Total pages in book: 209
Estimated words: 196141 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 981(@200wpm)___ 785(@250wpm)___ 654(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 196141 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 981(@200wpm)___ 785(@250wpm)___ 654(@300wpm)
“I just …” He worries about saying too much. “The strings are a bit, um … stiff. I was trying to get used to the—”
“You prefer your old violin,” she answers for him. After a brief hesitation, Kaleb nods. “Alright. It will be fetched. Also …” Her eyes fall upon his leg. “What happened there?”
Kaleb, bewildered, gazes downward. He didn’t realize it has turned so red after his shower. “I … I fell.”
“It must be nursed,” decides Raya.
That surprises Kaleb. Does she mean to fetch him a nurse, too? “I … I just need to rest it a bit, that’s all.”
“It must be causing you pain.”
“Just a night’s rest or so.”
“Ashara wants to be Lordess.”
The abrupt shift in topic causes Kaleb to grow absolutely still. He looks at her, waiting for more.
“She wants to rule the west region with her brother,” she goes on quietly, “the whole west region, all of it, ruling by his side … like a nauseating king-and-queen sort of thing, except … they’re siblings. Well … not quite siblings the way you mortals interpret it. It is rather different for us.” She chooses her words. “Most of us … do not know our mortal families. Most of them are dead. It is rare, perhaps unheard of, for families to become immortal together. So, alone as we are in the world, we attach to others who share our beliefs. I see it as a gift, to choose one’s own family. Do you have a sibling? … Did you?”
The subtle correction of “do” to “did” causes Kaleb to stare down at the ground again, as if struck in the chest.
Also, he struggles to answer. He had mentioned having a brother when they played that game in his cell, pretending to be other people. Did she forget?
“I …” He clears his throat. “I used to.”
“I sensed just now that you were about to lie,” she notices. Kaleb looks up. Did he intend to lie at first? “It is wise that you don’t. Not that I would take offense, only that most of us can tell when humans lie. We are very sensitive to shifts in the body and changes in the way you breathe, your heart rate … You’d be amazed how often humans control their breathing to conceal truth, or tears. It’s best to stick as close to the truth as possible when answering one of us. See? I mean to help you, now that you’re here, up in the House.” She frowns suddenly. “You … did know who I was speaking of earlier, right? Ashara?”
Kaleb brings his glassy gaze to her, still troubled by the idea that his every breath and heartbeat can be read by them, as if displayed on a hospital monitor. “Y-Yes. The one who, um … escorted me here.”
“Escorted. Yes, that’s a … fitting word, I guess.” She sighs. “I wonder if you remember all I said down in the cells the other night, about blood bonds and siblings … Perhaps I spoke too much and none of it stuck. I just wanted to …” She stops, stares back at him, and at once, Kaleb finds himself struck with how human she looks, despite her otherworldly poise and grace. He also never realized they’re the same height. “I hope you realize I want to protect you. From anything that might harm you.”
Kaleb slowly starts nodding.
“Including her.”
His nodding stops.
Raya looks away, lowers her voice. “I shouldn’t be saying this, but …” After a glance back at the door, she takes hold of Kaleb’s wrist and, to his surprise, drags him over to the side of the bed. The two sit. Kaleb has half a second to appreciate the soft, indescribably comfortable material of the mattress and its silken sheets before Raya continues. “The bond between sisters and brothers of our kind … it’s the strongest bond in the world. I’m telling you this to impress on you how … dangerous … the relationship of Ashara and Lord Markadian can be.”
Kaleb blinks. “Lord Markadian … is the one in charge?”
“Above all of us here, yes, even above all others across the west region, any who abide by our laws—and well, technically even those who don’t. Lord Markadian listens to his sister. It is important you keep her happy. I think she may test you many more times. She is a suspicious person. Don’t be lulled into a false sense of comfort by her kindness, and most of all, do not be too forthcoming with her. You can trust me, but—Oh, that’s so unfair of me to say.” She frowns, shaking her head. “I am asking you to trust me, yet I am just like Ashara.”
“I trust you,” says Kaleb, perhaps too desperately. “It isn’t unfair to ask me that. I trust you totally, Raya.”
“Maybe you shouldn’t,” she mutters half to herself, bitter, glancing off.