Total pages in book: 129
Estimated words: 127722 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 639(@200wpm)___ 511(@250wpm)___ 426(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 127722 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 639(@200wpm)___ 511(@250wpm)___ 426(@300wpm)
“We can’t eat that much, so I don’t want to waste it.”
“You want to survive or not?” He looked at me over his shoulder.
I could hunt if I needed to, but to be wasteful left a sickness in my stomach. “You think they’re still searching for us?”
“Always assume the worst until told otherwise,” Ryker said. “But if they knew where we were, they would have found us by now.”
“What about our tracks?” Effie said.
“I’ve made false tracks in other directions to throw them off the scent,” Ryker said.
Effie walked beside me, so she looked at me. “I didn’t know your brother knew all this.”
“I didn’t either. Before all this happened…I still saw him as a boy.”
“Well, this boy is the reason we’re going to make it out of here.”
After walking all day, we camped for the night.
“Can we make a fire?” I asked. “It’s a little cold.”
“Too dangerous.” Ryker shed his coat and dropped it over my shoulders. “Not just for the Teeth…but whatever else is out here.” We had nothing to sleep in, so we tried to find the grassiest places to cushion our backs. The spot we selected was between a group of trees, providing a bit of cover from the rest of the forest. It was a clear night, so the bright stars in the sky provided some illumination.
I didn’t hear a sound. No hooves against the earth. No calls into the night. Nothing.
We were alone.
Effie lay on the ground near the base of the tree and curled into a ball to stay warm.
I leaned against the tree because I assumed I would take the first watch. Ryker had done all the hard work since we’d escaped, and he deserved to rest more than anyone else. “You should get some sleep.”
He leaned against the tree beside me and rested his forearms on his knees. His eyes were on Effie across the clearing. “A part of me thought Father would send forces after me… Guess not.”
“You can’t take horses down the path.”
“I’m sure he could get an army down here if he really needed to.”
“You don’t know that he didn’t.” Ryker was used to being the favorite, being the child my father valued and respected. To think that he was expendable was a fresh wound he’d never received before, not like all the scars I carried.
“Not sure what to do with Effie when we return to Delacroix.”
“Help her locate her family.”
He gave a slight shake of his head. “If her family is smart, they will keep a low profile. Because Father will kill them if he knows they’re alive.”
Because they’d tell everyone the truth.
“So, they’re either already dead or in hiding.”
“Then where will Effie go?”
“I don’t know.”
“You could take her to the Capital.”
“I guess.”
“Or you could marry her.”
His head snapped in my direction. “What?”
“He’s not going to execute your wife, right?”
“Sure…but marriage? I haven’t even slept with her yet.”
“You haven’t?” I asked in surprise.
“I didn’t get the opportunity…because she won the lottery.”
“Wow, talk about a cockblock.”
He gave a chuckle. “That’s exactly what it was.”
Now was the time to tell him the truth, that I was married to a Rune, and after I got what I needed from the library at the castle, I would be back down here…in HeartHolme. But I knew how he would react. He wouldn’t just be angry, but completely incredulous. “Does this change anything for you?”
“What do you mean?”
“You’ve always known about the lottery, but now that you’ve seen what’s down here…does that change anything?”
“It’s cruel, no doubt.”
“Does that make you want to stop it?”
“Sure. But what’s the alternative?”
I tightened his coat around my body. “Not sacrificing people to the Teeth and Necrosis…”
He glanced at Effie to make sure she was asleep before he looked at me again. “Look, I hate it as much as you do, but there is no other way. If we don’t feed Necrosis, they’ll grow so hungry they’ll come for us. It’s the few for the many.”
“Not if we defeat Necrosis.”
He rested his head against the trunk and sighed.
“You’ve seen what’s down here. There are Teeth. Runes. Yetis. If we combine our forces—”
“In what universe would that ever happen?” he asked. “You’re talking about an alliance between the top of the cliffs and the bottom. That just won’t work, Ivory. And if Necrosis could be defeated, someone would have done it by now.”
“Or maybe no one’s tried.”
He gave another sigh. “You’ve always been an optimist, and I love that about you…but what you’re suggesting is impossible.”
“I disagree.”
He looked away.
“There’s something you don’t know about Father…”
He turned back to me.
“We aren’t from Delacroix. Or the Kingdoms. Or the top of the cliffs.”
Even in the dark, I could see the focus in his eyes.
“He used to be a Plunderer, a barbaric group of men. They made it to the top of the cliffs and murdered the King of Kingdoms. Took his place. He did other horrible things…but I’m not sure if I should tell you.”