigh. Partially with relief, partially with sadness. He’s right. I have to go. And I have to trust that he’ll do everything possible to hold the wall.
“Alwar, I have a question. My grandma said that if anything ever went wrong, I needed to burn down River Wall. She said it would buy time. Time for what?”
“I do not know, but your grandmother was always mad.”
“Mad at the world, you mean.”
“That, too.”
CHAPTER SIXTEEN
Never in my wildest dreams would I have imagined feeling so torn about leaving this nightmare of a place. I want to stay and fight even if I suck at it. Now that I know the War People and the Norfolk have lived intertwined lives for hundreds of years, and that this toxic dump isn’t some foreign planet, I feel obligated to salvage what’s left of it.
Stupid. I know.
I have to keep reminding myself that if we do things right, my world will live on. People will continue making bad choices, good choices, and everything in between. We’ll have wars, times of peace, and times of change. But at least we’ll wake up each day with a future.
“Are you sure this is safe?” I place my hand over the bump on my stomach. I haven’t quite accepted that there’s an actual living being inside it.
Alwar smiles down at me with those sapphire blue eyes that remind me so much of Bard. I wish he were here.
“Lake, I do not know of any woman in our history who has been a blood slave, became the War Queen, was turned into a vampire, and then placed on the great throne, even if only for a short time. And I certainly have not heard of a vampire who slept with a giant and a No One and who became pregnant.”
I try not to laugh. “It sounds like a soap opera.”
“I do not know what soap or music has to do with any of it,” he takes my hand in his and carefully presses a finger on top of it, “but I do know that you are strong. You are Norfolk. And if your great-great-great-grandmother can survive two Blood Battles and capture the cold heart of a warlord, then you can survive this. Your child will, too.”
I look away, trying not to tear up. “I thought kindness was frowned upon here.”
“Kindness, yes. Honesty, no.”
Alwar takes a key from the enormous ring hanging on the wall and unlocks the red door in the middle of the wall. It’s about twenty feet up.
“Where does that one go?”
“To the place where I last saw Mahra.”
“The shower?” I smile.
“Very funny. It is a spot she enjoyed next to the river.”
Suddenly, the sounds of horns echo off in the distance.
“Shit. Now? They’re coming now?” I say.