Total pages in book: 109
Estimated words: 104842 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 524(@200wpm)___ 419(@250wpm)___ 349(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 104842 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 524(@200wpm)___ 419(@250wpm)___ 349(@300wpm)
“You’ve used that power for good and evil?”
“Of course.”
“You could make people go crazy if you wanted.”
“Yes.” She gave me a slight smile. “I’ve driven many quite mad.”
“But not for sport.”
“No,” she said quickly. “Never for that, only for justice.”
“What did you mean when you said that only you and me would know Zev wasn’t Varic with a glamour on him?”
“Varic made you his. You can never be deceived by any glamour a witch, like myself, would have you see. And of course, being a witch myself, I can see right through them.”
“She’s a witch, all right,” Zev muttered under his breath.
“I heard that, wolf.”
He grunted.
“What is Isabella’s power?”
Sabira grinned at me. “Surely you know.”
I had to think a moment. “She’s so charming.”
“That’s right. No one can tell a lie to Isabella Maedoc. And she can enthrall anyone she meets with merely a word.”
“But only if she wants to.”
“That’s right,” she said, pointing at me like she was impressed. “Very smart. If she doesn’t like you, forget it. And feeling the weight of her distaste is another power altogether.”
I nodded, then sat up from my slouch in the chair to face her.
“Oh, whatever this is, it’s serious,” she said, mirroring my movement.
“I want to know about Zev.”
“What about Zev?”
“My consort,” Zev began from beside me, “I—”
“No,” I told him, my eyes never leaving Sabira’s face. “Who is he?”
“Why, he’s the son of Leda and Decimus, of course.”
I had to…think.
I got up, walked to the balcony balustrade, and looked out at the buildings and the sea beyond, taking a few moments to process, then returned to them.
“I think you broke him,” Zev grumbled at Sabira.
“Well, it’s not like it’s a secret.”
“Does Varic know?” I asked her.
Her brows crinkled. “You know…I have no idea. I’m unsure why he would or wouldn’t. It’s not important.”
“How can you say that?”
“Because my mother was a courtesan,” Zev said. “So I’m as meaningless to Decimus as Alrek is to the king.”
I crossed my arms.
“Well now, that’s not exactly true, is it?” Sabira scolded Zev.
He shook his head.
“Tell me from the beginning,” I said to Sabira. “Please.”
“Of course, my dear, whatever you want.”
“We could go back to my chambers,” I suggested.
“Oh, I’m sorry, Jason, did I miss you receiving the king’s leave?”
She was right. He hadn’t released me. “No.”
“He doesn’t care about us discussing ancient history. It’s only the here and now that seem to be eating him up.”
“Do you know what’s wrong?”
“I have an idea, but let’s speak of Zev, shall we?”
“Yes, please.”
“Is this really—”
“Yes,” I snapped, glaring at him before refocusing on Sabira. “Sorry. Please continue.”
“Well—”
“Wait one moment,” I murmured, then to Zev, “If this is really bothering you, I don’t want to—”
“It’s fine,” he grumbled. “It’s just ancient history you shouldn’t bother with.”
“Okay, good,” I rushed out, returning my attention to Sabira. “I love history.”
She grinned at me. “Yes, I know, and it’s very kind of you to worry about Zev’s feelings. Most would only care about having their curiosity sated.”
“Well, he’s my champion. I wouldn’t want him to think he wasn’t special to me.”
Zev groaned, and Sabira chuckled.
“Please,” I prodded her.
Sabira inhaled deeply before she began. “Leda was, and remains to this day, the most breathtaking woman I have ever laid eyes on.”
I nodded for her to go on.
“You have merely to look upon her only child to know she was a goddess.”
No argument there. Zev was a beautiful man.
“She was brought as a slave from Caledonia, if I remember correctly, and was to be a concubine. This was when all of them were slaves, you understand. Taken, as people were then, as spoils of war.”
Zev got up, and as I had moments before, went to stand by the stone balustrade, staring out at the sea, his hair moving gently in the breeze.
“It so happened that Isabella was at court at that time, and she secured custody of all the women and their children brought before the king.”
“She could do that?”
“She’s the queen, my dear. She may do as she pleases.”
“Okay.”
“So Leda became hers, and unlike the others, whom Isabella sent immediately to her island in Greece, Leda begged to remain at her side in the palace and so became Isabella’s first courtier. She was her constant companion and traveled everywhere with her. Leda was educated and became someone others sought out to learn from. She rose at court, becoming a teacher, and eventually took over the running of the library and the hypogeum. She and Isabella were great friends, and Leda, not the king, was the main reason the queen spent so much time here.”
“And then?”
“And then one day Leda went to swim in the sea and was gone.”
“How do you mean, gone?”
“Gone in a way that it was understood she either drowned or was attacked by some animal in the water.”
“But what really happened?”