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)
He looked livid.
“Fine, don’t promise me. I know you’ll keep my secret.”
“Not if it puts my people at risk.”
“It doesn’t,” I said calmly. “What I told you about Father is true—”
“Not this shit again—”
“I didn’t believe it either. Trust me, I was livid. But when I met her…I knew it was the truth.”
“Her?” he asked.
“Our half sister.”
His eyes shifted back and forth quickly, stunned.
“She looks just like me.”
He was still speechless.
“I didn’t want to believe it. I refused to. But when I saw her, I couldn’t deny it. And it broke my heart. I can’t picture Father doing that…but he did.”
Ryker dropped his chin. “It was a long time ago—”
“Don’t make excuses for him. It doesn’t matter how long ago it was.”
“I just mean, he was a young man, probably my age—”
“And how many women have you raped?”
He looked away.
“All of this that we see…it’s not ours. It belongs to the Rolfe family.”
He stepped away for a second, rubbing the back of his neck as he gathered himself. “Ivory, regimes rise and fall throughout history. They’re conquered, and a new era ensues. I know it’s not a fairy tale, but it is reality.” He came back to me, his eyes harsh. “Even if everything you say is true, what does it matter? You think we can confront Father and he’ll just step down like it’s no big deal? In case you’ve forgotten, this world is about survival, not doing what’s right.”
“But life should be about more than survival. It should be about living. And only a select few of us are. Now that you’ve seen what’s down there, how can you abandon all those innocent people?”
“Innocent?” he asked incredulously. “Are you talking about the people who feasted on our blood?”
“There are others.”
“Ivory, you need to let this go—”
“And you need to be better than this. You can’t just look the other way while innocent people are dropped below so they can either be eaten by the Teeth or Necrosis. That’s not you. I know it’s not.”
“Look, there’s nothing I can do to change it—”
“Yes, there is. We can unite against Necrosis.”
“Father would never agree to that.”
“Then we replace him.”
He took a slight step back, his eyes wider than before. “You want to overthrow him?”
“You just said regimes rise and fall every day. Perhaps his is almost over.”
All he did was blink. “I can’t believe what I’m hearing.”
“I can’t believe you don’t realize what kind of person Father is.”
“Blood is blood. And I’m not going to kill mine.”
“I would never…” Just the thought made me sick. “But this world isn’t going to be more tolerable until we do something about it.”
“You said we were Plunderers before Father took the throne? That means the former rulers abandoned us all down there first. Sounds like they wouldn’t do anything differently if they had the opportunity. It sounds like Father got fed up with the bullshit and gave them what they deserved.”
My heart slipped into my stomach. “Nothing warrants what he did.”
“I’m just saying, he’s not some heartless murderer. They had every opportunity to bring everyone up here, but they didn’t. So he took matters into his own hands. That sounds a lot more kingly than what the Runes did.”
I loved my brother with my whole heart, and it was so painful to be at odds with him. “The Runes want what I want. They want to unite all of us—and defeat Necrosis once and for all. That’s why I’m helping them.”
He shook his head. “That’s why you’re betraying us.”
“I’m not betraying anyone. I’m just trying to do the right thing here.”
“Family comes first, Ivory. Everything else can be damned.”
A long stare ensued, each of us looking at the other with our guard high. We’d always been close, especially after Mother passed, but right now, we felt like enemies across the battlefield. When I spoke, my voice was calm, trying to neutralize all this hostility. “Talk to him about everything I told you…and see what he says.”
“Why?”
“That way, you’ll know what kind of man he is. And I promise you, you aren’t the same.”
“I don’t agree with that.”
“Ryker, you went all the way down to the Bottom of the Cliff to save Effie. You’re nothing like him.”
He did his best to keep his eyes hard, to show no kindness.
“Effie told me how you met, that you protected her.”
His eyes remained hard like a shield.
“I know this is a compromising situation. But I also know in my heart that you and I are different than he is. That we’re like Mother…may the gods protect her soul.” My eyes shifted back and forth between his. “How many times have I tried to talk to him and he rejected me because he’d rather be with his concubines? I tried to warn him about Mastodon, and he dismissed me because I’m just a woman. None of this would have happened if he’d just listened to his daughter’s pleas for help. I wouldn’t have been taken down there, and I wouldn’t have learned these horrible truths. I’ve come to realize who he really is…and he’s someone I don’t know.”