Total pages in book: 138
Estimated words: 137958 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 690(@200wpm)___ 552(@250wpm)___ 460(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 137958 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 690(@200wpm)___ 552(@250wpm)___ 460(@300wpm)
That was, he moved away…minutely.
“Together, we will force the dark out of that bleak place that is night even when it’s day and we’ll do this with the halls ringing with our children’s laughter. We will not live separate lives, Elena. We will be prince and princess then king and queen. And we will be husband and wife in all ways we can be. That is our bargain. And on that, you have no choice.”
“I—” I forced out that one noise through the hammering of my heart that was beating in my throat.
I got no further.
“Now, we eat,” he concluded.
He then pulled me from the door, took my hand and curled my fingers around his elbow.
He wrenched open the door, his hand moved to clamp over mine on his arm, imprisoning it there, and he drew me out into the hall.
For the sake of dignity, if nothing else, with no choice but to walk with him, I lifted my chin to salvage some pride and hissed, “We will speak further of this sometime later.”
“We will not,” he retorted.
“You do not make decisions for the both of us,” I returned.
“I didn’t. Destiny did. And for the first time in a bloody long time, save your sister becoming my sister, and not because she wounded my brother, but because she’s vastly unpleasant, I’m beginning to think the fates don’t loathe me.”
This declaration made me shut my mouth.
Because…
What did that mean?
I would suspect he said his next with careful timing.
This being just moments before we returned to the room he’d dragged me from.
“And mark this, Elena, if True approaches you again when I’m not at your side, whether you’re in uniform or wearing the most comely gown I’ve ever gods-damned seen, this will not make me happy.”
All right.
So.
Now he knew I was a virgin.
And I knew his man killed my dearest friend.
And perhaps I finally understood why Melisse had insisted I wear this gown.
He also knew how unpleasant my sister could be (though I reckoned he already knew she was thus just simply from her reputation, not to mention she dealt the blow that would eventually lead to his brother’s death).
And he further knew True and I had feelings for each other.
To end, if I thought the night before that our relations weren’t starting all that well, I had much gloomier thoughts about this subject now.
Though it would seem I was wrong, and he wasn’t entirely disinterested in me.
And apparently, he liked my gown.
However, as he held my hand caught tight in his elbow tucked close to his side, which meant I had to be close to his side, as he led us directly to King Mars and Silence, I was wondering if this was a boon.
Or if the fates might loathe me.
21
The Dinner
The Priest
Formal Dining Room, First Floor, West Corridor, State Wing, Catrame Palace, Fire City
FIRENZE
The last to arrive in the formal dining room of Catrame Palace were Prince Cassius Laird of Airen and Elena, Princess of the Nadirii
The minute both their feet stepped over the threshold, he felt it.
And feeling it, he took note.
Also feeling it, Ophelia’s head twitched, and her eyes sought her daughter’s.
Elena’s head jerked, and her gaze sought her mother’s
Ha-Lah’s curls bounced and she put her hand to her stomach in a comforting gesture.
Silence’s eyes narrowed bemusedly.
Last, Farah’s lips parted, and she looked to the floor.
For the priest’s part, he felt his lips thin momentarily before he smoothed them and moved to find his assigned seat.
When he found his chair, he saw that he’d been relegated to a table with non-important personages.
This did not make him angry, as it used to do.
They would learn.
As he sat, he did it thinking this had been a nuisance, these alliances being made…and why.
Now it was more of a nuisance because he was concerned.
That vibration in the veil of magic, the strengthening, it happened simply with all of them together but without all of them being together.
What would come of it when they were?
There was nothing for it.
He’d had to cease the rituals so he could assess the possible danger of how the realms were aligning to beat the Beast.
Now, the priest would have to keep close in order to stop these alliances from coming to fruition.
A bother.
And a frustrating one.
Though it was his understanding he only had to select one and then all would be lost (for them).
He would do that tonight.
He dipped his chin to the boy who filled his wineglass, greeted his dinner companions as they joined him, and looked to the long table at the front of the room where the couples were seated all in a row.
Elpis was no fool.
There was a seat’s-worth of space between each couple.
Privacy.
Time to get to know one another in a room full of people at a table shared by many.
Cassius and Elena to the left. Mars and Silence beside them. Ha-Lah and Aramus next. Ending in True and Farah.