Total pages in book: 129
Estimated words: 119158 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 596(@200wpm)___ 477(@250wpm)___ 397(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 119158 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 596(@200wpm)___ 477(@250wpm)___ 397(@300wpm)
The only thing that had me worried was that they’d taken all our belongings, including that damn magic coin. Before boarding the ship, I’d moved it from my coin pouch to a hidden pocket in the bottom of my pack. Could the elves sense the magic of the thing? If someone located the coin and stole it, there was no chance of me getting home. For now, I crossed my fingers and prayed it would go unnoticed.
It wasn’t as if I were in a rush to leave this world. There was no way I was going to leave Nylian alone. He needed me. Maybe I wasn’t sure why he needed me, but I was confident I could provide some critical help when he needed it most.
“Are you anxious, or do you just not want to use the bucket?” Nylian inquired, stopping my pacing in front of the bars midstride. Yes, we were back to a bucket for a bathroom. Lovely.
“No, I don’t need to use the bucket,” I replied with as much indignation as I could muster. Thankfully, it was enough to put a half smile on Nylian’s face.
“Sit. Rest. We’re not going anywhere anytime soon. We’ve spent most of the night running. No one is going to bother the king and queen with news of my capture until morning.”
He was right. I couldn’t imagine anyone wanting the job of waking a king in the middle of the night with news that could be good or bad.
Huffing at him, I shuffled across a cell that was three times the size of our ship cabin and plopped onto the pile of straw. I released a second sigh of relief when I didn’t feel any additional movement under my ass.
“You know, this isn’t my first stay in a dungeon.”
My head popped up and turned so I could see his expression, half convinced he was making a joke, but he appeared to be serious.
“This one is even nicer than the one I stayed in before,” the elf continued. “Fewer pools of standing water. Less moss growing on the walls.”
“Who threw you in the dungeon?”
“My dad.”
I choked on a laugh. “Your dad? The king of Wolfrest? He threw you in the dungeon?”
“Mn. Both Orian and me.” Leaning his head against the wall, Nylian closed his eyes and a small smile grew on his lips. “It was years ago. When we were young and stupid.”
“As opposed to now, when you’re sooooo old and stupid.”
He cracked one eye at me. “Two hundred and forty-seven isn’t old in elf years, but yes, I know better now.” He closed his eye again and continued his story. “Orian and I were feeling restless and reckless after being cooped up inside the castle for days on end for some random celebration. I don’t even know what any longer. We decided to take the horses out for a ride. Orian challenged me to a race.”
“Which, of course, you couldn’t turn down,” I interjected.
“Of course not.”
“Where was the race held?”
“Through the middle of the afternoon market.”
“Shit,” I hissed, wincing.
“It was a complete mess.” He sighed, his voice filled with nostalgic warmth. “Stalls and carts were overturned. Produce destroyed. We were lucky no one got hurt. Everyone was so angry. When we were hauled in front of my father, he was so infuriated he couldn’t even speak in complete sentences. His face kept getting redder and redder like a tomato about to split.”
“How long were you stuck in the dungeon?”
“Two days. Our mother heard about it. She came to tell us both what a disappointment we were, and how we’d embarrassed the entire family. Afterward, she spoke to father on our behalf and convinced him to release us. As punishment, we had to work one day a week in the market for a year. We served everyone who had a stall or a cart selling goods. Ran hundreds of errands, shoveled tons of manure, whatever was asked of us.”
“You and Orian got the shit jobs. Literally.”
“Yes. And then the day after market duty, we always had double training and double school lessons to make up for what we missed while working the market.” He paused, and his grin grew a bit larger. “It was absolute misery for an entire year, but Orian made it tolerable. Even fun at times. We got to know so many of the people who called the capital home. He was always the more outgoing of us. He could chat with anyone and make them feel at ease. Orian said people could tell us apart because I was always scowling.”
That was a little hard to believe. Other than those first couple of days together, it seemed like Nylian always had a smile teasing his lips when I looked at him. How could Orian be the cheerful twin?
“Why?” The single word was a whisper that sounded as if it had gotten caught in the back of his throat. “Why would someone target him? It doesn’t make any sense. Everyone loves Orian. Loved…loved him. I’m the annoying one. The argumentative one. Orian was the calm, level-headed one. I’m the one who jumps in with my sword drawn.”