Total pages in book: 133
Estimated words: 122946 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 615(@200wpm)___ 492(@250wpm)___ 410(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 122946 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 615(@200wpm)___ 492(@250wpm)___ 410(@300wpm)
“Our father,” he corrected, sharpening the pencil. “And that is because it is him.”
I looked closer, and beside him, pouring wine—or blood—into his glass was Theseus’s mother. To her left was him and…
“Now that you are here, the entrance tablet must be redone.” He lifted his pencil, making the circles of the woman beside me. “Do you have a preference for your action? I am not sure what you’d be doing at this banquet.”
When I didn’t speak, he finally turned to face me. “Druella?”
I shook my head. “Sorry, I’m still stuck on the entrance tablet. Are you talking about the art on top of the rectangular temple raised on the high podium?”
“Yes.” He nodded.
“Are you serious?” I gaped. “What happens to the old one.”
“It gets destroyed, of course.”
“Theseus!” I wanted to stomp my feet. “You can’t destroy it.”
“Father does not allow the old ones to exist. With each new member of the family, it is replaced.”
“And you remake it each time? How? The one that I saw coming in looked more than a hundred years old.” But if he remade it each time, then it couldn’t have been older than that because Atarah had been added to the family since.
“I do not recall creating the one which hangs over the entrance now, but it could have only been me. It is one of my chores.”
“Chores?”
“We do not laze about all day, Druella. We each have duties and tasks to tend to in and around our home. The entrance tablet is merely one of mine.”
“So, that means I will have one as well?”
He stared at me. “You are part of this family now; are you not?”
“You will use every method possible to make me admit it,” I shot back.
“Of course, if only to see if you truly understand what it means.” He stretched out his hand for mine, and when I gave it, he took it and kissed the back before pulling me closer to him. “Do you truly understand?”
I stared down into his grey eyes and shook my head. “No, but I getting closer and closer with each passing moment.”
“I guess that is the best I can hope for right now.” He released me to look back at his art. “I did not mean to start this now. I know I promised to keep things at a steady pace, but I had to distract myself as you bathed.”
“How honest.” I giggled and looked back to his work, wondering how this went from his mind to canvas to stone.
His eyes drifted back to it, and I couldn’t help but watch as he pored over each and every corner, how gently he made each stroke, how happy he seemed to be while he made it. It was hard not to be moved when you watched someone continuously put you over one’s self, to watch someone care about you as much as I felt like he cared about me. It made me feel a little bad about how little effort I was making. I was just rolling along with it, accepting and denying him over and over again.
Why did women do this? Why was I doing this? It was silly. But I couldn’t help it even though I knew I was doing it. When I reached up, brushing the hair from my face, he glanced at me, like he remembered I was here.
“Forgive me, is this boring you?”
“Art is never boring to me.” I replied.
“Then what is the reason for your fixed gaze? You look as if you wish to steal me away from my work.” He grinned.
“You wish,” I shot back, rolling my eyes, and he chuckled a bit before sketching again and allowing me to watch. But I couldn’t just watch. I wanted to make an effort…like him. “What’s your favorite color?”
He paused again. “My favorite color?”
I nodded.
His eyebrows bunched together. “I don’t know. In paintings, I enjoy the more vibrant colors: reds, blues, yellows, and greens.”
“So almost all of them.”
“It is an odd question that I have never been asked. Why, do you have a favorite color?”
I thought about it. “Green.”
“Green?”
“But not just any green. Emerald green. Deep green. The color of a thousand trees all standing together over the horizon. Sort of like this.” I moved to the rail of his balcony to look out at the sea of trees around the palace. It went on even as far as my vampire eyes could see. It was breathtaking. “When I was young, I use to walk through the forest all the time. I’d pick up every bug, bird, plant, and berry I could find and carry it back with me.”
“How very Wiccan of you.” He chuckled, and my head snapped back at him. “I mean that in no negative manor. It is just what I’d expect from a little witch.”