Total pages in book: 152
Estimated words: 143051 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 715(@200wpm)___ 572(@250wpm)___ 477(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 143051 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 715(@200wpm)___ 572(@250wpm)___ 477(@300wpm)
She shook her head.
“I can’t leave the palace halls. I’ll be here all my life and die an old maid—like the Blind Crone seer who’s always croaking around here.”
“The who?” I asked. But at that moment there was a light rapping at the door and I heard Ari’s voice outside.
“Jalli? Is everything all right?”
“All fine,” Jalli called back. “Kaitlyn’s in the bath, but she’s all covered with bubbles.” She looked at me. “Do you mind if I let him in?”
I looked down at myself. As Kaitlyn had said, I was submerged in pink bubbles up to my neck—it was a really deep tub. So I didn’t think it would be a problem for Ari to come in.
“Let him in,” I told her.
“Okay.” She opened the door and smiled at her big brother as he came in.
I sank a little lower in the bubbles, feeling self-conscious. But at least the pink, sweet-smelling foam covered me and I was decent. Taking a deep breath, I looked up at him and smiled.
“Hi, Ari—come in.”
78
Kaitlyn
Ari smiled back at me.
“Looks like you’re enjoying your bath,” he said.
“And the company,” I said, smiling at Jalli who gave me a little wave before she hobbled swiftly out, closing the door behind her.
“I thought you two might like each other,” Ari said.
“Well, Jalli’s a very likable person,” I said.
“Yes, she gets into your heart almost the minute you see her.” He grinned.
“She certainly got into yours right away,” I said carefully. “Jalli was telling me how you saved her from being killed when she was a baby.”
He nodded gravely. “Though I was so young, I remember it well. I took one look at her and my Drake and I knew we couldn’t let her go.”
“It’s a wonderful story,” I said. “But, Ari…do your people really leave babies with birth defects out on the rocks to die?”
“Not now,” he said quickly. “Jalli is the light of my father’s life—her presence helped him understand how wrong the practice was. So we don’t do it anymore.”
“But Jalli talked like it was still going on,” I protested. “She said you have a ‘Council of Perfection’ that inspects every baby when it’s born.”
“We do still have the Council of Perfection,” he admitted. “But they don’t demand that imperfect infants be abandoned anymore.”
“Just locked away where no one can see them?” I asked dryly. “Like Jalli?”
Ari ran a hand through his hair.
“I tried to get my Sire to let me take her with me to the human world, but he wouldn’t hear of it. My father loves Jalli but he thinks she must be hidden away for her own good.”
Or maybe because he’s ashamed of her, I thought. Because Jalli would be a reminder to everyone who saw her that the Alpha Drake of the Sky Lands had fathered a less-than-perfect child.
“You know, there are operations in my world that could help her,” I told him. “Surgeons who could fix her foot.”
“I know.” He looked more unhappy than ever. “But my Sire doesn’t trust the human world—I could barely get him to let me go attend Nocturne Academy for a single year myself.”
“And you repaid him by bringing back the most unsuitable girl possible,” I pointed out.
“Don’t say that, Kaitlyn.” He sat on the edge of the tub and took my hand in his. “You’re perfectly suitable,” he said, looking into my eyes. “And I’m going to make my father and everyone else in the Sky Lands see it.”
“Because you’re going to make me your ‘queen?’” I asked, keeping my voice low in case anyone was listening outside. The idea of being the queen of anywhere—let alone a country that would hate me just for being who and what I was—still felt foreign and wrong. Also, I was only sixteen—I wasn’t exactly thinking about marriage—let alone ruling a country I hadn’t even been in twenty-four hours yet.
“And their queen too,” Ari said, nodding. “But don’t worry,” he added, apparently seeing the stunned look on my face. “That won’t be for some years, until my father decides to step down and give me the throne.”
I shook my head.
“I…I don’t know what to say.”
Ari frowned. “Is something wrong, Kaitlyn? Are you regretting coming home with me?”
“It’s not that exactly. It’s just…I had no idea about any of this,” I told him. “I mean, I knew you were some kind of prince in your land, but I never imagined you lived in a giant Taj Mahal built for dragons—excuse me, Drakes. And I didn’t know you wanted to get married, either. Or bonded or whatever you call it. Ari, I’m only sixteen.”
“Don’t worry, L’lorna.” He squeezed my hand reassuringly. “Our nuptials don’t have to happen right away. It’s enough that my Drake and I have claimed you as our own and everyone knows it.”
“Do you really think your father is going to let you get away with this? Um, marrying me, I mean?” I said, which still sounded weird, though I thought I was getting more used to it.