Total pages in book: 134
Estimated words: 127026 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 635(@200wpm)___ 508(@250wpm)___ 423(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 127026 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 635(@200wpm)___ 508(@250wpm)___ 423(@300wpm)
As they approached, Kerrigan saw that they were handing red masks out at the door for those who didn’t already have them. Kerrigan felt dirty, but she put her mask on and double-checked that her hair was hidden in her hood.
“I’m going to go inside and open a side door for you. Head to the western side of the building and wait for me.”
“Wait,” she said, grabbing Valia’s arm. “Why can’t I go in with everyone else?”
Valia shook her head. “Look. Tell me what you see.”
Kerrigan followed her gaze back to the entrance. She’d been preoccupied by everyone’s clothing and the red masks that were being handed out. Somehow, she had missed there was another barrier for entrance. She narrowed her eyes and tried to make out what she was seeing.
A woman at the entrance was holding what looked like a large coin. It was roughly an inch thick and apparently solid gold. The reason there was a crowd was because every person entering had to put their thumb against the center of the coin before they were ever handed a mask. But as far as she could tell, it didn’t seem to be doing anything to them. She doubted it was entirely innocuous.
“What’s with the coin?”
Valia nodded approvingly. “Father calls it the Collector. It’s a magical artifact that takes a magical fingerprint of everyone who touches it.”
Kerrigan blinked. “A magical fingerprint? For what purpose?”
“It catalogs the person’s magical abilities. Every person has to touch the Collector to prove their worth to the Red Masks.”
“So, you’re telling me, it has a full list of every Red Mask?”
She shrugged. “It’s not really a list. And I don’t know how it can be accessed, but yes. Everyone touches it to get inside. Which is why we aren’t taking you through the front.”
“And you’ve touched it?”
Valia nodded once solemnly. “Now, I’m going.”
* * *
It was only a matter of minutes before the side door discreetly opened and Kerrigan was inside the Red Masks meeting. Valia had already disappeared as Kerrigan stepped farther into the ballroom. It was a sterile space with no ornamentation or frivolity. The opposite of the ballroom she had just been in on the Row. The room was positively packed with Fae. Their identities hidden behind masks as they waited anxiously before a sturdy wooden stage.
Kerrigan kept to the shadows of the room, leaning her shoulder against a wooden beam with her back to the door she had come through. The press of bodies continued until a solid clunk told everyone that the doors had been closed. The volume increased as excitement grew, like a hurricane gathering steam before crashing into the coast.
After a moment of tittering, a figure stepped onto the stage, and everyone cheered. It was a slight woman with olive-toned skin and a drape of waist-length black curls. She approached the podium and projected her voice through a magic charm.
“Welcome, Red Masks!”
Another roar of approval filtered through the audience. Kerrigan clapped with them to ensure she fit in. Though truly just being in a room with this many Red Masks made her feel queasy.
Six years earlier, when a human, Cyrene, had won the dragon tournament, the Red Masks had boldly walked the streets of Kinkadia. Kerrigan had been young and wild with excitement over the win. In an empty alleyway, a group of Red Masks had cornered and brutally assaulted her. She would have died that night if not for Dozan Rook.
For years after that, her nightmares had been full of Red Masks, circling ever closer. She had found out that her spirit magic had saved her that night. That Dozan had just found her and nursed her back to health. But none of the facts stopped the fear rippling through her.
“We’re at the dawn of a new age. Males and females alike are here to see the birth of that era, to see Fae once more on top.” She raised her hand into a fist. “We’ve had to share the valley with the humans and half-Fae. They’ve taken jobs and money and magic from us. And now, they have the audacity to rise up beyond their position. You know who I speak of.”
The audience booed, and Kerrigan shrank further back into her hood. She knew who they were talking about too.
“A half-Fae has joined the Society. A half-Fae is a noble in tribe Bryonica and will marry a Fae prince. A half-Fae has been nominated for the Society council.”
Kerrigan gulped as everyone sneered and yelled their distaste.
“And just as the House of Shadows was opened and our allies were released from their unjust prison, she is there to put them back into their isolation. And worse, she released all the human and half-Fae and brought them to our city. The streets are full of refugees. More flies on the wall, more mouths to feed, and not enough room for them all.”