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)
“It was not,” he told me. “And now I find I have but one desire.”
“And what is that?”
“All I want is to see Isabella dead before I succumb.”
“You want the queen dead?”
“I do,” he said, and I could hear the bitterness in his voice.
“That’s treason.”
“Not here.”
“Because of Leda?”
His grunt ended in a wheeze. “Told you of Leda, did she?”
“She did, as did her son.”
“My son,” he snarled. “He is mine.”
“He’s powerful, second in strength only to the rekkr. He’s my champion.”
“Is he?”
I nodded.
“How fortunate then that I will see him when he comes with the prince for you.”
“I’m sure you will, but you won’t see the queen before you die. You’re wasting away, and I have to wonder why,” I said, leaning forward. “I don’t understand.”
“My reasons are twofold.”
“Tell me.”
“Why do you care, boy?”
I hadn’t been a boy in a very long time, but to him, I probably always would be. “I always like to listen to a good story.”
“Is that right?”
“Yes.”
I’d been all over the world and found that a universal truth was that everyone liked talking about themselves. Decimus was no different.
“Neither Ødger nor Balon were anything like me,” he began. “Neither of them had any interest in building a home.”
I was quiet, listening as I said I would, and Decimus went on and told me that Ødger had wanted to see the world, taste it, drink it down. There were not enough men in Ophir to quench his desire. Decimus had feared that if his oldest left to fuck all over the wide world, he might never return.
Balon, Decimus explained, had been interested in gaining knowledge, in learning as much as he could, expanding his mind. Decimus had feared the same would be true for him. That if he left, there would never be a way to lure Balon back.
“And so you did what? Tricked them into staying? Made them sick so they couldn’t go anywhere?”
“They needed to be committed to Ophir,” he said angrily.
“Because that’s what you wanted. Isn’t it the place of a father to give their child the confidence to use their wings so they can fly away?”
He scoffed. “Spoken like a man who will never be one.”
But I had plans to be a father, and his medieval thinking wasn’t about to crush my dreams. The fact that he hadn’t denied what he’d done to his sons was horrifying.
“You purposely had them drink blood you knew would hurt them. And now? Do you have a plan to save yourself and your sons?”
He leaned forward then, and I saw the fresh blood on the bandages. “My plan is to have your precious blood before Varic arrives and slaughters Ødger.”
I heard the creak behind me. If I hadn’t, I’d be dead.
Instead of turning to look, I slid out of the chair to the floor. I’d been trained in close-quarter fighting, and one of the things my instructor in the Corps had always stressed was, don’t waste time identifying who’s trying to kill you, just get away.
On the floor, I rolled sideways and saw Balon with a spatha in his hand that would have easily taken my head.
“Cirillo!” I yelled, and he was on his feet as four men surged around him.
“No!” Keres screamed, and from the swirling red-silk skirt she was wearing, she pulled what looked like knitting needles. I was surprised at how many of them there were, whistling through the air, striking targets. The men the long needles hit had barely enough time to choke before they went to their knees, screaming.
Grabbing Carice’s hand, Keres ran for the opening in the wall the men had come through, even as more guards appeared there.
Rolling to my feet, I ducked Balon’s second blow as men surged around Cirillo, and I met his gaze for a moment.
“Run,” he yelled before he was lost to view, disappearing under a wave of guards.
I hadn’t left him the first time. I’d gone back. I would have thought he’d know me better by now.
Charging across the room, I hit a man in the back, and he flew into Cirillo, knocking him and several others to the ground. To my horror, I saw they were diving for his chest and throat like they wanted to bite him. I couldn’t imagine I’d ever clear that image from my mind.
Shoving and pushing, finally freeing Cirillo enough so he could reach the spatha he’d put under the couch, when he swung and sliced one of the men’s head’s off, on cue, the others dived for him, looking to drink the blood.
Balon was screaming at them to secure me and Cirillo, but we bolted toward the same opening Keres and Carice had run through.
Inside the dark hallway was a door, and then another right beside it. The moment I opened the second one, five men were on us.