Total pages in book: 129
Estimated words: 123190 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 616(@200wpm)___ 493(@250wpm)___ 411(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 123190 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 616(@200wpm)___ 493(@250wpm)___ 411(@300wpm)
“Finish eating, and we’ll show you around,” Remme says. “We have an old friend who’s eager to meet you.”
Chapter Twenty-One
Jasalyn
THE ELORAN SETTLEMENT IS MASSIVE. I expected maybe half a dozen tents around a fire, maybe a few more secure structures, but this place isn’t anything nearly so temporary. Small A-frame homes with grass roofs line the streets, and the town center has a gathering area, a pavilion, and an altar.
A quarter hour passed before Kendrick joined us outside. He’s been quieter than normal, and I can’t stop looking at him. He’s usually covered in the belts and straps of various weapons. Even in Mordeus’s dungeons, Kendrick was in riding leathers. I’m not sure I’ve ever seen him in something so casual as the cotton tunic and trousers he’s wearing today.
He’s even more handsome like this somehow, and my heart tugs hard at the truth. I like seeing him like this because I won’t get much of it. Every day is a reminder that my time with him is limited. He’s working to go back to Elora, and once I help him get there, I’ll be back at the palace, and then I’ll be . . . then I’ll be nothing at all.
“Did you get enough to eat?” he asks as we start down the street toward the village center.
I wrap my arms around myself. I haven’t even been awake for two hours, and I already feel like I could crawl back into bed and sleep. “You don’t need to coddle me.”
In front of us, Remme and Skylar are arguing under their breath.
Kendrick tucks his hands into his pockets. “I’m not coddling. You were ill, and I want to make sure you fully recover.”
I bow my head. “Well, thank you, but you needn’t worry. I’m fine.”
His brow pinches as he studies my face, and I can tell by his expression that he can see my exhaustion.
“Does my sister know about this place?” I ask, more to change the subject than anything else.
“I would imagine so,” Kendrick says, “though I can’t say she’s aware there are more Elorans here than anywhere else in her court.”
“How did that come to be? Did the fae welcome them?”
“This village was ransacked by Mordeus five years ago,” Skylar says, glancing at me over her shoulder. “He looted the homes and businesses, then burned it to the ground when he heard a rumor they’d hosted his nephew, who, of course was the one who should’ve taken the throne when Oberon died.”
My stomach pitches. “That’s horrible.” I’ve always known Mordeus was cruel—never had a reason to doubt it—and yet I’ve never given my sister enough credit for the good she did when she took the throne. Maybe I didn’t want to understand.
“This village was only one of many he destroyed,” Kendrick says.
“So Mordeus didn’t notice when Elorans moved in and took over?”
“We were more strategic than that,” Remme says. He turns toward me and walks backward so he can look at me as he talks. “We didn’t really start rebuilding the town until your sister took the throne, and at that point many fae were coming out of hiding and rebuilding areas that had been destroyed by Mordeus—either directly or by his oppressive laws.”
“Jenkish,” Kendrick calls, waving over a brown-skinned older man with white shoulder-length hair. He’s not glamoured, I realize, and I wonder if it’s because humans feel safe to appear as they are while they’re in this settlement.
“Hale,” he says, smiling broadly and nodding at me. “I’m glad to see your friend recovered.”
Kendrick turns and extends a hand toward me. “Jas, this is Lons Jenkish, my father’s oldest friend. Lons, allow me to introduce you to Princess Jasalyn, child of Mab.”
I frown at Kendrick. Surely this old friend of his father’s doesn’t care that I’m not just a human glamoured to look fae—that fae lurks in my blood. I hate the idea of meeting these Elorans and having them see me as something they’re taught to fear. “Just Jas is fine. I had nothing to do with my ancestry.”
Lons’s eyes go bright, and he laughs. “This one’s sharp, isn’t she?” His eyes sparkle when they land on me. “Even if you didn’t have such a unique bloodline, you would be special to me. Any friend of Hale’s is a friend of mine.”
“Same,” I say softly.
Remme grunts behind me. “You never extended that courtesy to me. I had to work to win your heart.”
I glance toward him. “But you did, so why are you fussing about it now?”
“All those lost days, Princess,” Remme says, winking.
Lons turns to Kendrick. “It was lucky Felicity was available to stand in for the princess. Do you know—is that going well?”
As if sensing my tension at this question, Kendrick takes my hand and gives it a hard squeeze. “Better than expected.”
Lons’s shoulders drop. “Good. The last thing we need is an angry shadow queen tearing apart our camp looking for her sister.”