Total pages in book: 116
Estimated words: 114281 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 571(@200wpm)___ 457(@250wpm)___ 381(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 114281 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 571(@200wpm)___ 457(@250wpm)___ 381(@300wpm)
It’s the woman I saw in my mother’s hut.
The maiden I was promised.
She walks closer to me, her steps ethereal, delicate like a feather as she almost seems to levitate in her white dress. In her hands, she holds a bucket and a cloth. She approaches me but hesitates and bites her lip, inspecting me. Her hand drifts toward my face, and I let her touch my cheek. Her hands are soft, graceful, but they do nothing for my heart.
She leans in and goes to her knees in front of me, and she pushes the cloth into the bucket. Water drips off the cloth, and she gently dabs the cloth against my skin. The hot water is a warm welcome to my aching skin as she cleans off the dirt and blood.
When she’s done, she places the cloth back in the bucket. Then she grabs my face with both hands and makes me look at her. Look at the sweet smile, the ashen blond hair, her rosy cheeks. But nothing about her stirs my body the way April did.
“Do you want me?” she asks in our native tongue, caressing me gently.
I don’t respond, but I cannot stop my face from contorting at the thought of having another woman. Of knowing it would hurt the only one I care about.
The girl in front of me frowns, confused, and shakes her head. “How? Why?”
I look away in defeat, in embarrassment.
Because I did the one thing I was not supposed to do.
Fall for another.
She sighs and whispers, “If that is what you truly want …”
Her fingers linger near my chin, forcing me to look up as she stands.
I know I just signed my own death sentence.
But I would rather dishonor my people than dishonor my own heart.
Still, it’s hard to look at the girl whose eyes tear up as she clutches her hand close to her chest. Then she quickly darts off, only to talk to the guard outside before disappearing. I sigh as the door closes again.
This must be the end of the line.
But even as I sit here in shame, I still know I made the right decision.
I gave April what her heart desired the most. I protected her with everything I had the second her life was in danger, and if dying because of that makes me a sinner, then so be it.
Suddenly, the door opens again.
In steps a guard, dragging along another person, shoving them inside.
Only when the door is closed do I look up, trying to see who it is with the only visible light coming from the candle lit before I was locked up. But the second I look up, the air is knocked from my lungs.
“April.”
April
His face is in shambles, his body covered in bruises, and it’s a shock to see him that way. I can’t hide the despair on my face as I run to him and collapse beside him, wrapping my arms around him tight. “Oh, Soren. I’m sorry. I’m so sorry.”
The warmth of his body against mine ignites my soul. Even though he’s still tied up and unable to hug me back, I’m glad I still got the opportunity to have him close.
“It’s okay,” he replies, his voice warm, steady. Not how I’d expect it to sound after what we’ve just been through.
“I thought I almost lost you,” I whisper. “Why? Why did you try to sacrifice yourself for me?”
He looks up at me. “Because I promised I’d keep you safe.”
His words unravel me, laying bare something I’ve tried to keep hidden for so long. Tears well up in my eyes as I remember he said those words to me before when he told me to trust him … that he’d keep me safe. And something about that makes me choke up inside.
I squeeze him tight as I hug him hard. “You kept your promise. But you almost died.”
“I’m alive,” he replies as I try to hide my sniffles and fail miserably.
“You’re hurt,” I add, gently brushing over the wounds on his back.
“It’ll heal,” he says, groaning.
I quickly stop, hoping I didn’t hurt him further, and I lean back to look at him. “We have to get out of here.”
He shakes his head. “I have no fight left in me.”
All of it was spent on saving me.
Oh God. What have I done?
“Isn’t there anything we can do?”
He jerks the ropes around his wrists, but they’re too tight to do anything. I glance at them and then quickly jump up to rush to the mirror hanging on the wall. I wrap the wet cloth around my hand and shatter the mirror softly so no one hears. Then I pick up a shard from the ground and run back to Soren, cutting through the rope until his hands and feet are finally free again.
He stretches to release the tension, the size of him still making me choke up. He instantly wraps his arms around me, squishing me tight until I drop the shard, probably to stop me from fighting the guards outside.