Total pages in book: 74
Estimated words: 69923 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 350(@200wpm)___ 280(@250wpm)___ 233(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 69923 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 350(@200wpm)___ 280(@250wpm)___ 233(@300wpm)
I didn’t mind. If I was lucky, Mama was already up with a basket of honey cakes and figs. We’d take them down to the docks where my grizzled new friends would tell me of the amazing world on the other side of the sea. The Calypso Meadows. The Eternal Maze. The shining capital of Trono City.
I told them one day I’d get on their boat and sail away to the world beyond. Did stowing away in a crate of salted pork and hauling ass when we docked at a random border town count as keeping my vow?
Maybe not, but it seems in the end I didn’t lie about making it to Trono City. A grim smile twisted my lips.
“What are you smirking about?” Rough hands hauled me off the horse. I opened my eyes to Castor’s piercing green orbs. “Don’t move. We’ll be booking you in for your cozy night soon enough.”
I flicked over his shoulder, landing on the Golden Fleece Inn. My brows pricked at the sight.
The Golden Fleece wasn’t a rough, copper-coin tavern whose claim to fame was the number of passed-out drunks stacked up outside. This was a nice establishment.
The stone courtyard was swept clean and laid with tables for the guests carousing. Well-dressed patrons drank, laughed, and played cards. Two floors of white stone, painted wood, and clinging vines gave a hint to how much more there was to offer inside.
This was not the kind of place that had patrons with a soldier’s salary. Just who were these men?
The fourth member of their party climbed off his horse and handed the reins to a stable boy. I don’t know why I called the other man a mystery when the true mystery was this silent figure who said even less than me on the journey. I heard them call him Nico, but except to grunt his agreement or disagreement with something they said, he didn’t speak a word.
Nico and Castor headed inside to begin an evening that would be more fun than mine. That left the three of us.
“Alexander,” Jason called.
Ah, Alexander. We finally have a name.
“I’ll get the supplies after I complete the first shift. Send Castor with the list when he relieves me.”
Alexander swung his leg off the horse, jumping down. Wind tickled my ears, gusting past me to fill his hood and blow it off his head.
My breath stopped.
For all that I pictured of the young soldier with the terrifying power, my imaginings fell laughably short.
Thick raven locks swept back from his temple, leaving the world to sink inside and drown in swirling flinty green eyes. A cute round tip topped the end of his nose, but no one would mistakenly think this softened him. Or, I dare say, mistakenly call his nose cute.
Hard lines molded his square jaw and a ruthlessly trim beard dusted it in shadows. He ran a hand through his hair and, just for a moment, I glimpsed where it curled around his ears. I blushed like he let me in on a secret—just between him and me.
Alexander was without a doubt the most gorgeous man I would ever meet in this lifetime or the next. As his full, dusky-pink lips grinned, I knew he plucked that thought right out of my head.
I snapped my head around, cheeks flaming. To be fair to myself, during the years other girls were building up a defense against a handsome face, I was off dealing with more pressing concerns.
“Whatever, Jason,” Alexander replied. “Now get that rat in a cage before she passes out from the blood rushing to her cheeks.”
Tensing, I bit back a retort as he strode away. By the gods, he was unpleasant. He must have a special hatred in his heart for deserters. What else did someone so handsome and powerful have to be angry about?
Jason walked me bound across town, collecting stares as we went. I put the onlookers out of my mind, walking the cobblestone path as though this was just another day, and I was just another normal girl giggling with friends over handsome boys.
I bet that would’ve been my life if I found my way to this village before the goddess came along. I would’ve made friends with the other young men and women prepping to leave for the academy. Our days we’d spend basking in the melting heat out in the dancing fields. At night, we’d gather in the courtyards drinking and toasting our last days as children.
“Whatever you are up to, you won’t get away with it.”
The happy scene shattered.
“I do not buy into this meek, compliant prison routine,” Jason said. He didn’t sound angry. On the contrary, I put his tone down as matter of fact. “There’s a reason you’re so content to be brought back to Trono City. Is it to finish what you started?”