Total pages in book: 124
Estimated words: 115347 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 577(@200wpm)___ 461(@250wpm)___ 384(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 115347 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 577(@200wpm)___ 461(@250wpm)___ 384(@300wpm)
“And if I unleash trolls upon you?” Would he? Should he? So many others would die.
“You’d have to find the armies to issue a command.” Now, his former second sounded smug.
Norok had moved the legions? How? When?
“Once, you crowned yourself King of the Forgotten Court,” the male continued. “You overpowered your opposition. Now, I have outwitted you. A traitor counted among my enemies. If you force my hand, I—the new king—will command Fayette to send you more visions, unleashing more trolls. If you near my camp again, you will be killed on sight.” He raised an arm, calling, “Because we were once friends, I’ll give you a chance to depart today. Fire on my count. Three.”
Tension thickened the air.
“Two,” Norok spit. “One.”
At first, nothing happened. Then a single arrow sailed through the air, landing near Micah’s feet. Other arrows followed. He didn’t move, his shock making his feet heavy as boulders. Was this truly happening?
One barb sliced into his shoulder. As the sting registered, he flashed to the tunnels. Specifically, the largest room with the biggest number of trolls. Empty. Another room. Empty. Another. Also empty.
Betrayed. Again.
Always?
* * *
VIORI WAS A mess by the time Micah returned. Her nerves were frayed and her instincts on edge, keeping her jumpy. She was reminded of her early years, when she’d first wandered in the forest alone, her parents dead and her brother gone. If something had happened to her husband...
The second he materialized, she rushed over and hurled herself at him. “What happened? Where did you go?” She didn’t catch sight of the arrow in his shoulder until it was too late—until she beat at those shoulders to protest his earlier disappearance. “How dare you leave me—” She gasped. “How dare you get injured!” A far worse crime! She yanked the missile free.
Blood trickled from the wound but swiftly stopped as his flesh wove back together, leaving a small, puckered circle. He said nothing, merely stared at her with bleak amber eyes.
Had something worse happened?
“Micah?” Viori threw herself into his arms once again. “Talk to me. Please.” For endless hours, she’d filled the time worrying and fretting and pacing. Did he regret his decision to be with her? Had he learned the truth about her connection to Kaysar and now wished to sever his tie to her? “What happened? What are you thinking? Who hurt you? Talk to me. Please!”
Moving as fast as lightning, he locked his arms around her, holding her tight. Incredibly tight. Uncomfortably tight. Seconds passed in silence, his breaths coming hard and heavy. She didn’t dare complain.
“Micah?” she repeated, squirming a little. The moment he eased up, she lifted her head and cupped his cheeks. Her chest clenched as she surveyed his wrecked expression. “Tell me what’s wrong, baby.”
“I need to hold you.” He shuddered before he bent his head, pressing his brow to hers. “You were right. The man who betrays his wife will betray his king. Norok unleashed the trolls, hoping to kill us both. He schemes to punish Kaysar and Cookie for the death of his son. He blames me, too.”
She hugged him close. “Oh, Micah. I’m so sorry.” Another disloyalty. How deeply this one must cut. For once, she would have loved being wrong. “More than sorry.”
As she held him, a terrible thought drifted through her mind. He will never forgive me.
Her stomach twisted into knots. She needed to confess her secret. But how could she bombard him with such an unexpected truth at a terrible moment like this? On the other hand, how could she not? To risk him finding out another way...
No. Either she piled on the bad news, or she extended the length of his ignorance after he’d been nothing but good to her. The first was cruel, the second so much crueler. To them both!
Until he knew the truth, they had no real foundation. Without a solid foundation, they would eventually lose everything they built.
He shuddered against her, as if the dam holding back his pain had cracked, and all she wanted to do was soothe him.
Petting him, she said, “There, there, baby. We won’t let Norok keep your army or our home. We’ll get them back. We have strong allies now and—”
“No.” He stiffened against her. “We have accepted the cease-fire with Kaysar, but we won’t be associating with him. We won’t ask him for help or offer to help him. Not now, not ever. Your debt is paid in full. We need never deal with him again.”
“Oh.” To never again speak with Kaysar. Especially now that she’d taken such large strides to earn his forgiveness. To never apologize or hug him. Something she’d yearned to do most of her life, unable to confront the reality of his pain. If she had only listened to him. Do not sing to Momma and Papa. What was so difficult about that? Now, to let him go forever...