Series: Lords of Rathe Series by Meagan Brandy
Total pages in book: 104
Estimated words: 98580 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 493(@200wpm)___ 394(@250wpm)___ 329(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 98580 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 493(@200wpm)___ 394(@250wpm)___ 329(@300wpm)
We're literally walking around the gardens aimlessly, like cattle waiting to be slaughtered.
Oh my god, what if that does happen?
What if they off us one by one until there's only a single girl left standing?
No, that can’t be how this works… right?
I turn to the pink-haired girl who has been trailing Alex’s every step all afternoon, probably plotting her revenge for whatever it is she did to her earlier.
“So, hey, do they kill us if we don’t live up to Lord Deveraux’s expectations?”
The girl’s wide, green eyes snap to mine, and I’ve caught her so off guard she starts laughing.
A small smile spreads across my face. “What, I’m for real. How does this work exactly?”
The girl composes herself, licking her lips as she narrows her eyes at me. After a moment she tips her head. “You don’t want to rip my head off and feed it to the dragons, do you?”
“Dragons?!” My eyes bug. “What the fuck?”
Her mouth pulls to the side. “You’re like...weird.”
I lift a shoulder, looking to the side and what do you know, another glass of Faepagne appears!
“Thank you, Frankie.” I smile at the angry looking gnome, but he just grunts and walks away.
“His name is not Frankie?”
“Probably not, but when all he did was grunt when I asked him what it was, I told him I was calling him Frankie. I think he secretly likes it.”
“What makes you say that?”
“He keeps coming back.” I smile. “So... will they kill us off one by one like some kind of sacrificial voodoo shit, or what?”
She blinks at me, shaking her head. “I … no. No, they won’t kill us. Excuse me.” She rushes away like I freaked her out, but whatever.
I spin, coming to a halt when none other than Zeke steps up. “Hello again.”
He smirks down at me. “Hello again.”
I open my mouth to speak when a voice booms over the gardens.
“The one-on-ones for today have been canceled. Return to your quarters. You will be expected for dinner and dancing when Saturn’s ring flares its brightest.”
I look back to Zeke, raising a brow. “So.”
“So.” He lifts a joint between us and I grin.
“Lead the way…”
He cackles loudly, taking my hand with his and shoving the joint between his lips with his other. I don’t even bother stopping him to see where we’re going. Everything is too weird. The courtship being the least weird thing that has happened to me today.
“Here!” Zeke drops to his knees in front of me, gesturing to his shoulders. “Jump on them!” I hook my legs around him and yelp when he tucks my shins into his arms to steady me. Once I’m on top, he laughs. “Close your eyes and count to ten.”
“What!?” My hand finds his hair for a better hold.
“Come on! I know a place, but I need you to close your eyes.”
There’s a lot of things that I’ve questioned over the years. A lot. Even understanding our world, and trying to conceal it, those things haven’t even scratched the surface of the past twenty-four hours.
What could possibly be worse?
I close my eyes.
Wind whips around my neck as a rush of adrenaline puts me in a chokehold. I try to swallow past the excitement but it’s already time to open my eyes and when I do— “Oh my god!”
He chuckles, dipping into the water, and I watch as liquid gold swallows my legs from my knees down. I fall backwards, arms stretched wide as the liquid wraps around my arms like a warm hug and all my emotions that I’d been feeling moments ago calm.
I breathe in and out, as whatever it is I’m floating in carries my weight. “This is so lovely.”
“Right?” Zeke is right beside me. He brings the end of the joint to my lips and I take it, inhaling the sweet taste of something that doesn’t quite taste of weed. When he moves his hand away from me, I’m almost dreading the choking fit I’m about to have, but instead, smooth smoke clouds leave my lips and the effects take charge. I feel my muscles completely relax, as I roll forward and to my feet.
Zeke is already taking another hit when I find the area around us. Purple trees flow over the small little swimming area we’re in, with fat shrubs, the brightest green scattered all around us. Turning over my shoulder, I expect to see more greenery but instead it’s the emptiness of the solar system. The mauve and gentle coral colors display our solar system and meet the infinity edge-style pool. Saturn hovers calmly behind us in the perfect backdrop.
“Wow.” I bite my tongue, my cheeks flashing red. “It’s so beautiful here.”
“Isn’t it?”
I smile at nothing and everything, fully fucking blissed out. “So why are you here? Is the future King courting you, too?”
Zeke’s raspy chuckle fills my ears and I close my eyes, following the little speckles of light that dance behind them. “Sorry to disappoint, but no. There’re always a dozen extras here for the courtship, males and females. We’re witnesses of sorts, stand-ins to dance with the girls at the ball to keep them occupied when the Lord is busy.”